>' CEO, in fine, with a Bright Smile.
- By the way, "Many Businesses are Still Frustrated by that Recent "Lock-Down" Because of the Virus' Crisis, and feel Eager to Renew Contacts with the People and potential Customers asap, So that they May Really rush to Seize this Opportunity", she pointed out. At any case, since "Several among the Participants had Not Yet Sufficient Experience on How to Set Up and Efficiently Use a part of a WebSite, We are Accompagnying them, by Providing practical Help" for that purpose.(Meanwhile, "Eurofora" noticed that Most Participants, at least until now, prefer to Publish a Short Resume of their Products, with a simple Link at Their own Websites, most of them quite Well Build).
+ And, Pillaire promised to Afterwards Publish, Not Only the Number of Physical Visitors at this EuroFair's Compound, (as it's Traditionaly done), But Also the Number of Digital Visits that Will be made at its Website, (as well as, if possible, their Origins : F.ex. from Which Cities and/or What Countries, etc., Including their Eventual Outcomes, such as Contacts, Cooperations, Transactions, etc).
=>At any case, "What we will do Now here, (with this Exceptional "Euro-Fair" of 9/2020), Will be, shortly Afterwards, Evaluated, in order to Reach practically Useful Conclusions for Other such Collective Events, Both Throughout France and elsewhere in Europe", Strasbourg City's Public Health Chief, Dr. Alexander Feltz (in charge of the Sanitary Issues) also said Earlier, in this Same Press Conference, where he Replied to Relevant "Eurofora"s Questions, (See: ..., etc).
>>> In this Way too, Added also to the Fact, that, as "Eurofora" observed, (triggering an amused smile by Pillaire in agreement), Many Web Visitors might be ... "from (Physically, But Not Digitaly) Far Away Scandinavia" (sic !), then, Strasbourg's Traditional EuroFair Might, indeed, Start to progressively Become Really and Fully "European", even in Practice !
Indeed, this 2020 EuroFair being, mainly, Composed of 3 Parts : a) on "Homes", b) "Shopping", and c) "Food", the First seems very "Popular" Nowadays, probably Due to the Virus which incites People to Stay Home, (as Pillaire observed), and Might have some Interesting Ideas also for Other Countries, while the Second has Obviously a Lot of Easily Transportable Items, and the Third reminds f.ex. the Most Famous, Internationaly, French Export : i.e. the Wines, (to the point that US President Trump had notoriously Threatened to Tax French Wines IF Any Digital Taxes were imposed to the GAFAM !), as well as a Tasty Strasbourg's ...Coffee, reportedly shipped, not only to Nearby Germany, but Even to Russia and Japan !... As of a Traditional Strasbourg EuroFair's item : a series of New "Inventions" serving Various Purposes in EveryDay Life, If it's Continued, would Certainly Find several Interested People at EU's Common Market, (on Condition that the Internet's Big Potential is Well Used).
***
(NDLR: current Website = https://www.foireurop.com/liste-exposants/ + etc).
(../..)
("Draft-News")
Katsumoto Saotome at his home in Tokyo with his hachimaki headband from World War II. He worked at a factory to support the war when he was 12. He and other students sometimes wore the headbands on their way to work.
Credit... Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times
Scammers worldwide have been exploiting people's fears of lost jobs and income during the Covid-19 lockdown, by using phishing mails, fake websites and social media to extract personal information, spread malicious software or defraud unsuspecting victims.
Anna Collard, SVP content strategy and evangelist of KnowBe4 Africa
Exploiting pandemic disruption
According to Kasperskys spam and phishing report for Q2 2020, one technique used by scammers was to pose as HR employees to send emails informing recipients that they had been laid off. The emails contain malicious attachments that purport to be receipts for two months salary.The employee was informed that the company had been forced to discharge them due to the pandemic-induced recession, the researchers write. The dismissal followed the book, in that the attachment, according to the author of the e-mail, contained a request form for two months worth of pay. Needless to say, the victim only found malware attached.Banking phishing attacks also took advantage of peoples economic woes by sending emails purporting to offer various pandemic-related discounts and bonuses, directing them to links that gave attackers access to the victims computer or personal information.Scammers have targeted South Africans hoping for financial relief during the lockdown too: local banks warned customers of phishing scams claiming their UIF funds had been approved, and referring them to an attachment, and fake emails from the government claiming recipients had to insert their banking details on a link to access free funding.The Department of Labour also cautioned the public about a scam on social media promising people a pay out of R30,000, using a spoofed departmental website asking people to check if their names appeared on a list of those entitled to funds. The goal? Stealing peoples personal information such as bank login details or downloading malicious software.These scams highlight at least two lessons: First, fear and anxiety are powerful inducements to getting people to open malicious email. Second, consider the role organisational policy can play here. Do people expect to receive such important notices by email? They probably shouldnt.The disruptions wrought by lockdowns around the world presented a wealth of opportunities for scammers who took advantage of newly remote work environments and supply chain interruptions to target victims.Kaspersky researchers report that they observed a spike in voice phishing scams at the end of the quarter. These scammers sent emails posing as Microsoft directing recipients to call the Microsoft Support Team at the phone number supplied in the email.The share of voice phishing in email traffic rose noticeably at the end of Q2 2020, they write. One mailshot warned of a suspicious attempt at logging in to the targets Microsoft account, originating in another country, and recommended that the target contact support by phone at the supplied number. This spared the scammers the need to create a large number of fake pages, as they tried to get all the information they needed over the phone.Scammers also took advantage of global shipping complications by sending fake notices of delivery delays. Other scams mailed targets claiming their packages could not be dispatched due to restrictions on certain types of goods, directing them to an attached archive which opened remote access to the victims computer.New-school security awareness training can enable your employees to make smarter security decisions by teaching them how to recognise these tactics.
Ciena Corporation CIEN is slated to report third-quarter fiscal 2020 results (ended Jul 31, 2020) on Sep 3, before the opening bell. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 49%. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 25 cents.
The Hanover, MD-based networking systems, services and software company is expected to have recorded slightly higher revenues year over year. Despite a challenging environment, Cienas performance is likely to have benefited from the proper execution of its strategy that centers on innovation, diversification and global scale.
Lets discuss the factors that are likely to get reflected in the upcoming quarterly announcement.
Factors at Play
During the quarter under review, Telia Carrier a leading network service provider deployed an integrated C&L-Band photonic line system from Ciena. Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier, the international wholesale unit of Deutsche Telekom, selected Cienas WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) the industrys first 800G programmable solution to meet increasing traffic requirements across its pan-European network.
Cienas technology was deployed by Telefonica UK to migrate legacy traffic onto a new packet network capable of supporting 5G, IoT and other next-generation applications. Vodafone New Zealand advanced its network by deploying 800G technology using Cienas WL5e coherent optics between its data centers in Auckland.
Sparkle, TIM Groups fully-owned global operator and the first international service provider in Italy, adopted Cienas WL5e to upgrade its 10,476 km fibers on the Curie submarine cable. Ciena was selected by Spark, a New Zealand-based telecommunications company, to provide hardware, software and services to build Sparks Optical Transport Network (OTN 2). These developments are likely to have had a positive impact on Cienas fiscal third-quarter top line.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for aggregate revenues is pegged at $972 million that indicates a rise of 1.1% from the year-ago quarters reported figure. Adjusted earnings per share are pegged at 83 cents, which calls for growth of 16.9% from the prior-year quarters recorded figure.
Story continues
What Our Model Says
Our proven model doesnt conclusively predict an earnings beat for Ciena this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But thats not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Earnings ESP: Cienas Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is 0.00% as both are pegged at 83 cents.
Ciena Corporation Price and EPS Surprise
Ciena Corporation Price and EPS Surprise
Ciena Corporation price-eps-surprise | Ciena Corporation Quote
Zacks Rank: Ciena carries a Zacks Rank #3, at present.
Stocks to Consider
Here are some companies that you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.
Campbell Soup Company CPB is slated to release fourth-quarter fiscal 2020 results on Sep 3. It has an Earnings ESP of +1.67% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Signet Jewelers Limited SIG is scheduled to release second-quarter fiscal 2021 results on Sep 3. The company has an Earnings ESP of +38.82% and a Zacks Rank #3.
Patterson Companies, Inc. PDCO has an Earnings ESP of +19.78% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is set to report first-quarter fiscal 2021 results on Sep 3.
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The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine at a meeting on September 2 approved the resolutions on signing agreements with the governments of the Republic of Singapore and Iceland on air service, the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry has reported.
The regulations are designed to fulfill the domestic procedures required for the conclusion of the above-mentioned agreements between Ukraine and the Republic of Singapore and between Ukraine and Iceland.
"Despite the global aviation crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to expand the list of countries we work with in air travel. We are preparing to conclude two intergovernmental agreements on air services with Singapore and Iceland. Today, the Government approved the draft of these agreements and authorized the head of the State Aviation Service to sign them on behalf of the Ukrainian side, Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii said.
The agreements will determine the procedure for regulating international flights during the operation of contractual routes between Ukraine and Singapore and between Ukraine and Iceland, the procedure for designating airlines, will establish conditions under which airlines will be granted and revoked permits to operate scheduled flights, regarding aviation security, etc.
ish
The Allahabad high court on Tuesday, September 2, quashed Dr Kafeel Khan's detention under the National Security Act and ordered his immediate release, saying the Aligarh district magistrate did a 'selective reading' of his speech at the Aligarh Muslim University.
Dr Khan has been in jail since January 29 after he delivered the speech at the AMU during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in December.
Subsequently, the stringent NSA was slapped on Dr Khan in February, in connection with his anti-CAA speech.
After being released from jail, Dr Khan thanked the court and said, 'I will always remain thankful to all my well-wishers, who raised their voice for my release. The administration was not ready for release, but because of the prayers of people, I have been released.'
Dominic Xavier heaves a sigh of relief for Dr Khan who has been languishing in Mathura jail since January.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
In 1861, this is what secession looked like: marching bands playing, fireworks lighting up southern skies and, eventually, shooting.
In 2020, heres what secession looks like: the click of the block function on Facebook so that we dont ever have to see posts from people whose opinions we dont share.
This process of self-isolation is hardly new. Bill Bishop and Robert Cushing wrote a book about this back in 2008. The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart looked at how people have been self-segregating themselves by ideology in a way we havent seen before.
Some of that is geographical we used to have a lot more swing states, but now there are really only about a dozen states that matter in a presidential election, perhaps even fewer.
But a lot of it isnt. A Washington Post survey in 2016 documented how few voters really knew anybody on the other side: More than half the people who support one of the two major-party candidates say they do not have any close friends or family voting for the other. Fifty-four percent of voters in Trumps camp say they have no Clinton supporters in their inner circles. And 60% of Clinton backers say they are not close to any Trump voters.
We suspect if that same question were asked today after four years of unfollowing and blocking on social media the divide might be even starker.
We were reminded of this by two events recently, one nationally, one locally.
The roster of speakers at the Democrats national convention included a few Republicans, most prominently former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who was a candidate for the GOP nomination four years ago. The point was to show that Joe Biden can appeal across party lines and that its OK for disaffected Republicans to vote for him. Youd think that Democrats would rejoice that theyve won over a high-profile Republican defector, however temporarily. Winning an election is about addition, not subtraction. But not all Democrats saw it that way. Some were horribly offended. With the exception of being Anti-Trump, Kasichs record stands against everything our party supports, tweeted the Kent State College Democrats. His inclusion at the convention would be an affront to our values. Others had a similar response. So much for the big tent, eh?
The more local example came at the pro-police Back the Blue rally in Roanoke last week. In some ways, the event was indistinguishable from a Republican rally. It was organized by the two Republican candidates for Roanoke City Council, Peg McGuire and Maynard Keller. Among the speakers were the districts Republican congressman (Ben Cline) and the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate (Daniel Gade). There was, though, one other speaker. That was David Bowers. Hes a Democrat who served 16 years ago as mayor and once was the Democratic nominee for the 6th District seat in Congress. This year, hes running again for mayor as an independent. Heres what Roanoke Times reporter Alicia Petska had to say about Bowers appearance at the rally: Bowers faced some skeptics in the audience. As he approached the stage, one person exclaimed with dismay that he was a Democrat. Why would anyone at a Republican-tinged, pro-police rally object to a Democrat showing up to agree with their message? Wouldnt they want that? Like we said before, winning is about addition.
So heres where we are as a society: Not only are those on the left and the right isolating themselves from each other whenever possible, theyre objecting to people on the other side even agreeing with them from the Democrats who found Republicans making a case for their presidential nominee offensive to the Republicans who reacted with skepticism and dismay to Roanokes former Democratic mayor endorsing their pro-police message.
Its a fine thing for people to argue over politics. Democracy is built on the premise that citizens will argue over politics better that than not being able to argue over them. But its also built on the premise that we can tolerate our fellow citizens and not treat them as some kind of odious other.
What we had in 1860-1861 was a geographical secession the Southern states leaving (or trying to leave) the Union. What were seeing today is a kind of social secession. You know those science fiction movies where theres some kind of parallel universe? Thats what we have here parallel societies where people living or working side-by-side effectively live in different universes based on their ideology. They may all experience the same weather, but theyre exposed to very different political environments. Someone on the left may never really hear a conservative argument, except perhaps by caricature. Likewise, someone on the right may never hear the liberal side, except perhaps filtered through a conservative news source. This may make life temporarily more pleasant for both sides, but its not conducive to governing a diverse society where compromises often have to be made to accommodate our complexity. Of course, compromise has become a dirty word.
After the 1972 presidential election in which Richard Nixon defeated George McGovern by a landslide the New York Times film critic Pauline Kael was said to have remarked: I dont know how Richard Nixon could have won. I dont know anybody who voted for him. She didnt actually say that what she said was I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I dont know. Theyre outside my ken. In any case, the paraphrased version get paraded around every four years as an example of how certain elites are out-of-touch with the rest of the country although it works just as well the other way around. Its fair to say today that both left and right are out-of-touch with one another often intentionally so. They dont have to agree, of course. They shouldnt agree we need those kinds of disagreements. But wed be better off if each side had a better understanding of the other. Perhaps then we wouldnt fall into the dangerous trap of treating those on the other side as an enemy, as Republican gubernatorial hopeful Amanda Chase recently did when she declared that those who disagree with her on police funding are not Americans.
We know how the secession of the 1860s worked out not very well for the secessionists. We dont know yet how this social secession will work out. Frankly, wed rather not have to find out.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, shifted their focus to the citys mayor, and police declared a riot as people broke windows, vandalized a business and set a small fire inside the upscale apartment building where Mayor Ted Wheeler lives.
The demonstration that began late Monday and extended into Tuesday fell on Wheelers 58th birthday and featured shiny golden alphabet balloons that protesters used to spell out an expletive.
They sang on the street outside the mayors building, some wearing party hats, and the fire was set with a bundle of newspapers in a store housed on the ground floor of Wheelers building. There were no reports of major damage or injuries.
Wheeler, who is also police commissioner, has come under fire for his failure to bring the violence in Oregons largest city under control and for heading up a police force that has used tear gas multiple times against demonstrators.
Some also blame the mayor for engaging in a war of words with President Donald Trump instead of focusing on local needs. Trump has put Portland and other Democrat-led cities in the crosshairs of a law and order re-election campaign theme a move thats escalated tensions in the city and drawn the attention of right-wing Trump supporters.
A supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer was killed Saturday during clashes between dueling protesters. A caravan of Trump supporters, estimated at about 600 cars, encountered Black Lives Matter protesters as they drove through the downtown and skirmishes broke out.
Police have not announced an arrest in the slaying of Aaron J. Danielson, 39, of Portland, and have said nothing about what led up the shooting.
Police Chief Chuck Lovell denounced the vandalism and said it was an escalation of previous protester actions.
The families that live inside have done absolutely nothing to provoke a threat to their lives. As Ive stated repeatedly, the nightly violence is coming at increased cost, he said.
Lovell added: This is impacting the safety of our entire City and urgent action is needed. Our elected officials need to do their part to draw a line in the sand and to hold people accountable. The violent behaviour must end.
Wheeler said late Tuesday on his Facebook page that the vandalism negatively impacted a minority-owned business.
Arson and terrorizing families with children does nothing except steal, and distract from, the important message of the racial justice movement. Organizations in the community who encouraged or condoned these actions are complicit, he said.
Wheeler added: The community must rise up and say enough is enough and hold all of us accountable. We cannot truly move on together and make the positive changes we want to see until this violence is stopped. All violence.
Protesters were angered last Sunday when Wheeler held a news conference about the shooting and traded barbs with Trump, who was watching the conference live on TV and tweeted insults at Wheeler.
Many said afterward that they wanted to hear about solutions to the violence and how to keep the citys Black residents safe. They complained that the mayor instead engaged in political theatre with the president to raise his own profile.
Wheeler, the son of a wealthy timber scion, is seeking a second term against Sarah Iannarone, a candidate to the left of him who has marched repeatedly with protesters.
Wheeler said at the news conference that he does not believe in completely defunding the police, would not resign and would not turn over the Portland Police Bureau to Jo Ann Hardesty, the citys first Black councilwoman.
He used that press conference to try to score political points with a president we already know is a problem. He was asked point-blank what could have been done to prevent this, what could we do better in the future, and he did not have concrete strategies, said Cameron Whitten, founder of the Black Resilience Fund and a longtime activist in the city. It truly was appalling.
The situation grew more uncertain Monday, when two suburban counties and a nearby city refused to send deputies and officers to help the Portland police keep the peace. The Oregon State Police and sheriffs deputies from Multnomah County the county that includes Portland are bolstering the citys force.
But officials in Clackamas and Washington counties and the city of Gresham said they would not send law enforcement personnel to Portland.
Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said flooding the city with more law enforcement would never work because Portlands newly elected district attorney has dismissed charges against hundreds of protesters arrested for nonviolent, low-level crimes.
Roberts and Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett also said the liability for their deputies would be too great.
The same offenders are arrested night after night, only to be released by the court and not charged with a crime by the DAs office. The next night they are back at it, endangering the lives of law enforcement and the community all over again, Roberts said.
Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, has so far declined to send the National Guard to Portland, as Trump has suggested.
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Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus
Trump admin. grants $1M to Kenosha Police, $4M to businesses damaged from rioters
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The Trump administration will be granting $1 million to the Kenosha Police Department in support of their efforts to defuse the current unrest in the city, according to remarks made by President Donald Trump while visiting Kenosha on Tuesday.
Trump told reporters that he will also be granting $4 million to small business recovery for those businesses that have suffered damages from the riots, and $42 million statewide to advance law enforcement efforts.
President Trump announces federal aid to Kenosha:
- million to Kenosha law enforcement
- million to support the small businesses that have suffered
- million to support public safety statewidepic.twitter.com/NRsy7BK5pc Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 1, 2020
"We must give far greater support to our law enforcement. Its all about giving them additional support. These are great people. ... These are brave people. Theyre fighting to save people that they never met before, in many cases. And theyre incredible. We must really be thankful that we have them, and we have to help them do their jobs," Trump said.
The president traveled to Kenosha to observe the damage from the riots that followed the shooting of Jacob Blake on Aug. 23.
Following the tour of the damages, Trump held a roundtable conference joined by Attorney General William Barr, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wold, Senator Ron Johnson, Congressman Bryan Steil, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis, and others.
During the conference, Trump asked a pastor to pray for the current situation in Kenosha.
"Father, we ask you to forgive us all when weve strayed from your ways and where weve not acknowledged your word. We ask that you would continue to cause this nation to be one nation, under God," Pastor James Ward of Insight Church prayed.
Trump described the root of the violence as a message driven by reckless far-left politicians.
"To stop the political violence we must also confront the radical ideology that includes this violence. Reckless far-left politicians continue to push the destructive message that our nation and our law enforcement are oppressive or racist they'll throw out any word that comes to them," he said at the roundtable.
"We have to condemn the dangerous, anti-police rhetoric."
Trump also expressed some sympathy toward police, saying they could have a long "spotless" record but make one "wrong decision" in "a quarter of a second."
"Theyre under tremendous pressure. And they may be there for 15 years and have a spotless record. And all of a sudden, theyre faced with a decision. They have a quarter of a second quarter of a second to make a decision. And if they make a wrong decision, one way or the other, theyre either dead or theyre in big trouble. And people have to understand that. They choke sometimes. And its a very tough situation, right? Then people call them 'bad' and 'horrible,'" he said.
Blake, 29, was shot seven times in the back by a Wisconsin police officer. He survived but is paralyzed from the waist down, his family said.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice, which is investigating the shooting, said officers were dispatched to a residence "after a female caller reported that her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises."
Officers tried to arrest Blake but after two unsuccessful taser attempts, Blake "walked around his vehicle, opened the drivers side door, and leaned forward. While holding onto Mr. Blakes shirt, Officer Rusten Sheskey fired his service weapon 7 times." Blake admitted afterward during the investigation that he had a knife in his possession. A knife was recovered from the drivers side floorboard of his vehicle.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Blake was trying to intervene in a domestic incident and that his children were in the vehicle when the shooting happened. He argued that Blake was racially profiled.
The conversation around the Kenosha riots increased one week ago when 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse shot three rioters, killing two and injuring one, after they chased him down and attacked him.
Trump commented on Rittenhouse at a White House press conference on Monday and erred on the side of Rittenhouses defense, saying he was trying to get away from them, referring to the mob who was chasing the armed teenager.
He was trying to get away from them, I guess it looks like, and he fell and then they very violently attacked him, and it was something that we are looking at right now and its under investigation. But I guess he was in very big trouble. He probably wouldve been killed. Its under investigation.
Glasgow is waking up to new lockdown restrictions today following a spike in coronavirus cases.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the move after 66 new positive tests were recorded in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area yesterday.
Restrictions on visiting other households now apply to people living in Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire.
Exceptions were given on top of emergency circumstances or providing care to a vulnerable person for extended households which were established during lockdown.
This includes people who live alone, couples who do not reside together and parents who live alone with children under 18.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the move after 66 new positive tests were recorded in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area yesterday
Under the new rules - which also apply to West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire - residents are no longer allowed to meet up with other households indoors
Indoor visits to hospitals and care homes will be limited to 'essential-only' to protect the most vulnerable
It is expected the measures will be in place for two weeks, however the Scottish Government will review them after one week
Ms Sturgeon said: 'I have just chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government's Resilience Room (SGoRR) which met to discuss the rising number of new Covid-19 cases across Scotland but particularly the rising number of cases in recent days in Glasgow and the west of Scotland.
'Over the past two days, we have seen 314 new cases in Scotland and 135 of these in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.
What are the new lockdown rules imposed in West Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire and Glasgow No meeting people from other households indoors
Members of different households - who are not in a bubble - should only meet outdoors or in hospitality settings with social distancing
Any close contacts of someone who has tested positive should isolate for 14 days
Only essential visits to hospitals and care homes
Outdoor visits to care homes are allowed. There should only be three people at a time and the visit cannot last longer than two hours Advertisement
'If these numbers continue or and this is the fear they rise further, then more people will fall ill from Covid-19 and more people will enter hospital and intensive care.'
She added: 'Transmission appears mainly to be happening inside people's homes and between households, rather than in pubs and restaurants.
'Having carefully considered the data and consulted with local public health officials, local authorities and Police Scotland all of whom were involved in the resilience meeting discussion that has just taken place I can therefore confirm this evening that we have decided to take the following action.
'From midnight tonight, if you live in local authority areas of East Renfrewshire, the city of Glasgow or West Dunbartonshire you should not host people from other households in your home and you should not visit someone else's home no matter where that is.'
It is expected the measures will be in place for two weeks, however the Scottish Government will review them after one week.
Meanwhile, indoor visits to hospitals and care homes will be limited to 'essential-only' to protect the most vulnerable.
Outdoor visits to care homes will be permitted for up to three people from a maximum of two households, in line with current guidance.
Schools and nurseries will remain open, and plans for the opening of colleges and universities remain in place.
Ms Sturgeon added: 'I understand this will not be welcome news for people living in Glasgow, East Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire but it is necessary to help us limit the spread of Covid-19.
'Acting now gives us the time and the space to protect people and get more control over the virus.'
A man on Friday wearing a shirt calling for freedom for Kyle Rittenhouse, the teen charged with fatally shooting two people during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump at a press conference on Monday defended Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old supporter charged with killing two men in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
"That was an interesting situation," Trump said. "He was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like, and he fell, and then they very violently attacked him."
Trump did not mention that authorities believe Rittenhouse had already fatally shot one person before the scene he described.
Rittenhouse has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
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President Donald Trump refused to condemn the actions of a 17-year-old supporter who has been charged with killing two men last week in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
"That was an interesting situation," Trump said at a press conference Monday. "He was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like, and he fell, and then they very violently attacked him."
Trump did not mention that Kyle Rittenhouse was suspected of fatally shooting one person even before the scene he described.
Rittenhouse, who crossed state lines to patrol the streets of Kenosha during protests and unrest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, is accused of shooting three people, according to a criminal complaint the state of Wisconsin filed Friday.
The first person shot was Joseph Rosenbaum. An autopsy found he was shot multiple times, including in the back, fracturing his pelvis and perforating his right lung and liver. He also had gunshot wounds to a thigh and his forehead.
Rittenhouse has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide, among other charges.
Rittenhouse's attorney has said the shootings were in self-defense, but the criminal complaint says video of the incident reviewed by the police showed the victim "appears to be unarmed."
Story continues
The complaint says that after Rosenbaum was shot, Rittenhouse who was carrying a semiautomatic rifle tried to flee, prompting a chase, during which the complaint says he fell and then shot two men, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz.
"He was in very big trouble," Trump said. "He probably would have been killed. It's under investigation."
But the criminal complaint cites video of the incident that it says shows Huber was not attempting to kill anyone but rather "appears to be trying to pull the gun away from the defendant."
According to an autopsy, Huber died of a "gunshot wound to his chest that perforated his heart."
Biden immediately condemned Trump's comments
The Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, issued a statement condemning Trump's comments.
"Tonight, the president declined to rebuke violence," Biden said. "He wouldn't even repudiate one of his supporters who is charged with murder because of his attacks on others. He is too weak, too scared of the hatred he has stirred to put an end to it."
Initially, Trump's reelection campaign sought to distance the president from Rittenhouse, who attended a January rally for the president, as BuzzFeed News first reported.
"President Trump has repeatedly and consistently condemned all forms of violence," a representative said on Wednesday despite the president encouraging violence against protesters and hecklers at his campaign rallies. "This individual had nothing to do with our campaign, and we fully support our fantastic law enforcement for their swift action in this case."
Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com
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BAGHDAD: French President Emmanuel Macron pledged support for Iraq on Wednesday and said the main challenges facing the country are Islamic State militants and foreign interference in its affairs.
We are here for, and we will continue to support, Iraq," Macron said at a news conference in Baghdad with his Iraqi counterpart Barham Salih.
Iraq should not become a battleground for proxy conflicts between other states, Salih said. Iraq faces the challenge of balancing the interests of the United States and Iran, both key allies.
Iraq is a sovereign state that wants balanced relations with all its neighbours," said Salih.
We do not want Iraq to be a battleground for the conflicts of others, we want others to participate in achieving stability in Iraq and respecting its sovereignty."
Macrons visit is the first by a Western leader to Iraq since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi took office in May, becoming the third head of government in a chaotic 10-week period that followed months of deadly protests in a country exhausted by sanctions, war, corruption and economic challenges.
Kadhimi was selected by parliament in May to head a government that would guide the country towards early elections and has called for one to be held in June 2021.
Early elections are a main demand of anti-government protesters who staged months of mass demonstrations last year.
French officials have said Paris is concerned by a resurgence in Iraq of Islamic State, which is profiting from political uncertainty and rivalries between Iran and the United States.
Islamic State, which once occupied a third of Iraqs territory, has been largely defeated there but continues to carry out ambushes, assassinations and bombings.
The war against Islamic State isnt finished we will continue to act alongside you in the framework of the anti-Islamic Sate coalition," said Macron.
The second challenge is the one of the multiple foreign interferences that have been going on for several years."
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
The Washington Square News (WSN) published an editorial Monday defending the efforts to implement race-based housing at New York University (NYU). The student-run newspaper published its editorial under the headline Providing Spaces for Black Students Does Not Mean Segregation.
The statement was produced in response to the outpouring of public opposition triggered by the World Socialist Web Sites exposure of the initiative, which went viral on social media last week.
The first point that must be made about the editorial is that it confirms the initial report by the WSWS, which stated that NYU was planning on implementing racially segregated student housing. Following this report, NYU issued a statement declaring it false and misleading, and the AP posted a fraudulent fact-check concluding that the report was false.
As the WSN editorial states, the initial petition produced by the Black Violets student group requested on-campus housing that provides Black-identifying students with a space to celebrate Black culture and find community and support. It notes that the university issued a statement that it was working with the authors of the petition to see how they could best achieve their goal of creating a safe space for Black students on campus.
While the editorial asserts that NYU has not agreed to provide housing only designed for students of one race, this is the clear and stated intent of the proposal. And the editorial goes on to explicitly defend racially segregated housing.
The WSN argues that establishing racially separate housing for black students does not amount to segregation because segregation is a term heavily associated with the creation of white-only spaces under Jim Crow laws.
By creating a space for marginalized students in residence halls NYU is not segregating dorms, WSN writes, but providing Black students with a supportive place within an institution where they represent just over 10 percent of the previous years incoming class.
The editorial board argues that allowing African American students to live in separate campus housing based on race is no different than established units for first generation students, international students or those interested in French language and culture! They claim further that this would create a space on campus where black students can feel safe and supported.
This argument is deeply reactionary. If racially separate housing is necessary to make African-Americans students feel safe from their peers, why not separate dining halls, class rooms and ultimately, as under Jim Crow, separate schools? Students must consider seriously the logical outcome of this initiative.
Whether it realizes it or not, the WSN is replicating the arguments of Jim Crow segregationists who insisted that the white and black races could never live together peaceably and therefore segregation was necessary to protect both. The defenders of segregation argued that the separation of the races arose from the customs and desires of both whites and blacks and was therefore beneficial to education.
In Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 case that struck down legal segregation in public schools, the superintendent of Topeka schools, Kenneth McFarland, said that segregation was the outcome of the social customs of the people. Here is the exchange:
Q: Have you ever, as an administrator of schools, considered it part of your business to formulate customand social customs and usage in the community?
A: Mr. Goodell, I think the point is extremely significant; in fact, its probably the major factor in why the Board of Education is defending this lawsuit, and that is we have never considered it, and there is nothing in the record historically, that its the place of the public school system to dictate the social customs of the people who support the public school system.
The implementation of Jim Crow laws and customs in the 1900s was not primarily meant, as the WSN claims, to create white-only spaces free from blacks, but to drive a physical wedge between black and white workers in the factories and forestall the reemergence of a united movement of poor white farmers and black sharecroppers that had threatened Democratic Party rule throughout the South in the Populist movement of the 1890s.
Significantly, in attacking the World Socialist Web Site's criticism of the housing plans at NYU, WSN cites the WSWS critique of the New York Timess 1619 Project. The WSWS, it notes, published a series of articles attacking the project for promoting a race-based world view in line with that of the Nazis.
This gets to the heart of the issue. In its critique of the Times project, the WSWS denounced the effort to interpret and falsify all of American history entirely through the prism of race and racial conflict. The history of the US was presented as a conflict between white people and black people, in which class divisions and class struggle were entirely excluded.
The politically motivated falsification of history, we wrote, legitimizes the effort of the Democratic Party to construct an electoral coalition based on the prioritizing of personal identitiesi.e., gender, sexual preference, ethnicity, and, above all, race. The elevation of race into the fundamental category of history and contemporary politics, we explained in the passage to which the WSN objects, is a mirror image of Trumps own racial politics, and it bears a disturbing resemblance to the race-based world view of the Nazis.
This political logic is carried out in the NYU plan, which is part of an aggressive promotion of racialist politics on campuses throughout the country. It cannot be separated from the broader strategy of the Democratic Party and its affiliated media outlets to insist that the basic social category in American society is race, not class.
Racism certainly exists. It is promoted by the state, and by the Trump administration in particular. The White House is actively inciting fascistic violence, as the developments of the past week make clear. However, the claim that black students confront an epidemic of racism on campus, that they need to have segregated housing in order to feel safe from white students, is a lie.
The answer to racism, moreover, is not the separation of the races, but the fight to unify workers of all races. Indeed, the promotion of racialist politics only plays into the hands of the far right.
It is significant that the WSN begins its editorial by referring to the protests over police violence following the murder of George Floyd by police in May. The Democratic Party responded to the multi-racial protests that erupted in the aftermath of the killing of Floyd by hijacking them and promoting the lie that what was expressed in Floyds murder was the consequence of white supremacy, not the violence of the ruling class and its state.
The outcome is the Democrats nomination of Joe Bidenan individual with a decades-long history as a representative of the ruling classand Kamala Harris, an ex-prosecutor who enforced laws targeting the poor and oppressed, including minority workers and youth.
What is expressed in the racialist campaign for segregated housing at NYU has nothing to do with the interests of workers of any race. Racial and identity politics express the interests of privileged sections of the upper-middle class who are fighting for positions, including in academia.
It is notable that those promoting the Black Violets petition have nothing to say about the massive cost of tuition and housing, the enormous cost of attending college and the skyrocketing cost of living, particularly in Manhattan, where the campus is located. Their demands are completely devoid of anything relating to the interests of the working class, of any race, gender or ethnicity.
What limits access to NYUone of the most elite private universities in the worldfor students of all races and ethnicities is above all the immense levels of social inequality that prevail in American society. The average cost of one year at NYU, after financial aid is factored in, is more than $42,000, or two-thirds of US median household income. On top of this, campus housing, food and living expenses for an NYU student cost an estimated $100,000 over four years.
The struggle against racism is impossible outside the struggle to unify the working class against capitalism in the fight to establish socialism, which would mean genuine equality for all. Public education must be supported and expanded with trillions of dollars in funding to build new schools and train more teachers and staff members. Higher education must be made free and available to all who wish to attend. It is on this basis that the effort to set aside housing based on race at NYU must be rejected by all students and workers.
In a major change in free agriculture power supply policy, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to withdraw subsidy to power distribution companies towards agriculture power supply every year.
Instead, the government will pay money directly to farmers for the power consumed by them in their fields and they, in turn, could pay the power bills to the Discoms.
An order to this effect (GO Ms No. 22) was issued by state energy secretary Nagulapalli Srikanth on Tuesday.
The free power supply to agriculture was introduced in combined Andhra Pradesh during the regime of late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy.
Until now, farmers have been enjoying unlimited free power supply there was no measure of how much power they are consuming. The state government has been bearing this loss being incurred by Discoms by extending free power supply to farmers in the form of power subsidy every year.
According to Srikanth, there are 17.55 lakh agriculture power connections in Andhra Pradesh consuming an average of 12,232 million units of power as per the 2020-21 estimates. The government has been incurring an expenditure of nearly 8,354 crore every year for supplying this power to farmers free of cost. This amount is being paid to Discoms in the form of power subsidy.
According to the latest decision, the government will not pay this subsidy amount to Discoms with effect from the next financial year 2021-22. Instead, it will credit the amount for the power bill directly into the account of farmers in the beginning of the month so that they, in turn, would pay the bill for the Discoms.
Like in the past, the farmers will not have to pay a single rupee for the power they consume for their agriculture operations. This will help the farmers know how much subsidy they are getting from the government every month and they will get a right to demand quality power supply from discoms, Srikanth said.
However, there is a condition. The farmers will have to install meters for their agricultural power connections, so that they know how much power they consume every month and the Discoms would be able to bill for the power consumed.
Srikanth said decision to introduce direct benefit transfer (DBT) for agriculture power consumers was taken in view of the condition imposed by the Centre as part of performance-linked reforms under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan in order to avail of additional borrowing.
The government said it would open fresh bank accounts for farmers to credit the power subsidy directly every month. It proposed to constitute committees at village, block, division, Discom and state-levels for the smooth implementation of the new policy. These committees, besides creating awareness and redressing grievances, will also be responsible to conduct enrolment for new connections.
The opposition parties strongly resisted the governments decision to do away with power subsidy to Discoms and introduce direct benefit transfer to farmers.
Telugu Desam Party legislator Anagani Satyaprasad alleged that the state government was trying to shift the burden of power subsidy to farmers. Why should it transfer the money to farmers and ask them to pay the bills to Discoms again? The government can anyway pay the Discoms directly, he said.
He wondered when the government was not in a position to pay salaries to the employees on time, how it would pay the farmers towards power bills. He also opposed the installation of meters for agriculture power connections.
CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna also demanded that the government withdraw the new agriculture power policy.
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Leidos might be the No. 1 company on the 2020 Washington Technology Top 100 but its size isnt just about scale, it's also a key factor in their ability to adapt and be flexible in the face of customer demands.
We have the scale to spread out our overhead and keep our rates down, said Roy Stevens, chief of business operations. We can invest those savings in repeatable solutions that gives us differentiation for our customers.
The company can point to five major achievements of the past year as evidence that the scale is has been adding and the investments it has been making are paying off. The company has won three major contracts: Two recompetes in DISAs Global Solutions Management Operations II contract, worth $6.5 billion, and the Hanford site environmental clean-up contract, worth $4 billion, and one take away, the $7.6 billion Navy NGEN contract, that is still under protest by the incumbent Perspecta.
The company also closed two major acquisitions. It acquired Dynetics, a space engineering firm, for $1.65 billion and then the transportation security business of L3 Harris for $1 billion.
Looming over all of this continues to be the 2016 acquisitions of Lockheed Martins Information Systems and Global Solutions business, valued at $4.6 billion.
The impact of that deal still reverberates through the company, but in a very positive way.
It is nice to stand in front of investors that were a little skeptical (in 2016) and say heres what we were trying to achieve and heres what weve achieved, Stevens said.
The company hit No. 1 this year with $8.1 billion in prime contracts.
Lockheed brought discipline and experience working on complex systems and projects, while Leidos had a heritage that rooted in ability and entrepreneurship.
We brought those two into a new culture, Stevens said. And this is a people business so a key attractor for is that we are empowered to make decision and we have the ability to move quickly when we need to.
The NGEN win, while still in protest limbo, is one Leidos likely would not have pursued with IS&GS and it is one they worked for three years. Simultaneously, the must-win recompetes of GSMO II and the Hanford contract and other large competitions underway.
Over the last year, Leidos faced protests over $18.6 billion worth of contract wins. It has prevailed in all of those. The NGEN contract is now at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
Stevens says the wins are a validation of the IS&GS acquisition. You have to integrate, but the last 18 months to 24 months we see the fruits of all that we laid out in 2016, he said.
Now the company has made two more big bets, though not on the scale of IS&GS, but still deals that bring scale in important market areas.
The transportation security market is one that Leidos has worked in for years, but Stevens described their presence as sub-scale. The company just wasnt big enough to make much of an impact.
The proactive in pursuing the acquisition when L3 and Harris announced their merger. We knocked on their door and said if you are looking at your portfolio, we want to be first in line, Stevens said. We were really persistent with that.
With the acquisition closed, Leidos is now No. 2 globally behind the U.K. company Smiths Detection.
Because Leidos was already in the transportation security business, it has been able to consolidate operations and find cost synergies in areas such as research and development. The plus for the folks coming over from L3Harris is that security is a core mission for Leidos. Security and safety is in our mission statement, Stevens said.
We want to double down on the business, he said. There are opportunities to expand what Leidos is doing in the United States with FAA but also globally with air traffic control customers in the U.K. and other countries.
Youll see that as part of the innovation we can bring to the market, Stevens said.
L3Harris adds more products to the portfolio, which can be enhance Leidos services offering. We were wanting to get a little more into our mix, he said.
With Dynetics, Leidos is getting into areas of the space market where they didnt have much presence and it adds capabilities such as manufacturing and prototyping. We also saw a culture fit in that their strength is agility and doing things in a cost-effective manner and with some rapidity, Stevens said.
Dynetics fills a gap for Leidos between R&D efforts and production with their ability to bring prototypes on line and prove new concepts. For example, they are doing a lot of work in hypersonics, obviously an area we want to get into, he said.
We think they are a really nice fit and well see it prove out over time, Stevens said.
Man Arrested as Captain America During Burglary Turns Hero
NEWS PROVIDED BYSept. 2, 2020ATLANTA, Sept. 2, 2020 / Standard Newswire / -- A Mississippi man who was arrested after dressing up as Captain America to commit a break-in has turned real-life hero.What a difference one year has made for David Hobbs. His very public arrest in Sept. 2019 for burglarizing the shed of an armed former Marine in Clarksdale, Miss.--while comically dressed up in a Captain America costume with padded chest and fairy wingscaptured the attention of Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, New York Post and other media, while going viral on social media.This Sept. 18 at 11:30 AM ET, the laughter will turn to applause for 37-year-old Hobbs. After struggling with drug addiction since he was 15 and amassing multiple arrests, Hobbs will receive a one-year sobriety award during a pastor's conference ( https://www.pastoraladdictionsummit.com/ ) at Good Landing Recovery, the holistic faith-based organization where David received treatment and now helps counsel other addicts. The event is open to working press and will be held at Good Landing's headquarters at 256 McMillan Rd, Dacula, GA 30019."So the judge said, 'Okay, if you want to go to rehab, I 'ma let you,'" Hobbs fondly recalled the Mississippi judge who sentenced him to complete a drug rehabilitation program in lieu of serving more jail time. "I've never been to any rehab before in my life. Thirty days come, and you know, I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna stay 60 days, and then, next thing you know, it was 90 days," he said.Good Landing Founder and CEO Trey Lewis will share David's comeback story ( https://www.facebook.com/goodlandingrecovery/posts/6637550842102320 ) and present him with the much-anticipated award during the scheduled pastor's conference, designed to inform and educate area leaders "there is addiction in your church, whether you know it or not.""David came to us at rock bottom. Websites and news outlets around the globe picked up on his moment of weakness and mocked him. Literally millions of people saw his story and laughedbut God..." Lewis remembered, continuing "within just a short time, David's life has come full circle!! He's sober, he's helping others beat addiction and God is getting all the glory! No one is laughing now at this amazing transformation.""We understand that no addiction is just a physical or mental battle, and it doesn't just affect one person's life. Our goal is a total transformation of each person, inside and out, so we can return them to a healthy, safe, and healing family environment," said Lewis of the unique mission of Good Landing Recovery.Social media ridicule has turned into praise and admiration for Hobbs, who said,"The same people who were writing me off and laughing now 'like' anything I post on Facebook or anything that I'm doing...they're telling me how proud they are of me. Some of those same people are messaging me on Facebook asking me for advice, to help bring other people they know out of addiction.""God's blessing my life and I want to bless somebody else. The person I was and the person I am are two different peoplethe person before no longer lives inside me," Hobbs said.Good Landing Recovery exists to destroy the power of addiction by creating an atmosphere where God can restore families and lives through the body, spirit, and soul, uses an integrative approach to each person's recovery emphasizes healing and growth in every area of their life. For information, visit https://goodlandingrecovery.com/ SOURCE Good Landing RecoveryCONTACT: Gregg A Wooding, 972-567-7660Related Links
Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod summoned Russia's ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin to a meeting with the Foreign Ministry's foreign policy director, according to his tweets.
The meeting came as tensions rose following the alleged incursion into Danish airspace by a Russian Su-27 fighter, near the island of Bornholm in the Baltic, while in hot pursuit of a U.S. Air Force B52 bomber last Friday, wrote NATO's Allied Air Command on its website on Monday.
According to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Friday's incident was the first of this kind of violation for several years.
"Completely unacceptable violation of Denmark's airspace by Russian Su-27 fighter. (I) will raise issue with Russian authorities to avoid repetition," Kofod tweeted, adding "DK(Denmark)will always defend our air space, insist on international law."
The Russian action prompted the immediate launch of Danish Quick Reaction Alert aircraft to counter the violation, near the Danish island of Bornholm, resulting in the lone Russian fighter turning back before the interception, local media reported.
Earlier Tuesday, Minister of Defense Trine Bramsen called it an "unacceptable violation of Danish airspace."
Russian Defense Ministry has denied that the Russian fighter violated the Danish border, saying the fighter's action was to prevent a violation of Russian territory.
"On August 28, 2020, a Su-27 fighter from the air defense duty of the Baltic Fleet was raised to identify and prevent a U.S. Air Force B-52H strategic bomber from violating the Russian state border," TASS cited the ministry as saying.
"The flight of the Russian Su-27 fighter, accompanied by an American bomber, was carried out over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea in strict accordance with international rules..., without violating the borders of other states," the statement added.
Commercial pilots are accustomed to sharing the sky with birds or, more recently, drones, but on Sunday two pilots reported a novel sighting at 3,000 feet approaching Los Angeles International Airport: a man flying a jet pack.
Tower, American 1997 we just passed a guy in a jet pack, the pilot of American Airlines Flight 1997 from Philadelphia told air traffic control, about 6:35 p.m. Pacific time Sunday. The exchange was captured and posted by LiveATC.net, which shares live and archived recordings of air-traffic-control radio transmissions.
Were they off to your left side or right side? the controller asked. The pilot said the person was 300 yards to the planes left, and about 30 seconds later, another pilot said he had also seen the man pass by. The controller, after asking the pilot of JetBlue Flight 23 to keep a lookout, added, Only in L.A.
Now both the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.
American Airlines declined to identify the pilot, referring inquiries to the FAA. A JetBlue official would not comment.
Seth Young, a pilot and a professor of aviation at Ohio State University, said it was very dangerous" to fly so close to an airplane, especially in the busy airspace near Los Angeles International Airport.
The risk is obviously having a collision with that airplane or getting a drone, or the person getting ingested into an engine, Young said. We have these issues with birds flying within congested airspace, as well.
Because there has been an increase in the past few years in the numbers of aerial vehicles, primarily drones, around airports, the FAA has enacted rules and restrictions regarding flying close to airports, he added. Authorization from the FAA would be required to fly in such controlled airspace.
Could the pilots have been mistaken? Young said he would not dispute a pilots perception, as they have excellent vision and are trained to spot small objects in the air.
Jet packs have long been portrayed as futuristic vehicles in comic books or spy movies, but not much headway has been made in making the technology safe and available for recreational or commercial use.
The main issue is fuel efficiency most jet packs are not equipped to fly for more than a few minutes, making it difficult for them to get very high. The devices are mostly popular among enthusiasts or used as tourist attractions for thrill seekers who want to experience a few minutes of airborne flight, typically over open fields or water.
Glenn Martin, an inventor from New Zealand, tried to develop a jet pack that would be practical for commercial use and could reach higher altitudes. The device was named one of 2010s best inventions by Time, which reported that the jet pack could theoretically take a person up to 8,000 feet and hold 30 minutes worth of fuel.
But when a New York Times reporter tried it in 2008, Martin said his team had not taken the device higher than 6 feet. He speculated that if you can fly it at 3 feet, you can fly it at 3,000. Ten years later, the company appears to be defunct.
That does not mean others have quit trying to achieve high-altitude flights with jet packs. Earlier this year, a Jetman Dubai pilot flew nearly 6,000 feet up using a jet pack. The flight lasted three minutes.
JetPack Aviation, based in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, invented what it calls the worlds only JetPack, which can reach up to 15,000 feet in altitude and can be operated for about 10 minutes. Its founder introduced the jet pack in 2015 with a flight around the Statue of Liberty.
But the company does not sell the jet pack for recreational use, requiring people to take a three-week course to learn how to operate it and use it in a controlled space.
As for Sundays sighting, David Mayman, JetPack Aviations founder, said, Honestly, we dont know whos working on a machine that would be foolish enough or reckless enough to do that.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
A 53-year-old man has been found dead on the roof of a veterinary surgery.
Queensland Police and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) were called to the business in Capalaba, 19km from Brisbane, at 5.30pm on Tuesday.
Investigators believe the man may have been electrocuted.
Queensland Police and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) were called to the business in Capalaba, 19km from Brisbane, at 5.30pm on Tuesday (street view pictured)
Investigators believe the man may have been electrocuted and a report is being prepared for the coroner
WHSQ officers are expected to return to the business on Wednesday to continue their investigation, Brisbane Times reported.
A Queensland Police spokeswoman said the death is not being treated as suspicious.
She said a report is being prepared for the coroner.
A group of senators wants to reinstate funding for Stars and Stripes, the military's newspaper for service members, as the organization faces being totally defunded before the year is out.
The bipartisan group, led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), on Wednesday sent a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper to preserve the "historically significant publication," which only requires "a tiny fraction" of the Defense Department's annual budget, according to the lawmakers.
Read Next: Military Moves Forward with Plan to Make Air Force One Supersonic
"Stars and Stripes is an essential part of our nation's freedom of the press that serves the very population charged with defending that freedom," the 15 senators said in the letter. "Therefore, we respectfully request that you rescind your decision to discontinue support for Stars and Stripes and that you reinstate the funding necessary for it to continue operations."
The Pentagon in February proposed cutting all of the newspaper's funding -- roughly $15.5 million annually -- to reallocate those dollars toward other high-profile programs, such as space, nuclear and hypersonic systems, Esper said at the time. The Senate version of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act does not contain funding for the paper; lawmakers will convene this fall to develop a joint version of the bill.
"We trimmed the support for Stars and Stripes because we need to invest that money, as we did with many, many other programs, into higher-priority issues," he said during a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, following DoD's $740 billion budget submission to Congress. Stars and Stripes is published in print and online.
While the paper, which is distributed to U.S. troops stationed at bases worldwide, maintains editorial independence, it receives federal funding as part of the Pentagon's Defense Media Agency. About $8.7 million of the subsidy comes through operations and maintenance (O&M) funding, and about $6.9 million from contingency operations funds, Stripes said. The remainder of the Stripes annual budget comes from advertising, subscriptions and sales.
The senators warned that the deadline for the paper's operation to disband is fast approaching.
"We understand that DoD plans to cease publication of Stars and Stripes on September 30, 2020 and completely dissolve the organization by January 31, 2021 as a result of the proposed termination of funding in the fiscal year 2021 President's budget," they said. "We urge you to take steps to preserve the funding prerogatives of Congress before allowing any such disruption to take place."
In July, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a Marine veteran, introduced an amendment during the House Armed Services Committee markup that would allocated the necessary $15.5 million to keep Stars and Stripes afloat.
"Thousands of troops around the globe rely on them for the kind of news that just isn't covered elsewhere -- stories from American bases, the latest Department of Defense news, and transparency coverage that cuts through political and military brass BS talking points," Gallego said. "It's exactly the type of honest coverage that our armed forces need, and we weren't going to let the Administration stifle these voices without a fight."
The lawmakers on Wednesday noted that because of language within the previous year's continuing resolution, passed to sustain funding levels, DoD also cannot legally terminate a program "until a full-year appropriations bill is enacted."
"It was Stars and Stripes that revealed the Defense Department's use of public relations firms that profiled reporters and steered them toward favorable coverage of the war in Afghanistan," the lawmakers said.
"Most recently, the paper brought to light the failure of schools on U.S. military installations to shut down during the pandemic, despite Japanese public schools doing so. These stories illustrate why Stars and Stripes is essential: they report on stories that no one else covers."
-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
Related: DoD Budget Proposal Cuts All Funding to Stars And Stripes; Lawmakers Back Newspaper
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Madrid, Spain Wed, September 2, 2020 10:10 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c421d3c1 2 World Spain,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-infection,pandemic,COVID-19-curve,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free
Spain's health ministry said on Tuesday the number of coronavirus cases detected daily had declined over the past four days, further off a peak of around 10,000 reached about 10 days ago, and officials said no new lockdown was necessary.
The country diagnosed 2,731 infections in the past 24 hours,
but these data could be revised in future as Spain updates its statistics retroactively. Tuesday's update raised the tally since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic by 8,115 cases to 470,973 overall, more than any other western European nation.
Since bringing the first wave largely under control through a strict lockdown that ended in June, Spain has suffered a sharp resurgence of infections as measures were relaxed and mass testing began.
Still, Health Minister Salvador Illa stressed that the surge in infections had not led to heightened pressure on hospitals, where occupancy of beds earmarked for COVID-19 patients is at around 6% across the country.
He also said the mortality rate of the virus remains far below the March-April peak, when nearly 900 daily deaths were reported. The latest data showed 159 deaths were registered in the past seven days, bringing the total up to 29,152.
The reduced death toll reflects the preponderance of new infections hitting younger people who display little or no symptoms of illness due to their stronger immune systems, whereas older people comprised most of the cases in March-April.
"From a public health perspective the current situation does not call for a new lockdown," Illa said on Onda Cero radio. "If we do things right, if we follow the recommendations of experts, it won't be necessary."
Tourists at the Tidal Basin across from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington on March 19, 2019. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
White House Rejects Proposal to Rename, Remove, or Contextualize Historical Washington Monuments
The Trump administration has unequivocally rejected a Washington committees series of recommendations regarding how to rename, remove, or contextualize dozens of monuments, schools, parks, and buildings in the area, among which are the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement late Sept. 1 that as long as President Donald Trump is in the White House, the recommendations from Washington Mayor Muriel Bowsers office will go absolutely nowhere.
As the mayor of our Nations capital citya city that belongs to the American peopleshe ought to be ashamed for even suggesting them for consideration, McEnany said.
Deputy press secretary Judd Deere weighed in on Twitter, asking rhetorically whether Bowsers Twitter page was a parody account. Thank God [President Trump] would never consider such an idea, he wrote.
Potentially removing the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial? This is a parody account, right? Thank God @realDonaldTrump would never consider such an idea. https://t.co/i1BFMbkIrt pic.twitter.com/hmGJiDTMV7 Judd Deere (@JuddPDeere45) September 1, 2020
The committee, District of Columbia Facilities and Commemorative Expressions (DCFACES), is recommending that Bowser use her powers on the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission to advocate to remove, relocate, or contextualize nine national monuments:
Columbus Fountain
Benjamin Franklin Statue
Andrew Jackson Statue
Jefferson Memorial
George Mason Memorial
Newlands Memorial Fountain
Albert Pike Statue
Washington Monument
George Washington Statue
Such monuments are outside of the purview of the Washington government and therefore cant be directly acted upon by Bowser.
Bowser had formed the DCFACES working group amid nationwide protests in which participants have been rallying against police brutality and systemic racial inequities. The group released a 24-page executive summary (pdf) on Sept. 1.
Mayor Muriel Bowser attends a press conference in Washington on June 10, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Mayor Bowser charged [DCFACES] with evaluating named DC Government-owned facilities and make recommendations as to what, if any, actions need to be taken if the person the facility is named for is inconsistent with DC values and in some way encouraged the oppression of African Americans and other communities of color or contributed to our long history of systemic racism, the groups website reads.
In its summary, the group says its decision-making prism focused on key disqualifying histories, including participation in slavery, systemic racism, mistreatment of, or actions that suppressed equality for, persons of color, women and LGBTQ communities and violation of the DC Human Rights Act.
The White House statement from McEnany accused Bowser of repeating the same left-wing narrative used to incite dangerous riots: demolishing our history and destroying our great heritage, noting that the working groups plan recommends potentially removing the Washington Monument, Christopher Columbus Statue, Andrew Jackson Statue, and Jefferson Memorial, and contains many other ludicrous recommendations.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany speaks at the White House on Aug. 31, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Our Nations capital is rightly filled with countless markers, memorials, and statues to honor and respect the men and women who built this country, McEnany said, adding that Trump believes these places should be preserved, not torn down; respected, not hated; and passed on for generations to come.
In addition to targeting federal properties, the DCFACES committee in its report called for the renaming of 21 public schools; nine residential buildings and campuses; 12 public spacesparks, fields, and playgrounds; and seven government buildings.
Bowser said in a statement on Sept. 1 announcing the report: Washington, DC is a city driven by inclusivity and diversitythese values are at the core of who we are and what we fight for. We are also a city united by the idea that we can always do better, that we can always find a way to do more good for more people. The recommendations in this report will guide us as we move forward in advancing these shared DC values.
She also announced that she looked forward to reviewing and advancing the groups recommendations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(UPDATE: Woman dies, husband critically injured after plane crashes into mid-Michigan farm field)
MIDLAND COUNTY, MI -- A 70-year-old man had to make an emergency landing in a Midland County farm field after an engine failed on his airplane.
Troopers with the Michigan State Police Tri-City Post were dispatched around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1, to the area of Shaffer and Lewis roads in Warren Township, just outside of Coleman, for a report of an airplane crash.
The pilot, a 70-year-old Beal City man, told police the four-seat aircrafts engine failed when he was flying at approximately 1,000 feet.
He attempted to restart the engine multiple times after it failed.
When those efforts were not successful, the pilot decided to make an emergency landing in a soybean field.
The privately-owned plane flipped onto its top during the emergency landing, police said.
The pilot was the only person on the plane. He was not injured.
The Federal Aviation Administration was notified about the crash and will work to determine the cause of the engine failure.
The incident remains under investigation.
South Africa: COVID-19 expenditure characterised by mismanagement, AG finds
Poor financial management by public institutions once again reared its ugly head during the disbursement of COVID-19 relief scheme funds, an audit report has found.
The synopsis is contained in Auditor-General Kimi Makwetus first of a series of special reports on the financial management of governments R500 billion COVID-19 relief package. The package was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in March in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.
Due to the extent of the findings, the office of the AG will now forward a list of potentially fraudulent cases to the multi-agency fusion centre the Special Investigating Unit and law enforcement agencies for swift follow-up investigations and possible prosecution.
While the relief package totalled R500 billion, the AGs report focused on R147.4 billion allocated through the supplementary budget of June 2020.
A bulk of this was distributed to support for vulnerable households (R40.9 billion); health (R21.54 billion); support to municipalities (R20 billion); other frontline services (R13.62 billion); basic and higher education (R12.54 billion). The rest was distributed among other services. Of this, R68.9 billion (47%) had been spent by July 2020.
Makwetu first cast the spotlight on the payment of the temporary employer/employee relief scheme (TERS) and social grants. These were introduced to provide economic relief to the vulnerable and assist employers to protect jobs.
By 31 July, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) had paid just over R37 billion in TERS benefits and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) had paid R19.6 billion in social grants, the Auditor-General said.
In this regard, Makwetu said the new system implemented for TERS incorrectly calculated the benefits for the first lockdown period (27 March to 30 April) by not taking into account the actual period of inactivity and the portion of the salary paid by employers, resulting in significant overpayments.
Analysing payment data and checking the beneficiary information against other government databases, the Auditor-General flagged several payments that require investigation.
The office is now verifying payments made to ineligible recipients. Among these are people beyond the legal age of employment, deceased, working in government, receiving social grants or students funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
Recalculations of claims and reconciliations with payment data identified overpayments, underpayments, duplicate payments and discrepancies such as approvals for payments made before the date of application.
Makwetu said there was also poor input and validation controls on the new system and a manual claim submission process used in the first two weeks of implementation further heightened the risk of invalid or manipulated claim information.
This was also the case in the payment of the R350 relief funds which, the report finds, was paid to people who are not in distress or ineligible.
Turning attention to the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE), Mkwetu said audits were in different stages of completion. However, the offices data analyses of orders placed by health departments identified that some items were priced at more than double and even five times the prescribed price.
By June 30, R6.4 billion of R22 billion had been used on health related services.
Similar instances were identified in the procurement of PPE in the education sector, where the national and provincial departments are not procuring PPE at market-related prices, Makwetu said.
Although emergency procurement processes were allowed for procuring PPE, this did not mean all supply chain management requirements were relaxed.
Teams are still busy auditing the procurement processes, but are identifying matters such as suppliers not having valid tax clearance certificates, quotation and competitive bidding processes not being correctly applied, inadequate or inaccurate specifications and evaluation criteria and the incorrect application thereof, conflicts of interest, and the awarding of a contract in the health sector to a supplier with no previous history of supplying or delivering PPE," said the AG.
Quarantine sites
The Auditor-General said while 6 123 quarantine sites were initially targeted, only 510 sites had been identified by the Department of Public Works and only 192 activated for use by the Department of Health.
It is unlikely that government will pursue the original target for quarantine sites, as the demand for such facilities has been relatively low, he said.
Field hospitals
While R4.8 billion was made available for 66 field hospitals across the country, only 18 of these projects had been completed by 30 June.
The audit of the procurement processes for appointing contractors only recently commenced as a result of delays in providing us with the information and documentation requested, but the audit teams have already identified non-compliance with legislation in the processes followed, Makwetu said.
This, he said, is another area in which there is a need for closer cooperation between the Health and Public Works Departments to monitor the demand for additional beds and the implementation of the initiative.
In his closing remarks, Makwetu urged all oversight structures to examine the report to direct oversight actions. He called on accounting officers and executive authorities to account for the implementation of the COVID-19 initiatives and the management of the funds.
This report should become the baseline for oversights interrogation of how the multi-billion rand fund made available for the COVID-19 response was used. Our upcoming reports will also be a useful tool to monitor whether the control weaknesses that open up the funds to abuse are being closed and whether instances where abuse had already happened, were appropriately dealt with, he said. SAnews.gov.za
This story has been published on: 2020-09-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 09:43:01|Editor: huaxia
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BOGOTA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Colombian Minister of Health and Social Protection Fernando Gomez on Tuesday asked citizens to continue adhering to sanitary measures to better control the spread of COVID-19 as various sectors of the economy have begun to reopen.
"It is very important that Colombians do not have the feeling that everything has already happened. The virus continues to exist, it is among us, and if we lower our guard, there is a significant risk of outbreaks," he said.
The country's aviation sector was reactivated on Tuesday, with several local flights reopening after being closed for five months due to the pandemic, while inter-municipal transport also resumed operations in some regions with necessary biosecurity measures.
"I am optimistic because I have seen how Colombians have been learning and have generated social discipline to face the pandemic," said the minister.
Air passengers who traveled on the first flights were required to submit negative COVID-19 test results in addition to following airport biosecurity measures.
Last week, Colombian President Ivan Duque decreed that the country would end mandatory preventive isolation at the end of August and begin selective isolation, social distancing, and individual responsibility on Sept. 1 in an attempt to reopen parts of the economy.
Vice minister of Political Relations for the Interior Ministry, Daniel Palacios, said that as of Tuesday, some activities have returned to "normal," although strict sanitary measures are still in place to prevent the spread of the virus.
"The presidential decree encourages teleworking from home unless they are essential functions. We went from having mandatory isolation throughout the country, to being in an opening where there are prohibitions," said Palacios. Enditem
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 1, 2020 / Coral Gold Resources Ltd. (TSXV:CLH)(OTCQX:CLHRF) ("Coral" or the "Company") reports that Nevada Gold Mines ("NGM") continues to advance the Robertson Project in the Cortez region of Nevada where Coral retains a net smelter returns royalty (NSR).
NGM recently delivered its summary of work completed in Q2 2020 at Robertson. In terms of drilling activities at Robertson, NGM reported that the following was completed:
2,195 meters of resource drilling;
927 meters of geotechnical drilling;
354 meters of metallurgical drilling.
NGM is also progressing the evaluation and other pre-development activities at Robertson including:
Evaluating several processing scenarios for the Robertson Resource (see discussion on resource below);
Locating major infrastructure items such as crushing plant, CIC plan, heap leach pad, waste dump and haul roads;
Constructing test well drill pad for upcoming aquifer test; and
Continuing ongoing study work, including waste/ore and material characterization work and biological/archaeological baseline work.
As announced in Coral's news release dated March 16, 2020, Barrick included an inferred mineral resource at the Robertson project in their 2019 reserve and resource statement, included in the Cortez operation within Nevada Gold Mines.
Coral Gold Management is encouraged by the progress made during Q2 2020 on the Robertson Project, specifically with the evaluation of several processing scenarios and work to locate key infrastructure that, which signals progress in the development of Robertson.
Coral's NSR at Robertson
After the sale of the Robertson Project to Barrick in 2017 (now held within NGM), Coral retains a life of mine sliding scale, 1% to 2.25% NSR on the project. Coral's NSR is subject to potential advance royalty payments as well as a right of first refusal enabling NGM to acquire the NSR if the Company wishes to sell the NSR to any third party. The royalty increases with an increase in the price of gold. Details of the NSR are available on Coral's website.
Story continues
Qualified Person
The technical data in this press release was reviewed and approved by Alan Morris, P.Geo, who is a qualified person within the context of National Instrument 43-101.
About Coral Gold Resources Ltd.
Coral Gold Resources is a precious metals exploration company operating in Nevada, where it has explored one of the world's richest gold districts for over 30 years. The Company's primary asset is a sliding scale net smelter returns production royalty on Nevada Gold Mines' Robertson Property in Nevada. The Company also holds a portfolio of strategically-located exploration projects near Nevada Gold Mine's Pipeline/Cortez Mine Complex on Nevada's Battle Mountain/Cortez Trend. Coral remains debt free with a strong balance sheet. Our overall objective is to generate long-term wealth for shareholders.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"David Wolfin"
__________________________________________
David Wolfin
President & Chief Executive Officer
Coral Gold Resources Ltd.
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 release contains statements that are forward-looking statements and are based on numerous assumptions, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including risks inherent in mineral exploration and development, which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any projected future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof based on information currently available. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
SOURCE: Coral Gold Resources Ltd.
View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/604174/Coral-Gold-Provides-Q2-Report-on-Nevada-Gold-Mines-Progress-at-Robertson-Project-in-Nevada
Scientists in the UK have demonstrated a prototype quantum network for secure online communications that can't be penetrated by cyber attacks.
The University of Bristol's 'multiplexing' system splits light particles that carry information to multiple internet users from a single central source.
Researchers have demonstrated the technology which employs the odd effects of quantum entanglement on optical fibres in different locations across Bristol.
If rolled out, the system could make the contents of online messages completely safe from interception while saving several billions of pounds spent on current quantum communications systems.
Quantum tech employs the freaky effects of quantum physics the nature of matter at the atomic and subatomic levels for advances in communications.
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A close-up of the equipment to maintain quantum entanglement - when two particles become inextricably linked. The quantum physics experiment has demonstrated an important step towards quantum cryptography between many users, an essential requirement for a secure quantum internet
The researchers say their unique prototype is understood to be the largest-ever quantum network of its kind and could transform how people communicate online.
'This represents a massive breakthrough and makes the quantum internet a much more realistic proposition,' said study author Dr Siddarth Joshi at the University of Bristol's Quantum Engineering Technology (QET) Labs.
'Until now, building a quantum network has entailed huge cost, time, and resource, as well as often compromising on its security which defeats the whole purpose.
'Our solution is scalable, relatively cheap and, most important of all, impregnable.
'That means it's an exciting game changer and paves the way for much more rapid development and widespread rollout of this technology.'
Project leader Dr Joshi optimising the central quantum network hub. The 'multiplexing' system splits light particles that carry information to multiple internet users from a single central source
Generally, the internet relies on complex codes to protect information, but hackers are increasingly adept at outsmarting such systems.
These cyber attacks result in embarrassing privacy breaches for global firms, costing trillions of pounds annually in total and compromising customer data.
With such figures projected to rise, quantum has been hailed for decades as the revolutionary replacement for standard encryption techniques.
So far physicists have developed a form of secure encryption, known as quantum key distribution, in which particles of light, called photons, are transmitted to carry information.
Artists impression of the quantum network, which provides every user with mathematically perfect secure encryption keys
The process allows two parties to share, without the risk of interception, a secret key used to encrypt and decrypt the information.
But to date this technique has only been effective between two users, rather than a network of multiple users.
For a party of eight users to each send information to each other, for example, each one has to be establishing one-on-one connections with every other user.
One way of avoiding this is to add a third party to each transmission, but having this 'person in the middle' can be a security risk.
Sebastian Neumann at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, one of the experts involved in the project, explains the issue on a blackboard.
Under the former method, for each of the eight users to be able to communicate without a 'person in the middle', there would need to be 56 individual connections and receiver boxes.
WHAT ARE RECEIVER BOXES? Receiver boxes are devices that receive and measure quantum signals. 'Think of it as some device that connects to your laptop on one end and to the optical fibre on the other, Dr Joshi told MailOnline. Eventually we will make these devices small enough to be just another chip inside your computer or phone. Advertisement
Under this system, as the user numbers grow, the logistics become increasingly less and less feasible for instance, 100 users would take 9,900 receiver boxes in total.
The team's quantum technique applies a seemingly magical principle, called entanglement a weird physical phenomenon that legendary physicist Albert Einstein described as 'spooky action at a distance'.
Quantum entanglement describes two particles and their properties becoming linked without physical contact with one another.
This means two different particles placed in separate locations, potentially thousands of miles apart, can simultaneously mimic each other.
This process presents far greater opportunities for quantum computers, sensors and information processing.
Instead of making a physical connection, such as a glass fibre, between each and every user, the researchers created a system where every user only has a single glass fibre connected to a source of quantum entanglement.
'Until now efforts to expand the network have involved vast infrastructure and a system which requires the creation of another transmitter and receiver for every additional user,' said Dr Joshi.
'Sharing messages in this way, known as trusted nodes, is just not good enough because it uses so much extra hardware which could leak and would no longer be totally secure.
'Instead of having to replicate the whole communication system, this latest methodology, called multiplexing, splits the light particles, emitted by a single system, so they can be received by multiple users efficiently.'
The network in operation, showing the receiving hardware for all eight users for information transfer. For the tests, all receivers were within the lab so researchers could monitor them. But they were connected via fibres that went across the city of Bristol
The team created a network for eight users using receiver boxes monitored within the lab, each receiving information from the single system.
To demonstrate its functionality across distance, the receiver boxes were connected to optical fibres via different locations across Bristol and the ability to transmit messages via quantum communication was tested using the city's existing optical fibre network.
'Besides being completely secure, the beauty of this new technique is its streamline agility, which requires minimal hardware because it integrates with existing technology, 'Dr Joshi said.
While previous quantum systems have taken years to build, at a cost of millions or even billions of pounds, this network was created within months for less than 300,000.
The financial advantages of multiplexing technology become more apparent as the network expands.
While 100 users on previous quantum systems might cost in the region of 5 billion, Dr Joshi believes multiplexing could slash that to around 4.5 million, less than 1 per cent.
'With these economies of scale, the prospect of a quantum internet for universal usage is much less far-fetched,' said Dr Joshi.
'We have proved the concept and by further refining our multiplexing methods to optimise and share resources in the network, we could be looking at serving not just hundreds or thousands, but potentially millions of users in the not too distant future.'
The system has been detailed further in the journal Science Advances.
Chris & Amber Cruise at U of L Health, donating proceeds from the company's "One Heartbeat" bourbon barrel flag. America has shown up in a very big way. We have received an overwhelming amount of orders and have been able to sell a flag in every state, Chris Cruise said.
Cruise Customs Flags bourbon barrel flags are, once again, gaining national attention. Co-owners and husband and wife team, Chris and Amber Cruise, were interviewed live on Fox and Friends last week discussing their latest bourbon barrel flag project, America-One Heartbeat, a charitable endeavor they launched in March amid the healthy-at-home initiative implemented due to COVID-19.
The project was conceptualized as an instrument for supporting frontline healthcare workers during the global pandemic. The special edition, One Heartbeat flag has one stripe / bourbon barrel stave containing an etched heart rhythm just below the flags stars. The Shepherdsville-based company donated 100% of its One Heartbeat flag sales to the medical community.
America has shown up in a very big way. We have received an overwhelming amount of orders and have been able to sell a flag in every state, Chris told Fox and Friends while sitting beside Amber, both donning matching One Heartbeat shirts.
Over 5,000 flags were purchased in just 60 days allowing Cruise Customs Flags to donate $70,000, splitting the proceeds between two Louisville hospital systems, UofL Health and Norton Healthcare. Weve been able to do some amazing things with this money. Weve created zen rooms in the hospitals that are relaxation spaces where workers can go to get a mental break from this. Proceeds have also helped feed them during long shifts, Amber added. Thanks to the influx of One Heartbeat orders, Cruise has also been able to hire more employees--specifically veterans--not only providing monetary contributions to nearby hospitals, but also providing jobs to the local economy.
The Cruises, themselves, have served on the frontlines, albeit in different capacities. Chris is an Army veteran and Amber a healthcare worker, so they view this as a patriotic way to honor the brave people who comprise both of their fields.
This isnt Cruise Customs Flags first appearance on Fox. Their bourbon barrel flags were featured on Fox and Friends in July 2019 discussing the veteran-crafted flags on National Bourbon Day.
For their next charitable endeavor, Cruise Custom Flags is partnering with the Making Strides Campaign in preparation for Octobers Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They are donating 50% of their Breast Cancer Awareness Lieutenant flags proceeds to the American Cancer Society.
To support the causes while enhancing your space, visit https://cruisecustomsflags.com.
The middle of a pandemic has proved to contribute its unique challenges to the start of a school year. With a big spotlight on the spread of germs, Plainview Independent School District is discouraging students from sharing school supplies.
After learning that and reflecting on her experiences as a College Hill Elementary student more than two decades ago, Yvette Arellano, manager of Easy Stop Storage in Plainview, decided the supplies collected by the branch she manages were meant for that school.
Macy Martinez, director of communications and marketing for Easy Stop Storage, said the company has about 20 locations which include a heavy presence in Texas and locations in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri and they all collected thousands of school supplies including pencils, backpacks and other items for donation. The drive was part of the companys most recent customer promotion. A donation toward the drive earned renters a discount. It was also open to the public.
Martinez said the supply drive is one of many different efforts by the company to give back to the communities it serves.
We help out where we can, she said.
The company has conducted food drives, fed families during the holidays, given to local schools and has conducted countless other community outreach efforts and promotions.
This school supply drive has been well-received by the companys team of managers, Martinez added.
For Plainviews manager, the necessity struck a chord. Arellano, who also manages Floydadas location, said she attended College Hill as a bilingual English as a Second Language (ESL) student back in the late 1990s. Her family didnt have much money, she said. So going back to school was always a expensive.
By conducting the drive and giving back to College Hill, Arellano said, she hopes to maybe ease that burden a bit for some of the families who may be experiencing the same.
According to New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt, Vice President Mike Pence was put on standby to temporarily assume the powers of the Presidency during President Donald Trump's unannounced visit to Walter Reed hospital in November 2019.
Suspected health issue
President Trump had undergone a quick exam and a series of laboratories as part of his annual physical, according to the White House. The Trump administration had let the President do his check-up in preparation for a "very busy 2020."
Schmidt wrote that he learned that hours before President Trump went to Walter Reed hospital, word went out in the West Wing for the vice president to be on standby to take over the powers of the Presidency temporarily if Trump had to undergo a procedure that would have required him to be anesthetized.
On September 1, Vice President Mike Pence disputed that he had been placed on standby during the visit. He told Fox News' Bret Baier that he is always informed of President Trump's movements, whether it was on the day of his annual check-up or any other day. He added that there was nothing out of the ordinary about that day.
Also Read: US Marshals Rescue 39 Endangered Children in Georgia and Busted a Sex Trafficking Ring
When asked on whether he had been placed on standby, Vice President Pence said that he does not recall being told to be on standby. He said he was informed that the President had a doctor's appointment and that a part of his job is that he will always be on standby since he is the vice president of the United States.
While Pence did not assume the powers of the Presidency, the account raises questions about the reason for President Trump's unscheduled visit.
President Trump's visit did not follow the protocol of a routine presidential medical exam. Medical staff at the hospital did not get a staff-wide notice about a presidential visit to the medical center in Maryland, ahead of the President's arrival.
Typically, the medical staff in Walter Reed hospital would get a general notice about a "VIP" visit to the medical center ahead of a presidential arrival, notifying them of certain closures at the facility.
But that did not happen when President Trump visited the facility, indicating that it is a non-routine visit, and it was scheduled at the last minute.
A source told CNN that it was possible for a small group of doctors to have been involved in President Trump's medical exams and that they were notified before the President's visit.
However, it still does not explain why the medical staff at the hospital was not aware of Trump's visit when they should have been.
White House's response
Following the report that Pence was asked to be on standby, President Trump clarified on Twitter that he did not experience "mini-strokes" last year, contrary to the rumors circulating online.
President Trump's physician Dr. Sean Conley said in a statement that the President has not experienced nor been evaluated for any strokes, mini-strokes, or cardiovascular emergencies, as reported by The Washington Post.
Conley said that the President remains healthy and that he has no concerns about Trump's ability to maintain the rigorous schedule ahead of him. He added that according to his report, Trump is expected to remain fit to execute the duties of the Presidency.
Related Article: President Trump Scheduled to Visit Kenosha, Where Jacob Blake Was Shot, Amid Unrest
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Donald Trump at the White House briefing room podium - Al Drago/Bloomberg
Donald Trump will have known that the Kyle Rittenhouse case was likely to come up when he scheduled a White House briefing on Monday afternoon and went hard on his presidential rival Joe Bidens stance on law and order.
The story of a 17-year-old who went onto the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, to keep the peace but ended up accused of killing two protesters and injuring a third has dominated the US headlines since it happened last week.
Which makes the US presidents response when asked if he condemned the actions of Mr Rittenhouse and other vigilantes all the more telling - he declined to say yes, instead mounting a defence for the accuseds behaviour.
The remarks reflect not just the fractured debate about anti-racism protests and episodes of violence seen this year in America but also how, with two months to go, Mr Trump sees a message that could help win him re-election.
Firstly, the complexities of the incident must be untangled. Numerous pieces of footage have surfaced which show snippets of what happened that night, videos which are sure to form a central part of the court battle to come.
In one, Mr Rittenhouse is running, apparently being chased, before turning and shooting. In another he trips and is kicked and hit by a skateboard when down, after which he shoots multiple times again.
The videos have led some on Right to argue that Mr Rittenhouse was acting in self-defence, a message Mr Trump echoed as he outlined his own view on the case from the White House briefing room podium.
You saw the same tape as I saw and he was trying to get away from them, I guess, looks like. And he fell and then they very violently attacked him, the president said. He added later he probably would have been killed.
He did not voice a message others have delivered - that a 17-year-old boy should never have gone out onto the streets with a rifle to try to police the situation himself.
Mr Biden was among those who criticised the president's remarks. But to fully understand the stance, the wider picture must be viewed.
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The country has seen a huge anti-racism protest movement erupt after the shocking death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer pinned him to the ground with a knee on his neck.
The protest spread from Minneapolis, Mr Floyd's hometown, in May to cities across the country and then worldwide. The movement is multifaceted. The majority of demonstrations have been peaceful. But in places they have resulted in violence, rioting and looting.
In even fewer places, there have been long-running clashes between some demonstrators and law enforcement, such as in Portland, Oregon, where for three months there have been regular scenes of violence.
Mr Trump has firmly sided with law enforcement, framing Mr Biden as too weak on rioters and looters and himself as the only man who can keep Americas streets safe - a message undermined by the fact the current violence is happening on his watch.
He has done so by pushing two slogans synonymous with former US president Richard Nixon - law and order and silent majority.
Mr Nixon won the US election in 1968, the year which saw the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King - triggering widespread race riots - and Democrat presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy, by vowing law and order.
Mr Trump is trying the same playbook. He hopes that with scenes of violence playing out in US cities - Democrat-run cities as the president now refers to them on account of their mayors - the voters will back the candidate seen as best placed to end it.
By declining to criticise Mr Rittenhouse, who reportedly attended at least one Trump rally, and other militiamen taking to the streets during anti-racism protests the US president is - however controversially - seen to be standing against the rioters.
Mr Biden has accused the president of expediency, saying he looks at this violence and sees a political lifeline. Mr Trump still trails in the polls, given coronavirus and the recession, though the gap is narrowing. Could a focus on riots change the president's fortunes?
Something Mr Biden did on Monday suggests so. He came out hard against the rioters, decrying their "lawlessness" and calling for prosecutions. It was a tacit acknowledgement that the president's law and order rhetoric was cutting through.
Victoria has recorded another 113 COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths following five days of double figures.
The jump in infections comes as leaked top secret documents revealed Melbourne's strict lockdown and curfew could be set to continue for another two weeks.
According to the road map, residents will be given the luxury of two hours of exercise a day, which can be split into two sessions, from September 14 - the official date the city's Stage Four comes to an end.
Single people and single parents would also be given the right to have a nominated visitor at their home.
However, the Victorian government has claimed the leaked map is 'out of date'.
Victoria has recorded 113 new COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths on Thursday
The coronavirus-riddled state recorded just 90 cases on Wednesday followed by 70 infections on Tuesday and 73 on Monday.
Victoria's death toll now sits at 591.
Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to give more details on the new infections later on Thursday morning.
According to the leaked government report, which was obtained by the Herald Sun, there are bigger changes coming from September 28, including the curfew being lifted and increased social gatherings.
The report stated that from September 28, up to five people, including children, from up to two households will be allowed to meet outdoors for social interaction.
Outdoor personal training would be allowed for up to two people per trainer and outdoor pools will open for exercise for up to 20 people at a time.
The documents claim that to move to Stage Two, the state must record a daily average of fewer than five new cases over a two week period.
Top secret draft documents for the city's exit road map have revealed the government's plan to extend the 8pm-5am curfew and keep restrictions on businesses for an additional two weeks
A girl wearing a face mask is seen walking through the grounds of the MCG on Wednesday
Many Melburnians have become fed up with the strict lockdown and have since retaliated against police.
In Dandenong, in the city's south-east, residents have organised to go for their one hour of daily exercise together at the same time - prompting a swarm of police officers.
Some residents were seen running through the streets on Sunday, damaging property and even lighting flares as they called for an end to the lockdown.
Three men aged 17, 18, and 22, were arrested and given infringements.
An anti-lockdown protest has also been planned for this Saturday afternoon in Melbourne's CBD.
Police have warned any attendees they may be fined or arrested.
More than $2.9million in fines have been given out within the last month for residents breaking curfew.
The Government: a thought-provoking read that tackles the reasons why the world is how it is now and why making the right choices in life is essential to oneself and to the greater good of many. The Government is the creation of published author Shaquonda Carter, a native of Pensacola, Florida. She volunteers her time by fellowshipping and worshipping with the people of God in effort of encouraging and inspiring others that transformation is possible with God.
Carter shares, You can obtain a life of purpose and clarity by making a decision. That decision will create a pathway to determine if you will live soberly or impaired.
As Im evolving in life, I have come to realize that my life is in the shape, it is in because of my decisionthe decision I make during the challenging times and the good times. And these decisions are derived on the information we compiled throughout our existence on Earth. This is a small perception, considering the condition of the world, but if we really examine our lives, we can come to the conclusion that we are more connected than apart, and everyone on the earth has a responsibility to make it a better place.
In The Government, I have discussed my thoughts on why the world is in the state of its condition and how we play a vital role in making the right choice not only for ourselves but also for those who are living in it as well.
Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Shaquonda Carters new book is a brilliant discussion that brings awareness and knowledge through ones perspective as it encourages readers to examine their life choices with wisdom and clarity.
View a synopsis of The Government on YouTube.
Consumers can purchase The Government at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.
For additional information or inquiries about The Government, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau website, census takers will ask a few questions and will enter the answers on their Census Bureau smartphone. If no one is home, they will leave a notice of their visit with information about how to respond online or by phone. If necessary, they will make additional visits to collect responses from the household.
This Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, satellite image released by NASA shows Typhoon Maysak over Japan's southernmost islands. The powerful typhoon was blowing over Japan's southernmost islands early Tuesday on course for Japan's main southern island and later the Korean Peninsula. EOSDIS via AP
Typhoon Maysak was barreling toward South Korea on Wednesday, putting the country on high alert over what was forecast to be one of the most powerful typhoons in years.
The typhoon was moving at 19 kph over seas some 190 kilometers south of Seogwipo in Jeju as of 3:00 p.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Its maximum wind speed was 45 meters per second.
Maysak was forecast to make landfall between Busan and Geoje at around 1:00 a.m. Thursday before moving northward to the country's eastern coastal regions. It was then expected to travel to North Korea before downgrading near the North's eastern city of Chongjin on Thursday night.
The agency said that Maysak may be more powerful than Typhoon Bavi that hit the country last week and was expected to follow a similar route as Typhoon Maemi, which left 131 people dead or missing and 4.2 trillion won (US$3.5 billion) in damage in 2003.
The weather agency forecast the typhoon would affect the country's southern and eastern coastal areas while pouring heavy rains and bringing strong winds in the inner land area as well.
Heavy rain was expected in the areas, with rain of more than 400 mm soaking Jeju and parts of the country's eastern coastal regions, such as Gangwon and North and South Gyeongsang provinces.
The weather agency also issued a heavy rain alert for all of Seoul Wednesday evening.
Maximum wind speed was forecast at up to 50 mps near Busan and maximum wind speed of 33 mps was predicted. A wind speed of 40 mps can topple big rocks and moving vehicles.
With the typhoon approaching the country, a typhoon warning has been issued for seas surrounding Jeju, the south coast, southern waters of the West Sea and the East Sea as well as parts of South Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces.
Strong winds measuring 28 mps hit areas in Jeju and the southern coastal region, with heavy rain accompanied by lightning and thunder observed in Gyeongsang.
Power was disrupted at more than 7,000 households in Jeju, as strong winds damaged power cables.
The warning was expected to be expanded across the country, including the greater Seoul area, on early Thursday.
More than 400 domestic flights, including 180 scheduled to depart from Jeju, have been canceled at airports across the country, according to Korea Airports Corp.
Thousands of ships in coastal areas have evacuated to port cities to brace against the storm. The coast guard has designated parts of seas south and east of the peninsula as danger zones and restricted ships from operating on affected routes.
Jeju's Cheonjin port was submerged in water while strong wind toppled a street tree, damaging cars parked nearby. Including this, a total of 52 instances of damage have been reported in the island.
Some education offices in affected areas advised schools to reschedule classes or run classes online due to safety concerns.
The regional governments of South Gyeongsang Province, Busan and Ulsan went into an emergency response mode, bracing for the arrival of the typhoon.
In addition to Maysak, the season's tenth typhoon, Haishen, was also moving northward from waters northwest of Guam at the speed of 22 kph. Via Japan, the typhoon is forecast to reach the South Gyeongsang Province next week.
Showers were expected across South Korea over the weekend due to the typhoon. (Yonhap)
United Airlines said Wednesday it plans to furlough 16,370 employees in October, a smaller number than the airline predicted in July because thousands of workers agreed to leave with the travel industry facing a slow recovery from the pandemic.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 2/9/2020 (505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
FILE - In this July 18, 2018, file photo a United Airlines commercial jet sits at a gate at Terminal C of Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J. United Airlines plans to furlough about 16,000 employees in October 2020 as air travel continues to be hammered by the pandemic. That's fewer furloughs than United predicted in July, when it warned 36,000 employees that they could lose their jobs. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
United Airlines said Wednesday it plans to furlough 16,370 employees in October, a smaller number than the airline predicted in July because thousands of workers agreed to leave with the travel industry facing a slow recovery from the pandemic.
Airline officials had outlined 36,000 potential furloughs in July. Since then, thousands of workers took early retirement, buyouts, or long-term leaves of absence.
United officials said the forced job cuts will begin Oct. 1, when a prohibition on furloughs ends. They said the furloughs would be postponed if Washington approves another $25 billion to help passenger airlines cover payroll costs.
Flight attendants will bear the brunt of the cuts, with 6,920 getting furlough notices. About 2,850 pilots, 2,260 airport-based employees, 2,010 maintenance workers and 1,400 management and support staff would also lose their jobs.
The figures do not include the 7,400 employees who took buyouts or early retirement. Up to 20,000 more accepted reduced work schedules or took voluntary leaves lasting up to 13 months.
Most union employees in the airline industry whose jobs are cut have rehiring rights management and administrative staff generally do not. United began the year with 96,000 employees, 84% of whom were represented by unions.
The flight attendants union said United's announcement understates the job losses. The union said more than 15,000 flight attendants will leave the United payroll unless Washington approves more payroll aid for airlines, and another 3,400 who stay to keep health insurance will get no guarantee of work or income.
Where will we go? The unemployment line, said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. The situation in the airline industry is not better than July when furlough notices went out. Its actually worse.
United officials said they were still discussing ways to limit pilot furloughs. Airlines are cautious about furloughing too many pilots because federal requirements for ongoing training mean it takes longer to bring them back.
United's disclosure comes after American Airlines said it expects to furlough or lay off 19,000 workers starting in October, and Delta has warned nearly 2,000 pilots that they could be furloughed.
Airlines don't need all their workers because air travel has plunged during the pandemic. Even with a modest recovery since April, U.S. air travel is down about 70% from a year ago, costing the airlines billions in revenue.
The airlines have cut schedules United's schedule this month is only 37% of its schedule in September 2019 slashed expenses and borrowed billions to survive the pandemic.
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Josh Earnest, a United senior vice-president, said the Chicago-based airline doesn't expect travel to return to normal until a vaccine for COVID-19 is widely available, and that the recovery is likely to be uneven. The airline expects to recall furloughed workers piecemeal, he indicated.
We don't have to snap everybody back at the same time, he told reporters. We can basically build our workforce as we need it and as our schedule grows and as demand recovers.
Airlines that accepted federal aid to cover payrolls have been barred from furloughing or laying off workers since March. United took $5 billion in payroll cash and loans. United and other airlines and their unions are lobbying for another round of payroll support that would run through next March, but the proposal is in limbo because of stalled negotiations between the White House and congressional Democrats over another large virus-relief measure.
President Donald Trump repeated Tuesday that his administration plans to help the airlines, but he didn't give any specifics.
___
David Koenig can be reached at www.twitter.com/airlinewriter
Berlin, Sep 2 : Visiting Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said that as two major independent forces in the world, China and Germany should strengthen strategic consultation, deepen strategic coordination and expand strategic cooperation, in a bid to take on three tasks.
Yi made the remarks during talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Chinese FM said the world is facing three major choices -- multilateralism or unilateralism, openness or closeness, cooperation or confrontation.
The first task, Yi said, is to strengthen global anti-epidemic cooperation and revive the world economy. At the time when the prevention and control of Covid-19 have become a regular practice, China is willing to work with Germany to expand the "express channel" for personnel exchanges, and strengthen cooperation in vaccine and medicine development, in a bid to take care of the health of the two peoples and make contributions to global public health security.
Yi said that China and Germany should advocate for global solidarity, support the World Health Organization and oppose wrong acts and words stigmatizing global anti-epidemic cooperation.
The two sides should also implement the consensus reached at the G20 summit to help Africa and other less-developed regions, in a bid to give more momentum to the world economy, Yi added.
The second task is to advance the China-European Union (EU) relations to a higher level, the Chinese FM said, adding that developing strategic partnerships with Germany and Europe is China's strategic choice rather than an expedient measure, without any influence from the third party.
As partners rather than rivals, China and the EU should accommodate and learn from each other to help stabilize the turbulent world, Yi said.
He hoped that Germany will play a constructive role in promoting China-EU mutual trust and cooperation during the current German rotating presidency of the EU Council.
For his part, Maas said that Germany highly values Germany-China relations and EU-China relations, and further developing relations with China is a key target of Germany as the current EU Council rotating president, adding that Germany will work with China to promote the success of the important EU-China political agenda in the next phase.
"Decoupling" is not in the interest of any party, said Maas, adding that China is a major country with great influence, so that it is impossible to find lasting solutions without China's participation in dealing with major international issues such as tackling climate change.
There isn't a third person in our marriage but there is a rival. My husband is passionate about a family-run fasting clinic in Uberlingen, overlooking Lake Constance, Germany.
He goes alone twice a year and was there at the beginning of lockdown. He happily remained there for six weeks unable to get home.
Buchinger Wilhelmi was founded 70 years ago by Otto Buchinger, a medical officer in the navy who cured himself of paralysis caused by rheumatic fever by fasting for 19 days in 1918.
Now one of the world's leading therapeutic fasting centres, Buchinger is run by Otto's great-grandson Leonard Wilhelmi. The German government demanded that the clinic remain open during lockdown, to be available for Covid patients. But after Easter, having taken the requisite health and hygiene precautions, they encouraged guests. They are currently full with "a completely different clientele", according to owner, Raimund Wilhelmi (Otto's grandson). "Normally, two thirds of our guests are repeat guests.
Now, 50pc have come for the first time and they are much younger. People are waking up to a new awareness about health as Covid affects everybody." His son Leonard adds: "The main causes in violent reactions to Covid are diabetes, high blood pressure and being overweight.
We have been treating these conditions for decades and our goal is now to equip people with a better immune system." The minute my husband heard about their new immune-boosting programme, he signed us up for two weeks' "holiday" in August.
This was an extravagance at a cost of more than 2,000 a person. After an hour in this sleek minimalist medical centre, my 16-year-old daughter burst into tears. All her "boarding-school issues" were ignited.
My inner rebel similarly baulked at the first 24 hours that we had to spend eating in our rooms, until the results of our Covid tests, taken on arrival, came through. (Thankfully they were negative or we would have been quarantined in our rooms for our entire stay.) Thank goodness the clinic does not advise couples share rooms - 80pc of guests go alone - so we each had our own room.
As Andrew was doing the full 10-day fast of 250 liquid calories a day, which I couldn't stomach (I was on 800 solid calories a day and Daisy, 1,800), a shared room would have destroyed our marriage.
Not because Andrew had an enema on the bed every other day but because his preternatural joy freaked us out.
Until we were fully institutionalised the stricture wore us out. Every morning at 7am, you visit the nurse who weighs you, takes your temperature and your blood pressure.
Mornings are spent exercising - there are daily two-hour organised hikes and a schedule of excellent exercise classes. Every morning, I swam in Lake Constance, which saved my sanity. Lunch - divine organic vegetarian food, which is frankly ingenious as 800 calories seems abundant - is at midday. Then at 1pm, the entire clinic goes to bed for a hot liver compress.
There is a collective sepulchral calm as a nurse enters your room to place a warm flannel and hot water bottle on your abdomen. You are swaddled in a thin sheet and tucked into bed. Bliss. As the liver and gall bladder busy themselves detoxifying, you sink into a grateful sleep. An hour later, a nurse brings you a pot of apple tea. Then more exercise.
Supper is at 6.30pm, then it's early to bed. I marvelled at how long and how well I slept, averaging at least 10 hours a night. A panoply of blood tests on arrival, included in the package, revealed that my main problem was vitamin D deficiency. A good level is 60, mine was 27.
Vitamin D was prescribed and if I had needed them, vitamin infusions of B and C would have been recommended, too. The medical care here is outstanding. A lung scan was also on offer at a superior local clinic if necessary for pesky Covid symptoms. Dr Francoise Wilhelmi de Toledo, the scientific director, explained the benefits of fasting; both full fast and intermittent fasting - where you go from 12 to 16 hours without eating. "When you fast, all your digestive processes are in rest.
Without needing the energy to digest, all stresses are diminished and you actually need less immunity. During this time, you change your microbiome. You stimulate the lungs, skin, kidneys, liver and the system itself triggers autophagy; an extraordinary capacity of the body to eliminate damaged cellular structures. When you fast, you activate stem cells to rejuvenate immune cells."
On a full fast, it is important that food is carefully reintroduced. The clinic insists that you stay for three days after fasting ends for "regeneration" so you don't start overworking your body too early. On departure, I had lost 2.5kg, 3cm from my waist and reduced my BMI from 23.5 to 22.7.
My daughter's teenage spots cleared up and my husband lost 7kg. It wasn't exactly a holiday - at varying times we all felt extreme anger, sadness and, thankfully, side-splitting hilarity.
Emotional detox is real. But we returned home on a health high. My biggest shift is that I no longer fear hunger. Dr Francoise recommends waiting an hour when you feel hungry, which I now do. This has sustained my weight loss. My husband was right - the investment into our health has paid off.
Perhaps it was bovine inspiration.
Whatever the reason, Pam Martin of Jacksonville now can add the title winning butter cow creator alongside executive director of the Passavant Foundation.
The butter cow is a staple of many Midwest state fairs and the unofficial mascot of the Illinois State Fair since the 1920s. But with the pandemic shutdown of this years event, many fair-goers were left udderly disappointed.
Puns? Oh, there are plenty to come.
My family always went to the Illinois State Fair. Ive gone every year until now, Martin said. I really missed going to the fair and seeing the butter cow in the dairy building. Friends seem to have enjoyed remembering their own trips to the fair.
Illinois Times latched onto the idea of having a contest in which people made their own butter cow and submitted photos for votes.
'In the Quest for Butter' Kevin Eckhoff created a short film, "In the Quest for Butter," that has drawn more than 1,500 views to Pam Martin's Facebook page. See More Collapse
Given that last years fair creation used about 600 pounds of butter, the publication decided to scale things down a bit and added the word miniature to the competition.
The idea was solidified.
Martin recalled seeing a photo of former Gov. Jim Thompson taking a ride down the mainstay big slide to open the fair and decided to have her creation doing the same.
Governor Thompson loved the Illinois State Fair and the big slide, she explained. With the recent passing of Gov. Thompson, it also seemed perfect to honor the governor since he loved the state fair.
Armed with a few pounds of butter and plenty of cow puns #udderlyrediculous and #hoofinghilarious helped draw in the social media crowds Martin sketched out a design and then started carving away.
It wasnt as easy as it might seem.
Butter is amazingly hard to carve. I have a new appreciation for the professional artists who make the life-size cow, she said. I quickly determined it would be too hard to make the cow look real, so I went with a cartoon look.
Soon, Bovine on the Big Slide was born.
Technique? Thanks for thinking there was some involved, she told judges. Mostly in and out of refrigerator, made in stages by trial and error.
She submitted photos of the creation and found herself in the company of dozens of others with their own pet projects. There were three age groups and one category for out-of-state artists.
Martin took to social media and worked the crowds at meetings and the votes started rolling in. Co-workers joined in the fun, with Passavant Area Hospital communications coordinator Kevin Eckhoff even coming up with a short film, In the Quest for Butter, that has drawn more than 1,500 views to Martins Facebook page.
She found out Monday afternoon that she had won.
While a nice end to the story, Martin said she was most mooved by the smiles it brought to acquaintances.
The butter jokes have also made people laugh, she said. Its been silly fun and a nice diversion from concerns of the world.
In addition to the fame that accompanies being an official winner, Martin will receive a $75 prize.
She has pledged to use the money to make 11 more silly cow sculptures for what else? a cowlendar.
The High Court has granted Jacob Ngarivhume $50,000 bail following his arrest in July for organizing a nationwide protest over corruption and the deteriorating economic situation in Zimbabwe.
Justice Siyabona Musitu granted the Transform Zimbabwe leader the bail on condition that he does not use Twitter until his case is finalized, should surrender his passport to the court and report to the police three times a week.
Ngarivhume was denied bail three times together with freelance journalist, Hopewell Chinono, who also detained at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, was granted $10,000 bail by a Harare court.
Ngarivhume and Chinono are facing charges of inciting violence.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 2) A House of Representatives panel has approved tax breaks for foreign investors in the bill that would create an economic zone around San Miguel Corporations Bulacan airport.
House Ways and Means Committee members voted in favor of the tax provisions under the proposed Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Act.
This came after the House Economic Affairs Committee led by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda approved the House Bill 7483 itself on Tuesday morning.
READ: House panel approves bill creating economic zone around SMCs Bulacan airport
The bill gives incentives such as tax and duty-free importation of raw materials, capital and equipment to registered enterprises inside the proposed Bulacan ecozone.
Companies are also entitled to existing fiscal incentives granted under the Omnibus Investments Code of 1987, such as tax holidays and tax credits.
The ecozone will complement SMCs soon-to-rise New Manila International Airport in the town of Bulakan in Bulacan province, just north of Metro Manila.
SMCs 735.6-billion masterpiece, also dubbed as a game changer, is seen to boost economic growth and ease traffic at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The lawmakers also approved on second reading Tuesday evening HB 7507 granting San Miguel the franchise for the construction and operation of the airport.
READ: House OKs franchise for SMCs Bulacan airport project on 2nd reading
Salceda, explaining the approval of the proposed bills, said the airport and the ecozone are a "package deal" that will attract more foreign investors to the country.
The planned airport, which can accommodate six runways, will cover a land area of 2,500 hectares, bigger than the size of Makati City or Mandaluyong City.
Once you have a new big airport that is the gateway to the Philippines then like even I think, for example, mga other industries that fly-in, fly-out for hours could certainly locate there and they could take advantage of [the new facility], the committee chair said during the hearing.
SMC Holdings operations head Engr. Edgar Dona also told the committee that the area can be extended twice to cover all airport-related activities.
Dona was citing the 50-year concession agreement between Department of Transportation and SMC representatives signed in 2019.
SMC will undertake the financing, design, construction, supply, completion, testing, commissioning, and operation and maintenance of the airport for half a century.
But of course the final metes and bounds will be determined by the granting agency, the DOTr, as we finally submit the airport plan, Dona told the solons.
The countrys top diversified conglomerate earlier said the huge airport can handle up to 100 million passengers from around the world once its fully operational.
Because as you very well know, if its an ecozone, many of the products that have been produced there will be exported to other countries. And within the airport area, definitely cost and logistics will be reduced, DOTr Undersecretary for Planning and Project Development Ruben Reinoso Jr. said when asked by Salceda.
County Mayor Jim Coppinger said Wednesday that the mask mandate is not a political issue.
He told members of the County Commission, "This has nothing to do with peoples' liberties. Everyone who tries to make it a political issue is just plain wrong.
"I hope we never let politics get in the way of the health and safety of the people we represent."
He said, "Nobody is going to be put in jail" for not wearing a mask.
The county mayor said masks are not a guarantee of not getting the COVID-19, but they "not only protect you, they protect others against you."
He stated, "Wearing a mask and social distancing give you a better chance" of not coming down with the sometimes-fatal virus.
He acknowledged that August was the deadliest month yet in Hamilton County in COVID cases, but he said "the numbers are trending down."
County Mayor Coppinger said a lawsuit was filed against a local business for violating the mask mandate put down July 10 because he said after some six visits and a phone call "the company said, 'We're not going to comply.' "
He said other local businesses went along with the requirement after discussions with health officials.
The county mayor said most business owners reported that their customers felt safer with everyone wearing masks.
County Mayor Coppinger said a friend to him and other county officials is in the hospital now battling for his life with the coronavirus. He said the man's family said he believed strongly in wearing a mask and was bothered when others did not. He said the man's family does not know where he picked up the virus.
Vodafone Idea (Representative Image)
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The board of Vodafone Idea will meet on September 4 to discuss fund raising proposals, as it struggles to keep its business alive in India.
The board will assess capital raising measures such as public issue, preferential allotment, private placement, including a qualified institutions placement, by way of issuing equity shares of other instruments.
In a statement to the BSE, Vodafone Idea said the board will "consider and evaluate any and all proposals for raising of funds in one or more tranches by way of a public issue, preferential allotment, private placement, including a qualified institutions placement or through any other permissible mode and/or combination thereof as may be considered appropriate, by way of issue of equity shares or by way of issue of any instruments or securities".
Also Read: AGR case verdict | Here's what Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Tata will pay after Supreme Court order
On September 1, the Supreme Court allowed telecom players a 10-year timeline to pay adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. The apex court also asked the companies to make an upfront payment of 10 percent of the outstanding amount.
According to an assessment by the Department of Telecommunications, (DoT), Vodafone Idea owed Rs 58,254 crore. The telecom major owes balance AGR-related dues of around Rs 50,399 crore, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said on July 20.
On September 1, Vodafone Idea said it would sell its 11.15 percent stake in Indus Towers to Bharti Infratel for slightly over Rs 4,000 crore.
President Donald Trump touched down in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday looking to make a point: The world falls apart without him. Whether the point is accurate or true or helpful or even worthwhile doesnt matter to Trump 62 days out from Election Day and down double digits in the polls. Trumps visit was always 100 percent about him; the people, the city they live in, and the state that encircles them are props of convenience for Trump to remind voters: I told you so. It makes sense then that the White House was soliciting small-business owners to join the president on a wreckage tour of shops that were looted and destroyed. Thats a theme that will play for the president. But when the owner of Rodes Camera Shop, which was looted and burned in the unrest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, declined to join the spectaclethe White House shrugged and just trotted out the stores former owner to make the point they were going to make anyway.
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John Rode III, owner of Rodes Camera Shop, Trump said by way of introducing Rode during a roundtable discussion Tuesday afternoon. That certainly sounds right, but eight years ago John Rode III sold the store owned and operated by his family for more than a century to longtime employees Tom Gram, who stuck around after getting a summer job at the store four decades ago, and Paul Willette, who spent more than a decade working at Rodes before becoming a co-owner. I think everything he does turns into a circus and I just didnt want to be involved in it, Gram said of refusing the White House offer. John Rode III still owns the building that was destroyed, but that doesnt resonate the same way as losing your own business, your own livelihood, does, so Trump just elided that part.
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I just appreciate President Trump coming today. Everybody here does, Rode said, standing outside the store that wasnt his anymore. Were so thankful that we got the federal troops in to help because once they got here, things did calm down quite a bit.
Unfortunately, they had a few days when people wouldnt call us, Trump said. They just dont want us to come in, and then destruction is done. A day earlier, we wouldve saved your store. Absolutely, Rode replied. One day earlier, Trump said. One day earlier, Rode replied.
The Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) on Wednesday adjusted the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, twice within a few hours.
The new price of N147.67. was made public shortly after the PPMC announced an initial increment to N151.56 per litre from the erstwhile price of N138.62 per litre.
The PPMC is a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and currently imports almost all of Nigerias petrol.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how details of internal memo made available to marketers and other stakeholders showed that the new directive becomes effective September 2.
The ex-depot price is the price at which the product is sold to marketers at the depots.
The memo was signed by D.O Abalaka, the depot manager.
Please be informed that a new product price adjustment has been effected on our payment platform, the memo said.
To this end, the price of Premium Motor Spirit is now one hundred and fifty one naira, fifty-six kobo (N151.56) per litre.
Lamenting the increase in an earlier interview with PREMIUM TIMES, a depot owner said that his depot would not sell for less than N155.60 to marketers and other filling stations.
To buy each litre, you pay draft of N2 on each litre, you pay union dues, and of course you have to make a profit, the depot owner said on Wednesday, asking not to be named as he had no permission of his union to speak to journalists.
Most depot owners and major marketers buy the petrol directly from the PPMC, store in their own depot and then sell to other marketers and filling station owners from whom Nigerians buy.
After our earlier report and the depot owners comment, the PPMC announced the new ex-depot price of N147.67.
With the latest increment, Nigerians should thus be expecting a petrol price of about N156 per litre at filling stations, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
The Review
The latest price was contained in a separate memo by the PPMC.
In the memo signed by Onya Schola, the PPMC said it has reviewed the price to N147.67.
It added that for automotive gas oil (AGO), also known as diesel, the ex-Lagos PDO was put at N165 while for those operating in transfer points like Oghara, Calabar, Portharcourt and others, the price was put at N160.
The reviewed prices become effective September 2, the memo said.
The Nigerian government, through the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Authority (PPPRA) recently announced a deregulation policy wherein the NNPC would no longer subsidize petrol for Nigerians but the PPPRA would still determine the sale price based on market forces.
Since the start of the new deregulation police, before last month, the PPPRA would release a price range that marketers could sell the product for. However, no such rangr has been published for September.
The hotel industry and its employees are in big trouble.
Four of 10 hotel workers still are out of work, the American Hotel & Lodging Association reports. Two-thirds of hotels are operating at less than 50 percent capacity, far below what is necessary to pay their banks and investors back.
Texas is especially suffering, with a 64 percent drop in revenues during the second quarter of 2020, according to my colleague Randy Diamond. The occupancy rate in San Antonio was 31.6 percent, while Houston managed 36.8 percent, hospitality consultancy Source Strategies calculated.
This is the biggest revenue drop we have ever seen, more than three times what we saw at the worst part of the Great Recession in 2009, said Paul Vaughn, senior vice president of Source Strategies.
TOMLINSONS TAKE: Vigilance required to keep COVID cases going down and economy going up
Labor Day offers no respite. Only 16 percent of Americans say they will travel this long weekend, and only 14 percent of hotel rooms are booked, the American Hotel & Lodging Association found.
Conditions are unlikely to improve until there is a coronavirus vaccine. Only 38 percent of Americans plan any overnight travel before the end of the year, an association poll found.
We are incredibly worried about the fall and what the drop in demand will mean for the industry and the millions of employees we have been unable to bring back, association president Chip Rogers said. The job loss will be devastating to our industry, our communities and the overall American economy.
Empty beds lead to empty tables. The National Restaurant Association says the industry lost $131 billion between March and June. A brief comeback in May and June was quashed when COVID-19 cases spiked in July, leading people to stay home.
The same dynamic is triggering airline layoffs. Federal assistance required companies to keep employees on the payroll until October, but with travel showing no sign of recovery, jobs soon will disappear.
American Airlines has released a plan to furlough 17,500 workers and layoff 1,500. United is considering 36,000 layoffs; Spirit could let go another 3,000. Delta will eliminate 2,000 jobs in addition to 17,000 early retirements. Southwest has negotiated extended time off or early retirement with 17,000 employees.
The shockwaves reverberate down supply chains. Boeing negotiated voluntary buyouts with 7,000 workers in May and started a second-round of buyouts last month. Slower assembly lines in the Seattle area will mean job losses at Boeings suppliers across the country.
Keep these trends in mind when the Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report comes out Friday. Analysts think the United States probably added 1 million jobs in August, but that does not constitute an economic recovery.
A million Americans made first-time claims for unemployment insurance just two weeks ago, the Labor Department reported. More than 14 million still are receiving benefits. The Coronavirus Recession is still ruining lives.
Congress returns next week, and the immediate question is whether House Democrats and President Donald Trump will negotiate additional economic aid or let the chips fall where they may.
Trump may pretend the pandemic has passed and urge people to resume work, studies and travel. And local leaders could lift limits on hotel and restaurant occupancy and reschedule conventions and festivals. But that does not mean people will show up.
TOMLINSONS TAKE: 5 months of COVID failure with 10 months to go
Most Americans remain worried about catching the virus and are staying home, avoiding enclosed public spaces and practicing good hygiene. We are limiting our time in the grocery store and only meeting small groups of people outdoors at a distance. Few are in the mood to party.
The coronavirus has sickened more than 6 million Americans and killed 180,000. A new series from the Wall Street Journal reveals how playing politics worsened the toll not just one partys politics, but a slew of shortsighted decisions made over decades.
Consumers are not going to pick up the slack, which leaves policymakers to decide what happens next. Trump and Congress either can hammer out a new aid package to help the unemployed buy food and pay rent, or they can politicize the crisis ahead of the election and continue making poor decisions.
Ive said before that we must do better, and in this case, I mean better politics. COVID-19 is killing our friends and family because we are too busy getting angry at our neighbors over political affiliations.
Americans should not forget this is a democracy and we are in charge. Do not allow politicians to manipulate you by stoking the anger and fear that favors them. We should be demanding unity and resolve and firing those who put party over country.
Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and policy.
twitter.com/cltomlinson
chris.tomlinson@chron.com
Holidaymakers are braced for new travel restrictions as Greece and Portugal could become the latest countries to be added to the UK-wide quarantine list.
Pressure is mounting on England to consider imposing quarantine rules on travellers arriving from Greece amid reports of people returning with coronavirus.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a decision on whether to impose restrictions on the countries would be announced on Friday.
Rising Covid cases prompted the Scottish Government to announce travellers from Greece would have to self-isolate for 14 days from Thursday, while Wales began asking arrivals from the island of Zante to enter quarantine.
The UKs biggest tour operator Tui has suspended its holidays to the resort of Laganas on Zante.
But Greece has insisted it is doing everything in our power to keep UK holidaymakers safe.
It comes as rising cases in Portugal were prompting many UK tourists to pay hundreds of pounds to fly home before Saturday.
In recent weeks, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced changes to its quarantine exemption list on Thursday nights, with the new rules being imposed on Saturdays at 4am.
In Portugal, the seven-day coronavirus cases rate is 22.7, compared with 14.2 for the previous week.
A seven-day rate of 20 is the threshold above which the UK Government has considered triggering quarantine conditions.
There were 14.3 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Greece in the seven days to September 1, up from 14.1 a week earlier and a similar rate to the UK.
(PA Graphics)
In Buckinghamshire, two groups of people have tested positive for coronavirus after returning from abroad including a group of teenagers from the Marlow area who are reported to have been on a trip to Zante.
Buckinghamshire Council said some of them were pupils at Sir William Borlases Grammar School and all the affected households were self-isolating.
Tour operator Tui also said it was aware of a small number of positive Covid-19 test results following a flight from Heraklion in Crete to London Stansted on August 27.
Story continues
One passenger on the flight, who had been contacted by NHS Test and Trace and asked to self-isolate, complained that hardly anyone on the flight had been wearing a mask.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told the PA news agency: Our flight was hideous, hardly anyone wore a mask and the crew didnt do anything about it.
A passenger arriving at Heathrow Airport after new quarantine measures were announced earlier this year (Steve Parsons/PA)
We raised the issue twice with the cabin crew who still didnt enforce it.
My family is okay but we are having to self-isolate.
Im so sad for my son because he has to miss his first week back at school.
A Tui spokeswoman added: We can confirm that no guests tested positive for Covid-19 in our hotels and no symptoms were displayed before or during the flight home by any of the customers.
It came after Public Health Wales confirmed at least 16 cases of Covid-19 from three different parties who were on Tui flight 6215 from Zante to Cardiff on August 25.
One traveller claimed that the flight was full of selfish covidiots, with passengers not wearing their masks properly and disregarding the rules.
(PA Graphics)
In a statement, Tui said that cabin crew and other passengers confirmed there were multiple warnings about wearing face masks on the flight.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that officials had not notified Wizz Airline that eight passengers on a flight back from Crete had tested positive for coronavirus.
The teenagers, from Hampshire, were diagnosed after returning to London Luton airport on 25 August, it said.
But the Department of Health and Social Care said that it had taken action to advise the necessary people to self-isolate and its contact tracing team had been in touch with Wizz Air.
"It has been a pleasure to work with Armando for his tenure with us," said Paul Clark, President & CEO. "He has been a complete asset to our organization and to our clients fulfilling the role of practice leader. He is leaving large shoes to fill and he will be missed."
Clark and Lavey Benefits Solutions, Inc. announces the retirement of their Vice President of Human Resources and Practice Leader, Armando Llorente, after many years of valued service. Armando has been an integral leader at Clark and Lavey Benefits Solutions since 2011 and has built close, meaningful relationships with several clients. His last day will be on August 7, 2020.
Clark & Lavey is also proud to introduce Jennifer Hayes as their new Human Resources Practice Leader. Jennifer brings 18 years of hands-on experience with organizations such as Enterprise Ireland assisting members in developing, designing, and growing businesses in the United States and abroad. As a certified NLP instructor, Jennifer incorporates this method of learning into both her content and delivery of trainings. Given Jennifers proven track record in human resources, Clark and Lavey is excited to evolve their firm to continue to provide first-class service for their clients. Stacy Barrow from Marathas Barrow Weatherhead Lent LLP will continue to work with Clark & Lavey as their legal partner, and in conjunction with their Human Resources department as needed.
Paul Clark, President & CEO, and Laura Bennett, CFO, both agree that Armando announcing his retirement was sad news for Clark & Lavey, but that everyone is happy for him. "It has been a pleasure to work with Armando for his tenure with us. He has been a complete asset to our organization and to our clients fulfilling the role of practice leader. Armando has always been ready to assist with any HR needs our clients have, everything from day to day issues to providing training courses geared toward a specific client based on their company size and needs. He is leaving large shoes to fill and he will be missed."
About Clark and Lavey Benefit Solutions, Inc.
Headquartered in Merrimack, NH, Clark & Lavey Benefits Solutions, Inc. is an innovative market leader providing employee health benefits to companies, organizations, and associations in fully-insured, self-insured and group medical captive scenarios. Clark & Lavey also provides live seminars, webinars, and HR consulting services that address all aspects of employee benefits and corporate governance.
Contact them at 603.883.3773 or https://www.clarklavey.com.
Nineteen-year-old Florida woman Madison Ann Bryant urinated in front of a sheriff's office squad car and offered oral sex to an officer to get her confiscated Juul e-cigarette back on Sunday, authorities say
A 19-year-old Florida woman urinated in front of a police car and offered oral sex to an officer to get her confiscated Juul e-cigarette back, authorities say.
Madison Ann Bryant was charged on Sunday with disorderly intoxication, a misdemeanor and offering a bribe to a public servant, a felony, according to The Smoking Gun.
Sheriff's deputies found Bryant around 2.20am sitting on the median of the US 27 highway in Leesburg, a city 45 miles from Orlando.
Bryant said she exited a nearby truck after getting into a fight with the driver, her boyfriend, about 'their relationship issues.'
Deputies spoke with her boyfriend, 22, who smelled of alcohol and he was arrested for drunk driving.
They had been at a party earlier and left because they were arguing.
Bryant 'appeared to be heavily intoxicated' and 'spoke of many topics that did not make much sense', the arrest report said. She did not initially face arrest.
As she waited with deputies for a ride home she said she 'needed to use the bathroom and wished to go on the side of the road,' according to the arrest affidavit.
A deputy offered to drive her to a gas station to use the restroom.
Instead Bryant 'pulled her pants down and urinated directly in front of' the squad car, holding onto the vehicles push bar as traffic passed by.
Cops found her sitting on the median of the US 27 highway in Leesburg, Florida (above)
While on the way to the county jail, Bryant repeatedly asked a sheriffs deputy to give back her Juul vaping device, which had been confiscated by officers and offered oral sex in exchange for the Juul, according to the arrest report. File image above
When she pulled her pants back up she was arrested for disorderly intoxication.
While on the way to the county jail, Bryant repeatedly asked a sheriffs deputy to give back her Juul vaping device, which had been confiscated by officers.
She insisted she needed the Juul 'for anxiety'.
'Madison asked me if I was married and had children,' a deputy said in the report.
When he responded Bryant 'stated that she was not trying to "f**k that up" and that she would "suck my d**k" if I gave her her Juul.'
The officer did not reply to Bryant.
Bryant, who was listed as working in real estate in her arrest paperwork, was released from the Lake County jail after posting $3,000 bond.
Her arraignment is set for September 29.
Qantas Airways announced plans to cut up to 2,500 more jobs by outsourcing its Australian ground handling operations to lower costs as it braces for a A$10 billion ($7.17 billion) revenue hit due to the pandemic this financial year.
The job cuts flagged on Tuesday are on top of 6,000 across its workforce announced in June, which would take the total job losses to nearly 30% of its pre-pandemic staffing.
Qantas' head of domestic operations Andrew David said outsourcing ground handling jobs at the country's biggest
airports would save an estimated A$100 million each year in operating costs.
"It would match our ground handling services with fluctuating levels of demand," David told reporters at a briefing. "We know an external party can turn our aircraft at 40% lower cost than we can using our resources."
It would also allow the airline to avoid investing A$100 million in equipment like tugs and bag loaders over the next
five years by outsourcing the work to a specialist ground handler, Gareth Evans, Chief Executive of Jetstar, Qantas'
budget arm, said.
The executives did not name the firms that could be involved in the outsourcing, but major ground handlers in Australia include dnata, Swissport and Menzies Aviation.
Qantas shares were up 1.7% on Tuesday afternoon, compared with a 0.2% rise in the broader market. As part of a union agreement, Qantas said it would also have to offer the opportunity for the 2,000 ground handlers at its main brand to bid for the work, though it will not have to do so at Jetstar.
The airline said it would complete its review over the next few months. Most of its ground handling employees have been stood down from work for months and are receiving government aid due to the decline in travel demand.
Transport Workers' Union National Secretary Michael Kaine, whose union represents the ground handlers, said in a statement the announcement of job losses was "utterly devastating".
Realme Becomes One of the Five Biggest Smartphone Brands in All Eight Key Southeast Asian Markets
By Ding Yi / Sep 02, 2020 12:53 PM / World
Despite being a lesser-known smartphone brand in its home market in China, Realme is on course to becoming a big name in Southeast Asia.
For the first time, Realme, the budget sub-brand of Chinese smartphone maker Oppo, gained a position among the five biggest smartphone brands in all eight key Southeast Asian markets including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in the second quarter of 2020, according to a report by market research firm Counterpoint Research looking at total shipments.
The strong performance came as quarterly smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia saw a year-on-year decline of 19% due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of the eight major markets, Realme performed best in the Philippines in the second quarter, where it grew its shipments 7400% year-on-year and 97% quarter-on-quarter, surpassing Oppo, Xiaomi and Samsung to claim the second spot with a market share of 21%. In the previous quarter, Realme ranked fifth.
During the period between April and June, Realme outshone Apple, Xiaomi and Oppo in terms of volume to become the third-biggest smartphone seller in Malaysia with a market share of 15%. The Chinese brand, for the first time, made it onto the top five list in Singapore in the second quarter after increasing its smartphone shipments 300% year-on-year and 100% quarter-on-quarter, giving it a market share of 4%.
Realme took the fourth spot in Thailand and Cambodia with respective market shares of 12% and 8%, while it ranked fifth in Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar with respective market shares of 12%, 9% and 6%.
Overall, Realme continued to be the fastest-growing smartphone brand in the whole Southeast Asia region, growing its shipments 141% year-on-year and 64% quarter-on-quarter to capture a market share of 13%, Counterpoint said, attributing the growth to the companys strong online sales presence, low-price strategy, word-of-mouth marketing and social media campaigns.
The research firm also talked up Realmes efforts to implement a 5G-focused strategy, which helped it take the top spot in 5G-enabled smartphone shipments in Thailand in the second quarter, with a market share of 43%.
Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)
Related: Chinese Smartphones Thrive in India Despite Tensions
The death toll in the wake of Hurricane Laura in Southeast Texas continues to rise, with a 48-year-old man in Orange becoming the fifth in the region to die from an improperly placed generator amid another day of power outages.
David Tyrone Heard was found Tuesday by a family-member who called the Orange County Police Dept. around 2 a.m., according to Captain Robert Enmon.
Heard was alive when he was transferred to an area hospital, but was later pronounced dead.
Enmon said a generator was found in the garage, adding that the fire department took a carbon monoxide reading that showed dangerous levels of fumes in the house.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is produced any time fuel is burned in vehicles, small engines, stoves, lanterns, grills, fireplaces, gas ranges, or furnaces, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
At low levels, CO is impossible to detect, with symptoms appearing after prolonged exposure.
Symptoms include headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion.
Dozens of people have been hospitalized in Southeast Texas in recent days, and four others were fatally poisoned by generators in two separate incidents.
Related: 4 dead in SE Texas from possible carbon monoxide poisoning
Last Thursday, six people thought to be homeless sought shelter in a Port Arthur pool hall, where they initially had a generator outside for power, according to Justice of the Peace Brad Burnett. They later moved the generator inside, causing the death of two Vietnamese men 53- and 60-years old and one unidentified person. They were discovered Friday morning.
Friday afternoon in Beaumont, police found 61-year-old Alphonso Devon Williams dead in his N. 7th Street.
When officers arrived at about 3:51 p.m., they found Williams in an upstairs garage apartment with a generator in the garage below, the department said.
An autopsy has been ordered, but his death is believed to have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
In a separate incident near 1 a.m. Friday, 17 Mid-County residents were brought to various local hospitals after extreme carbon monoxide exposure of 400 parts per million, Port Neches Assistant Fire Chief Mike Stegall told The Enterprise.
The exposure and loss of life comes as some parts of Southeast Texas continue to be without electricity, including much of Orange County, which took the hardest hit from Hurricane Laura.
Utility crews continue to work to restore damage caused by Thursday mornings storm.
The carbon monoxide-related death toll in Southeast Texas now matches that of Hurricane Rita in 2005, where one misplaced generator cost the lives of five people in one home, including three children.
Related: Family's deaths from generator shock Beaumont
Enmon warned anyone using generators should place them outside and away from any vents or windows.
Burnett reiterated that, adding that generators can be useful or deadly.
They can be your friend, or they can be your enemy, Burnett said. It's something that you don't realize it is happening to you. You can actually just go to go to sleep while it's happening and it's got you.
I'd ask everyone, if you're using a generator, please be mindful of this. And if you know someone that's using a generator, please tell them what happened. I think that would save somebody right there.
isaac.windes@hearstnp.com
twitter.com/isaacdwindes
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Johns Hopkins Appointed as Member of Scientific Advisory Board
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 2, 2020) - AWAKN Life Sciences Inc. ("AWAKN") is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Mathew Johnson, Ph.D, to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).
Dr. Johnson is one of the world's most published scientists on the human effects of psychedelics. He has conducted seminal research in the behavioral economics of drug use, addiction, and risk behavior through his role of Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Johnson published psychedelic safety guidelines in 2008, helping to resurrect psychedelic research; he developed and published the first research on psychedelic treatment of tobacco addiction in 2014; published the largest study of psilocybin in treating cancer distress in 2016; and his 2018 psilocybin abuse liability review recommended the placement in Schedule-IV upon potential medical approval. He also published in 2017 the first data indicating that MDMA pill testing services may reduce harm, specifically by reducing drug consumption of unknown or undesired adulterants.
AWAKN's SAB provides strategic scientific counsel as the company implements its vision and strategy across three business lines of clinical research, therapeutic clinics and practitioner training.
Dr. Ben Sessa, AWAKN Chief Medical Officer, stated: "Dr. Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA. His career and CV in the field of psychedelic research is as impressive as his personal connections and networks within the field. Since the early 2000's, working alongside Professor Roland Griffiths, the Johns Hopkins team have set the standard for contemporary psilocybin research. And Matt has since gone on to carve his own path through this ever-emerging space. His special area of interest is addictions. He carried out the world's first psilocybin therapy study exploring a treatment for nicotine addiction and is now exploring psilocybin as a treatment for opiate dependence. But Matt's depth of knowledge goes far beyond that of simply the neurobiology of psychedelics. Matt's personality is that of an open-minded, compassionate scientist, which informs his extensive work around the social, cultural and psychological aspects of drug misuse; making him equally comfortable and informed carrying out studies amongst recreational users as he is with clinical patients."
"It is exactly this kind of multidisciplinary, world-leading and pioneering approach to all aspects of psychedelic research and practice that makes him perfectly suited for the AWAKN scientific advisory board. Under Matt's guidance, AWAKN can push in even further innovative directions in our quest for essential future applications of psychedelics for much-needed major public concerns. We warmly welcome him to AWAKN. Above all else, beyond the academic heroism, he is a great pleasure to be around."
Anthony Tennyson, AWAKN CEO, stated, "Dr. Johnson is at the forefront of international research and thought leadership in the psychedelic field. His experience and knowledge will be invaluable to AWAKN on our journey to becoming the leader in European psychedelic assisted psychotherapy. I am extremely pleased that Dr. Matthew Johnson has agreed to join Professor David Nutt, Dr. Ben Sessa, Dr. Dawn DeCunha and Dr. Mike Hart on our scientific team."
About Dr. Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D.
Dr. Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins. He is one of the world's most published scientists on the human effects of psychedelics, and has conducted seminal research in the behavioral economics of drug use, addiction, and risk behavior. Dr. Johnson earned his Ph.D. in experimental psychology at the University of Vermont in 2004.
Working with psychedelics since 2004, Dr. Johnson published psychedelic safety guidelines in 2008, helping to resurrect psychedelic research. As Principle Investigator he developed and published the first research on psychedelic treatment of tobacco addiction in 2014. Dr. Johnson and colleagues published the largest study of psilocybin in treating cancer distress in 2016. His 2018 psilocybin abuse liability review recommended placement in Schedule-IV upon potential medical approval. He is Principle Investigator on funded studies investigating psilocybin in the treatment of opioid dependence and PTSD. Beyond psilocybin, in 2011 Dr. Johnson published the first-ever blinded human research showing psychoactive effects of salvinorin A, the active constituent in Salvia divinorum. He also published in 2017 the first data indicating that MDMA pill testing services may reduce harm, specifically by reducing drug consumption of unknown or undesired adulterants.
Dr. Johnson is recognized for his research in behavioral economics, behavioral pharmacology, and behavior analysis. He has conducted seminal and widely cited research applying behavioral economic principles such as delay discounting and demand analysis to decision making within addiction, drug consumption, and risk behavior. This includes research determining delay discounting to be a fundamental behavioral process underlying addiction across drug classes, using economic demand analysis to determine the roles of nicotine and nonpharmacological factors in the abuse liability tobacco and other nicotine products, and using delay discounting, probability discounting, and demand analysis to understand sexual risk including condom non-use in casual sex situations. He conducted the first research administering cocaine to humans in determining that cocaine increases sexual desire and affects sexual decision making. He has conducted similar research administering methamphetamine and alcohol, examining effects on sexual decision making. He has published studies on drugs across nearly all psychoactive classes, including studies of cocaine, methamphetamine, tobacco/nicotine, alcohol, opioids, cannabis, benzodiazepines, psilocybin, dextromethorphan, salvinorin A, GHB, caffeine, and cathinone analogs compounds (so-called "bath salts").
Dr. Johnson was 2019 President of the Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse Division of the American Psychological Association, and is current President of the International Society for Research on Psychedelics, an organization he founded with colleagues. He has received continuous NIH funding as Principal Investigator since 2009. He has reviewed for >75 journals and has served as guest editor on two special issues on psychedelics. Dr. Johnson has reviewed grants for NIH, NSF, the US Military, and multiple governments outside of the US. He is a standing member of the Addictions Risks and Mechansims (ARM) NIH study section. He has provided invited presentations in 13 nations.
Dr. Johnson has been interviewed widely by media about psychedelics and other drugs. These have included interviews by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Globe and Mail, the Daily Mail, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Denver Post, the Baltimore Sun, CNN, CBS News, NBC News, the Atlantic, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, Vogue, Whole Living, the Washingtonian, Scientific American, Nature, Vice, Insider, Inverse, Healthline, and Psychology Today. Dr. Johnson has appeared for interviews on numerous television and radio shows including 60 Minutes, CNN's Wolf Blitzer Situation Room, Fox Business News' Kennedy, the Dr. Oz Show, PBS' Retro Report, Labyrint (television show in the Netherlands), Spectrum News NY1, the BBC World Service, NPR's Morning Edition, NPR's Kojo Nnamdi Show, New Zealand Radio, and Newstalk Radio Ireland. Dr. Johnson's panel discussion with Tim Ferriss at the Milken Institute Global Conference was broadcast on the Tim Ferriss Podcast. Dr. Johnson and his research were featured in an episode of Breakthrough on the National Geographic Channel, produced by Ron Howard, and in Michael Pollan's best-selling book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.
About AWAKN Life Sciences
AWAKN Life Sciences is a UK and European Union focused company that is dedicated to integrating psychedelics into mental healthcare, working across three business lines of clinical research, therapeutic clinics and practitioner training.
More Information
Anthony Tennyson | CEO
anthony@awaknlifesciences.com
Dr. Ben Sessa | CMO
ben@awaknlifesciences.com
awaknlifesciences.com
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/63113
The global media solutions provider has created live streaming OTT services, including providing CDN capabilities, for a number of broadcasters. The roster includes francophone pan-African Christian channel Benie TV; Espace TV, the largest (by audience size) privately owned channel in Guinea; national public broadcast companies ORTN Tele Sahel in Niger and Tele Congo in the Republic of Congo.Mobile/tablet/TV apps for Android, Apple and Amazon Fire TV, which also deliver audience analytics, have been provided by Globecast as a feature when needed. Free VOD content from the channels existing YouTube account and news feeds from their website and social networks are also included in the apps. Globecast says that it has worked closely with each broadcaster to give them the shortest possible time to market courtesy of its TV Everywhere suite of services, project management and use of pre-approved apps.The result claims Globecast is that new and existing broadcast customers are recognising the benefits of using a single supplier for satellite and OTT delivery, from both a technical and customer service point of view. While there are variations from country to country across Africa, internet access and therefore OTT service access is characterised by the use of mobile phones as the primary device to consume content, so services need to take this into account, said Frederic Torasso, Globecast , TV Everywhere product manager, explaining the commissions.The emergence of cost-effective (sub-$30) smart feature phones, such as mobile handsets powered by the KaiOS operating system, helps bridge the digital gap; with voice interactions and web app support included. Broadcasters across the continent are increasingly eager to reach these devices with their OTT video services as well as the wider African community around the world.
Sudans transitional government and the revolutionary front initialled on Monday a peace accord in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. The move has put an end to 17 years of civil war and conflicts that have torn the country since the 1950s.
Sudans Revolutionary Front comprises four armed movements that have been fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states in the south, and in Darfur, in the west. The movements in Darfur include Sudans Liberation Army, spearheaded by Arko Minnawi, and the Justice and Equality Movement, led by Jibril Ibrahim, brother of founder Khalil Ibrahim, a former minister in Al-Bashirs government.
The two parties that initialled the agreement have resolved issues pertaining to power division, security arrangements, compensations to the families of the victims of war, among other key issues.
The accord grants autonomous rule to the Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Revenues and resources of the two states shall be divided between the federal authority, which will receive 60 per cent, and local authorities, that will be given 40 per cent.
According to the agreement, Sudans Revolutionary Front shall be allocated 25 per cent of cabinet and parliamentary seats and three seats in the sovereign council. The countrys transitional period will be extended for 39 months starting 1 September, as per the accord, during which time the armed movements forces should be disbanded and legally re-integrated as part of several security arrangements.
Sudans transitional period was slated for 39 months starting in the second half of 2019, a few months after a popular revolution toppled the Omar Al-Bashir regime in April.
The pact follows 10 months of negotiations in Juba. Absent from the accord, however, were the Sudan Liberation Army, led by Abdel-Wahed Mohamed Nour, that controls strategic locations in Darfurs Marrah Mountains, and a faction of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement-North, headed by Abdel-Aziz Al-Helw, whose forces are engaged in South Kordofan conflicts.
For over a year now, Sudans transitional government has been prioritising negotiations with rebel forces to seal peace deals in regions wretched by conflicts since Al-Bashirs rule. Mondays pact is a vital accomplishment for a government that is strenuously trying to revivify the economy and redraw foreign relations severely damaged under Al-Bashir.
The success of the new pact is a challenge, particularly after previous peace deals had crumbled, such as the Darfur Peace Agreement, sealed in Abuja in 2006.
Comprehensive peace in Sudan is the priority of Abdalla Hamdoks government, which focuses on resuming peace negotiations in the nearest time possible with the Sudans Peoples Liberation Movement-North and the Sudan Liberation Movement. The governments reform programme strongly depends on spreading peace across the corners of Sudan.
Abdallas government is hoping once comprehensive peace is reached in Sudan the refugees and the displaced will go back to their villages and construction and development operations will kick-start in Darfur and war-torn regions.
Peacemaking is difficult, albeit not as much as peacebuilding, which requires a political will. The Sudan government will not be able to spread peace without tangible support from the international community, especially influential countries and international financial institutions.
Regional powers, including Egypt and the Gulf, have supported the new accord that shall contribute to Sudans stability and help Khartoum focus on pressing issues, foremost among which is the plummeting economy, and launch local development programmes, the absence of which has resulted in the lack of peace and stability for decades.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 3 September, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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MBABANE At least six pupils at Mater Dolorosa High School were sent home for allegedly not complying with COVID-19 regulations.
The pupils, who are in Form V, are said to have been suspended for four days last week, following that the head teacher found them in a group without wearing masks, an act which is against the school regulations.
According to a teacher, who preferred to comment on condition of anonymity, she noticed that some of her learners were absent from class until they returned four days later.
I asked one of them why he was not present in class for the past four days. The response I got was that the head teacher had suspended him with his friends because they failed to comply with the schools regulations in relation to COVID-19. I was told that the learners were in a group and did not observe social distancing, yet they were also not wearing masks, the educator said. The teacher also stated that she was not aware of the exact number of implicated pupils, but she was sure of six of them. She disclosed that since they had opened, some of them were quite a handful and defied the school rules. However, children will always be children. Some of them get up to mischief, but we deal with them the best way we know how, the teacher said. Meanwhile, one parent said she was worried about the time her child had lost while away from school.
Critical
This is a critical year and our children have lost so much time away from school. We have also sacrificed the little money we have to pay school fees so it is really concerning when such happens, she said.
The parent said this was not the time to suspend pupils from school. Instead, she suggested that the school should implement some sort of punishment to correct them for their wrong behaviour.
Another parent claimed that her child had told her that he was only in a group discussion with his schoolmates.
What concerns me the most is that I was not even formally informed why my child was sent home. When I inquired from the child, he said he was in a group with his friends discussing a past paper, the parent claimed.
When queried if she was aware of the possibility that pupils had breached the regulations, the parent admitted that some learners were known to be mischievous at times. However, she insisted that the school authorities could have engaged them in talks, rather than to send them home.
When reached for comment, Head teacher John Ngwenya politely requested not to comment on the issue. He was quizzed why the pupils were sent home and that their parents claimed that they were only discussing their academic work.
He then said he did not send the pupils away as there were procedures for suspension of pupils. Minister of Education and Training Lady Mabuza said they did not condone such behaviour. She encouraged the pupils to always be on their best behaviour.
Find all of the most important pandemic education news on Educating N.J., a special resource guide created for parents, students and educators.
More than 400 of New Jerseys public and private school districts are starting the 2020-2021 school year with a hybrid model combining in-class and at-home learning, while another 242 districts will open all-remote, state officials said Wednesday.
We all know this will be a school year unlike any other, Gov. Phil Murphy said at his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton.
State education officials said:
434 school districts will open this week or within the next few weeks with a hybrid model combining in-person and remote learning
242 districts will open all-remote with all students learning at home
68 districts will open with all in-person classes
22 districts will have some combination of all-in-person classes for some students and remote classes for others. That includes districts where elementary schools will have in-person classes, while older children learn remotely or with a hybrid model.
New Jersey has nearly 600 public school districts, but the totals are higher because the state officials included public, charter and renaissance school and some private schools that serve students with disabilities in the numbers, state officials said. Other private and religious schools are not included in the statistics.
Though classes are starting soon, the state is still reviewing many districts school reopening plans. At last count, 35 district plans had not been reviewed yet and another 221 were still under review because state or county officials had questions or the district wanted to make revisions, education officials said.
Under rules unveiled earlier this summer, New Jersey students and teachers will be required to wear masks in the classroom unless they have breathing difficulties or other health problems. Schools are also being asked to keep students six feet apart in the classroom and on buses or install barriers.
We are confident that these steps we have in place will make the kind of chaotic situations we have seen in other states far less likely to happen in ours. Yet, we also have in place specific health guidance for what to do when a case arises in a school, or if we see a spike in cases or a cluster in a school, Murphy said.
All families also have the option of requesting all-remote learning, even if their schools are offering in-person classes.
The state has given school districts flexibility in crafting their own reopening plans and opening dates. Though some have criticized education officials for giving school officials too many choices, resulting in vastly different reopening plans from district to district, implementing rigid rules was unrealistic, state officials said.
That doesnt work in a state as diverse as New Jersey, Kevin Dehmer, interim commissioner of the state Department of Education.
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Murphy announced in June that New Jerseys public schools would reopen for the 2020-2021 school year with at least some in-person classes. But several school districts pushed back against that plan, saying they didnt have enough teachers or safety measures in place to reopen buildings.
In August, the Murphy administration said districts could start the school year all-remote as long as they had a good reason and a plan to eventually start in-person classes. That lead to a flood of school districts saying they planned to take the all-remote option to take more time to prepare their school buildings and teachers for in-person classes.
Preparing for the start of the new school year has been difficult for many districts. Some, including Freehold Regional and Elizabeth, have had hundreds of teachers ask to take leaves of absences or early retirements because they did not feel safe returning to the classroom. That has lead to shortages of substitutes and replacement teachers.
Other districts have had trouble getting shipments of personal protective equipment, laptops for students and other items needed for the first day of school.
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Israeli prosecutors on Wednesday filed charges against three adults and eight minors in the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl last month in the Red Sea resort of Eilat.
A justice ministry statement said the suspects were variously accused of aggravated rape, aiding and abetting aggravated rape, indecent acts, failure to prevent a crime and other offences.
It said that Issi Rafailov, 28, and Ilizir Meirov, 27, were charged with aggravated rape, along with 17-year-old twin brothers who were not identified due to their age.
Osher Shlomo, 19, and six other minors were charged with being accomplices to the rapes and performing indecent acts.
Some were present during the commission of acts of rape and aided it by the fact of their presence, as they laughed and watched what was going on, thereby enabling and facilitating the committing of acts of rape, the chilling statement said.
Others watched a minor lying naked on the bed for the purpose of stimulation and sexual gratification or humiliation, without doing anything to stop the acts of rape taking place in the room.
The case has sparked widespread outrage in Israel and triggered a campaign echoing the global #MeToo movement.
Reports emerging on August 20 that the alleged perpetrators had queued outside the minors hotel bedroom, awaiting their turn to take advantage of her inebriated state, prompted protests in several Israeli cities the same day.
The girl had reported the alleged crime to police in Eilat earlier but the case at first went largely unnoticed.
In late August, thousands of Israelis staged a symbolic hour-long work stoppage to protest the growing violence against women and girls in Israel, and lack of sufficient punishment, organisers said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had condemned the shocking incident.
Its not only a crime against a young girl, its a crime against humanity itself that deserves condemnation from all of us, he said after reports of the alleged rape emerged.
The justice ministry said on Wednesday there was yet to be a decision on whether to press charges against additional suspects.
Last year, a 19-year-old British woman claimed she had been gang-raped by 12 Israeli males, aged 15 to 18, at a hotel in Cyprus.
She was later found guilty of lying about being gang-raped and given a four-month suspended sentence.
Womens rights groups condemned the Cypriot court judgement, and the womans lawyer said she was appealing against the conviction.
Punjab Director-General School Education, Mohammad Tayyab on Wednesday directed principals of various government schools to provide new school uniforms to students of Classes 1 to 8 by October 26.
The funds of 7.42 crore have been released to the district and the same has been transferred in the accounts of block primary education officers (BPEO) which will be further sent to the bank accounts of schools to purchase new uniforms.
The heads have been asked to inform parents to provide the measurements of their wards.
Each school will get 600 per student to purchase a uniform that includes a pair of shoes, socks, a belt, tie, shirt, trousers, skirt, sweater, and turban. The masks are to be made from the leftover fabric of the uniforms. Around 1.23 lakh students, of which 78,632 are girls, 39,792 are boys belonging to scheduled caste (SC) and 5,351 students belong to below poverty line (BPL) category, will get free uniforms.
The school heads have stated that after receiving funds from the BPEOs they will place the order of uniforms and parents have been informed to provide the measurements of their ward. Previously, the school authorities received funds after November and within a month, they have to provide uniforms to students. But this year, funds have been released in September due to which the uniforms will be provided to students in time.
Headteacher of Government Primary School, Haibowal Kalan, Shivani Sood said, With the number of rising Covid-19 cases in the district, it is important to take precautionary measures and thats why we are not asking parents to visit the school. Once the uniform is ready, all the items will be sent at the kids doorstep. In our school, there are 873 students studying in Class 1 to 5.
In the Government Model Senior Secondary Smart School, Punjab Agricultural University, there are over 1,200 students studying in Classes 1 to 8. The school authorities have decided to float tenders and will place the order at the earliest. School principal, Sanjeev Thapar, said, We have received the funds and tenders will be floated so that we can get the new uniforms stitched for the students. Parents will be asked to inform the class teacher regarding the measurement and a new uniform will be provided to students by next month.
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FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's Progressive Conservatives delivered an election campaign announcement Wednesday about education, but not before Premier Blaine Higgs made a point of repeatedly crowing about his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 2/9/2020 (505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
New Brunswick Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers reacts to the provincial budget delivered by New Brunswick Finance Minister Ernie Steeves in the Legislature in Fredericton, N.B., on March 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray
FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's Progressive Conservatives delivered an election campaign announcement Wednesday about education, but not before Premier Blaine Higgs made a point of repeatedly crowing about his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The campaign for the Sept. 14 election, now in its third week, has featured the usual assortment of promises and rhetoric, but it has become clear the Tories want to focus voters' attention on Higgs' response to the viral scourge.
Higgs, who was leading a 23-month-old minority government when he called a snap election last month, reminded the crowd in Oromocto, N.B., that New Brunswick continues to have a low infection rate relative to most other provinces and is now leading the country in terms of an economic recovery.
Since the pandemic was declared, the province has reported 192 confirmed cases, marking the lowest number of COVID-19 infections in Canada, next to P.E.I. and the territories. Neighbouring Nova Scotia has five times as many confirmed cases at 1,085. Two New Brunswickers have died as a result of COVID-19 and there were only four active cases in the province as of Wednesday.
As Education Minister Dominic Cardy was about to announce that a Tory government would increase the wages of early childhood educators and expand a food program to every school, he made a point of focusing on Higgs' leadership.
"We've seen that when a challenge was thrown in our direction that no one could have imagined happening ... we've seen a party and a government that's up to the job," Cardy said. "We've seen a party and a government able to take on a challenge ... and not just to do well, but to deliver a truly world-class result."
Higgs was introduced by the local Tory candidate, Mary Wilson, who cited comments made last week by the Bank of Montreal's chief economist, who said New Brunswick was projected to outperform most provinces in 2021.
Wilson said that projected achievement was "largely due to our premier's successful handling of the COVID-19 crisis."
In keeping with the theme, Higgs began his stump speech by noting the province's real estate market was on the upswing, as was construction, renovations and tourism.
Higgs then suggested the province was also ahead of the curve in Canada when it came to education.
"We are fortunate that we can safely reopen our schools when many other places around the world are still wondering what to do," he said, later noting that New Brunswick had closed its schools earlier than most other jurisdictions.
Earlier in the day, Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers promised his party would table a balanced budget no later than the third year of its mandate if elected to govern. He made the pledge while campaigning in St. Stephen, N.B., where he said the party would make fiscal responsibility a top priority.
"The recovery is far from over," he said, attempting to cast a shadow over Higgs' sunny assessments.
Vickers also took a swipe at Higgs, saying the Liberals would not adopt the Conservatives' approach of balancing the budget on the backs of the province's most vulnerable. The Liberal leader said Higgs intends to carry on with spending cuts that will hobble the province's economic recovery.
"Blaine Higgs wants you to think his plan has gone away. It hasn't."
In response, Higgs declined to say when his party would balance the books if it won the election. The Tory leader said the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic has put that kind of fiscal pledge out of reach.
He tried, however, to turn the tables on Vickers, asking the Liberal leader if he was willing to raise taxes to eliminate the province's $300-million deficit, something Higgs has promised not to do.
Later in the day, Vickers told supporters in Saint John, N.B., he had "no plans" to raise taxes. And he again tried to counter Higgs' leadership messaging with a dose of realism.
"Blaine Higgs wants people to think things are back to normal," he said. "We can't pretend everything is all right."
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The Canadian Taxpayers Federation issued a statement saying it was glad to see Vickers "recognizes that one can't keep writing budgets with red ink forever."
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Green party Leader David Coon issued a statement Wednesday announcing that a Green government would require the province's Crown-owned utility, NB Power, to use 100 per cent renewable energy sources energy by 2035.
Coon said that was a realistic goal, considering the province could invest in vastly improved energy efficiency, wind energy, solar farms, storage technologies and long-term purchases of hydroelectric power from Quebec and Labrador.
"Mr. Higgs and Mr. Vickers are clinging to their 20th-century ideas about energy as the climate crisis intensifies," Coon said. "But, the path is clear ... (and) I know how to get us there."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2020.
By Michael MacDonald in Halifax
Burberry has been handed more than half a million pounds to make PPE equipment for the NHS.
The luxury fashion house donated more than 100,000 items to healthcare workers back in April, earning praise from Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
It was handed a 573,000 contract to make gowns and protective equipment two months later, newly released Government records have revealed.
The contract was not advertised to other potential suppliers, according to Government records which were published today.
Burberry has been handed a 573,000 contract to make PPE equipment for the NHS, Government records released today have revealed
EU rules allow the Government to circumvent the usual processes if only one supplier is capable of delivering on the contract, or if unforeseen events mean that speed is vital.
During the early days of the pandemic several luxury fashion brands turned their production lines over to make desperately needed PPE.
Burberry retooled its Castleford site in Yorkshire to produce gowns for healthcare workers.
It allowed to company to win the 573,000 contract, in addition to donations of around 160,000 pieces of PPE to date to the NHS and healthcare charities since the pandemic started.
The luxury fashion house donated 100,000 items to healthcare workers back in April, earning praise from Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured)
This has included non-surgical gowns made at its Castleford site, and surgical masks that it bought abroad.
At the start of April, Health Secretary Matt Hancock praised Burberry for its help in supplying the NHS with the PPE it needed.
Mr Hancock said: 'I'll give a shout-out to Burberry who have turned over their production to the production of gowns to add to the stockpile and to get PPE to people who need it which is another part of the national effort.
'I think Burberry deserve credit for what they've done so far for the nation and hopefully lots more Burberry gowns to come.'
Weeks later Burberry highlighted the PPE it had donated in an update to investors on April 24
Burberry said: 'Our trench coat factory in Castleford is now manufacturing non-surgical gowns and supplying them to the UK National Health Service.
'We are also sourcing surgical masks through our supply chain and supplying them to the NHS and charities such as Marie Curie, which provides nursing care for families living with terminal illness in the UK.
'To date, we have donated more than 100,000 pieces of PPE.'
Burberry has donated around 160,000 pieces of PPE to date to the NHS and healthcare charities since the pandemic started
The retailer added it would not rely on Government support for jobs in the UK, where more than a third of its employees are based.
Burberry has since announced it cut 150 jobs in the UK and 350 based overseas on July 16.
Rival fashion brand Mulberry also switched its handbag factory in Somerset to making 8,000 gowns for NHS workers in Bristol in April.
The Government has previously faced criticism over some of the contracts it has signed during the height of the pandemic.
Two weeks ago it was revealed that management consultants McKinsey had been paid more than half a million pounds for a less than month-long contract to provide a 'mission and vision' for the Government's new test and trace body.
A shooting left a man dead Tuesday evening in the International District.
Daren DeAguero, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said officers responded around 6:15 p.m. to reports of gunfire in the 200 block of Charleston NE, near Central and Pennsylvania.
Officers arrived and discovered a male subject laying on the sidewalk, he said. The male had been mortally wounded and died on scene.
DeAguero said detectives are investigating and gave no other details.
The tradition continues sort of.
Switching gears this year, organizers of Canadas largest rib fest will be celebrating the Labour Day event with a drive-thru on Sept. 7.
Heres what you need to know.
1. The drive-thru rib fest will be held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Burlington Centre (777 Guelph Line) parking lot. Guests are asked to enter from the Fairview Street entrance and remain in their vehicles. Food vendors will take orders and payment (cards preferred), and will deliver each order to your vehicle.
2. All COVID-19 safety protocols will be in place.
3. Among this years ribbers are Camp 31 BBQ, Bill Bones BBQ, Pistol Petes Smokehouse and Silver Bullet BBQ. Also on hand will be East Side Marios, Blaze Pizza, Twisted Tomato, Tiny Tom Donuts and Ontario Corn Roasters.
4. The event will include live music.
5. Proceeds will once again go to Rotary Club of Burlington Lakeshore.
Read more about:
KBR has been awarded a $75 million recompete contract by Naval Facilities Engineering Command Europe Africa Central to enhance infrastructure at multiple bases in Djibouti, Africa.
Under this five-year, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, KBR will provide engineering, design, construction, renovations, repairs, maintenance, demolition and other services at both Camp Lemonnier, and its associated Chabelley Airfield.
This work complements KBR's premier base operating support throughout Africa. Notably, the company has provided base operating support services at Camp Lemonnier since 2013, with work in the region dating back to 2002.
While performing key services in Africa, the KBR team has achieved more than 25 million hours without a lost-time safety incident, a salute to KBR's commitment to sustainability and safety.
"KBR will continue its legacy of delivering trustworthy results and expertise to the US Navy through this award," said Byron Bright, KBR Government Solutions President. "We are proud to be a part of strengthening these bases for our troops and allies."
For over 75 years, KBR has helped ensure the success of US government missions and military readiness. The company provides solutions for base and contingency operations, asset management, prepositioned stocks and operations maintenance for US and allied forces globally. Known for excelling in complex and extreme environments, KBR is trusted to overcome some of the nation's most pressing challenges.-- Tradearabia News Service
Philippines: Won't Stop Doing Business with Chinese Firms Blacklisted by US
2020-09-01 -- The Philippines is not a "vassal state of any foreign power" and won't cut business ties with Chinese firms that Washington has blacklisted for their roles in Beijing's militarization of the South China Sea, a spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday.
The Philippine government will work with these Chinese companies because it is in the "national interest" to complete flagship infrastructure projects in the country involving these firms, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said during a virtual press briefing. Both the Philippines and China are among countries with contending territorial claims in the South China Sea.
"I will be categorical. [The] Sangley project will continue [and] all other projects involving Chinese companies that are banned in the U.S. can continue in the Philippines," Roque said. "We are not a vassal state of any foreign power and we will pursue our national interest."
The construction of an international airport in Sangley, a project valued at U.S. $10 billion, involves the Beijing-controlled China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), one of 24 Chinese firms and individuals that were placed on a list of sanctions by the United States on Aug. 26, for what Washington said was their role in constructing artificial islands in the South China Sea.
According to Roque, Duterte stated firmly at a cabinet meeting on Monday night that it was in the Philippines' interest to complete the airport and other infrastructure projects.
"[T]he president was clear, he will not follow the directive of the Americans because we are a free and independent country, and we need Chinese investments," Roque told reporters.
According to the Philippine government, in addition to the Sangley project, the CCCC has secured memorandums of understanding for five other local infrastructure projects in Davao, Cebu and the former Clark U.S. Air Force base north of Manila.
Duterte's decision to keep business relations intact with U.S.-blacklisted Chinese firms came after Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Friday he would "strongly recommend" that the government cut links with Chinese firms, if they were found to be linked to Beijing's efforts to expand its military footprint in the South China Sea.
Apart from the Philippines and China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan have territorial claims in the South China Sea.
In July, the U.S. declared that Beijing's claims to nearly all of the South China Sea on the basis of "historic rights" were unlawful.
The Chinese firms and individuals that were blacklisted last week are involved in reclamation activities in the waterway, the U.S. said when announcing the sanctions.
American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sanctioned firms and individuals were involved in China's extensive dredging campaign in the South China Sea. He also accused China of destroying the marine environment in parts of the sea through its efforts to build military bases.
"Since 2013, the PRC [People's Republic of China] has used its state-owned enterprises to dredge and reclaim more than 3,000 acres on disputed features in the South China Sea, destabilizing the region, trampling on the sovereign rights of its neighbors, and causing untold environmental devastation," Pompeo said.
"The PRC must not be allowed to use CCCC and other state-owned enterprises as weapons to impose an expansionist agenda. The United States will act until we see Beijing discontinue its coercive behavior in the South China Sea, and we will continue to stand with allies and partners in resisting this destabilizing activity."
'Chinese takeover of Philippine waters'
Pamalakaya, a group representing fishermen on Manila Bay, meanwhile has warned that the Sangley airport project threatens the livelihood of fishermen on the island of Cavite and could be a prelude to a "Chinese takeover of Philippine waters."
The group also used strong words to describe the CCCC, saying its intentions are not honorable.
Don't "compromise the sovereignty, environment, and most especially the socio-economic rights of tens of thousands of Caviteno fishermen to pave way for a mega project of an established Chinese plunderer and aggressor," Pamalakaya said in a statement.
"We call on Governor [Jonvic] Remulla not to lay open Manila Bay to a Chinese firm that is involved in a massive reclamation and construction of military facilities in the West Philippine Sea," Pamalakaya head Fernando Hicap added, using the Filipino name for the South China Sea.
Hicap, who lives on the Cavite coast, said about 26,000 fishing families could be displaced by the airport project once it is completed.
"We humbly appeal to the incumbent governor of Cavite to completely terminate the airport project," he said. "The people of Cavite, most especially the fisherfolk, the coastal population, do not need an airport, but a coastal community integrated to a sustainable livelihood."
For now, though, the joint venture airport project between CCCC and Filipino firm MacroAsia is in its last stages and is scheduled to be finished soon, Remulla said last week.
He added that the local government would immediately end the project if Duterte or the defense department asked it to do so.
Opposition figure unhappy with Duterte's decision
Risa Hontiveros, a senator from the opposition in the Philippines, doesn't agree with Duterte's decision. She alleged that there might be collusion between the Beijing-run firms blacklisted by the U.S. and Filipino officials in China's construction of artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea.
Hontiveros has asked the Senate to investigate these connections.
"It's been recently revealed that Chinese companies that participate in the building of military islands in the West Philippine Sea have projects with the Philippine government, so it is not hard to suspect dubious engagement by either party," Hontiveros told reporters.
She said China's construction of artificial islands was a threat to the security of the Philippines, adding that intelligence officials had said these islands were being used as outposts of the Chinese maritime militia to allegedly harass Filipino fishermen.
"It is alarming that the island bases have put the Philippine archipelago within range of Chinese combat aircraft and bombers," Hontiveros said. "This is a clear threat to our national security."
Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
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GREEN OAKS, Ill., Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NorthShore Care Supply is elevating its company culture with its new headquarters, which was designed to facilitate better communication and interaction among employees. The design includes an ideation room, huddle rooms, alcoves with functional couches and chairs, a massage chair, a product testing lab and a lunchroom featuring a robust marketplace serving a large selection of food and drinks. Hand sanitizer is readily available to support safety protocols, tall windows allow abundant sunlight to stream in, a living moss wall adds a refreshing natural touch and the entire space is open and flexible.
Companies with a high level of employee engagement are 21 percent more profitable than those with poor engagement. Furthermore, studies show that treating employees as stakeholders greatly increases an organization's chances of achieving successful outcomes. Recognizing that company culture is imperative to long-term success and that employees are an organization's most valuable asset, NorthShore Care Supply has consistently taken measures to strengthen its culture.
To this end, NorthShore Care Supply President and Founder Adam Greenberg sought input regarding the new building from his employees. Greenberg encouraged staff to get involved in the details, down to selecting the paint color for the walls, fabric for the lunchroom booths and the design of the workspace furniture.
"We value collaboration and I wanted to create a setting that encourages it, even as our company grows. While the new headquarters perfectly accommodates our current number of employees, it was also thoughtfully designed to scale up in the future in accordance with our growth," Greenberg said.
Greenberg put a great deal of thought into the company's new address: 1 Confidence Drive. NorthShore Care Supply was permitted by the local village to use the address because it was the first business to move into the new commercial development. He wanted the name of the address to reflect the confidence the company gives customers who use its incontinence products. People dealing with incontinence can reclaim their lives thanks to NorthShore Care Supply's products, which gives them a significant boost in confidence.
Once inside the building, a verdant moss wall dominates the wall leading to the lunchroom and is emblazoned with "#NorthShoreCares." This hashtag, which NorthShore Care Supply regularly uses on social media, reinforces the company's commitment to positively impacting the lives of those managing incontinence. Employees were enthusiastic about the idea of a 'green' moss wall when it was proposed, as moss walls have been shown to enhance focus, reduce stress and improve air quality.
In addition to an ideation room and huddle rooms for staff members, the space also includes consultation rooms where employees can consult with customers. The lunchroom is anything but ordinary, with industrial lighting in a loft-style setting and a mix of chair, high-top and booth seating. The marketplace features a cashless kiosk and a wide variety of food, beverages and other items. Greenberg is also making complimentary ice cream available when all of the employees return to the office.
The Customer Care & Service experts at NorthShore Care Supply play a critical role in strengthening the company's reputation and, in turn, its success and growth. In addition to undergoing in-depth product education, these employees now have a collaborative, serene, calm and welcoming space on the second floor to call their own. The department also includes a high-tech training room, a dedicated conference room and breakout spaces. Electric standing desks are outfitted with ergonomic chairs and shelves where employees can store personal items. Large windows overlook a scenic pond and let in plenty of sunlight.
NorthShore Care Supply's new warehouse has emerged as a high-tech fulfillment center complete with conveyor automation and automatic mobile robots. This sophisticated technology ensures employees can quickly, safely and efficiently package, organize and store customer orders. It also relieves them of the physical toll that lifting and loading heavy items can place on the body.
Greenberg also recently commissioned the installation of touch-less hand sensors, foot-operated door openers, plexiglass "sneeze" shields and automatic hand sanitizer dispensers to minimize contact with surfaces and help protect employees.
"The elements we have incorporated into our new headquarters are all items that employees mentioned they would like to have. Accommodating their preferences was important to me. I want to do everything in my power to make our employees happy, as they are the reason for our success. Plus, satisfied employees are more likely to provide exemplary customer service and we want our customers to receive the very best from us," Greenberg said.
About NorthShore Care Supply
NorthShore Care Supply was founded in 2002 by Adam Greenberg after family members struggled to manage their incontinence with retail adult diapers. NorthShore is the leading direct-to-consumer brand of high absorbency adult diapers and incontinence supplies in the U.S. providing peace of mind to those with moderate to severe incontinence. NorthShore is committed to #EndHealthStigma to help 80 million Americans living with some form of bladder or bowel dysfunction. For more information, visit northshorecare.com.
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Boris Johnsons former Conservative leadership rival Jeremy Hunt said he dodged a bullet by losing out in the final contest to become prime minister last year.
The influential Tory MP shared his sense of relief that Mr Johnson won the battle to replace Theresa May at No 10, given the scale of the coronavirus crisis.
I certainly dodged a bullet, theres no question, when you look at the year that poor Boris has had, Mr Hunt said when asked if he was relieved not to have the top job on Sky News.
Its been a very tough year for anyone who is prime minister, to deal with a pandemic [that is] completely unprecedented.
He told host Kay Burley: I would loved to have done the job, but I recognise that Boris Johnson did something very important, which is that he got a 80 seat majority for the Conservatives.
Recommended Hunt warns patient care will suffer if NHS overhaul goes ahead
The Tory MP added: Whether or not you love or loathe the Conservatives, we do now have political stability. And with all the problems we faced in the period prior to that with the hung parliament, I dont think anyone would have wanted to have that kind of instability in the challenges we currently face.
Mr Hunt, now chair of the Commons health and social care select committee, was asked why he turned down a chance to be in Mr Johnsons Cabinet.
He did very kindly offer me a job in his Cabinet, but I wanted to spend a bit more time with my kids although after five months with them solidly Im beginning to question that decision, he joked.
Mr Johnson took 66 per cent of the Tory members vote in the final round of the leadership contest compared to Mr Hunt on 34 per cent.
Her removal violated her right to a hearing, according to the AAUP's findings, and came after NU and UNL administrators caved to pressure from conservative state senators who demanded Lawton's firing.
Since UNL's censure, faculty and administrators have worked to clarify the campus's disciplinary policies in order to "make it clear for administrators what procedures have to be followed and when they have to be followed," according to Faculty Senate Past President Kevin Hanrahan.
Language delineating different procedures for "immediate suspension" of a faculty member versus other forms of discipline, the formal complaint process and timeline, and responsibilities of special faculty committees called to investigate complaints passed the Faculty Senate in October 2019, and UNL worked to secure support from faculty leaders at NU's other campuses in Omaha and Kearney, said Hanrahan, an associate professor of voice in the Glenn Korff School of Music.
Speaking at Tuesday's UNL Faculty Senate meeting, which was conducted via Zoom, Hanrahan said the other campuses agreed to support the language in January.
KENOSHA On the heels of President Donald Trump's visit to Kenosha to support law enforcement in the wake of community protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, Joe Biden announced he will visit the city Thursday marking the former vice president's first campaign stop in the state since declaring his candidacy.
The Democratic presidential nominee and his wife Jill are scheduled to hold a community meeting on Thursday in Kenosha "to bring together Americans to heal and address the challenges we face," according to a statement from Biden's campaign. After the meeting, the Bidens will make an unidentified local stop.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Biden said he has received an "overwhelming request" that he visit Kenosha, where at-times violent protests followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, on Aug. 23. Protests started more than a week ago in the community and on Aug. 25, two protesters were shot and killed and a third wounded allegedly by a 17-year-old from Illinois who had traveled to the city to protect buildings alongside other armed counterprotesters.
Biden said he plans to meet with Kenosha community leaders, business owners and law enforcement.
"Weve got to heal, weve got to put things together, bring people together," Biden said Wednesday. "My purpose in going will be to do just that.
Advocates charges for officer
Meanwhile, Biden told reporters he believes the officer who shot Blake, Rusten Sheskey, "needs to be charged. Biden also called for charges in the death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed in her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment by police in March.
The comment by the Democratic presidential nominee came after he was asked about remarks by his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, a former county prosecutor and state attorney general, that the officer should face charges.
Biden also called for action on citizens who have committed violence as part of civil unrest, including the fatal shooting of a far-right groups supporter in Portland, Oregon.
In a one-minute ad titled Be Not Afraid released Tuesday by his campaign, Biden condemns looting and rioting as lawlessness, plain and simple.
"Fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames. He cant stop the violence because for years hes fomented it," Biden said in the ad. "Violence will not bring change, it will only bring destruction.
On heels of Trump visit
On Tuesday Trump met with local law enforcement, National Guard members and business owners in Kenosha to push for "law and order" to clamp down on protests sparked by police violence in cities such as Kenosha, Portland and Minneapolis.
Some people think those are two terrible words law and order and theyre not terrible at all, theyre beautiful," Trump said Tuesday in Kenosha.
Several state and local Democratic officials, including Gov. Tony Evers and Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian, urged Trump to call off the trip for fear that it could fan the flames of ongoing unrest in the community.
Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Andrew Hitt issued a statement on Wednesday questioning if Evers also plans to ask Biden to reconsider his trip to Kenosha.
"Thankfully, President Trump didnt listen to him and delivered tens-of-millions of dollars in aid to help rebuild Kenosha," Hitt said in a statement. "Will Governor Evers also urge Joe Biden to stay away?
Evers' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Biden said on Wednesday he had not yet spoken with Evers, but had contacted the governor's staff regarding his Thursday visit.
First visit
While Biden has held multiple online events including forums and a virtual campaign speech, he has yet to visit the battleground state as a presidential candidate, due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden's last trip to Wisconsin was a stop in Madison in October 2018. Hillary Clinton famously did not campaign here before losing the key battleground state by fewer than 23,000 votes. The last time a Democratic presidential nominee visited the Badger State was a November 2012 Madison stop by Barack Obama.
While originally slated to accept the nomination for president in Milwaukee during the Democratic National Convention two weeks ago, Biden ultimately canceled his trip as the convention shifted to a mostly online format. Biden accepted the nomination from Delaware, his home state.
Biden's lack of on-the-ground presence in the state has drawn sharp criticism from both state Republicans and Trump's team. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other members of his administration have made multiple stops in Wisconsin this year.
Hitt described Biden's visit as a "desperation trip."
"It shouldnt take rioters burning down the city of Kenosha to get Joe Biden to visit our state," Hitt said in a statement. "Joe Biden made COVID excuses as to why he couldnt visit Wisconsin, but the seven-day average of new COVID cases in Wisconsin remains nearly unchanged compared to the DNC week."
Photos: Scenes from President Trump's visit to Kenosha
The Associated Press and Adam Rogan of The Journal Times contributed to this report.
US Republicans criticize Pelosi over hair appointment
U.S. Republicans criticized House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday for going to a hair salon in San Francisco in an apparent violation of the city's coronavirus pandemic regulations, but the Democratic leader said she had been told by the salon the appointment was allowed.
Pelosi briefly addressed the issue to reporters in San Francisco, saying, "I take responsibility for falling for a set-up."
Under strict rules to combat the coronavirus pandemic, hair salons in San Francisco were still prohibited from admitting customers on Monday, when Pelosi had her appointment, although salons elsewhere in the state and across much of the country were already open.
President Donald Trump and other Republicans seized on a brief video of Pelosi's appointment, which first aired on the Fox News channel, to accuse Pelosi, the most senior elected Democrat in Washington, of hypocrisy.
Trump - who took months to embrace mask-wearing as a way to slow the spread of Covid-19 - used the incident to attack Pelosi, saying on Twitter that she is "constantly lecturing" others.
"The Beauty Parlor owner must really dislike Crazy Nancy Pelosi. Turning her in, on tape, is a really big deal," the president wrote.
This is part of CNBC Make It's series on what it's like to be Black in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley has long been a culture dominated by white men, with a fraught record of following up on commitments to fix its race problem, from major tech companies that have barely moved their numbers on diversity to a lack of funding for Black founders. Here, CNBC Make It spoke with Black professionals to hear their experiences.
Being a Black founder in Silicon Valley means always carrying the weight of wondering whether your Blackness will affect your success, Yonas Beshawred, the founder and CEO of San Francisco-headquartered tech company StackShare tells CNBC Make It.
"It's difficult to pitch a room full of VCs regardless of their race or gender," Beshawred says. "But as a Black founder, there's additional cognitive load because you are thinking about race in the back of your mind and are processing questions like, 'Have they ever funded a Black founder? Have they ever even heard a pitch from one? Are they not interested because I look unfamiliar?'
"They're just questions, not accusations, but they're there."
Beshawred, 33, who is the son of Ethiopian immigrants, had the idea for his start-up after working in IT strategy consulting at Accenture. The job gave his insight into how large companies made decisions about technology and software and he felt the process could be improved for large and small companies as well as start-ups with a professional directory for developers.
"I was eventually fed up that this solution didn't exist, so I started StackShare as a side project using WordPress and my personal credit cards back in 2014," he says.
Since then, Beshawred has raised $7 million from firms including 500 Startups and from angel investors who hail from big companies like of Facebook, Salesforce and McKinsey. StackShare has seven full-time employees and five part-time contractors.
In Beshawred's years of pitching investors, he's been rejected a lot. But he doesn't believe it's due to the color of his skin.
"I've probably heard over 100 'nos' from VCs and angels, Beshawred says. "I never really thought it was because I was Black. I always believed, and still believe, that traction trumps all," he says.
"That's what I told myself over and over again that the only thing that matters is that I have the numbers and a compelling vision. And if I have that then I can find investors who will back me. In my experience, that has mostly proven to be true."
Still, Beshawred says in Silicon Valley, he is consistently the only Black person in the room, which can be lonely and is "discouraging and frustrating." When he first started raising money in 2015, he didn't know a single Black investor, angel or VC.
Beshawred says he is now connected to a community of Black founders and technology workers because he helped start an organization called Harambeans, a network of over 250 African founders who have collectively created over 3,000 jobs and raised over $400 million in total for their companies, he says. He's also launched an organization called Ethiopians in Tech in the Bay Area and a new organization called the Ethiopia COVID-19 Response Team (ECRT), a platform for professionals from all over the world to collaborate responses to Covid-19.
Today StackShare has five Black investors (mostly angels), says Beshawred, but not everything has changed. It's still "not uncommon for me to pitch a room full of three or four white males," he says.
And to Beshawred and many of his peers, it feels as if white founders have an easier time fundraising.
KYODO NEWS - Sep 2, 2020 - 22:55 | All, Japan, Coronavirus
Japan reported on Wednesday 594 new coronavirus cases, the third-lowest daily tally in a month following the recent moderate infection increase.
Nonetheless, a government panel on virus prevention said the same day it is too early to say if the resurgence since the end of a state of emergency in late May is over, citing a continued spike seen in some areas such as Osaka and Fukuoka prefectures.
The 594 cases compare with 633 cases Tuesday and 437 Monday and fall well below the highest level of nearly 1,600 in early August.
The latest figure brings the cumulative number of nationwide cases to 70,368 cases including around 700 from the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama in February. The death toll rose by 13 to 1,340.
"We have not determined whether the rise (in the number of infection cases) has stopped or not," said Takaji Wakita, chairman of the panel and director general of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
Tokyo confirmed 141 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, bringing the cumulative total in the capital to 21,128, the highest of Japan's 47 prefectures.
The daily figures from the metropolitan government reflect the most recent totals reported by health authorities and medical institutions.
The single-day tally compares with 170 cases reported on Tuesday and 100 on Monday.
Tokyo hit a monthly record of 8,126 new cases in August, with a daily record of 472 on Aug. 1. But despite the capital seeing daily cases in triple digits on every day of August bar one, infections began to trend downward from the latter half of the month.
The capital is maintaining its alert at the highest of four levels, meaning "infections are spreading."
The metropolitan government has extended a request until Sept. 15 for establishments serving alcohol and karaoke venues in Tokyo's 23 wards to close by 10 p.m. as many cases have spread from there.
Meanwhile, the request for such businesses outside the 23 wards was lifted Tuesday.
Related coverage:
Japan mulls offering COVID-19 vaccines for free to all residents
Half of people in Japan feel healthier due to coronavirus outbreak
Accused paedophile Malka Leifer has lost her appeal in Israel's Supreme Court against a finding that she is mentally fit to be extradited to Australia.
The ex-principal, 52, faces 74 charges of sexually assaulting female students during her time at the ultra Orthodox Adass Israel school in Elsternwick in Melbourne's south-east.
Malka Leife (right) in court in Jerusalem in 2018. Credit:AP
In May, the Jerusalem District Court found Ms Leifer was fit to stand trial after a years-long battle to return her to Australia to face charges. She appealed that decision, which the Supreme Court unanimously rejected on Wednesday, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The judgment paves the way for the extradition process to continue. The District Court will decide on September 21 whether Ms Leifer should be extradited, but she will have further avenues for appeal.
Ukraine ups gas imports by 30% in Jan-Aug operator
16:55, 02.09.20 2175
During the reporting period, gas was imported exclusively from Europe.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 04:18:52|Editor: huaxia
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BERLIN, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that upholding multilateralism and opposing unilateralism is among the major consensus reached during his current visit to five European countries.
Wang made the remarks at a press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas after their talks.
According to Wang, he had candid and in-depth exchanges with leaders and foreign ministers of the five countries on bilateral relations as well as the international situation, and reached broad consensus.
One major consensus is upholding multilateralism and opposing unilateralism. "The strongest voice heard during my trip to Europe is that we need to steadfastly safeguard multilateralism, and we agreed on this," he said.
China and Europe need to step up collaboration, adhere to the concept of multilateralism, take multilateral actions, abide by multilateral agreements and strengthen multilateral institutions, he explained.
Another key consensus is to promote solidarity and cooperation while taking a stand against division and "decoupling," Wang said.
"We all agree that China and Europe need to enhance cooperation in fighting COVID-19, and to resume personnel exchanges and practical cooperation as soon as possible, to make 'Chinese-European contributions' to the recovery and growth of the global economy," the Chinese State Councilor noted.
"We all agree that, we should, in a responsible attitude towards the future and destiny of mankind, jointly resist the counter-current of inciting division, 'decoupling' and confrontation, to prevent the world from slipping back into the rule of 'the law of the jungle'."
Thirdly, consensus has been reached that efforts should be made to uphold the overall interests of China-Europe relations as well as the comprehensive strategic partnership, and properly manage differences, Wang said.
Regarding differences, the two sides need to deepen understanding and mutual trust through equal-footed dialogue as well as candid exchanges, aiming for a win-win through mutually-beneficial cooperation, to manage differences in a constructive manner, he added.
Wang said, his trip to five European countries is the first by the Chinese foreign minister to Europe in a time when prevention and control against the COVID-19 pandemic become regular practices. It is a strategic communication between China and European countries against the backdrop of mounting uncertainties in the international situation.
All five countries, he said, attach great importance to their ties with China, all hope to resume exchanges and cooperation with China as soon as possible and are willing to strengthen communication and coordination with China to jointly tackle global challenges.
"I can also feel that European countries have concerns too," said Wang, citing their concerns about a further spread of the pandemic and the threat of a deep recession of world economy; about a rising unilateralism, and the deliberate creation of 'decoupling' and division which gives rise to increasing confrontations in the international sphere. Enditem
Ukraine and China will develop political dialogue and increase the volume of practical cooperation.
First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzheppar and Vice Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China Le Yucheng agreed on this during a video conference on September 1, the Foreign Ministrys press service reported.
Among other topics that were in the spotlight were further interaction within international organizations, ways to intensify trade and economic cooperation, joint participation in the implementation of projects within the framework of China's One Belt, One Road initiative.
"The parties assured each other of the invariability of the fundamental principles of mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, stipulated by the political documents concluded since the establishment of diplomatic relations," the Foreign Ministry said.
The Chinese diplomat invited his Ukrainian counterpart to visit Beijing. In turn, Emine Dzheppar confirmed the invitation to Le Yucheng to visit Kyiv for the next round of political consultations.
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Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has already surpassed the U.S. in missile development and its number of warships and air defense systems under the Chinese Communist Partys plan to achieve dominance by 2049, the Defense Department said in a sobering report Tuesday.
The ultimate goal of the Peoples Republic of China, or PRC, is to develop a military by mid-Century that is equal to or in some cases superior to the U.S. military, or that of any other great power that the PRC views as a threat, the DoDs annual report to Congress said.
To that end, the PRC has marshalled the resources, technology, and political will over the past two decades to strengthen and modernize the PLA in nearly every respect, the report said.
Under the national strategy pressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the result has been that China is already ahead of the United States in certain areas essential to its overall aim of progressing from homeland and periphery defense to global power projection, the report said.
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The PRC has the largest navy in the world, with an overall battle force of approximately 350 ships and submarines, including over 130 major surface combatants, the report said.
Thats compared to the U.S. Navys current battle force of 295 ships.
In addition, the PRC has more than 1,250 ground-launched ballistic missiles (GLBMs) and ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCMs) with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, while the U.S. currently fields one type of conventional GLBM with a range of 70 to 300 kilometers and no GLCMs, the report said.
In some respects, China is also ahead on integrated air defense systems with a mix of Russian-built and homegrown systems, the report said.
The PRC has one of the worlds largest forces of advanced long-range surface-to-air systems including Russian-built S-400, S-300, and domestically-produced anti-air systems making up part of its robust and redundant integrated air defense system, the report said.
Despite the advances, the PLA remains in a position of inferiority to the U.S. in overall military strength, said Chad Sbragia, the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for China.
The 173-page DoD report does not claim that Chinas military is 10 feet tall, but the Chinese Communist Party wants it to be, and has the plan and resources to reach that goal, Sbragia, a retired Marine officer, said at an American Enterprise Institute forum on Chinas military.
At an earlier Pentagon briefing on the report, Sbragia said Beijings military strategy was driven by the view that the U.S. has decided upon a long period of confrontation to counter the global spread of Chinas influence.
He said that China increasingly views the United States as more willing to confront Beijing on matters where the U.S. and PRC interests are inimical.
The CCP leaders view the United States security alliances and partnerships especially those in the Indo-Pacific region as destabilizing and irreconcilable with Chinas interests, Sbragia said.
The DoD report, titled Military and Security Developments Involving the Peoples Republic of China comes about two weeks before Congress is set to return from recess to convene a Senate-House Conference Committee on the National Defense Authorization Act and the defense budget for Fiscal Year 2021.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper has acknowledged downward pressures on the defense budget to offset the enormous costs of the COVID-19 response while arguing for sustained increases of 3-5% in defense spending in future years to maintain U.S. superiority and readiness.
The 20th annual report on China by DoD noted the staggering improvements in Chinas ability to build, coordinate and project power since the first report was issued.
DoDs first annual report to Congress in 2000 assessed the PRCs armed forces at that time to be a sizable but mostly archaic military that was poorly suited to the CCPs long-term ambitions, the report said.
In 2000, the PLA lacked the capabilities, organization, and readiness for modern warfare, the report said. But the CCP, it added, recognized the shortcomings and set about with determination to strengthen and transform its armed forces in a manner commensurate with its aspirations to strengthen and transform China.
More striking than the PLAs staggering amounts of new military hardware are the recent sweeping efforts taken by CCP leaders that include completely restructuring the PLA into a force better suited for joint operations and for expanding the PRCs overseas military footprint.
The PLA has already established its first overseas military base in Djibouti, about a mile from U.S. Africa Commands main base on the Horn of Africa.
In its commentary on the DoD assessment, the American Enterprise Institute noted that the report also stressed that The PRC has likely considered locations for PLA military logistics facilities in Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, and Tajikistan.
Despite the progress made by Chinas military over the past two decades, major gaps and shortcomings remain in readiness and operational capability, the report said, but Chinas leaders are acutely aware of the problems and have detailed plans to overcome them.
Of course, the CCP does not intend for the PLA to be merely a showpiece of Chinas modernity or to keep it focused solely on regional threats, the report said.
As this report shows, the CCP desires the PLA to become a practical instrument of its statecraft with an active role in advancing the PRCs foreign policy, particularly with respect to the PRCs increasingly global interests and its aims to revise aspects of the international order, it added.
The members of All India Youth Akali Dal on Wednesday held a protest outside the District Administrative Complex, Sector 76, seeking the dismissal of social justice minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot over the alleged scholarship scam.
The protestors burnt the effigy of the minister and raised slogans against the government. Parambans Singh Bunty Romana, president of the youth offshoot of Shiromani Akali Dal, said the scam had brought out the true picture of the Congress government.
Parminder Singh Sohana, district president, questioned the chief minister on his compulsion or helplessness that was preventing the ruling Congress party from taking action against a corrupt minister. Unless Dharamsot resigned, a fair probe was impossible, he added.
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. An Air Force attack drone was damaged Wednesday when it went off a runway during takeoff at Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico, the military said.
The remotely piloted MQ-9 Reaper assigned to the 49th Wing was the only aircraft involved, base officials said in a statement.
A board of Air Force officers will investigate the accident to determine the cause, the statement said.
The base is 79 miles (127 kilometers) north of El Paso, Texas.
Tokyo, Sep 2 : The Japanese government may offer free Covid-19 vaccinationse to all residents so that the number of future cases and fatalities can be mitigated, informed sources said on Wednesday.
According to the sources, owing to the highly contagious nature of the Covid-19 and its potential to render patients with extremely severe symptoms, the government wants the highest number of people as possible to get vaccinated, reports Xinhua news ageny.
At a meeting convened last week, outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that the government aims to secure by the first half of 2021 enough Covid-19 vaccinations for all of the country's citizens, as part of its new measures and protocols to combat the virus.
The vaccines will be purchased from reserve funds from the budget of the current fiscal year to March 2021, the government said.
Earlier this month, the Japanese government said it had agreed with British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc. to receive 120 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed with the University of Oxford.
Similarly, Japan has also agreed with Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech SE to receive 120 million doses of their potential vaccine, providing its development proves successful.
Meanwhile, those testing positive for the virus but displaying no symptoms or only showing mild symptoms, will be asked to self-isolate at home or at designated facilities under the government's revised guidelines.
As of Wednesday, Japan has reported a total of 69,001 coronavirus cases, with 1,307 deaths.
Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
- By Alberto Abaterusso
Allegion PLC (NYSE:ALLE) and L3Harris Technologies Inc (NYSE:LHX) announced quarterly dividends on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
These stocks draw the attention of dividend investors, as these long-term payers have grown their distributions strongly over the past five years.
Allegion PLC
The Irish global manufacturer and seller of mechanical and electronic security products and technical solutions announced that on Sept. 30, it will distribute a 32 cents per common share quarterly cash dividend to shareholders of record as of Sept 16.
The distribution will be in line with the previous one. The ex-dividend date is scheduled for Sept. 15.
Based on Tuesday's closing price of $102.10 per share, the quarterly dividend generates a forward yield of 1.25%.
Allegion PLC has paid dividends for more than five years and increased them by a compound annual growth rate of 27.5% over the last five years.
The company sustains the quarterly dividend with $302.4 million available in cash on hand and equivalents. The company generated an operating cash flow of nearly $510 million over the last 12 months of activities through the most recent quarter, which ended on June 29.
The share price has increased 7% over the past year, determining a 52-week range of $77.37 to $139.24.
2 Strong Dividend Growth Stocks Announce Payments
The stock has a market capitalization of $9.42 billion, a price-book ratio of 13.90 and a price-earnings ratio of 33.32.
Wall Street sell-side analysts issued a hold recommendation rating for the stock and have established an average target price of $104.28 per share.
L3Harris Technologies Inc
The Melbourne, Florida-based provider of tech solutions for mission-critical challenges of government and commercial customers announced that on Sept. 22, it will pay a quarterly cash dividend of 85 cents per common share to its shareholders of record as of Sept. 9.
Story continues
The ex-dividend date is scheduled for Sept. 8. The payment will be on par with the prior distribution.
Based on Thursday's closing price of $177.72 per share, the quarterly dividend produces a forward dividend yield of 1.91%.
L3Harris Technologies Inc has been distributing dividends for more than 30 years and increasing them by a CAGR of 10% over the last five years.
The company funds the payment of the quarterly dividend with $1.95 billion in cash on hand as of June 30. The prior 12 months of operating activities through the second quarter yielded almost $941 million.
The share price has fallen by 16% over the past year for a 52-week range of $142.01 to $230.99.
2 Strong Dividend Growth Stocks Announce Payments
The market capitalization is $38.42 billion, the price-book ratio is 1.72 and the price-earnings ratio stands at 29.83.
Wall Street sell-side analysts recommend a buy rating for the stock and have established an average target price of $235.84 per share.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any securities mentioned.
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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
by Mathias Hariyadi
The Indonesia Medical Association (IDI) is investigating the high number of deaths. Stress and a heavy workload, combined with the lack of adequate protective equipment, are the main culprits. More anti-pandemic measures are being implemented, including social distancing and curfews. In Jakarta however, the governor wants to reopen cinemas to ease tensions.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) At least a hundred Indonesian doctors have lost their life in the past few months after contracting the novel coronavirus. Along with nurses and other medical staff, they played a leading role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The information comes from the Indonesian Medical Association (Ikatan Dokter Indonesia, IDI), which is opening in investigation into the cause of the high number of fatalities and determine how to better protect doctors health, IDI spokesperson Halik Malik said.
Speaking on behalf of the IDI, its president, Daeng M. Faqih, sent condolences to the families of the victims.
Stress is one of the leading causes of mortality among health professionals, due to excess workload and physical fatigue, which weaken the immune system. Inadequate personal protective equipment is another major factor.
For one doctor, who did not give his name, the ongoing pandemic comes with multiple challenges. Excess work is compounded by the lack of discipline among Indonesians and the failure to comply with rules of hygiene. But the most worrying thing is the number of asymptomatic patients" who are among the main carriers of the virus.
So far, some 178,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported in the country with 128,000 recoveries, 42,000 hospitalisations and 7,505 deaths.
In the past two weeks, outbreaks have occurred in several cities and there is no sign that the pandemic is receding. In fact, the number of cases is rapidly increasing.
In the past 24 hours, 2,775 new cases have been reported. The recent holidays, and associated gatherings and public meetings, risk giving the pandemic a boost.
The five provinces with the highest number of cases are Greater Jakarta, East Java, West Java, Central Java and Bali.
The virus has now spread to at least 488 districts, with 90 per cent of the country affected by the pandemic.
In West Java, Governor Ridwan Kamil yesterday imposed social distancing until 28 September, whilst a curfew will be in place in some of the most affected cities to prevent meetings and gatherings.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan by contrast wants to reopen cinemas to ease the stress among the population.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Madrid Wed, September 2, 2020 11:31 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c422122c 2 News Spain,travel,tourism,Tourist Free
Foreign tourist arrivals in Spain plummeted by 75 percent year-on-year in July despite the reopening of borders in the world's second-most popular tourist destination, official figures showed Tuesday.
July was the first full month of Spain's new normality since Madrid reopened its frontiers on June 21 and lifted a state of emergency that ushered in one of the tightest lockdowns in the world.
Tourism is a pillar of the Spanish economy, accounting for some 12 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 13 percent of employment.
Foreign tourist spending also slumped in July, falling by 79.5 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, figures released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) showed.
Per tourist, the average amount spent was down 17.8 percent.
But after more than three months of lockdown, the figures showed a big increase on June, with foreign tourist arrivals 12 times higher, and visitor spending 18 times higher.
In July, the largest number of incoming tourists were French, who accounted for a quarter of all arrivals, followed by Germans then Britons, who are normally the largest national visitor group.
The Balearic islands were the most popular destination in July, accounting for nearly a quarter of all visitors to Spain, followed by the northeastern Catalonia region then Valencia in the southeast.
Due to the drop in arrivals, hotel reservations slumped by 73.4 percent in July, while other tourist accommodation bookings (such as apartments and campsites) fell by 49.9 percent compared with July 2019, recent INE figures show.
When the borders reopened, Spain had hoped to claw back some of its losses by billing itself as a safe tourist destination.
But it has since been battered by an explosion of new COVID-19 cases, prompting many countries to issue travel warnings or impose quarantine restrictions on arrivals from Spain.
Topics : Spain travel tourism Tourist
The victim told police he did not know the suspect but thought it was somebody he had refused to give a cigarette to earlier, in the station, according to the affidavit. He told police he was shot as he sat on a bench waiting for a bus.
Senator Edward J. Markey turned back a primary challenge Tuesday from Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III, handing the Kennedy family its first-ever electoral loss in Massachusetts and demonstrating the growing strength of the progressive left.
Forging a coalition of younger and more liberal Democrats, the sort of voters who once formed the core of the Kennedy base, Mr. Markey was winning about 54 percent of the vote when Mr. Kennedy called him to concede. Soon afterward, The Associated Press declared him the winner. Mr. Markey had 55.5 percent of the vote as of Wednesday morning.
By winning renomination in a generational clash and the marquee Democratic Senate primary of the year Mr. Markey, 74, proved that the ascendant left is not eager to simply throw out long-serving incumbents in favor of younger rivals, such as the 39-year-old Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Markey, who was first elected to Congress in 1976, was able to outflank Mr. Kennedy with progressives, leaving the heir of Massachusettss most storied political dynasty little opening.
The mail and TV blitz that Mr. Kennedy deployed in recent weeks that depicted his grandfather, Robert F. Kennedy, and great-uncles did little to affect the outcome.
A British Conservative Party MP has slammed Tony Abbott's appointment to the UK's Board of Trade.
Caroline Nokes said the former Australian Prime Minister is a 'misogynist' who is not the sort of man that should be representing the British people.
The Australian government, which currently has an international coronavirus travel ban in place, granted Mr Abbott an exemption to fly to London last week where he is tipped to take up a new role as a trade advisor in the aftermath of Brexit.
Scroll down for video.
Caroline Nokes (pictured) said the former Australian Prime Minister is a 'misogynist' who is not the sort of man that should be representing the British people
Tony Abbott (pictured) travelled to London last week where he is expected to take up a new role as a trade advisor to the UK in the aftermath of Brexit
He is expected to work alongside Trade Secretary Liz Truss who heads up the British Trade Board.
But Ms Nokes says his appointment is likely to undermine Ms Truss, who is one of the most senior women in Boris Johnson's government.
Ms Nokes was herself part of the Cabinet under Mr Johnson's predecessor Theresa May as Immigration Minister, but was removed from her position on his second day in power.
'I'm not sure I can come up with words for how awful I think it is she is president of the board of trade and is being told she is going to jobshare with a bloke from Australia,' she told the BBC.
'He is a misogynist, he has very poor views on LGBTQ rights and I just don't think this is a man who should be anywhere near our board of trade.'
The Former Australian Prime Minister is pictured wearing a protective mask after speaking at a Policy Exchange event in London on September 1
Mr Abbott has often come under fire for his staunchly conservative views, including climate change denial and opposition to same sex marriage.
In 2011, the Australian Liberal Party Stalwart caused outrage when he campaigned in front of offensive signs that described Australia's first female Prime Minister Julia Gillard as a 'witch' and another man's 'b***t'.
The following year Ms Gillard took to parliament in a landmark speech scolding Mr Abbott for his apparent sexism.
'If he [Mr Abbott] wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn't need a motion in the House of Representatives, he needs a mirror. That's what he needs,' she told parliament.
But despite his controversial viewpoints, Mr Abbott is vastly experienced when it comes to drawing up international trade deals, signing three free trade agreements with China, Korea and Japan during the two years he was in office.
Julia Gillard once said the moment Tony Abbott (pictured with microphone) used signs describing her as a 'witch' and a man's 'b***h' back in 2011 for an anti-carbon tax rally should have ended his career
During a discussion at the UK's Policy Exchange think tank, Mr Abbott defended his record and highlighted the importance of an Australian-Britain free trade agreement.
'Inevitably if you have convictions you'll draw criticism but if you want to get things done, you need people with convictions and if you lack convictions, it's very hard to get things done,' he said.
'I think it's in Britain's interests and it's in Australia's interests that this particular free trade deal be done as quickly as possible.'
But Ms Nokes is not convinced Abbott is the right man for the job.
'We need a free trade deal with Australia and we need it to be quick, but we also need free trade deals with the rest of the world. Is he the sort of man who should be representing us globally? No.'
There has been no official announcement regarding Mr Abbott's new role in the UK.
The All-China Women's Federation holds a symposium with women entrepreneurs in the catering industry in Beijing on August 26. [China Women's News]
The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) held a symposium with women entrepreneurs in the catering industry in Beijing on August 26, to study the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping and exchange opinions on how to give full play to the role of women and families in stopping food waste.
Huang Xiaowei, Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group and Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the ACFW, delivered a speech at the symposium.
Huang stressed giving full play to the advantages of the catering industry, and called for women and families to play their role in stopping food waste in daily life and contribute to fostering a social environment where waste is shameful and thriftiness is commended.
At the symposium, representatives of women entrepreneurs shared their experience in preventing food waste and gave relevant suggestions.
Yang Liu, Member of the Standing Committee of the ACWF and President of the World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry, and Song Xiaoxi, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Hospitality Association, launched an initiative to call for the catering companies to increase their sense of social responsibility, transform the modes of operation, strengthen refined management and publicize role models.
Yin Zhijun, chairperson of the board of a tea culture company based in Beijing, suggested that rejection of wasting food should be included in social education, and the idea of saving food should be inculcated in children's minds.
Yan Qi, Member of the Executive Committee of the ACWF and Chairperson of a food culture company based in Chongqing, introduced some methods of preventing food waste, including taking the lead in formulating the convention of preventing food waste, improving catering industry standards and focusing on innovative services.
Zhang Lijun, Vice-President of the China General Chamber of Commerce, analyzed the causes of food waste and gave suggestions on ending food waste through changing old customs and habits, promoting the transformation and upgrading of the catering industry and improving system standards.
Huang appreciated the patriotic spirit, the sense of responsibility and the deeds of women entrepreneurs who responded to the call and took practical measures to resist food waste. She said that diligence and thrift are good traditions of the CPC and a sign of social civilization and progress.
She hoped that women entrepreneurs in the catering industry should take the lead in stopping food waste and incorporate the idea of resisting food waste and promoting thrifty habits into the industry's entire process procurement, storage, processing, sales and service. They were urged to promote the social custom of practicing thrift and opposing waste as well as to facilitate the enterprises' sustainable development.
The women's federations at all levels were urged to guide members of the executive committees, recipients of the honorary title of the March 8th Red-banner Holder and women role models at their posts in the catering industry to be role models of saving food.
Huang also urged the women's federations to influence and lead more women and families to inherit the virtues of diligence and thrift, practice a green lifestyle and contribute to maintaining national food security and promoting social civilization and progress.
Zhang Xiaolan, Vice-President and Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF, also attended the event. Wu Haiying, Vice-President and Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF, presided over the symposium.
Huang Xiaowei, Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group and Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation, speaks at the symposium with women entrepreneurs in the catering industry on August 26. [China Women's News]
(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)
South Africa: Parliament speaks out on farm murders
The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Inkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, has warned that attacks on farms threaten food security, employment and the economy.
Both farm workers and farm owners are of equal importance in the agricultural chain, Mandela said.
He made the remarks following the recent attacks on four farms in Hartbeespoort in North West province.
In one incident, a woman and her children were held captive on a farm in Broederstroom. The attackers also fled with a family car and stolen valuables.
Any type of violence against women and children is abhorred. We must ensure the reduction of crime against vulnerable groups, Mandela said on Tuesday.
The committee condemned attacks on farm owners and farm workers, and called for increased police visibility in communities.
Mandela said Community Policing Forums and Community Safety Forums must be strengthened.
He also encouraged all communities to know their neighbours to create a non-racial and socially cohesive South Africa.
We must, through our governments approach to social compact, ensure that we all contribute meaningfully to the creation of peaceful and safer societies. We need to bring all the stakeholders and key role players on board in fighting the scourge of violent crimes, Mandela said.
He said rural farmers, farm workers and farming communities are especially vulnerable, as they are isolated and far from essential services, including emergency medical care, fire and police services.
The urban/rural divide bequeathed to us by the legacies of colonialism, apartheid and further compounded by the slow pace of rural transformation and rural economic development, is a cause for grave concern, and this bedevils our efforts to effectively wipe out crime. We must ensure that we take collective responsibility for the safety and the development of rural communities.
The set-up of the district councils in rural areas must play a role in ensuring that people living in their areas take part in deciding solutions to their problems. Through the new district development model, we must further ensure the implementation of the National Rural Safety Strategy (NRSS), Mandela said.
Mandela said the killing of farmers and farm workers has debilitating consequences.
One of the key findings by Johan Burger, from the Institute for Security Studies, in research conducted in 2018 on Violent Crime on Farms and Smallholdings, is that farm attacks and farm murders have increased in line with the general upward trend in South Africas serious and violent crimes. These crimes have been found to share similarities with the trio crimes category of house robbery, business robbery and carjacking, Mandela said.
He said the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development will work with the Portfolio Committee on Police to ensure that rural communities, inclusive of farming communities, get the required protection and services from the police. SAnews.gov.za
This story has been published on: 2020-09-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Every time the society tries to underplay womens capabilities or people come to doubt "if a woman can get the job done, women have given a befitting reply to every naysayer. That is not so much to do with verbal retaliation, as it is to prove their point through solid action.
Yet again, another woman has proven that women are no less than their male counterparts when it comes to leading others and serving their country. Just like this officer who has created history by writing down her name as the incharge of Indias largest central armed police force in Kashmir.
Youtube - Jaago Badlo Bolo
Known as a location with high militancy activities, IPS officer Charu Sinha is all set to take the reins of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) formation in Kashmir as its first woman commander.
Here is what we know about IPS officer Charu Sinha.
1. Officer Charu Sinha is the newly appointed Inspector General (IG) of Central Reserve Police Force Srinagar sector. This comes after the Supreme Courts February verdict where it cleared decks for female officers to serve as army commanders in permanent service.
2. Officer Sinha is a 1996-batch IPS officer of the Telangana cadre, who is known as a tough taskmaster, fearless in the face of threat and true to her duties as a serving police officer.
svpnpa(dot)gov(dot)in
3. Said to have extensive experience working in terror zones, as the Inspector General of CRPF's Srinagar sector, officer Sinha will be supervising the deployment of the paramilitary forces' battalions in and around the city of Srinagar.
4. Before being appointed to this position, officer Sinha had been serving as the Inspector General of CRPF in Jammu.
5. This isnt the first time officer Sinha has been given a rather sensitive and crucial posting. Previously, the IPS officer had headed the CRPF formation in Bihar and Telangana where she is said to have successfully carried out a number of anti-Naxal operations.
Twitter Bhadur_clicker
6. After her successful tenure in Bihar and Jammu, the latest responsibility of the Srinagar sector was recently handed over to officer Sinha. The Jammu sector was created in 2005 and officer Charu became the first female officer to occupy the IGs seat.
7. As per the CRPFs statement, the Srinagar sector under officer Sinhas jurisdiction includes over three districts of J&K, namely Budgam, Ganderbal, and Srinagar as well as the Union Territory of Ladakh. It also includes two ranges, 22 executive units, and three Mahila companies. Officer Sinha will also be heading all operations involved in this sector.
8. Officer Sinha is expected to oversee the sectors involvement in anti-terror operations, working closely with the Indian Army along with Jammu and Kashmir police.
Twitter Bureaucrats India
9. While the CRPF boasts of around 3.25 lakh personnel, Officer Sinha will be the head of approximately 65 battalions which have been deployed in Kashmir for law and order duties and specialist counter-terrorist operations.
IPS Officer Charu Sinha has become an inspiration for many young women in the country and we wish her the best on her latest appointment.
Weeks after Donald Trump was sworn in as president of the United States, I met an American friend who had spent years overseas as a foreign correspondent. She offered a bleak view of her country.
I had said, more out of faith, that I thought American institutions were strong enough to withstand Trumpian assaults. I was relying on the history I was familiar with: Washington district judge John Sirica demanding that President Richard Nixons administration hand over tapes during the Watergate trials; Republican senator Howard Baker asking about Nixon, What did the president know and when did he know it?"; leading US newspapers defying the White House and publishing the Pentagon Papers, a leaked report that showed what the Defense Department knew about the Vietnam War and wasnt revealing; and more recently, former secretary of state Colin Powell, who served under Republican presidents, defending Democrat Barack Obama from rightist smears. In the US, institutions mattered.
To be sure, there was always partisan politics, especially when relations between the executive and legislative branches worsened, with government shutdowns and impeachments of Bill Clinton and Trump. In the run-up to the 2003 Iraq War, the US press did poorly, with some reporters becoming the administrations cheerleaders, parroting government propaganda. And the judiciary too opted for expediency at times, such as when the Supreme Court enabled George W. Bushs 2000 election after the poll stalemate in Florida.
My friend was polite about my optimism. Trump does not have to break the law; he will attack the norms," she said. And once those norms are undermined, anything is possible." Institutions are fragile, she implied; they work only if those in charge adhere to rules followed for generations.
Breaking rules is not difficult. Clever people find ways to do so. The Republican-controlled Senate would not give a hearing to Merrick Garland, whom Obama appointed to the US Supreme Court, saying such nominations cant be made in the presidents final year, even though there is no such rule. And yet, the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would hold hearings for a new Trump appointee (if there is a vacancy in the next two months), even though this is an election year, because the same party controls the Senate and the presidency. Again, theres neither such a rule, nor a convention. Such sophistry erodes norms.
In fact, the Trump administration has violated not just norms, but also laws. Think of the number of his associates and appointees being indicted or sentenced. The administration has been fatal for many of its citizens. More than thrice as many Americans have died due to coronavirus than the number of US soldiers killed in the Vietnam War. But, like a bull in a china shop, Trump acts audaciously because he knows he can get away with it. There is a Yiddish word, chutzpah, but that doesnt explain it, because chutzpah has a certain charmit speaks of street-smart roguishness. Trumps audacity is raw, that of a dangerous bully.
Whether or not Trump wins, he has transformed the Republican Party. It is no longer the party of the rich American who wanted to pay less taxes and upheld the benign paternalism of noblesse oblige to fix societal ills that the state couldnt and shouldnt fix. Trumps party uses the states power to intrude in peoples lives, interferes with markets and the economy, tears up international commitments, and has made it easier for bigots and racists not only to flaunt prejudice, but brandish weapons with impunity and intimidate (sometimes even shoot) those who look or think different.
In early 2017, when I lived in London, my friend Nirmal Ghosh, the Washington correspondent of Singapores daily Straits Times, came visiting. He was to speak at a university about how he reported US politics for an overseas audience. An American in the hall asked him if he saw any difference in covering the US after nearly three decades of reporting from Asia. Ghosh had reported from Singapore, the Philippines and India before his last Asian posting, Thailand, where he covered Indo-China. Not at all," Ghosh said. It is very easy to understand Trumphe operates exactly like some Asian leaders I have covered," he added, pointing out the relatives Trump was appointing to key positions and the cronies he was rewarding. Ghosh had covered businessmen-turned-politicians in Thailand, a comical strongman in the Philippines, and seen the collusion of business and politics elsewhere. He spoke of how leaders in Cambodia and Zimbabwe did it, and said Trump would be no different.
That is the ultimate tragedy for American democracy. It was never perfect, for no democracy is. Aspects of it still inspire. The spontaneous support for the Black Lives Matter movement; the lawyers fighting inhumane administration policies that target refugees; the journalists who ask tough questions of the administration; and the judges who uphold the law and not the legitimacy of temporary rulers. America will need more of these, if those fragile norms are to survive and for the nation to become united again.
Salil Tripathi is a writer based in New York. Read Salils previous Mint columns at www.livemint.com/saliltripathi
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All seems well as Father Jude conveys his sermon to the congregation in French
A priest wearing a coronavirus mask collapsed and died while giving a sermon at his church in Cameroon on Sunday.
Catholic priest Reverend Father Jude can be seen speaking to his congregation from the pulpit in French before he falls to the ground in Cameroon's western city of Douala during Sunday Mass on 30 August.
At first, all seems well as Father Jude conveys his spiritual lesson to the parishioners.
He then pauses and looks around the church, before clenching his fist, and he briefly appears to regain his composure.
At first, all seems well as Father Jude conveys his spiritual lesson to the parishioners in Cameroon's western city of Douala during Sunday Mass last weekend
Father Jude pauses during his sermon on Sunday in Douala, western Cameroon
Father Jude's eyes then become droopy and he sways on the spot before slumping backwards, to the left of the pulpit. He can be heard breathing heavily into the microphone before he drops.
At the end of the video, fellow clergymen wearing face masks can be seen rushing to the priest's aid as women in the church scream.
It is not yet known whether the priest had any prior medical conditions.
The footage was shared on Twitter by lawyer Chidi Odinkalu, who is also the former chairman of Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission.
'Rev. Fr Jude., CMA, Spiritual Director of CMA Deido, in Cameroon's commercial capital, Douala, was preaching the Homily at Mass earlier today when this happened. RIP,' he wrote.
This is the moment Father Jude collapsed while delivering his sermon in Cameroon on Sunday
At the end of the video, fellow clergymen and parishioners wearing face masks can be seen rushing to the priest's aid as women in the church scream
Social media users were shocked by the priest's sudden death.
One wrote: 'Oh my God! Right at the pulpit while preaching a sermon!?'
'May his soul rest in peace and may the Lord he served grant him eternal rest in his kingdom.'
'Life isn't just short it's unbelievable,' said another.
'That man must have left his house with the hopes of returning to a wife and children.
'The life is short, just live it right when you can.'
A fire has wiped out a small country town's only supermarket and butcher, forcing locals to leave their border bubble to get supplies.
The inferno tore through Mungindi, a town on both sides of the Queensland and New South Wales border, which has suffered through drought and COVID-19 restrictions.
A butcher shop caught fire on Tuesday night before spreading to the supermarket, a clothing store and an apartment block. The RFS contained the blaze by 9.30pm.
Investigations are underway into the what started the fire, which is estimated to have caused $1million worth of damage.
The inferno tore through Mungindi, a town on both sides of the Queensland and New South Wales border, which has suffered through drought and COVID-19 restrictions
A butcher shop caught fire on Tuesday night before spreading to the supermarket, a clothing store and an apartment block. The RFS contained the blaze by 9.30
Moree Plains Shire Mayor Katrina Humphries told Daily Mail Australia that Mungindi's 600 locals would be forced to leave their border bubble to travel to Mooree to buy supplies.
'Although we are in the shire we aren't all in the bubble, only selected postcodes have been included in it,' she said.
'It's completely split our shire. I've spoken to elderly people who are so frightened that they can't get into Moree to go to the shops because then they'll break the travel bubble.'
The nearest place for Mungindi residents to buy their groceries is Goondiwindi - 162km away - or into Queensland which would require them to isolate for 14 days.
'So if they come out of Mungindi to shop in Moree or something like that they can't then go into Queensland to have their medical issues. That is just cruel and wicked and brutal,' she said.
Ms Humphries said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's hard border closures and the creation of travel bubbles within certain postcodes has created division in her shire.
'We've never had this division like this before,' she said. 'It's just cruel and unnecessary and it doesn't make sense.'
'We've got no COVID. The whole [pandemic] we have had one case and that was transmitted from a hospital back in April.'
'We have always had a great affinity with south east Queensland and now its just been cut off. This is so sad, what else can our beautiful communities have to deal with?'
Moree Plains Shire Mayor Katrina Humphries said Mungindi's 600 locals would need to leave the border bubble for essential supplies
Ms Humphries said she was in awe at the community's resilience and bravery.
Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall announced the Queensland Government will provide $100,000 in emergency funding for temporary store to supply locals with basic essentials.
'My heart goes out to the Mungindi community tonight, which has seen a freak fire rip through its CBD, destroying several businesses, including the butcher shop, clothes store and the only supermarket,' he said in a statement on Tuesday night.
'They're looking at a couple of sites to establish that at the moment just to make sure locals can continue to access their basic needs and basic supplies.
'I'll be in Mungindi [on Wednesday] to inspect the damage and do what I can to help the community rebuild.'
NSW Deputy John Barilaro said he would be pushing for looser border restrictions to help the affected communities.
'We'll set up a range of new facilities quickly with local government,' he said.
Chennai, Sep 2 : The Air Customs Department here on Wednesday said it has seized three parcels containing a total of 215 MDMA pills and 7 grams of MDMA crystals valued at Rs 7 lakh.
Three post parcels, which arrived from the UK and the Netherlands and were suspected to contain narcotic substances, were intercepted by the Chennai Air Customs at the Foreign Post Office, said the Commissioner of Customs, Chennai International Airport in a statement.
On opening a parcel addressed to a person in Ooty from Netherton, UK, the Customs officials found a pouch containing 15 grey skull shaped 'MYBRAND' MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) pills and seven grams of MDMA crystal power.
The second parcel from the Netherlands addressed to a person in Nammakal in Tamil Nadu contained 50 green grenade and 50 purple skull MDMA pills in two plastic pouches.
The third parcel containing 100 MDMA pills with 'Tesla' marking was also from the Netherlands and was addressed to a Chennai resident.
According to Customs, the addresses mentioned the parcels were found to be fake when followup searches were made and an investigation is on.
Ziyad team is currently in Beirut organizing the food distribution drive and coordinating donations from eight of the most popular local food manufacturing companies in Lebanon including Al Rabih, Castania, Grapeful, Mechaalany, Second House Gourmet Foods, Al Forno, Msallem and Ziyad. The donations will be distributed by our trusted nonprofit partners.
Ziyad CEO Nemer Ziyad said that the drive is intended to boost the spirit and morale of the people of Beirut and Lebanon.
"With our local efforts along with our partners in Lebanon, we hope to empower our communities, help the local economy and provide a glimpse of hope for a better future," Nemer Ziyad said.
"We believe that hope starts with food. We want to remind Beirut that they are important to us by providing special high-quality food that we hope will comfort them during these difficult times. We also want them to know that they will not be forgotten and that the world cares. Ziyad truly cares and we want to do our best to strengthen their will to restore, rebuild and move forward. That is the Lebanese spirit."
Nemer Ziyad adds, "We are especially grateful to the food manufacturers who partnered with us in this effort. They have all made a commitment to help and we are so proud of their involvement and support."
Maher Chebaro, a renowned food specialist, chef and critical member of the Ziyad team is on the ground in Beirut overseeing the support drive.
"Being Lebanese, this is coming from my heart but being a member of Ziyad Brothers, is also coming from the spirit of community support that Ziyad has built over the years, and I am proud to be a part of that. In a time filled with so much loss and heartache, we're dedicated to giving families the joy and peace of eating together," Maher Chebaro said.
Ziyad Brothers Importing is one of the most recognized producers of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean foods in the United States, distributing products to more than 2,500 ethnic grocery stores and over 10,000 major mainstream American food retailers.
For more information on Ziyad Brothers Importing and their Support Beirut Campaign, visit them online at www.Ziyad.com/beirut and follow on social media @ziyadbrand. Food items donated are viewable online at Ziyad.com, including additional photos and pictures of the food donation packaging.
Note to Editors:
Both Nemer Ziyad in Chicago and Maher Chebaro in Beirut are available for interviews.
MEDIA Contacts: Marissa Ziyad, 708-307-5965
[email protected]
SOURCE Ziyad Brothers Importing
U.S. The Daily Beast
via TwitterA man and woman in New York have been both fired and arrested for verbally assaulting a family on a train in an incident that police have determined to be a hate crime.The Daily Voice reported that Justin Likerman and Kristin Digesaro, of Long Island, turned themselves in on Wednesday. They have been charged with aggravated harassment and endangering the welfare of a child. New Yorks Metropolitan Transit Authority said the charges were brought in conjunction with the Manhattan Distri
August 21, 2020, made it exactly a year that current ministers in President Muhammadu Buharis cabinet assumed office.
President Buhari was sworn in for a second term on May 29 after winning re-election in February 2019 after which he assigned 43 ministers from all the states including the FCT with their portfolios.
Although the president earlier appointed the ministers on July 23, 2019, they were not sworn in until August 21, 2019.
In the appointment, the president retained some of the ministers who served in his last administration which include the minister of education, Adamu Adamu.
While Mr Adamu was reappointed as the education minister, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba was appointed as the minister of state.
However, Mr Nwajiuba previously served as the Chairman of TETFund Board of Trustees before his appointment as the junior minister of education.
Promises
Mr Adamu made some promises on projects he intended to embark on to further stabilise the education sector. His promises were contained in the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP 2016-2019) many of which he was unable to fulfil.
Mr Adamu in October last year stretched the ministerial strategic plan blueprint tagged A Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) 2018 2022 in order to implement and the goals of the MSP in his second tenure.
Some of the promises in the MSP include reduction of out of school children by enrolling 2,875,500 children in schools annually for three years; promotion of community schools; removal of every form of payment (levies) in basic schools; Curriculum and Policy Matters; Tertiary Education; Education Data and Planning, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Library Services in education.
It also included Youth and Adult Literacy; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Basic and Secondary Education and Teacher Education Capacity Building and Professional Development.
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More promises
Mr Adamu during the World Teachers Day ceremony promised to ensure the federal government implemented its commitment to the endorsement of Safe Schools Declaration.
Mr Adamu also promised to remove 10.2 million out-of-school children from the streets in the next five years. Currently, Nigeria has 10.5 children out of school which is the highest in sub-Saharan Africa
The minister also directed the Federal Scholarship Board to pay scholarship stipends to Nigerian students studying in Russia.
Achievements
One of the notable achievements of the education minister is giving the directive that all unqualified teachers should be removed from schools.
The minister also secured funding of N220 billion grant from the World Bank to tackle the problem of out-of-school children.
His other achievements include his consistency in releasing guidelines on school reopening to contain the spread of COVID 19 among pupils.
Mr Adamu reversed the resumption of schools of schools on July 13, 2020, saying schools in Nigeria schools will not open until it is safe to do so. He later announced that graduating classes can resume in order to write their examination.
The minister also released guidelines ahead of the resumption of schools at every level in the country. The guidelines were for the safe reopening of schools.
There has also been a percieved reduction in examination malpractice in schools across the nation.
Failures
The minister has not been able to resolve the issues that led to strike actions in the Nigerian tertiary education system. These strikes coupled with the COVID 19 which led to the closure of schools has further crippled the sector.
The major failures are the ripples from inadequate funding of the sector. The funds allocated to education is low against the stipulated 15 to 20 per cent proposed by the UNESCO(links). For instance, only 6.7 per cent of the 2020 budget was allocated to the education sector.
Also, the issue of out-of-school children remains a big challenge which the minister has not been to resolve.
Similarly, there is still a high number of unqualified teachers in the teaching profession. The 2018 personnel audit by the Universal Basic Education Commission showed that over 300,000 teachers in Nigeria are unqualified as they do not possess the prescribed minimum qualifications for teaching.
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Experts argue there is a huge decline in the quality of education for the past one year.
Lack of infrastructure in schools is also a major failure of the minister in the past one year. The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the implication of lack of facilities and infrastructure in the education sector .
During the lockdown, many students in public schools were unable to learn virtually because there are no facilities and infrastructures in place.
Bad to worse
For the national coordinator of Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Hassan Soweto the education sector has moved from bad to worse under the minister.
It is particularly worrisome that the increase in out-of-school children is not only due to the insurgency in the North-east but also reflects the worsening economic conditions and the consequence of government anti-poor policy of education commercialisation which is increasing the rate of school dropouts especially in states previously categorised as educationally-advantaged states, he said.
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According to him, under the stewardship of the education minister, public tertiary schools have been rocked by agitations and strikes due to controversy over the imposition of IPPIS.
So also has the policy of increasing school fees beyond what students from poor working-class background can afford. So against this background, its clear that the COVID 19 pandemic and the associated lockdown and closure of schools is actually a minute portion of the crisis bedevilling the education sector.
Mr Soweto said the minister performed woefully.
So for me, there is no other way to rate a minister that has presided over such a monumental tragedy in the education sector than a failure. The education minister and the anti-education government he serves do not deserve a day more in their positions, he said.
Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III (D-Mass.) talks to reporters Tuesday at a campaign stop in Boston. (Associated Press)
The 2020 political season has delivered a lot of curveballs, and heres another: For the first time in U.S. history, a Kennedy has lost an election in Massachusetts.
Sen. Edward J. Markeys ability to beat back a challenge from Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III in the states Democratic primary Tuesday was a tribute to the incumbent's skill at organizing progressive activists behind him against a scion of a storied political family.
It was also a tribute to a broader political dynamic that reaches beyond Massachusetts and the Democratic Party: The loosening grip of family dynasties in American politics.
In both parties, the Old Guard has been challenged by the rise of populist movements: the white nationalism that brought Trump to power in the GOP, and the multiracial progressivism that nearly gave Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders the Democratic presidential nomination.
With the rise of those anti-establishment forces, some of the most famous names in politics have been thrown to the sidelines in the last five years: Clinton. Bush. Romney.
Being a Kennedy in Massachusetts gave the 39-year-old the momentum, money and political connections to have a good shot at unseating Markey, a 74-year-old who has served more than four decades in Congress.
But it was not enough to get Kennedy over the finish line. Three hours after polls closed Tuesday, the Associated Press declared Markey the winner in one of the nation's most hotly contested primaries.
The Kennedy name has lost some of its magic in the Bay State, said Jim Manley, a longtime advisor to the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who was Joseph Kennedy's great-uncle. Things are changing and a political dynasty doesnt mean what it used to.
Markey is all but guaranteed to win reelection this fall in the heavily Democratic state. Kennedy loses his House seat, which will leave Congress without any members of the Kennedy clan for only the second time in 73 years. (There were no Kennedys seated there in 2011-12.)
Story continues
Political dynasties are fading at the presidential level as well. In each of the last eight presidential contests, the lineup of major candidates has included at least one member of the Bush, Clinton or Romney families.
Many had expected the 2016 race to be a clash of dynasties, when former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seemed likely to face off against Jeb Bush, a brother and son of presidents. But Donald Trump, a businessman outsider with no political pedigree, beat them both.
The previous GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney son of the Michigan governor who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in 1968 has been sidelined by his own party because of his outspoken criticism of Trump.
Plenty of legacy politicians remain on the scene, but their pathways are not unobstructed.
Donald J. Trump Jr. may try to succeed his father in 2024, but many ambitious Republicans have the same idea.
Liz Cheney, daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, is in the House GOP leadership and has designs on moving up although she faces resistance from Trump loyalists over her occasional criticism of the president.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo son of the late Gov. Mario Cuomo is seen as a possible presidential contender, but his centrist pragmatism puts him at odds with progressives, and he chose not to run in 2020.
No family has a legacy as broad and deep as the Kennedy clan, which has produced one president, two senators, and three House members. Most came from Massachusetts. None of them ever lost a race there. Until Tuesday.
Ever since Kennedy a fourth-term House member who is the son of former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II and grandson of Robert F. Kennedy announced his challenge to Markey, it was seen as more of a generational clash than an ideological one because the two differ little on issues.
Kennedy was almost immediately seen as a front-runner, enjoying double-digit leads in some polls. Markey first elected to Congress in 1976, before Kennedy was born has been a low-profile senator with a relatively thin record of legislative accomplishment.
Some Kennedy boosters assumed Markey would retire rather than face a bitter fight. The 2020 campaign season had been littered with insurgent candidates beating longtime incumbents in New York, Illinois and Missouri.
That did not happen. Markey fought back aggressively and flipped the script that had bedeviled other embattled incumbents: He presented himself in ads and campaign messaging as the insurgent fighter from a blue-collar town Markey from Malden against a privileged member of the political elite.
He traded on his decades of work on climate change, a top priority among young Democratic voters. In a game-changing endorsement, he won the backing of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, the rising progressive star with whom hed cosponsored the Green New Deal. She immunized him against the rap that he was too old and irrelevant.
When it comes to progressive leadership it's not your age that counts. Its the age of your ideas, she said in an ad.
Kennedy initially tried to downplay his family ties until Markey went after them and ended one ad with a tagline resonant of President Kennedy's inaugural address.
We asked what we could do for our country. We went out, we did it," Markey said. With all due respect, it's time to start asking what your country can do for you."
Kennedy defended his family, accusing Markey of questioning their integrity, weaponizing their history, appropriating their words.
If he wants to talk about the Kennedys, then I will talk about the Kennedys, he said.
The increasingly personal campaign vaporized Kennedy's polling lead, suggesting that the Kennedy name was not the political talisman it once was. It had, after all, been 14 years since a Kennedy was on the statewide ballot.
Since then, a lot of Democrats in Massachusetts have come into the process because of Barack Obama in 2008, said Mary Anne Walsh, a Democratic consultant in Boston. Its a different kind of politics, a different kind of activism.
Markey made an implausible connection with young insurgents through Ocasio-Cortez, as well as endorsements from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and some of the progressive congressional candidates like Missouri's Cori Bush who had ousted incumbents elsewhere.
The Kennedy name may have been a liability as well as an asset if he was trying to make the case for generational change.
Kennedy got the benefit of being a Kennedy, but he also got the problem that its hard to look like the challenging underdog, said former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who retired in 2012 from the House seat that Kennedy won with only token opposition. The advantage that led him to clear the field in the first place took away from him the mantle of the daring young outsider on the flying trapeze.
A 24-year-old man, Lukman Tijani, was on Tuesday, arraigned before an Osun State Magistrates Court in Okuku for allegedly killing three family members during a robbery in their house.
Mr Tijani was also charged with attempting to escape from police custody.
He was accused of stabbing to death Sarah Oyediran and two children living with the retired teacher at Inisa in Odo Otin Local Government Area of the state.
The police prosecutor, Mustafa Tajudeen, told the court that the defendant also attacked the deceaseds husband, Tunde Oyediran, leaving him injured after stealing from the family.
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The incident, according to Mr Tajudeen, occurred on July 24, at about 1 p.m.
He (defendant) was armed with a cutlass, a pair of pliers and other weapons, robbed Tunde of his Wema Bank ATM card, which he used to withdraw the sum of N300,000.
The defendant also stabbed to death Sarah Oyediran, Toyin Adeniran and Favour Onifade all family members on the same date, the prosecutor told the court.
He said Mr Tijani tried escaping from police custody after his arrest.
The alleged offences contravene sections 319(1), 320, 509 and 451, Laws of Osun State, 2002.
Mr Tijani faces seven counts bordering on armed robbery, murder, stealing and attempt to escape from lawful custody. He was not allowed to take a plea before the magistrate due to the nature of the alleged offences.
The Magistrate, O. B. Adediwura, therefore, ordered that the prosecutor duplicate the case file and send it to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.
He then asked that the defendant, Mr Tijani be remanded in the Ilesa Correctional Centre till September 21 when the matter will come up for mention.
Oorja Cleantech LLP announced the a new set of lab results for Radic8s Viruskiller technology. After analysis by a leading Indian laboratory, it was proved that SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) as well as 14 other respiratory viruses were effectively eliminated by the Viruskiller VK 401. With a triple filter arrangement a pre-filter, a carbon filter and a HEPA filter and a reactor chamber comprising of nanotubes coated with Titanium dioxide (TiO2) and high power Ultraviolet C (UVC) lamps, Viruskiller successfully neutralises viruses and bacteria in the air.
Hyderabad-based Oorja Cleantech is importing Radic8s Viruskiller air sterilisation technology from South Korea in three different configurations, namely the Hextio, VK- 401 and VK-102. These steriliser units, each with a lifespan of over ten years, are designed for both personal and commercial use. Oorja Cleantech brings these products to India not only to fight against the current pandemic but also as long-term protection from various viruses and bacteria. It uses a two-stage process of filtration followed by sterilisation, which eliminates viruses, bacteria and pollutants in a single air pass.
The test was performed at a leading lab in India, and the link to the report is http://viruskiller.co.in/viruskiller-test-reports/. Two rounds of pathogens were tested against the VK 401:
A heavily concentrated mix of 14 viruses and bacteria SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)
The Viruskiller unit was placed inside a chamber, and a small inlet was created to inject the infected aerosol. Filter media were kept at both the inlet and outlet of the steriliser to check the air quality. On examining the inlet filter, it showed positive results for viruses, whereas the outlet filter was confirmed to be free of any virus; hence, sterilising the air.
The test report further shows that since Viruskiller includes multiple, high quality filters (a pre-filter, HEPA filter and carbon filter) it also effectively traps particulates and contaminants. The product also received a positive nod from the Hon. Minister for Health, Telangana Govt, Mr Etela Rajender, in July 2020.
Madhusudhan Rao, Founder & MD of Oorja Cleantech LLP, said, It is important to focus on reducing exposure to airborne infections in public settings. We can control what we touch, eat or drink, but have no choice when it comes to the air we breathe. Recent bulletins from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. and the World Health Organisation suggest the airborne nature of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19); hence our focus is on providing sterilised air. A recent test with another laboratory in Canada also shows that Viruskiller reduced airborne pathogens contaminating surfaces by 99.8 per cent.
Viruskiller was tested against bacteria like Chlamydophilia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Legionella pneumophila, Bordetella pertussis, Bordetella parapertussis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilius influenza and viruses like Influenza -A, Influenza -B; Respiratory Syncitial Virus-A, Respiratory Syncitial Virus -B, Influenza -A- Strain H1, Influenza A- Strain H3, and Influenza A-Strain H1 pdm09, as well as SARS-CoV-2.
Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda during the trial against former Congolese militia leader Germain Katanga - EPA
The Trump administration has imposed "unprecedented" sanctions on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and one of her top aides for continuing to investigate war crime allegations against Americans.
Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State, announced the moves as part of the administration's pushback against the tribunal, based in The Hague, for investigations into the US and its allies.
The sanctions include a freeze on assets held in the US or subject to US law and target prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the court's head of jurisdiction, Phakiso Mochochoko.
Today we take the next step, because the ICC continues to target Americans, sadly, Mr Pompeo told reporters.
Ms Bensouda was given the go-ahead by the court in March to investigate whether war crimes were committed in Afghanistan by the Taliban, Afghan military and US forces.
Mr Pompeo had previously imposed a travel ban on Ms Bensouda and other tribunal employees because of its investigation into allegations of torture and other crimes by Americans in Afghanistan.
Human rights groups and others have condemned the administration's moves against the court and Wednesday's announcement was immediately met with criticism.
Richard Dicker, the international justice director at Human Rights Watch, called it "a stunning perversion of US sanctions, devised to penalise rights abusers and kleptocrats, to persecute those tasked with prosecuting international crimes."
"The Trump administration has twisted these sanctions to obstruct justice, not only for certain war crimes victims, but for atrocity victims anywhere looking to the International Criminal Court for justice," he said.
In March 2019, Mr Pompeo ordered the revocation or denial of visas to ICC staff seeking to investigate allegations of war crimes and other abuses by US forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere. He also said he might revoke the visas of those who seek action against Israel.
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Katherine Gallagher, a human rights lawyer at the Center for Constitutional Rights, described the move as unprecedented. To see ICC prosecutors listed on OFAC (The Office of Foreign Assets Control) sanctions list bc (sic) of investigations of war crimes & crimes against humanity is simply incredible. Shame, she tweeted.
Pompeo said designations were being made because the #ICC continues to target Americans. There has been NO movement in the investigation of US torture - at least that I as a legal representative has seen. Instead, Afghanistan situation is on hold, pending decision on deferral.
Agnes Callamard, United Nations Special Rapporteur, wrote: Speechless right now. I am. Sanctions against the Prosecutor of the ICC??
BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ Burlington County is one of eight counties statewide that still has a moderate risk of coronavirus transmission, according to a new report.
As of Wednesday night, there were 6,806 cases of the coronavirus in Burlington County with 459 confirmed deaths and 48 probable deaths. There were 40 new cases reported on Wednesday. Trace investigations are underway in all new cases.
The New Jersey Department of Health's "COVID-19 Activity Level Report," which is issued weekly, says that New Jersey's statewide activity has dropped to "low" for the first time since the state began identifying its status in mid-February.
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The other seven counties that remain at a moderate risk include Camden, Gloucester, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem and Union counties.
Thirteen counties, in particular, have shown significant progress since the state Department of Health has begun releasing weekly reports on the status of the outbreak.
The report also divides New Jersey into regions and assesses their rates of new cases, COVID-19-like illnesses and positivity rates. Gov. Phil Murphy said the new report provides regional metrics for health and safety risks "that have further guided our decision-making" in reopening New Jersey. Read more here: New NJ Report Shows Moderate Coronavirus Activity In 8 Counties
Burlington County is actively engaged in contact tracing positive coronavirus cases. The focus is on close contacts, defined as closer than 6 feet for more than 10 minutes, household contacts and those that work in high risk settings such as healthcare workers and long term care facilities.
If community exposure has occurred, where a coronavirus positive person was in close contact with people for an extended period of time, while symptomatic, county officials will notify the public. Since residents are abiding by the social distancing requirements, officials said they have not run into that issue since early in the pandemic.
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Reminder: Mass exposure, due to social distancing guidelines, and the cooperation of the public has been minimized. Residents are reminded to remain 6 feet apart while obtaining essential items or services, and stay home unless absolutely necessary.
With reporting by Tom Davis
See related: NJ Coronavirus Reopen Updates: Here's What You Need To Know
This article originally appeared on the Cinnaminson Patch
Nader Salameh, left, and son Gavyn get their hair cut by Anthony Ho, left, and Christian Mikhail in the parking lot of Press Box Barber Shop in Lawndale. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles County officials announced an updated reopening plan Wednesday, keeping shopping malls shuttered while allowing barbershops and hair salons to operate indoors again under certain restrictions.
The new approach comes amid a generally improving pandemic picture that allowed Gov. Gavin Newsom last week to issue new guidelines allowing counties no matter their COVID-19 status to reopen some businesses.
County officials, balancing public health concerns versus business interests in a region where unemployment has reached 20%, opted to take a cautious approach.
Hair salons and barbershops will be allowed to operate indoors at 25% capacity if they practice social distancing, and employees wear masks and follow other health-related mandates.
The news that the county wasn't allowing shopping malls to reopen disappointed business owners and employees who've struggled these past few months with enormous financial uncertainty.
At the Beverly Center, which contains almost 1 million square feet of retail space, mall officials expressed frustration with the county's decision, saying other cities like Denver, Salt Lake City and Miami have allowed malls to reopen. Beverly Center, when opened, will implement health and safety protocols and use an advanced air filtration system recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a mall spokesperson.
"We are anxious to fully reopen so we can put a considerable number of people back to work," said Maria Mainville, director of strategic communications at Taubman, which owns the Beverly Center and operates several other shopping centers across the country. "We have fully reopened our shopping centers without incident in every other market where we have operations. We understand that these are unprecedented times, but we would simply like an even playing field."
Barbershop and salon owners welcomed the reopening news, but said the 25% capacity rule was still too strict.
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"Landlords won't be reducing their leases by 75%," said Fred Jones, the legal counsel for the Professional Beauty Federation of California.
L.A. County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said the decision to reopen hair salons and barbershops was based on the county's data trends, along with what the county has learned during previous reopenings. He did not provide specific details on why restrictions for malls were not lifted.
"The virus is widespread in our community," Davis said. "The improvements we see do not mean victory. It is still easy to transmit, and often people who are contagious don't have symptoms."
Supervisor Hilda Solis offered more words of caution for residents, especially those considering celebrating the Labor Day weekend without regard for the virus. "We can easily be knocked off that path of recovery if we see another surge in cases after the holiday week, which is was what happened after Memorial Day and the Fourth of July," she said.
Officials also announced some changes to school protocols. Beginning Sept. 14, K-12 schools can offer in-school services for small groups of students with individualized education plans, students requiring instruction for English as a second language and students needing other specialized in-school services. Schools can offer services to these students as long as they fully implement the county's reopening protocols.
"This will get children who are in most need of in-person learning back into the classroom," Davis said.
In San Francisco, plans announced Tuesday by Mayor London Breed and Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax also reflect a cautious approach.
The city reopened outdoor pools, indoor malls, outdoor hair salons and barbershops and outdoor personal services with some restrictions on Monday. But indoor operations at barbershops and hair salons may not reopen until late September. Nail salons may reopen for indoor services, with modifications at that point, as well as indoor church services, with 25% of a building's capacity for a maximum of 25 people.
The state has placed L.A. County , along with 37 other counties, on Tier 1 of its reopening plan for having widespread risk of the virus. The county has recorded more than 244,000 cases and almost 5,900 deaths. In recent weeks, those numbers have declined and stabilized, but August stands as the countys deadliest month since the pandemic hit.
Times staff writers Maura Dolan and Colleen Shalby contributed to this report.
The full impact on bilateral trade will only be seen once the pandemic ends and economic life returns to normal.
Amazons returns centre in Sered is an example of a successful US project in Slovakia. (Source: TASR)
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While the list of US investments and companies active in Slovakia is not very long, numbering about 90, it include big technological companies like IBM, Dell, AT&T, and the medical company Medline. The Slovak company InoBat and the US company Wildcat Discovery Technologies have also made a joint investment into the R&D of e-car batteries.
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Attracting investments from the electromobility sector is a key prerequisite for the transformation of the automotive industry in Slovakia, the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) told The Slovak Spectator.
Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced US investors to reconsider their planned investments and some even had to downsize their workforce in Slovakia.
Hard hit by COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the United States very hard, inflicting a heavy human and economic toll. The abrupt halt in activity to contain the spread of the coronavirus from March onwards has resulted in a 5-percent contraction in the first quarter of 2020 year-on-year, the sharpest drop recorded since 2008, as well as a surge in the unemployment rate, according to the trade credit insurer Coface.
Photo: The Canadian Press Emil Karpinski, PhD Candidate at the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, is shown in this undated handout image. The migration of extinct mastodon herds to Yukon and Alaska during warm periods between ice ages could hold clues and warning signs for today's animals moving north during a warming climate, says a new research paper. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - McMaster University, JD Howell, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
The migration of extinct mastodon herds to Yukon and Alaska during warm periods between ice ages could hold clues and warning signs for today's animals moving north during a warming climate, says a new research paper.
The paper from Hamilton's McMaster University, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, says mastodon herds that migrated north during the warm periods were less genetically diverse, which made them more vulnerable to extinction.
Mastodons, similar to today's elephants and extinct mammoths, roamed much of North America, including parts of Mexico. Mastodons went extinct about 11,000 years ago along with mammoths, large-toothed cats, giant beavers and western camels.
Emil Karpinski, a paleontologist at McMaster's Ancient DNA Centre, said the report is the result of six years of research that examined the fossil bones and teeth of more than 30 different mastodons.
He said the research showed mastodons migrated north several times during periods between ice ages when the Earth warmed, but didn't survive when ice ages returned.
"Mastodons were much more at home in these warmer, wooded wetland habitats with an abundance of shrubs and trees like spruce and pine for them to eat," Karpinski told a panel discussion involving about a dozen mastodon experts.
"We wanted to see, which is kind of the end hope of all this research, if what we learn about these animals could be applied to present-day species," he said.
"We're observing very similar travels in species like moose, snowshoe hare, beavers, not just ones in the Arctic, but also various birds, fish and other species that are rapidly moving northward in response to climate warming."
Karpinski said the research indicates the mastodon herds that migrated north were less genetically diverse and were more susceptible to extinction.
Grant Zazula, a Yukon government paleontologist and one of the report's authors, said the research shows mastodon herds migrated north more than once with the same disastrous results.
He said the northern mastodons were decimated with the arrival of an ice age 250,000 years ago and were also wiped out by a second ice age about 100,000 years ago.
"Their populations would have peaked about 100,000 years ago and that's when climates were essentially as warm as they are today and the environment looked very similar to today's environment," he said.
Zazula said mastodons were not equipped to survive the colder climates of the ice ages.
"What this is showing us is those populations kind of at the frontier of migrations and range extensions really lack genetic diversity," he said. "It doesn't take very much to wipe them out. It could be a change in climate. It could be hunting. It could be disease."
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Linkedin Julia Suryakusuma (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, September 2, 2020 10:28 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c421dc3f 3 Opinion COVID-19,indigenous-people,indigenous-people-rights,local-wisdom,pandemic Free
A few days ago I was doing my routine morning walk when I came across a very upsetting scene. In one of the parks in my housing complex I came across a slaughter site.
No, not of humans or animals but of trees. However, it was no less horrifying for me. There were many trees in that park but my favorite was a big flamboyant tree with a trunk so wide were I to hug it, my arms could only reach half way.
But that morning, my beautiful, majestic tree was no longer standing. It had been felled and cut into pieces, like a dismembered human body with sawdust scattered around it akin to splattered blood stains. I was so upset, when I got home I was sobbing because I had lost a beloved friend.
I found out the next day that the reason for the cutting of my flamboyant tree as well as a few others was due to an infestation of termites in the park. How ironic that the huge powerful trees could be destroyed by these tiny insects. But then, humans, the world order and our normal way of life is being made decidedly abnormal, by the invisible COVID-19 virus, so size really does not matter.
The emotions I had about the trees in my park made me think of the fate of many indigenous peoples who depend on the forest. If I felt that upset about my flamboyant tree being cut down, imagine how devastated they would feel, especially with massive deforestation, losing their livelihood and their ancestral home.
As if on cue, around the time of my tree disaster, I received a book called Menjaga Rimba Terakhir (Safeguarding the Last Forest), written by the incomparable Mardiyah Chamim who takes on giants. What synchronicity!
Aug. 9 was International Day of the Worlds Indigenous People. Just eight days after that was Aug. 17, Indonesias 75th independence day. My last column two weeks ago bore the title Independence for the Nation, independence for women? The title of this column today could also be the same: Do the indigenous peoples of Indonesia, the custodians of the forest, the ones who have lived in the archipelago since probably time immemorial, are they independent? Sadly, Mardiyahs book suggests that they are not.
I first met Diyah, as she is affectionately called, at an antitobacco campaign. She had written a book called A Giant Pack of Lies, published in 2010, which took on Big Tobacco and investigated the tobacco industrys unethical practices in Indonesia through their own documents.
Her new forest book was about the struggle of the Suku Orang Rimba (People of the Jungle), sometimes also known as Suku Anak Dalam (Hinterland Tribe). Its often abbreviated as SAD, the meaning of which in English is so appropriate as it describes the fate of indigenous people worldwide who are increasingly displaced from their own lands by the interests (read: greed) of corporations. Ironically, but predictably, the state tends to defend corporations. By defending the Suku Orang Rimba, Diyah is taking on giants: Not just timber and palm oil companies, but the entire system of financiers, industries and multinational corporations, traders and retailers worldwide that support our modern consumeristic life.
A recent example was the criminalization and capture of Effendi Buhing, the head of the Kinipans, a group of indigenous people in Central Kalimantan, which environment activists accused as being the state legalization of the robbery of customary land in the Jokowi era.
On Aug. 26, Buhing was arrested by security forces at his house, allegedly for committing theft, coercion and robbery. In fact he and his friends were attempting to defend themselves because their forest was cut down to be converted into palm oil plantations.
Ironically, this act of violence happened just days after President Joko Jokowi Widodo wore traditional clothes from East Nusa Tenggara on Indonesias 75th Independence Day, symbolizing his support of local culture. Well, Pak Jokowi, mere symbolism doesnt cut it!
But back to Mardiyahs book. Its solid, not just because of its thickness (580 pages) but also its content. Based on two years of research, both library and field research, its a personal adventure as well as a grounded piece of journalistic work (unsurprisingly given her background as a journalist). Its comprehensive, covering the views of indigenous people, government officials, as well as environmentalists who have dedicated their lives to protecting the forest. Beautiful color photos are interspersed throughout the book. A real treat!
The book was published also as a documentation of three decades of Warung Informasi Konservasi (Information Center for Indonesian Conservation), or WARSI, a community of environmental activists founded on Dec. 27, 1991, in anticipation of their 30th anniversary in 2021.
The publication of the book in a time of the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with the theme of the International Indigenous Peoples day: COVID-19 and indigenous peoples resilience. Indeed, the two are closely connected. We may not be able to completely emulate the way of life of indigenous peoples, which is in harmony with nature, but we certainly can be inspired by them.
COVID-19 proves that humans are not the masters of the world as we like to think ourselves to be, and that the balance of the ecosystem is the key to restrain the rate of mutation of deadly viruses. So, start balancing folks!
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
PARIS - The trial for the January 2015 terror attacks against the newsroom of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and supermarket Hyper Cacher opened on Wednesday morning at a special court in Paris. During three days of terror over five years ago in the French capital and its surroundings, the brothers Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly carried out the attacks that killed 17 people. The attackers were killed by police special units and the gendarmerie. Now 14 defendants are on trial. They are suspected of different levels of complicity and of providing logistical support to the authors of the attacks that were part of an unprecedented wave of terrorism in the country. The trial, which is taking place under strict security measures, is scheduled to last until November 10.
Several survivors of the attacks, including journalists and former staff members of Charlie Hebdo, attended the hearing. The satirical magazine has republished the blasphemous cartoon with a caricature of Mohamed, which sparked the fury of Islamic fundamentalists, ahead of the trial. The defendants were in glass cages surrounded by police officers whose faces were covered with balaclavas. ''We must not be scared - said the lawyer of Charlie Hebdo, Richard Malka - neither of terrorism nor of freedom. The spirit of Charlie Hebdo is to refuse to renounce to our freedoms, to laugh or be blasphemous''. Along with the 14 defendants, Hayat Boumedienne, the partner of Coulibaly who converted to Islam and fled to Syria, is being tried in absentia along with the Belhoucine brothers who also disappeared before the attacks and were last reported at the border between Iraq and Syria.
It was the State case that on the same day, Sithole produced a forged residence permit to police. The detective then called Sadc, which denied having an employee by the name Sithole.
Officials from Vietnam and China met this week after months of maritime disputes, including a sunken boat and missile tests.
Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe met Vietnamese ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai in Beijing.
Wei said at the meeting China hopes to strengthen unity, closely cooperate and appropriately handle disputes with Vietnam in the face of global changes, according to a statement on the ministry's website.
Coolig China - Vietnam tensions
Asia political experts say the two sides are seeking to cool tensions between the Asian neighbors to prevent an escalation of their recent conflicts at sea.
Its an attempt to dial down, I think, tensions, not end them but to dial down tensions specifically, said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.
Although the two Communist party-run states are known for dramatic ups and downs in their relations, the first eight months of 2020 tested the downside with a series of incidents in the contested South China Sea.
In April a Chinese survey vessel sank a Vietnamese fishing boat. Two months later, a Chinese survey ship passed within 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) of Vietnams coast in an exclusive economic zone or EEZ. In August the Chinese military test-fired two missiles near the Paracel Islands, a South China Sea archipelago controlled by Beijing but vehemently contested by Vietnam, Chinese media reports say.
They rammed the Vietnamese fishing vessel, they sent the (survey ship) Haiyang Dizhi No. 8 to Vietnams EEZ, and I think thats what really drove the Vietnamese up the wall, said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington.
Vietnam for its part angered China with a March 30 note to the United Nations rebutting the legal basis for Beijings maritime claims. China cites historical usage records to back its maritime claims.
Vietnam and China contest sovereignty over the 3.5 million-square-meter waterway thats prized for energy reserves and fisheries. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan dispute the Chinese claims as well. China has strengthened its control over the past decade by landfilling tiny islets for military use.
US influence in Asia
Defense officials in Beijing hope China and Vietnam will oppose hegemonism and interventionism, China's foreign ministry statement added.
Chinese officials want the defense ministers talks with Vietnams ambassador to cast China as a collaborator among Asian governments, said Alexander Vuving, professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. Lack of willingness to cooperate would make Chinas former Cold War foe the United States more influential in Asia.
China wants to show the world that they are able to cooperate, and they are actually cooperating with smaller neighbors, said Vuving.
China hopes particularly to bolster its image around Asia after U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeos tough talk against it, which Thayer describes as an onslaught. Pompeo said in July the United States would protect Asian countries threatened by Beijing, including in the South China Sea.
The U.S. Navy regularly passes ships into the sea to show its open internationally despite Chinese claims to about 90% of it.
China sees U.S. movement in the sea as intervention by an outside power. Australia, Japan, and the United States have separately offered military aid to Vietnam over the past four years.
China is Vietnams top trading partner as well as a key source of raw materials for Vietnams all-important manufacturing sector. For the Vietnamese, the agenda is to maintain sort of a friendly relationship with China, said Vuving. They badly need that, so at least at the minimum they have to keep the channels with China.
In the longer term, China hopes to persuade Vietnam into joining its $1 trillion Belt-and-Road initiative, he added.
The seven-year-old global project aims to build new infrastructure to foster trade routes around Eurasia. Vietnam, where citizens distrust China over centuries of territorial disputes and the ongoing South China Sea conflict, has resisted supporting the project.
But in stop after stop, Wang had to deflect questions about Chinas tough new national security legislation in Hong Kong, policies in Xinjiang or the origins of the novel coronavirus, which he suggested could have come from outside China.
Bosses at the Campaign for Real Ale have been blasted for their 'tasteless and insensitive' covid-themed festival pint glasses.
The limited-edition glass for this year's 'virtual' Great British Beer Festival has been printed with images of white virus cells.
The group has now apologised for the design after the design sparked fury on social media.
Hundreds of people criticised the move, with many saying they would cancel their CAMRA memberships because of it.
CAMRA has been blasted for this 'tasteless and insensitive' Covid-themed pint glass for its 2020 beer festival glasses.
Twitter user @WithintheWalls was outraged that the company was seen to be celebrating 41,449 deaths with the Corona virus branded glasses adding 'What utter disrespect?'
Another Twitter user @ashleymeerkat was in such disbelief she queried whether the designer was already 'drunk' when coming up with the idea.
TheTwitter user @Jesslionman said: 'Uh...Well here's a short sighted promotion. Shame on you CAMRA, I suspect you will lose a lot of respect over this!'
And Twitter user @Gary_Anderson said he couldn't believe the glass design had ever been 'approved' stating: 'I know it's 'only a glass' but how the entire chain of personnel involved in the design, commissioning, approving and manufacture of this glass all agreed that this was a good idea is unbelievable'
Hundreds of social media users took to Twitter to show their disgust at CAMRA's decision to launch the pint glass
Manchester brewery Beer Nouveau retweeted CAMRA's post and added: 'I can see what their intentions were with this. But this is a seriously bad execution of idea, and the following non-apology doesn't help.'
Some have defended the glass design, saying: 'It's the most quintessentially British thing to do, to take what has hurt, oppressed and impacted you adversely and make it a figure of fun.'
The design has been released in support of this year's Great British Beer Festival, which has gone virtual for its 2020 edition and is due to take place next weekend.
Total disgrace: CAMRA officials have apologised for their insensitive decision but Twitter users are sickened
Following the backlash, CAMRA has posted a public apology and statement.
Festival organiser Catherine Tonry said: 'As someone who has suffered lasting lung damage after contracting COVID-19, I am all too aware how serious the illness can be and the devastating and long-term impact it has had on so many of us.
'I sincerely apologise to anyone who has taken offence to the glass theme.
'We choose a theme every year and wanted to ensure the design recognised what was at the front of everyone's mind.
'COVID-19 has been the defining event of 2020, and has severely impacted the beer and pub sector - as well as many of our personal lives.
'In fact, this is the first time we have held the festival digitally in over 40 years of hosting the Great British Beer Festival.
'We hope that despite the difficulties faced by many, the festival will give people the chance to come together over a pint and discover new brewers and cider producers to support throughout this period of uncertainty.'
The Great British Beer Festival is the UKs largest trade and consumer show dedicated to the brewing industry.
With around 1,000 beers produced across the country and further it attracts upwards of 50,000 trade and consumer visitors.
The years sold-out online event will focus on appreciating pints from afar with live masterclasses.
Scientists observed what appears to be a bulked-up black hole tangling with a more ordinary one. The research team, which includes physicists from the University of Maryland, detected two black holes merging, but one of the black holes was 1 1/2 times more massive than any ever observed in a black hole collision. The researchers believe the heavier black hole in the pair may be the result of a previous merger between two black holes. This type of hierarchical combining of black holes has been hypothesized in the past but the observed event, labeled GW190521, would be the first evidence for such activity. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration (LSC) and Virgo Collaboration announced the discovery in two papers published September 2, 2020, in the journals Physical Review Letters and Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The scientists identified the merging black holes by detecting the gravitational waves--ripples in the fabric of space-time--produced in the final moments of the merger. The gravitational waves from GW190521 were detected on May 21, 2019, by the twin LIGO detectors located in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington, and the Virgo detector located near Pisa, Italy.
"The mass of the larger black hole in the pair puts it into the range where it's unexpected from regular astrophysics processes," said Peter Shawhan, a professor of physics at UMD, an LSC principal investigator and the LSC observational science coordinator. "It seems too massive to have been formed from a collapsed star, which is where black holes generally come from."
The larger black hole in the merging pair has a mass 85 times greater than the sun. One possible scenario suggested by the new papers is that the larger object may have been the result of a previous black hole merger rather than a single collapsing star. According to current understanding, stars that could give birth to black holes with masses between 65 and 135 times greater than the sun don't collapse when they die. Therefore, we don't expect them to form black holes.
"Right from the beginning, this signal, which is only a tenth of a second long, challenged us in identifying its origin," said Alessandra Buonanno, a College Park professor at UMD and an LSC principal investigator who also has an appointment as Director at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam, Germany. "But, despite its short duration, we were able to match the signal to one expected of black-hole mergers, as predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity, and we realized we had witnessed, for the first time, the birth of an intermediate-mass black hole from a black-hole parent that most probably was born from an earlier binary merger."
GW190521 is one of three recent gravitational wave discoveries that challenge current understanding of black holes and allow scientists to test Einstein's theory of general relativity in new ways. The other two events included the first observed merger of two black holes with distinctly unequal masses and a merger between a black hole and a mystery object, which may be the smallest black hole or the largest neutron star ever observed. A research paper describing the latter was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters on June 23, 2000, while a paper about the former event will be published soon in Physical Review D.
"All three events are novel with masses or mass ratios that we've never seen before," said Shawhan, who is also a fellow of the Joint Space-Science Institute, a partnership between UMD and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "So not only are we learning more about black holes in general, but because of these new properties, we are able to see effects of gravity around these compact bodies that we haven't seen before. It gives us an opportunity to test the theory of general relativity in new ways."
For example, the theory of general relativity predicts that binary systems with distinctly unequal masses will produce gravitational waves with higher harmonics, and that is exactly what the scientists were able to observe for the first time.
"What we mean when we say higher harmonics is like the difference in sound between a musical duet with musicians playing the same instrument versus different instruments," said Buonanno, who developed the waveform models to observe the harmonics with her LSC group. "The more substructure and complexity the binary has -- for example the masses or spins of the black holes are different--the richer is the spectrum of the radiation emitted."
In addition to these three black hole mergers and a previously reported binary neutron star merger, the observational run from April 2019 through March 2020 identified 52 other potential gravitational wave events. The events were posted to a public alert system developed by LIGO and Virgo collaboration members in a program originally spearheaded by Shawhan so that other scientists and interested members of the public can evaluate the gravity wave signals.
"Gravitational wave events are being detected regularly," Shawhan said, "and some of them are turning out to have remarkable properties which are extending what we can learn about astrophysics."
###
The research paper, "GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Coalescence with a Total Mass of 150 Solar Masses," was published in Physical Review Letters on September 2, 2020.
The research paper, "Properties and Astrophysical Implications of the 150 Solar Mass Binary Black Hole Merger GW190521," was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters on September 2, 2020.
The research paper, "GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 Solar Mass Black Hole with a 2.6 Solar Mass Compact Object," was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters on June 23, 2020.
The research paper, "GW190412: Observation of a Binary-Black-Hole Coalescence with Asymmetric Masses," has been accepted for publication in Physical Review D, and was published on Arxiv on April 17, 2020.
About LIGO and Virgo
LIGO is funded by the NSF and operated by Caltech and MIT, which conceived of LIGO and lead the project. Financial support for the Advanced LIGO project was led by the NSF with Germany (Max Planck Society), the U.K. (Science and Technology Facilities Council) and Australia (Australian Research Council-OzGrav) making significant commitments and contributions to the project. Approximately 1,300 scientists from around the world participate in the effort through the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, which includes the GEO Collaboration. A list of additional partners is available at https://my.ligo.org/census.php.
The Virgo Collaboration is currently composed of approximately 550 members from 106 institutes in 12 different countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. The European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) hosts the Virgo detector near Pisa in Italy, and is funded by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France, the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in Italy, and Nikhef in the Netherlands. A list of the Virgo Collaboration groups can be found at http://public.virgo-gw.eu/the-virgo-collaboration/. More information is available on the Virgo website at http://www.virgo-gw.eu.
Media Relations Contact: Kimbra Cutlip, 301-405-9463, kcutlip@umd.edu
University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
2300 Symons Hall College Park, Md. 20742
http://www.cmns.umd.edu
@UMDscience About the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 9,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $200 million.
In a limited relief to members of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP), the Bombay high court has permitted them to hold prayer meetings at the Doongerwadi Tower of Silence at Kemps Corner on September 3 from 7 am to 4.30 pm on the occasion of Farvardin Roj.
The court has said that only six persons, not below the age of 10 years and not above the age of 65 years, would be permitted at a time to be present in each of the five prayer pavilions in the premises along with two priests.
The court also said that in the case of a violation of SOPs laid down by the centre and the guidelines issued by the state government with regards to Covid, the petitioner trustee would be personally held liable for contempt and punishment.
A division bench of justice R D Dhanuka and justice Madhav Jamdar, while hearing the petition filed by Viraf Mehta, a trustee of the BPP, was informed by advocate Prakash Shah that after the meeting with the principal secretary home and secretary disaster management department, as directed by the court on Monday, they had filed an additional affidavit with a modified itinerary for September 3.
Shah submitted that around 200 members of the community would reach Doongerwadi and the trustees would ensure that all Coved-related protocols were followed.
On Farvardin Roj, Parsis offer prayers for the souls of their departed loved ones.
Additional solicitor general Anil Singh and advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had submitted that since congregation of people was not allowed, hence BPP should ensure that all the 200 members do not reach the venue at the same time.
Also Read: Maharashtra launches Mission Begin Again today with further relaxations
Shah and Mehta have accordingly assured the court that the members would come only at the appointed time given to them and would leave after praying for half an hour. They also submitted that not more than six members would be present along with two priests in each of the five pavilions in the expansive property; hence there was no question of a congregation.
Also Read: Courts cant relax the terms of Insurance policy: National consumers body
After hearing the submissions, the court accepted the undertaking of BPP and directed the state to make arrangements for smooth flow of traffic outside the venue and also said that Mehta would be held personally liable for violations of the undertakings given to the court.
The court also reiterated that BPP should ensure that members below the age of 10 years and above the age of 65 years were not allowed. The court disposed of the petition stating that it was allowing the community considering the peculiar facts of the case and hence it should not be treated as a precedent and disposed of the petition.
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Biofourmis is part of a small but growing group of venture-backed start-ups looking to augment traditional medicines with digital technology, including wearables and software. The hope for these kinds of digital-drug combinations is to add personalization to medicine to help ensure the right patient gets access to the right drug at the right time. By tracking how patients are faring outside of the hospital, doctors might suggest a change in dosage or a different combination of drugs. In theory, such technology is attractive to pharmaceutical companies looking to boost the efficacy of expensive specialty medicines. The field is known as "digital therapeutics," and research firms estimate it could be worth more than $9.6 billion by 2026. It's part of a larger trend of digital technology making its way into the health care sector, which is worth more than $3.5 trillion in the U.S. alone. Now Biofourmis is going to get help in its quest with a new $100 million infusion led by Softbank's Vision Fund 2, with participation from previous investors, including Sequoia.
Wearables, but not for consumers
To get a sense of what Biofourmis does, it's instructive to look at one of its customers, Novartis, maker of a heart failure drug called Entresto. In this case, a doctor prescribing Entresto would ask the patient if they wanted to enroll in a support program. If the patient agrees, Biofourmis ships them a wearable device that tracks their heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, and other relevant metrics. That gives Biofourmis' team a better sense of whether the patient is improving at the rate they should be. There's also an app for patients to check their own progress and relay their symptoms, as well as a dashboard for their doctors and nurses. Biofourmis worked closely with doctors to develop the technology. One of the company's longtime medical advisors and boardmembers is the cardiologist Maulik Majmudar, who has worked at Amazon for several years on the team behind the "Halo" health-tracking device. While Halo is meant for consumers, Biofourmis' wearables are intended for clinical uses. Typically, the pharmaceutical company will pay for the wearable device up-front so the patient doesn't bear any additional financial burden. Biofourmis CEO Kuldeep Singh Rajput said the company ran multiple clinical studies to show that wearables can help clinicians predict heart failure events several weeks in advance, and intervene before that happens. Heart failure is the main area of focus for now, although the company has been increasingly been branching out into other disease areas. In the U.S., more than 6.5 million people have heart failure, which costs the health care system more than $30 billion to manage. It's also one of the leading causes of death. The company says it is also moving into other areas like chronic pain, oncology and Covid-19. It is also looking to expand by selling its services into health systems to help monitor patients once they get discharged. In the U.S., hospital systems are penalized if they have a higher-than-expected 30 day readmission rate after a patient is discharged for conditions like pneumonia and heart failure.
Finally the right time?
By Express News Service
BENGALURU: Just weeks ahead of the scheduled legislature session, two more ministers in the B S Yediyurappa cabinet have tested positive for coronavirus.
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj K S Eshwarappa on Tuesday said he had tested positive for Covid, while on Monday evening, Women and Child Development minister Shahsikala Jolle too stated that she had contracted the virus.
Including Chief Minister Yediyurappa, eight ministers in the state cabinet have been infected. I have been confirmed as Covid-positive today. There are no problems with my health, but have been advised hospitalised treatment by doctors. I am hopeful that I will recover soon with everyones good wishes, Eshwarappa tweeted on Tuesday evening.
Shashikala Jolle, however, has been advised home isolation. The minister said that she is asymptomatic.
Party and cabinet colleagues, including Yediyurappa, wished quick recovery for both ministers.
BJP MLA from Tirthahalli and Karnataka Housing Board Chairman Araga Gnanendra too tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday.
Ministers who have tested positive so far
B S Yediyurappa, Chief Minister
C T Ravi, Minister for Tourism and Kannada and Culture
B C Patil, Agriculture Minister
Anand Singh, Forest Minister
B Sriramulu, Health Minister
S T Somashekhar, Minister for Cooperation
Among Opposition leaders who have tested are KPCC president DK Shivakumar, Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, his son and Varuna MLA Dr Yathindra, MLA GT Devegowda, JDS leader HD Revanna, and others.
Portland police and Oregon State Patrol officers work together to arrest a woman during rioting in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 11, 2020. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Oregon State Troopers Federally Deputized in Portland
Oregon State Police (OSP) personnel sent to Portland in a renewed bid to end the unrest there have been federally deputized, a spokesman confirmed to The Epoch Times.
Most of OSP resources assigned to Portland have been cross deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service, Capt. Timothy Fox, the spokesman, said in an emailed statement on Sept. 2.
OSP is not criticizing any officials and we respect the authority of the District Attorney, but to meet the Governors charge of bringing violence to an end we will use all lawful methods at our disposal.
The service didnt respond to an inquiry.
State police have worked with the U.S. Attorneys Office to review arrests made by troopers for potential prosecution.
Seventy-six people arrested in relation to Portland unrest have been charged on a federal level, a Department of Justice spokeswoman said this week. Approximately 774 arrests have been made since May 28, according to city and federal data reviewed by The Epoch Times.
Mike Schmidt, Multnomah County district attorney, speaks to reporters at City Hall one day after a man was shot dead, in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 30, 2020. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced a new policy in August that guides prosecutors to presumptively decline to pursue some charges against those arrested during protests and riots, including disorderly conduct and interfering with officers.
The decision triggered the withdrawal of state troopers the next day, Fox told The Epoch Times. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, sent state police back to Portland over the weekend after a man was shot dead in the city.
Brown has turned down offers of federal assistance. She appealed to law enforcement agencies in adjacent counties to send personnel, an appeal rejected by sheriffs and a police department.
A spokesman for Schmidts office said he was looking into the deputization matter. Browns office didnt return a request for comment.
An Oregon State Trooper arrests a man during rioting in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 30, 2020. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Brown told KOIN that some troopers were federally deputized during the earlier deployment.
Troopers are committed to working with our community, with the goal of protecting free speech, keeping the peace, and keeping people safe as they exercise their right to peacefully protest, the spokesperson said. The U.S. Attorney and Multnomah County D.A. work together every day deciding which cases each will prosecute.
The news of the deputization was first reported by Deborah Bloom, a freelance reporter.
According to federal law, the director of the U.S. Marshals Service is authorized to deputize a number of persons to perform the functions of a deputy U.S. Marshal. The persons include selected federal, state, or local law enforcement officers.
The Christian Association of Nigeria on Tuesday urged Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to issue a suspension of the implementation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
The request was contained in statement issued by CANs President, Rev. Olasupo Ayokunle, as gotten from Channels.
CAN said the organization is yet to be availed with the authentic version of Act, which is made up of 870 sections besides the sundry and complex schedules and addendum.
We consider the Act, as indeed, a complex of statecraft compendium, laden with issues that are grossly inimical to national interest, security (- peace and stability), and overall wellbeing of the Nigerian-state, CAN stated.
Cama expressed concern over the amount of controversy the ACT has generated since it was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 7.
From the reactions of stakeholders and a cross-section of the Nigerian-state, it is apparent that the Act either did not receive input from the respective various interest groups or failed to accommodate their views, sundry concerns and varying interests of the Nigerian people.
Without prejudice to our observations, such a law ought to welcome and accommodate the sundry and varying interests of the Nigerian people, CAN said.
CAN therefore called upon the Buhari-led administration to issue the appropriate directives to suspend the implementation of CAMA 2020 and affirm a thorough reappraisal of the legislation that is in correlation with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended).
The Act has serious consequences for the functioning of nonprofits, including churches, in the country, critics have said.
Read Full Statement Here:
President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR
State House
Abuja
Mr. President,
We respectfully acknowledge the invitation extended to us to make an input into the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020 following the myriad of objections that attended the enactment of the Act.
While we sincerely appreciate the courtesy of your invitation, we are however constrained from doing so on the following grounds:
We are yet to be availed with the authentic version of the voluminous Act, made up of 870 sections besides the sundry and complex schedules and addendum. We consider the Act, as indeed, a complex of statecraft compendium, laden with issues that are grossly inimical to national interest, security (- peace and stability), and overall wellbeing of the Nigerian-state. From the reactions of stakeholders and a cross-section of the Nigerian-state, it is apparent that the Act either did not receive input from the respective various interest groups or failed to accommodate their views, sundry concerns and varying interests of the Nigerian people. Without prejudice to our observations, such a law ought to welcome and accommodate the sundry and varying interests of the Nigerian people. Furthermore, we are mindful that comments in public domain are beginning to indicate that CAMA, 2020 has the potential that can further undermine the faith of stakeholders in the Nigerian-state. The reactions from public officeholders have not helped matters because they are binary in perspective and pander towards a fait accompli. The dominant schools of thought in the public domain, hold the view that should stakeholders of the Nigerian-state seek judicial intervention or amendment of the Act by the National Assembly, they shall achieve nothing much, as they consider such, as exercises in futility. We must allay their fears and encourage them to exercise their democratic rights in our participatory democracy; hoping that when citizens approach these state institutions, they shall rise up to the challenge.
Mr. President, from the foregoing, we are of the opinion that you should kindly issue the appropriate directives to suspend the implementation of CAMA 2020 and affirm a thorough reappraisal of the legislation that is in correlation with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), other extant legal and policy frameworks, the national economy, national security, national interest and the wellbeing of the Nigerian-state.
In order to participate actively in such an exercise, you may wish to kindly furnish us with an official version as assented by you. This will enable us do the due diligence required, please.
Once more, do accept the assurances of our esteemed consideration as we pray for the continued presence and Will of the Almighty God of all-creation by the Holy Spirit in Nigeria through Jesus Christ Our Lord, Savior, Redeemer and soon coming KING. (Amen)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 09:41:06|Editor: huaxia
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WUHAN, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- No new confirmed, asymptomatic or suspected cases of COVID-19 were reported in central China's Hubei Province Tuesday, the provincial health commission said Wednesday.
By Tuesday, Hubei still had three close contacts under medical observation. The province cleared its confirmed cases on Aug. 31 as one imported case was discharged from hospital after recovery.
Hubei has reported a total of 68,139 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 63,627 patients have been cured and discharged from hospitals. The disease claimed 4,512 lives in the province. Enditem
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Chinese leaders led by Xi Jinping will attend an event on Thursday morning to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
They will be joined by representatives from all walks of life in the Chinese capital to present flower baskets to martyrs at a museum of the war in Beijing.
The event will be broadcast live by the China Media Group.
MIAMI, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Conviva Care Centers today announced it was recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) in the categories of Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and Diabetes Recognition Program (DRP). The celebrated recognitions are a testament to the outstanding care its centers provide to senior patients in Florida and Texas, along with the commitment its physician-led network of more than 300 primary care doctors have to help seniors age well.
The NCQA recognized 60 Conviva centers throughout Florida and Texas for their impact on improving quality of life and reducing healthcare costs. The core of the PCMH model is communicating with patients and families/caregiversa fundamental mission of Conviva. As a primary care organization that cares for the senior population, Conviva is a healthcare delivery model making a difference.
"We are extremely honored to be recognized by such a prestigious organization," said Kevin Meriwether, CEO of Conviva. "Our clinicians pride themselves on creating a gold standard of care for seniors to make their lives better. These recognitions speak not only to that goal but also to the overall efficient operations that are evident at every Conviva care center. A PCMH recognition is a standard that benefits practices, clinicians, and patients."
According to NCQA, the move of payers away from a traditional fee-for-service model to one that rewards integration and quality care is rapidly increasing. They are working with organizations that have a strong infrastructure and quality improvement initiatives as PCMH.
The NCQA Diabetes Recognition Program recognizes clinicians who use evidence-based measures to provide quality care to diabetic patients. In order to earn this accolade, clinicians must submit data to demonstrate that they have met specific criteria for the six clinical performance measures comprising the DRP.
"It is extremely gratifying to receive this honor because it recognizes Conviva for providing the highest level of care," said Meriwether. "It's a public declaration and a strong statement that we belong to an elite group of healthcare providers."
ABOUT CONVIVA
Conviva continues to reinvent excellence in healthcare by embracing meaningful patient relationships focused on producing optimal health outcomes. With more than 90 convenient locations throughout Florida (Broward County, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach County, and Tampa/Gulf Coast) and Texas (Corpus Christi, El Paso, and San Antonio), the vast network of Conviva Care Centers is comprised of a multi-disciplinary team of more than 300 primary care physicians and over 800 affiliated specialists that provide a wide range of vital healthcare services that patients require daily, including the advantages of senior care activity centers and 24/7 on-call physicians. The success of Conviva is measured by its patients' clinical outcomes and long-term health benefits. To learn more, visit http://www.ConvivaCareCenters.com, or call (833) CONVIVA.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of healthcare organizations and 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 healthcare. The website (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers, and others make more-informed healthcare choices. NCQA can be found online at (ncqa.org), on Twitter at (Twitter.com/NCOA) or Facebook (facebook.com/NCQA.org), and on Linkedin (linkedin.com/company/ncqa).
SOURCE Conviva Care Centers
Better understanding of the surface chemistry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is needed to reduce transmission and accelerate vaccine design.
Researchers at Michigan Tech, TUV SUD UK National Engineering Laboratory and University of Edinburgh call for increased research on virus surface stability and interaction in Surface Chemistry Can Unlock Drivers of Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 in Variety of Environmental Conditions in the Cell Press journal Chem. They highlight the need to understand the different environmental conditions that affect the surface chemistry of viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19.
Creating an Unfriendly Surface for Viruses
Were told to wash our hands with soap for 20 seconds to kill viruses. Why? Because the soap interacts with the surface chemistry of a virus, particularly the lipid, or fatty, casing around it, and essentially makes the virus explode.
Handwashing is a clear example of why understanding how viruses interact with surface environments is important. Increased research will better equip us to diminish how long viruses survive on surfaces or in the air, an important way to stop the spread.
Play Virus Surface Chemistry and COVID-19 video Virus Surface Chemistry and COVID-19 Expand Research by Michigan Tech's Health Research Institute seeks to understand the surface chemistry of viruses and how its interactions with surfaces stainless steel, copper, plastic, cardboard can increase the virus's viability or kill the virus particles.
If the surface is not friendly, its easier for the virus to fall apart. Where the virus has more friendly interactions with the surface, its more likely to stay infectious, said Caryn Heldt, professor of chemical engineering and director of the Health Research Institute at Michigan Technological University.
About the Researcher Caryn Heldt heldt@mtu.edu
906-487-1134 Research Interests Bioseparations
Virus removal and detection
Biosensors Researcher Profile
Viruses have unique ways of interacting with surfaces. The surface chemistry of the virus will change how the virus interacts with water, Heldt said. If water such as humidity, which is common in your breath and in the air, gets between the virus and a surface, it can really change the way the virus interacts with that surface. The virus surface and the environment: you cant separate them out.
More Than One Way to Skin a Cat Or a Virus
Part of the reason the scientific communitys understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to evolve is because there are only a few techniques available to measure the small amounts of virus particles required to infect a person as compared to other types of biomolecules, such as proteins.
We need to understand how viruses interact with surfaces with and without water present, but the traditional ways we think of studying surface chemistry cannot detect these low levels of virus, Heldt said.
COVID-19 Testing Lab Since opening in April, Michigan Techs COVID-19 testing lab has run more than 3,500 samples, or the equivalent of testing 1% of the population of Michigans Upper Peninsula.
Heldt and coauthors said their article provides a broad overview of different ways researchers could learn more about these surface interactions on a chemical level.
Unlike the viruses that cause influenza, SARS-CoV-2 is mainly transmitted through aerosols, or particles that travel through and stay suspended in the air when people talk, sing, cough or sneeze.
The flu is transmitted by large droplets you breathe out, which fall to and stay infectious on surfaces. Heldt said surfaces have not been ruled out as a mode of transmission, but that the most common form of transition seems to be aerosol inhalation. Its about how close you are to someone and for how long, she said.
The Scientific Method In a short essay for the Michigan Tech Institute for Policy, Ethics, and Culture series SARS-CoV-2: What Kind of Crisis is This? Caryn Heldt advocates for better science literacy and explains why widespread public misunderstanding of the scientific method has led to so much confusion about the virus.
Temperature and humidity in particular seem to have greater effects on the SARS-CoV-2 virus virility.
For the first time, we highlight potential mechanisms of the novel SARS-CoV-2 surface stability in various environmental conditions including temperature and relative humidity, said Aliakbar Hassanpouryouzband, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Edinburgh.
While viruses are typically more stable when its colder, which explains why flu season hits during the winter, that doesnt seem to be the case for the virus that causes COVID-19. However, researchers can infer from what heat does to molecules it increases their energy, causing them to move and vibrate more quickly that increased vibrations of virus molecules causes them to explode and no longer be infectious.
When it comes to humidity, viruses need to bind some water to their surfaces. But dehydrating a virus molecule isnt a cut-and-dried solution it can actually make some molecules more stable.
Grants and Funding NSF CAREER award 1451959
Along with further research into the effects of humidity, temperature and other environmental conditions, theres a need to explore the effects of pH balance and protein casings on the virus. The work to better understand the surface chemistry of SARS-CoV-2 will help scientists around the world design vaccines for this pandemic and those of the future.
Atomic Force Microscopy tips can be negatively or positively charged to measure the surface charge on the virus. Image Credit: Chem Journal-Cell Press
We hope that this article will assist experimental scientists worldwide in their investigations for unravelling the molecular drivers implicated in this new coronavirus transmission from the surfaces as well as in vaccine development and antiviral drug design, said Edris Joonaki, fluid properties expert at TUV SUD UK National Engineering Laboratory.
Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, the University offers more than 125 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
The countrys telecom authority said it sent notices to management of five apps for indecent content streaming.
Pakistan has blocked Tinder, Grindr and three other dating apps for not adhering to local laws, its latest move to curb online platforms deemed to be disseminating immoral content.
Pakistan, the second-largest Muslim-majority country in the world after Indonesia, is an Islamic nation where extra-marital relationships and homosexuality are illegal.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority said it has sent notices to the management of the five apps, keeping in view the negative effects of immoral/indecent content streaming.
Press Release: PTA has blocked access to five dating/live streaming applications i.e. Tinder, Tagged, Skout, Grindr and SayHi. pic.twitter.com/gFJxsgcn6m PTA (@PTAofficialpk) September 1, 2020
PTA said the notices issued to Tinder, Grindr, Tagged, Skout and SayHi sought the removal of dating services and moderation of live streaming content in accordance with local laws.
The companies did not respond to the notices within the stipulated time, the regulator added.
In a statement sent to Al Jazeera, a Tinder spokesperson said: Our team uses a network of industry-leading automated and manual moderation and review tools, systems and processes and invests significant resources to prevent, monitor and remove inappropriate content from our app.
At the same time, we are constantly evaluating and refining our processes, and will always work with regulators and law enforcement, where possible, to protect our members, the statement added.
The statement added that Tinder would welcome the opportunity to discuss the product and any moderations efforts with the PTA.
Tinder, a globally popular dating app, is owned by Match Group while Tagged and Skout are owned by the Meet Group.
Grindr, which describes itself as a social networking and online dating application for LGBTQ people, was cleared to be sold by a Chinese company this year to an investor group called San Vicente Acquisition for $620m.
Data from analytics firm Sensor Tower showed Tinder had been downloaded more than 440,000 times in Pakistan within the last 12 months. Grindr, Tagged and SayHi had each been downloaded about 300,000 times and Skout 100,000 times in that same period.
Critics have said Pakistan, using recent digital legislation, has sought to rein in free expression on the internet, blocking or ordering the removal of content deemed immoral, as well as news critical of the government and military.
Some took to social media to raise their concern about the ban.
PTA is creating undemocratic trends; courts need to stop PTA, local journalist and TV anchor Moeed Pirzada tweeted on Wednesday.
Pakistani Telecom Regulator, PTA, deciding what adults should watch privately or not is itself "immoral" if "morality" or "moral order" could be understood as a term in Islamic Pakistan! PTA is creating undemocratic trends; courts need to stop PTA! https://t.co/nmCVSqWJR6 Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) September 2, 2020
Another local journalist Amber Shamsi said the PTA was on a moral policing spree, wondering what the authority will ban next.
PTA is on a moral policing spree. Whats next, streaming sites?
Pakistan blocks Tinder, other dating apps over 'immoral' content https://t.co/IjQJEyh4UZ Amber Rahim Shamsi (@AmberRShamsi) September 2, 2020
In July, Pakistan issued a final warning to short-form video app TikTok for explicit content posted on the platform, while livestreaming app Bigo Live was blocked for 10 days for the same reason.
Pakistani authorities reiterated that concern to TikTok officials in a recent meeting.
Last week, the PTA asked YouTube to immediately block all videos they consider objectionable from being accessed in the country.
The demand was criticised by rights campaigners who fear creeping censorship and control of Pakistans internet and printed media.
And in July, authorities issued a final warning to Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, ordering it to filter any obscene content.
The Muslim-majority country has several existing or proposed restrictions that target free speech, usually in the name of Islam or national security.
J. R. Webster's contribution to education studies and administration within Britain is immeasurable and so, in Wales, is his legacy in the field of bilingualism and rural education. He also popularised the work of the Polish migr artist Joseph Herman and the Swansea-based artist Ceri Richards.
Roger Webster was born in Anglesey and left Llangefni secondary school for the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, to study geography. His first post was at Trinity College, the Church of Wales teacher's training institute at Carmarthen, where he taught social studies from 1948 to 1951.
In 1951 he accepted a lectureship in the Department of Education at the University College of Wales, Swansea, where he came to know a new professor, Charles Gittins, a gifted educationalist who influenced him greatly. They had much in common: interest in the history of education, in bilingualism, in committees and in research. Webster gained his doctorate on the history of secondary education in Wales and it became a model for other historians of education.
In 1961 he left academic life to become Director for Wales, Arts Council of Great Britain. His stay of five years was hectic. He established regional associations for Wales as well as strengthening the visual arts department; he served on the influential Lloyd Committee at the National Film School. But he missed the world of the university and in 1966 he was appointed Professor of Education at the University College of North Wales, Bangor.
For the next 12 years he became an influential figure in higher education: he was a member of the James Committee on teacher education, a member of the Venables Committee of Continuing Education, chairman of the Education Studies Advisory Committee of the Open University; and he chaired the standing conference on the studies in education. All this meant constant travel from Gwynedd to London and elsewhere.
In 1978 he was appointed Professor of Education and Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, succeeding the energetic Professor Jac Williams. Webster maintained the faculty's reputation as a power-base of bilingual education (although Webster's interest in bilingualism was less politically motivated than his predecessor), enlarging the facilities and ensuring Welsh-medium education would be well served throughout the Eighties.
Outside the faculty he served on the Telecommunications Advisory Committee as well as on the Post Office Users National Committee, of which he was chairman for Wales for eight years. For this he was appointed OBE in 1988. He was proud also of being appointed in 1984 Governor of the Commonwealth Institute.
Roger Webster retired in 1991. He maintained his wide interests despite ill-health and did so with natural charm and goodness.
John Roger Webster, educationalist, administrator: born Gaerwen, Anglesey 24 June 1926; Director for Wales, Arts Council of Great Britain 1961-66; Professor of Education University College of North Wales, Bangor 1966- 78; Professor of Education and Dean of Faculty of Education, University College of Wales 1978-91; OBE 1988; publications include Ceri Richards 1961, Joseph Herman 1962; married 1963 Ivy Mary Garlick (two sons, one daughter); died Aberystwyth, Dyfed 2 April 1995.
Crude oil futures rose on Wednesday after a more-than-expected draw in US crude stockpiles and as solid US factory data raised optimism of a post-pandemic economic recovery, boosting risk appetite among investors.
Brent crude futures were up 33 cents at $45.91 a barrel as of 0034 GMT, extending gains into a third day.
US West Texas Intermediate futures rose 33 cents to $43.09, following the previous day's gain by 15 cents.
US crude inventories fell by 6.4 million barrels in the week to August 28 to about 501.2 million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said, compared with analysts' expectations for a draw of 1.9 million barrels.
Gasoline stocks also fell by 5.8 million barrels, more than analysts' estimates of a draw of 3.0 million barrels.
Analysts had forecast a sixth weekly drawdown in US crude inventories in a Reuters poll.
"Positive tone was also set on hopes for a swift economic recovery following a healthy US economic data, which raised investors' risk appetite and propelled US stock market and oil prices," Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at Fujitomi Co, said.
"Also, slower-than-expected resumption of oil output in the United States after Hurricane Laura raised concerns over tighter supply," he said.
US manufacturing activity accelerated to a more than 1-1/2-year high in August amid a surge in new orders, lending support to Wall Street and oil markets.
US Gulf of Mexico offshore oil output on Tuesday was down by 525,099 barrels per day, or 28.4% of the region's daily production, the US Department of Interior reported, as energy companies restarted more activity in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura.
Still, 71 of the US Gulf of Mexico's 643 manned platforms remained evacuated, down from 117 production platforms on Monday, the regulator said.
On the global supply side, oil output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose by about 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, a Reuters survey found.
From May 1, OPEC and allies, known as OPEC+, made a record cut of 9.7 million bpd, or 10% of global output, after the virus destroyed a third of world demand. From August 1, the cut tapered to 7.7 million bpd until December.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to apologize Wednesday for her visit to a San Francisco hair salon that was supposed to be closed under the citys coronavirus pandemic rules, and suggested the business had tricked her.
Pelosi said she took responsibility for falling for the setup to have her hair done inside the salon Monday. But the San Francisco Democrat said that if anyone owes an apology, its the salon.
I think that this salon owes me an apology, for setting me up, she said at an event about school reopenings in San Franciscos Noe Valley.
Pelosis visit to the salon set off a firestorm when Fox News posted security footage of it Tuesday. Her visit happened one day before salons in the city were allowed to open for business, but only outdoors.
Now Playing: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited an indoor hair salon for service, but her office claims she didn't know she did anything wrong. Video: KTVU
The state began allowing salons and barbershops to reopen indoor service Monday, after having barred it for most of the pandemic. But individual counties can keep closures in place. In the Bay Area, San Francisco and Alameda counties are not allowing salons to have customers indoors.
Pelosi indicated that e Salon, the Cow Hollow business where she had her hair done Monday, had given her an incorrect version of the rules.
I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that Ive been to over the years many times, and when they said, Were able to accommodate people one person at a time. I trusted that, the speaker said during a combative exchange with reporters in the empty schoolyard of Mission Education Center Elementary School.
A lawyer for the stylist who did Pelosis hair said in a letter released Wednesday evening the salons owner had reopened her business in April, in violation of various public health orders. The letter also charged that the owner objected to Pelosis salon visit after the fact because of her political leanings.
The salon owner, Erica Kious, did not respond to requests for comment.
Pelosis comments Wednesday acknowledged she was not aware of local rules prohibiting such indoor treatments. There is no provision in San Francisco for customers to get their hair done indoors one at a time.
The speaker wasnt asked Wednesday why she didnt know the citys rules. Pelosi splits her time between her home in San Francisco and her work in Washington, D.C.
Her response came after conservative critics jumped on Pelosi for appearing hypocritical in supporting restrictions on businesses and other aspects of public life to quell the pandemic, while engaging in a locally banned activity herself.
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Liz Harrington said there have been instances of salon owners who have opened their business against local laws being jailed. California has not prosecuted business owners for violating pandemic rules, but a salon owner was briefly jailed in Texas for defying court orders to close up shop.
You cant get your hair done, eat inside at a restaurant, travel, attend a funeral, or protest without mandatory quarantining. But Democrats can, Harrington wrote in an email. This isnt about health or science. Its about power. Democrats want to rule your life. But dont expect their rules to apply to them.
Kious earlier told Fox that she had been unable to prevent Pelosis visit. She said an independent stylist who rents a chair in her establishment was the one who hosted Pelosi. Kious said she received a text message Sunday that the speaker would be coming in.
A lawyer for cosmetologist Jonathan DeNardo said his client got advance approval from Kious to serve Pelosi two days before her appointment on Monday.
Ms. Kious took special interest in the appointment during this telephone call, wherein she made several vitriolic and incendiary comments about Speaker Pelosi and her purported responsibility for temporarily suspending operations of Ms. Kious business, said the letter from attorney Matthew Soleimanpour, who is based in La Jolla.
The letter added that Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor London Breed were actually responsible for the shelter-in-place restrictions.
Kious has not responded to phone messages left by The Chronicle, including after Pelosi accused the salon of engaging in a setup.
Pelosis spokesman said Wednesday that she had been having her regular stylist do her hair at her home during the pandemic, but that person wasnt available Monday. So she arranged to have her hair styled at eSalon after the shop told her it was OK, he said.
At the center of negotiations over coronavirus relief in Congress, Pelosi has been a vocal proponent of wearing masks and following scientific advice. She has sharply criticized President Trump and other Republicans for downplaying the need for masks and proper social distancing practices.
The short clip from Pelosis salon treatment that Fox released shows the speaker, with wet hair and wearing a robe, walking through the establishment with a mask around her neck.
Asked Wednesday why she wasnt wearing a mask at the time, Pelosi said she had just had her hair washed.
I dont wear a mask when Im washing my hair. Do you wear a mask when youre washing your hair? I always wear a mask, she said.
Masks and business closures have been at the center of political and culture wars amid the pandemic.
In Washington, some Republicans have resisted wearing masks in the Capitol building, despite requests from leadership that they do so. After Texas GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert tested positive and reports of Republicans staffers being forced to work mask-less emerged in the media, Pelosi ordered mask-wearing in all House office buildings and on the House side of the Capitol.
Trump tweeted Wednesday that Crazy Nancy Pelosi is being decimated for having a beauty parlor opened, when all others are closed, and for not wearing a Mask - despite constantly lecturing everyone else. We will almost certainly take back the House, and send Nancy packing!
Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, said she was baffled by Pelosis refusal to apologize. She said the optics of the salon visit fall somewhere between bad and horrendous, and play into conservative stereotypes of Pelosi as an out-of-touch liberal elite who doesnt adhere to the standards she touts for everyone else.
She would have done better having one of her grandkids do her hair, having it look terrible on TV, and then it sends this message of, Im in it with you, Levinson said.
Asked about the controversy at a separate news conference, Mayor London Breed said the country had more important things to worry about than whether Pelosi had engaged in a violation of city rules.
We have our speaker working day and night against the challenges we have at the White House, Breed said. Its unfortunate this conversation has blown up in the way it has and distracted us from the real issue.
Chronicle staff writer Aidin Vaziri contributed to this report.
Tal Kopan and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan, @rachelswan
A mum has devised an ambitious plan to fly 90 babies back to Australia from the UK to meet their extended family for the first time.
Carly McCrossin launched the 'fly the babies home' campaign on August 5 after three tough months in UK's lockdown watching her daughter grow while her family in Australia and her husband's in New Zealand missed major milestones.
She hopes to organise a charter flight for her to take 'lockdown' baby Ailish, born in April amid the coronavirus pandemic, and others families with young ones home for Christmas.
'The heartbreak of not being able to introduce your newborn baby to your families is something unimaginable that I still, even after a few months, I cant quite seem to quite get my head around,' she said in a video posted to Facebook.
Carly McCrossin (left) has launched the 'fly the babies home' campaign on August 5 to help Australian and New Zealand families stuck abroad return home to visit loved ones for Christmas
'And every day Im packing up her clothes that she wont fit into anymore, knowing that theyll never see her that small.
'Every day a little piece of my heart just kind of breaks off because youre being robbed of so many just incredible memories of her that you want to share with your family and you cant.
The mother came up with the idea after 'sitting around, getting sadder and sadder' about the situation, then decided to make a video to reach out to any people in London that have a lockdown baby and have family in Australia or New Zealand.
More than 19,000 citizens and permanent residents stuck overseas are battling cancelled flights as limitations on international arrivals drive up competition.
Airlines are routinely selling their high-priced seats to remain profitable, reducing the availability of economy tickets.
Families that are interested in making the journey will then be asked register into the campaign online then self-shield and isolate for two to three weeks prior to boarding the flight.
'Im reaching out to commercial airlines to say if you have any jets, or I dont know how it works, if youve got any planes that youd be willing to dedicate like an airline number to us or a flight to us so we could get home for Christmas, I would be just so appreciative,' she said.
Once transport has been secured, she will reach out to the governments to ask whether the group can self-isolate in their family homes upon arrival if they have quarantined prior.
In a video announcing the plan (pictured), the mother said she was left heartbroken by not being able to introduce her family in Australia and her husband's in New Zealand to their newborn
By August 11, the mother had received 67 registrations, which grew by 95 the following week.
Ms McCrossin told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday she now has a total of 98 families, which includes 196 adults, 91 babies and 37 toddlers.
She said they will be coronavirus safe flights, but the journey will not be free.
'Everyone on the flight will be required to pay the normal return UK to AU/NZ airfare depending on the class of travel chosen or offered,' the online registration page reads.
'We may need to pro-rata the ticket price depending on how we socially distance the passengers across the range of classes.
'Depending on the number of passengers and destination we may not be able to fly into your preferred destination choice but we will definitely get you as far as we can!'
An Instagram page dedicated to the cause has amassed 181 followers.
Ms McCrossin told fans on August 22 she was 'looking forward to the reply emails next week of flight options'.
Eric Metaxas on why pastors need to address politics, Black Lives Matter, and 'woke' Christianity
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Ahead of an election he believes is crucial for the future of the American Church, Eric Metaxas has made a case for why Christians have a moral obligation to vote Republican this November and why pastors need to boldly address political issues from the pulpit before its too late.
In an interview with The Christian Post on Aug. 25, Metaxas argued that evangelicals who suggest there are biblical reasons to vote for either party this election are wrong and misreading current events. The conservative author and radio host clarified that while agrees with the basic principle of refusing to make an idol out of politics, to say you could vote for either candidate and it's OK is another thing.
Were not in a position where we can play that game, the 57-year-old New York native warned. The Democratic Party of the past, he said, is a whole other story than the dramatically radically left party of today, pointing out that both Bill Clinton and John F. Kenney were centrists who understood that big government can be a problem.
The Democratic Party today is in bed with cultural Marxism, whether overtly or by not calling it out, he said. If I believed the Joe Biden of today would be the Joe Biden of 30 years ago, we could have a conversation about that. But the idea that a man who is a husk of his former self and who will effectively be a frontman for what has become a dramatically radically left party I think people should understand what that means for religious liberty and every kind of liberty.
Metaxas pointed out that from day one, Biden vowed to sign the Equality Act, a move the conservative author believes will effectively cripple religious liberty across America.
People don't seem to think that that kind of bad thing can happen in America because we've been so blessed with religious liberty and prosperity, he said. Its important to understand that religious liberty is not a small thing; when the government gets involved and starts telling us what we can and cannot do, that's no different than the Nazi Party infiltrating churches and saying, We're not going to allow you to preach the Gospel anymore. You have to Nazi-fy your doctrine, we dont want you talking about the Jewishness of Jesus.
When Americans begin kowtowing to the government on big issues like sexuality, marriage, and issues of life, theyre no longer free, Metaxas stressed.
If Biden is elected, he will immediately put in place those kinds of things, he said. Its going to harm churches in a way that we've never imagined in America. If the church is harmed, the whole country suffers because the church is supposed to be God's hands in the world. I really believe that that is so crucial.
The Democratic party has also made a common cause with openly Marxist organizations like Black Lives Matter and Antifa, Metaxas said a fact that should scare people if they really understood what that means.
While the Democratic Party of the past said abortion should be safe, legal and rare, todays party is staunchly advocating for late-term abortion, Metaxas argued.
I remember when the Democrats had something to offer and we could have a dialogue, he said. But things have gotten so divided and the Democratic Party has rather cynically decided to lurch as far left as possible. You now have an entire party that no longer has pro-life candidates. I think it's tragic.
Metaxas also criticized professing Christians for participating in Black Lives Matter protests or supporting the organization. Those who truly care about the urban poor and really believe black lives matter must reject the organization called Black Lives Matter and Antifa because they are explicitly Marxist, he contended.
Americans need to understand just how dark a vision they present. They offer us utopia, but its like offering Heaven without the cross, he said. The problem is, theyre singing a song we havent yet heard in this country, so some of us are lured by it.
Many young Christians, in particular, buy into woke ideologies because they dont understand the basics of civics, of what it means to be an American, and why the United States is great, according to the popular talk show host.
This country is not great because the blood running in American veins is better than the blood running in somebody else's veins, he stressed. It's great because of the ideas that the founders gave us of self-government. If you don't teach young people, that even though our founders were flawed people, they did some great things; if you are unwilling to recognize the greatness of what they did, you're simply being foolish. You're throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
The Republican Party, he said, created a system that was able to abolish slavery, abolish Jim Crow, and could give us a black president and a hero like Martin Luther King who, based on Christian principles, called those founding documents promissory notes. He understood that these notes were great and we needed to fulfill them.
Unfortunately, according to Metaxas, many schools are taken over by people with an anti-American narrative or teachers unions that have a certain bias, which, he said, harms the whole nation.
To hold to the belief that the United States is immune from descending into chaos is "foolish," Metaxas said, pointing out that other great nations have taken turns in the wrong direction Nazi-era Germany with devastating effects.
People have to pray hard that we don't take that wrong turn because there's no reason that we shouldn't, he warned. It has to be the perfect storm; things going just right or just wrong. If circumstances are a certain way, nations can lurch horribly to tragedy. Its vital that those of us who understand these parallels and these object lessons from history communicate this as much as we can.
All we can do is pray and do what we can and leave it in God's hands. But I do know that we haven't taught this stuff for generations. So we shouldn't be surprised that young people in the United States are attracted to these things. Theyve not seen how wicked certain governments can be and how little freedom people can have. If they see that, they get a different perspective.
Metaxas is the author of popular books like Amazing Grace, Miracles, and Bonhoeffer, and most recently, a series of humorous childrens books that includes Donald Drains the Swamp, Donald and the Fake News and Donald Builds the Wall.
The Donald series is political humor in the form of a kids' book, Metaxas said. Most people need to laugh at some of what's happening, maybe because it is so serious. You need to know you're not crazy. I thought that by putting it in the form of these humor books, were able to celebrate a little bit of what is happening in a good way in the country because not everybody thinks the country is falling apart or falling under the sway of an authoritarian leader.
Though the books are funny, they give people permission to say, I'm not the only person seeing what is happening, Metaxas said. I think people who have been pro-Trump need something to celebrate with; often it's the left that creates the culture and the stories and that do the satire, and it's important that you get that from both sides.
Acknowledging that many Christians find Trump distasteful, Metaxas offered the reminder that a vote for Donald Trump is not necessarily a vote for Donald Trump; its a vote for policies.
Christians need to realize that while it isnt woke to vote for Trump, they need to do so, not because they like the guy but because his policies and the people he puts in place have a basic American constitutional view, which will, in the end, be fairer and present more opportunities to everybody, he said.
If I care about the poor, which policies are going to bless the poor? Forget about me and my rights; God commands me to care for the poor. The policies of the left are going to harm the poor and black lives. The rhetoric not only is meaningless but its a smokescreen. The reality is, those policies for over 50 years have been taking the black vote for granted and have been destroying those communities.
Churches must be bolder in understanding they have a role to speak about politics, he emphasized.
You have to make a moral choice and you can't divide politics and your faith. If your faith is lived out, it's going to have to deal with policy and laws and morality. I think it is the job of pastors to know how far they can go with their congregations. If you're worried about losing parishioners, you're worried about the wrong things. You should fear God and fear not speaking when He calls you to speak. Thats the role of what it is to lead spiritually.
Metaxas applauded the pastors that do address political issues and challenged those who do not to get on your knees and ask God to give you the courage to say what He would have you say in this hour before it's too late.
Sometimes we don't get a second chance, he said. And I think, unfortunately, this election is one of those times.
A 25-year-old man, Emmanuel Gyimah, who allegedly tried to steal bitumen locally called coal tar belonging to his employers nearly met his untimely death when he got trapped in a big barrel containing the product.
The suspect is currently on admission at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Sekondi.
Emmanuel Gyimah and his alleged accomplice, Bernard Koranteng, secretly entered the premises of ENH Emotion Company at Kansaworodo in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis last Sunday purportedly to steal the bitumen.
Luck, however, eluded Gyimah who fell into the barrel containing the bitumen when he attempted to draw some of the product from it.
The alleged accomplice, Koranteng, who was then keeping watch around, took to his heels when he realized that the security man at the company's premises was approaching after his friend had fallen into the barrel.
According to the Manageress of the company, Regina Ayiworoh, she received a call from the security on duty that Gyimah and his accomplice Koranteng secretly entered the company's premises to steal the bitumen.
She said she quickly called the Ghana National Fire Service and the police patrol team to assist in saving the suspect.
The suspect was later rescued and rushed to the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital for treatment and he is now in a stable condition.
---Daily Guide
The industry expects minority and women-owned owned enterprises to be subcontractors or team members rather than project leads, and this pigeonholes us. We can break ground, but we cant gain ground. Its a struggle to be accepted as the lead, says McKissack & McKissack CEO Deryl McKissack
McKissack has been fighting for diversity and inclusion in the AEC industry for almost four decades. She founded her namesake architecture, engineering and construction management business in 1990; today it is one of the nations oldest and largest Black- and female-owned AEC firm.
The industry expects minority and women-owned owned enterprises (MWBEs) to be subcontractors or team members rather than project leads, and this preconception pigeonholes us. We can break ground, but we cant gain ground. Its a struggle to be accepted as the lead, McKissack says. One obvious reason is that AEC is a homogenous industry; just look at the stats. Its hard for minorities to get in the room, meet potential clients and establish strong relationships that will lead to new business opportunities. People often hire who they know.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that Blacks are underrepresented in AEC professions. They number 6.4% of all construction workers and 6.1% of architecture and engineering professionals, but are 12.3% of the workforce. By contrast, 88% of all construction workers and 84% of all architecture and engineering professionals are white, yet only 78% of the total workforce is white.
Why Diversity and Inclusion Are Critical to AECs Future
The architecture, engineering and construction industry touches every building Americans use and all the infrastructure that makes modern life possible. It shapes entire communities, building structures worth $1.3 trillion every year, and draws talent from manufacturers, knowledge workers and trade professionals. But culturally, the AEC industry is homogenous. Embracing diversity gives organizations new perspectives that lead to creative solutions. Creating diverse and inclusive companies will raise the AEC industrys economic impact; research shows that diverse companies are more profitable.
The AEC industry must also become more inclusive to be relevant and profitable in the future. Given the tight costs and returns that apply to building projects today, and the changing nature of Americas populaceset to be a majority minority nation by 2045AEC teams must stay attuned to the requirements and perspectives of projects end users to ensure usability and high occupancy rates.
A 7-Step Plan to Confront Racism in the AEC Industry
Today, racism and lack of diversity in the AEC industry translates into missed opportunities and insular solutions; represents lost earnings; prevents the formation and growth of MWBEs; and deters economic development in underserved communities. To prompt change and help MWBEs reach parity, McKissack is proposing a 7-step planand asking all AEC industry businesses to adopt it.
1. Acknowledge there is racism in the AEC industry. Racism is a serious problem and industry members must commit to fix it with concrete actions. This includes helping minority firms develop and grow so they can be on the same economic playing field; making majority-owned company boards more diverse; promoting more minorities to executive and senior leadership positions; changing company cultures; and measure and report progress.
2. Be an active participant in helping minorities close the wealth gap by hiring, enabling and supporting AEC minority-owned businesses. Black Americans have 1/10th the wealth of white Americans; this is driven by a lack of inherited assets, historically limited or restricted access to capital and inadequate educational and training opportunities. Hiring minority AEC firms that can grow wealth by developing strong businesses that can be passed down to generations or sold. Hiring minority firms also helps these small businesses create capital, manage cash flow and create jobsand minority-owned firms hire and train minority employees.
3. Eliminate anti-racist policies and practices. Move the conversation from diversity to racial equity. Invite everyone to the table--and the country club. Examine not only hiring, retention, and promotion practices, but also procurement, charitable giving and community involvement. Develop fair, transparent and inclusive processes for company and team decision-making.
4. Require, demand and allow MWBEs to be direct suppliers. Change procurement policies: Currently, lead teams are often required to include minority teamsits time to give qualified Tier 1 businesses of proven excellence the opportunity to lead. Create a pipeline of sustainable opportunities for minority firms and commit to building them into high-growth businesses. This comprehensive approach ensures continued financial growth, employee satisfaction and employee retention.
5. Develop creative strategies and programs to hire, train, retain and promote diverse workers, from fostering internships and mentorship programs to recruiting at historically Black colleges and universities. Diversity is the solution to systemic labor shortages. Train leaders to be inclusive; diversity does not stick without inclusion. Support AEC Mentor programs and focus on projects that enable and inspire minority entry into STEM education. Work with labor unions to address the disparity in Black and Latinx apprentice participation, and inspire, train and retain minorities in trade opportunities.
6. Mandate and enforce strict goals to use minority suppliers. Redefine procurement priorities; procurement departments should be mandated to find and identify MWBE Tier 1 suppliers. They should also demand that majority firms partner with minority suppliers 100% of the timeonly the procurement process has the power to make this happen. Use minority suppliers that reflect the local populace and include local trades and businesses.
7. Invite community-based minority suppliers to the table in underserved neighborhoods. Reduce community disruption by providing and sharing the economic fruits of the job. Use small businesses in local communities when involved in any community project. These services can range from transportation providers, security companies, catering, landscapers and cleaning companies. Make sure to develop an ongoing list of such companies.
The inequities wrought by COVID-19, along with those brought to light by #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, make this the right time for CEOs to lean in and radically change the AEC industry from the inside out. Doing so will advance racial equity and justice in AEC, which is long overdue, McKissack adds.
Some companies have already begun to implement similar initiatives, but very few with the full force of the CEOs office and leadership team. McKissack is asking her peers to commit their firms to change using these seven steps.
ABOUT MCKISSACK & MCKISSACK: McKissack & McKissack is a national architecture, engineering, program- and construction-management firm with more than 30 years of experience working with clients to envision and deliver building and infrastructure projects that enrich peoples lives and empower communities to flourish. Based in Washington, D.C. and with offices in Austin, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles, the firm is ranked by Engineering News-Record as one of the top 50 Top Construction Management For-Fee firms and one of the 50 Top Program Management Firms in the nation and by the Washington Business Journal as one of the top 25 design firms in the metropolitan Washington area.
fernandogarciaesteban/iStockBY: MEREDITH DELISO, ABC NEWS
(NEW YORK) Families and educators pushing for a delay to the start of the New York City school year breathed a sigh of relief this week, as city officials announced in-person learning is postponed. But for some, the relief was temporary.
With a majority of the district's 1.1 million students planning to return to buildings during the coronavirus pandemic, city officials have acknowledged the task is no easy one, and questions on details remain, leaders say.
On Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the start of in-person learning in New York City public schools had been delayed to Sept. 21 to give schools more time to get staff trained in health and safety protocols and prepare for both remote and blended learning. The district's blended-learning plan was initially set to begin on Sept. 10.
The move followed weeks of campaigns from unions, administrators, community leaders, medical professionals and teachers urging the city to postpone in-person learning amid concerns about reopening safely. The United Federation of Teachers, the city's largest teachers union, was set to vote on a strike authorization hours before de Blasio's announcement.
"Teachers, who usually get two days of professional development at the beginning of the school year, will now get nine," schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said Tuesday. "We've heard from everyone in our schools that have said we need some more time."
While acknowledging a victory, some officials outlined the work that lies ahead. New York City Councilman Brad Lander said on social media he was "relieved" about the delay. "Now we need to double-down and use the time to insist on real progress on what needs to happen to make schools safe for learning," he said, including details such as testing protocols, ventilation inspections and staffing shortages.
"The City still needs to use the delay to inspect every building, get nurses & PPE & testing in every school, roll out childcare plans, and support schools to implement outdoor learning," he added.
For Cathy Grodsky, president of the District 26 Presidents' Council, an organization of the Queens district's PTA presidents, there's one "basic question" of which many parents still wonder: "Who will be teaching our children?
"We need the details, we can't wait any longer," Grodsky, who has four school-age children, told ABC News. "Who will be teaching our children remote, and who will be teaching our children in person if they go?"
"When we're up against this pandemic, and bringing people back into these buildings, the devil is in the details," she added.
MORE-UFT, a caucus within the UFT, welcomed the delay, but said in a statement that the agreement "does nothing to address myriad other concerns raised by advocates, teachers and parents." Those concerns include the "increased risk for schools in neighborhoods with high infection rates, the safety of students eating meals indoors, safety concerns around mass transit and an underfunded MTA, or the massive budget cuts that Gov. Cuomo is pushing through at the state level, possible layoffs still looming, and what those cuts will mean for class sizes and safety."
Tuesday's announcement gave some clarity on safety and testing protocols as schools plan to reopen for hybrid learning. Buildings or rooms that do not meet safety standards based on the UFT's 50-item safety checklist -- including social distancing of student desks, the availability of masks and face shields, and a room-by-room review of ventilation effectiveness -- will remain closed, the union said.
As of Monday, the UFT had inspected more than 1,000 of the roughly 1,400 buildings in the district, with plans to finish the rest this week, a UFT spokesperson told ABC News.
Schools will be provided daily with a 30-day supply of PPE, including masks and disinfectant, Carranza said Tuesday.
Starting Oct. 1, schools will test monthly a random sample of 10-20% of its on-site students and staff for COVID-19. Testing will be free, with results within 48 hours, the city said. Those who test positive will be quarantined for 14 days, and city contact tracing teams will work to find potential contacts. A class will go remote if it has a case, while more than one case in a school will move the entire school to remote instruction until contact tracing is completed, the city said.
Schools will also switch to remote instruction if the city's seven-day rolling average of positive tests is 3% or higher. It has been hoving at around 1% since late July.
The UFT had initially demanded universal testing of all students and teachers. On Tuesday, de Blasio said that the monthly mandatory testing program was "a way to do this in a way that makes sense and is attainable for a school system this large." With 1.1 million students, New York City is the largest school district in the country, and the only big-city school system planning to reopen for in-person teaching this month.
Grodsky had hoped to see earlier and more frequent testing as schools reopen, pointing to COVID-19 outbreaks on college campuses.
"It should be a clear warning sign for all of us," she said. "It seems like it's a recipe for failure."
MORE-UFT called attention to over 300 nurse vacancies in its statement. On Tuesday, Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan said that the city was on track to have "the available nurses in every one of our buildings."
As for information on free child care that will be made available to 100,000 students, including the application process, details will come "very shortly," de Blasio said Wednesday.
Parents who had planned to start sending their children to school in-person next week will now also need to scramble. "This 11th-hour decision-making is unfair to everyone," Grodsky said.
De Blasio acknowledged Tuesday that families will need to make accommodations, but said it is a "modest change to resolve outstanding issues."
For some, the delay isn't enough time to address safety concerns. New York state assembly member Alicia Hyndman, a self-described public school parent, said on social media that she was "pleased to hear" about the postponement, "but let's be honest that is not enough time." She recommended delaying until Oct. 10 "to get this done the right way."
Mark Cannizzaro, president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, said in a statement that the Department of Education must now "seize this time" to "implement necessary safety protocols, program classes, and align all school staff towards critical goals for this unimaginable school year."
"The task before us is still monumental," he said.
Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Namma Metro operations will resume in a graded manner from September 7, when trains will run only on the Purple line between Byappanahalli and Mysore Road for three hours each in the morning and evening peak hours.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on Wednesday said a standard operating procedure (SoP) will be issued on Thursday, providing details of the rules to be followed by commuters. The metro services are resuming in a graded manner to help officials, as well as commuters, adjust to the new rules.
Accordingly, the trains will run on the Purple Line from 8 am to 11 am and 4.30 pm to 7.30 pm to cater to the needs of the commuters during the peak hour.
The services on the Green Line between Nagasandra and Yelachenahalli will begin on September 9. The time table will remain the same, with three hours each in the morning and evening peak hours.
Near-normal operations will begin from September 11, when services will commence at 7 am and close at 9 pm. The frequency of the train will be at an interval of five minutes during peak hours and 10 min in the non-peak hours.
Passengers will have 60 seconds of 'dwell time' at all stations, except Kempegowda station in Majestic where they can't linger more than 75 seconds. Only one or two entry gates will be operated in a station.
There will no tokens issued and only travellers carrying smart cards with online recharging will be allowed.
'Aarogya Setu not must'
In a message, BMRCL Managing Director Ajay Seth said the installation of Aarogya Setu will be encouraged, but the app will not be mandatory. Face mask, on the other hand, is must at all times.
Officials will run operations at about 20% of the full capacity to maintain social distancing, which will limit the number of passengers per train to 400 commuters. Not more than 50 commuters will be allowed at the station platform at any time.
Elderly persons and very young children have been advised to avoid travel.
At the first SCBE, the exhibitors have successfully explored business opportunities through trade talk with about 20,000 professional visitors from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and foreign brands, wholesale agents, retailers, beauty salons and nail salons, cross-border e-commerce platforms, social e-commerce platforms and manufacturers. Based in Shenzhen, the development engine of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, SCBE has attracted the attention of various media and over 100 media have reported on this grand event.
Affected by the dual impact of the shuffling in traditional retail industry caused by new upgrade of cosmetics consumption and the pandemic, supply chain has become the hotspot issue for the beauty industry. On the one hand, the supply chain sector is in demand. On the other hand, in the global supply chain system, there are tests of risk resistance capacity and market competition. Therefore, the supply chain sector must always be ready for keeping pace with the times to help opening up the full industry chain system. Co-organized by Informa Markets, BolognaFiere and Shanghai Baiwen Exhibition Co., Ltd., SCBE, as a major business platform gathering industry-wide exhibitors and promoting industry recovery, has played an important role in reshaping confidence, bridging new network and outputting high-tech products. It is exactly the strong endorsement of SCBE that has attracted the participation of many outstanding exhibitors at home and abroad from a wide range of fields including not only professional beauty, personal care and toiletries but also cross-border e-commerce, beauty supply chain and new retail technology.
The industry-recognized superb business matching
Based in Shenzhen, the forefront of technological innovation, the first SCBE has met the expectations, thanks to its profound insights of the pandemic-stricken beauty market and superior resources of global supply chain. During the three-day exhibition, SCBE has arranged nearly 100 high-quality business matching meetings between the selected exhibitors and the professional buyers with clear procurement needs from Amway, Watsons, Infinitus (China) Company Ltd, DR PLANT (Guangdong) Biotechnology Co.,Ltd, Nanjing Channel Dressy, CHARM ZENUS, Guangzhou Blue and White Porcelain Health Management Co., Ltd, and Shenzhen Creditbundle International Co. Ltd. (a subsidiary of ZTE Group). The buyers have highly recognized the trade talk and business matching.
Mr Liu Jianyi, Brand Director of Guangzhou Blue and White Porcelain Health Management Co., Ltd said, "Thanks to the organizer for the business matching at which I have found the suitable suppliers. We have just completed an order earlier, but the craftsmanship of that supplier does not fully meet our requirement. At the onsite one-on-one business matching set by the organizer, I have found a very suitable supplier. Moreover, the organizer's arrangement is very considerate. I am very satisfied!"
"In the business matching arranged by the organizer, we have found more suitable suppliers. We will definitely visit again next year and bring more friends from the industry to visit with us", said Mr Luo Guanbin, Deputy General Manager of Shenzhen Creditbundle International Co.Ltd.
For the exhibitors, SCBE is undoubtedly a good opportunity where they can meet potential business partners and achieve good cooperation results. It is worth mentioning that the mini program platform introduced by SCBE has received tremendous popularity from the exhibitors as it has, to a large extent, helped the buyers to have convenient and comprehensive understanding of the exhibitors and products before the show resulting in efficient on-site business exchanges and cooperation.
Ms Vivi, Sales Manager of Guangzhou Eastbox Co., Ltd also recognized and praised the on-site business matching. She said, "I thank the organizer very much for arranging the on-site business matching which has brought many potential clients for cooperation. It is effective. Thank you for this opportunity."
Special zones help beauty companies to open new channels for corner-overtaking
With objective insights of the market demand and industry pain points, SCBE carefully lays out a diversified exhibition with different special zones that striving to accurately output high-quality resources and trendy technological information.
Deeply affected by the current pandemic, the offline beauty channel desperately needs mature retail technology to overtake on the corner. SCBE has joint hands with Shanghai Exland International Exhibition Co., Ltd. And created a new Future Shop on the spot for the Greater Bay Area with future retail store as the carrier to show the increasingly mature Chinese retail technology, such as smart store management system and immersive experience.
In addition, the LITTLE B from The Beast has partnered with SCBE and CENTDEGRES to create the "LITTLE B BOX" demonstrating how offline retailers can attract more customers by enhancing shopping experience through innovative business models.
Apart from the traditional trading mode, buyers have experienced SCBE's "KOL Live-streaming" which included many fashionistas for onsite live broadcast to realize generating sales on cloud and visiting the exhibition offline. In recent years, live-streaming has shuffled the entire KOL industry. The official rise of live-streaming sales has changed the sales channels and models disruptively.
SCBE has especially set up the E-beauty zone to help the brands directly reaching the emerging markets. The zone has gathered well-known cross-border e-commerce platforms of external trade such as Shopee, AliExpress, Newegg, Amazon and Wish whose representatives also shared their new business models of the emerging foreign markets at the Cross-border E-commerce Summit for Exports.
Serving as the yoke-breaker for the beauty industry, the special zones have not only brought cutting-edge trends, new models and new thinking but also many possibilities in the post-pandemic era as well as opened up a broader development path for the beauty professionals.
Dependable trendy content made visit worth buyers' while
SCBE has elaborately organized special onsite events during the exhibition including themed seminars and live activities, aiming to create valuable ideas through further discussion on the hot topics.
The trend forecasting agency WGSN helped us to grasp the consumers' needs in the first place and then the innovation opportunity by exploring the coming post-pandemic beauty tendency through the discussion on the transformation of global consumption trends, future beauty strategies, innovative retails and brand strategies. Global Data has brought new observation on the changes in consumer behaviours in the sub-sectors of beauty industry in the post-pandemic era.
The 10th AHMA Hair & Styling Awards and Hair Culture Exchange Hair Show, co-organised with Asia Hair Masters Association (AHMA) invited the WAHL ambassador team and the representative hairdressing masters in Guangdong to join the potential young hairdressers to conduct a hair show with both artistic and visual effects. MGP Image Design Art School created an innovative performance of shiny makeup where well-known makeup artists, makeup masters and experts with millions of fans will deliver the new makeup trend. Guests from Beijing China Cultural Tourism and Creativity Co., Ltd., PPW, and Kakao Friends has shared new cross-border idea of the integration of IP licensing and beauty industry.
The various events in the three days were rich and full of dependable contents. SCBE has also introduced mini-program live-streaming and joined hands with influential media, i.e., Daily Chemicals, C2CC, Hair8.net and YMX to conduct online live-broadcast for more industry players to participate in the sharing. All these activities have accumulated more than 200,000 views.
The exhibitors and buyers fully approved the first SCBE. Mr Feng Yixing, General Manager of Yangjiang Paston Beauty & Manicure Products Co.,Ltd has gained a lot at the exhibition. He said, "Under the pandemic of this year, I am very grateful to the organizer for holding SCBE in Shenzhen which is of great significance. At the exhibition, we have met many sincere customers who have great intention of cooperation. This has brought new momentum to the development of our company."
Ms Fan Qingqing, General Manager of Guangzhou Mas Beauty Bio Tech Co., Ltd felt lucky for participating in this high-grade exhibition where she has not only found suitable new suppliers, but also received a lot of trend information from several forums. She said, "Overall speaking, the exhibition is very satisfactory. I have found some new suppliers. I also have listened carefully in one of the on-site forums and gained some market information and knowledge."
The wonderful SCBE never ends and the flourishing age of beauty industry is worth the wait
As the first professional beauty exhibition in the Greater Bay Area, SCBE has undoubtedly boosted the beauty industry in the area and even in the whole country. Targeting at the new generation of consumer groups, new retail channels and the entire beauty supply chain, the inaugural SCBE has built a one-stop beauty supply chain platform for the industry, narrowed the distance between exhibitors and buyers and helped them to achieve supreme business matching. The successful holding of SCBE will further activate the vitality of the beauty market and find more breakthroughs for brands, distributors and retailers.
The next SCBE will be held during July 29-31, 2021 at the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Centre. SCBE will look forward to seeing visitors again at this industry gathering.
For more information and activities, please visit the SCBE website: www.southchinabeautyexpo.com
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Download the high-resolution images at the following link: https://we.tl/t-M9WQkRsESN
About the organiser:
The South China Beauty Expo is organised by Informa Markets, BolognaFiere and Shanghai Baiwen Exhibition Co Ltd.
About INFORMA MARKETS (www.informamarkets.com)
Informa Markets Beauty has an extensive network powered by B2B events across 11 cities in Asia (Bangkok, Chengdu, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tokyo), the world's fastest growing markets. By further expanding its strength, the Beauty Portfolio now includes a new B2B event in Miami 2021 serving the East Coast and USA, South America and Caribbean Islands regions. Informa Markets creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. We provide marketplace participants around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, targeted digital services and actionable data solutions. We connect buyers and sellers across more than a dozen global verticals, including Pharmaceuticals, Food, Medical Technology and Infrastructure. As the world's leading market-making company, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit www.informamarkets.com.
About BOLOGNAFIERE GROUP (www.bolognafiere.it)
BolognaFiere Group is the world's leading trade show organiser in cosmetics, fashion, architecture, building, art and culture. The Group has a portfolio of 75 events in Italy and 25 events abroad, notably Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, the most important meeting point in the world for beauty professionals, established in 1967 and held in Bologna, Italy. For the 2019 edition, Cosmoprof registered more than 265,000 attendees from more than 150 countries in the world, with an increase by 10% of foreign professionals, and 3,033 exhibitors from 70 countries. The Cosmoprof platform extends throughout the entire world, with its events in Bologna, Las Vegas, Mumbai, and Hong Kong, China (with Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, Cosmoprof North America, Cosmoprof India, and Cosmoprof Asia). Recently the fifth exhibition of the network has been announced: Cosmoprof CBE ASEAN, in Thailand, will focus on the cosmetic industry in South-East Asia. In 2020, South China Beauty Expo, a new show in Shenzhen, China, took place in July. The Cosmoprof platform will reinforce its influence in Europe, thanks to the acquisition of the German group Health and Beauty, in South America, thanks to the collaboration with Beauty Fair -Feira Internacional De Beleza Profissional.
About SHANGHAI BAIWEN EXHIBITION CO LTD (www.cbebaiwen.com)
Shanghai Baiwen Exhibition Company is a branch of Informa (FTSE 100), the world's largest exhibition magnate, and also the organiser of China Beauty Expo (CBE), China's renowned beauty show. With over ten years of experiences in planning and organising quality exhibitions, Baiwen has won the honors of quality, professionalism and authority. China Beauty Expo, with an annual exhibition space of 260,000sqm, is one of the top three beauty shows in the world. As the international trading platform covering full supply chain of beauty products, CBE includes three shows, namely China International Skin Care and Washing Product Show, Shanghai International Skin and Hair Care Product Show and Shanghai International Daily-use Chemicals' Ingredient, Packing and Machinery Show. Baiwen is currently the Chairman Unit of Shanghai Exhibition Industry Association and Vice Chairman Unit of Shanghai Daily-use Chemical Association. CBE has been awarded the honors of Shanghai's Well-known Brand, Shanghai Brand Exhibition, Shanghai Brand Service etc.
SOURCE South China Beauty Expo (SCBE)
Related Links
http://www.southchinabeautyexpo.com/
BEIJING, Sept. 2 -- The Chinese military has expressed opposition to the Military and Security Developments Involving the Peoples Republic of China 2020, an annual report released by the U.S. Department of Defense.
In response to press question on Wednesday, the Information Office of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense (MND) said the U.S. report is full of the zero-sum Cold War mentality.
The report exaggerates the so-called Chinese military threat, distorts China's defense policy and military strategy, smears Chinas military modernization development, defense expenditure and nuclear policy, and provokes cross-strait confrontation and intensifies tensions across the Taiwan Strait, which are extremely wrong, said the Office.
The Chinese side is resolutely opposed to the report and will make further response depending on the situation, the Office announced.
If Tibet had remained a free and independent country today it would have been the tenth largest country with 25 lakh square km of land, it's geographical unit being the largest and the highest plateau in the world standing at an average elevation of 4,000 metres above sea level which is often called the roof of the world.
The Tibetan Plateau hosts 37,000 glaciers, one fourth of the world. It is a major source of fresh flowing rivers and dotted by thousands of lakes which are origins of some of the biggest and longest rivers in Asia. Rivers like Indus, Satluj, Brahmaputra, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze and Yellow River flow in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and China, catering to a population larger than that of entire China. It is shocking that such a reservoir of water and natural resources in Asia has been occupied by China and there has not been a word of protest on this.
Ancient Indian Buddhist culture is preserved in Tibet because of the shared history and culture between India and Tibet. In the Indian public psyche Kailash Mansarovar was part of India. Tibetans used to visit Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India at Sarnath, Bodhgaya, Nalanda and Amravati. Border was irrelevant between India and Tibet. People used to freely crossover. Today there are two armies and there is no point of crossover. Indians have to go to Tibet through Nepal. After the Galwan valley clash the armies of the two countries are standing eyeball to eyeball armed to the teeth.
After the Dalai Lama took refuge in India almost one lakh Tibetans have come to India, most of them living in Karnataka and in Indian Himalayan regions. Dharamshala, the seat of the Dalai Lama, is considered the capital of the Tibetans where the Government in exile is based. Although many Tibetans still dream of a free Tibet, India's desire to become close to China in the past has made the possibility of independence for Tibet remote. Being a refugee in India, the Dalai Lama has been speaking for autonomy adhering to India's One-China policy.
In seventy years of Chinese invasion more than ten lakh Tibetans have been killed; 6,000 monasteries destroyed; clear felling of Tibetan forest and carting away timbers to China has led to mad floods in lower lands in South Asia; mountains are bombed and strip mined for Gold, Copper, lithium and rare earth; Tibetan nomads and farmers have been robbed of their traditional pastureland and now encased in matchbox houses in artificial villages like the American style reservations.
In a nutshell, the genocide Tibet witnessed was ignored by the international community only for the greed for Chinese trade. Faced by the resilience of Tibetan resistance today China is targeting Tibetan language, culture and the Buddhist faith which they consider as the obstacles in their attempts to homogenize the Tibetans and integrate the "minority" into the Chinese hegemony.
Globalization has brought over 160 countries to trade with China as the otherwise western "liberal democrats" blindly accepted the One-China policy and recognized Tibet as a part of China. These trading partners have directly benefited at the cost of Tibetan suffering.
Burdened under such global pressure Tibetans have been suppressed to such a point that even a simple act of possessing the Dalai Lama's photo in Tibet could land you in jail on charge of separatism. Although Tibetan youth do not retaliate like others in Palestine or Kashmir, many youngsters in Tibet resorted to self-immolation and till now the reported numbers have reached 155 in Tibet alone.
There has as been a cancerous wound around Indias Himalayan neck ever since India's humiliating defeat during the Chinese invasion of India in 1962. The recent Galwan Valley massacre has only added salt to the wound. It has come to this because, when China invaded the neighbouring country Tibet in 1950, India was in high romance with the newly-established communist regime under Mao Zedong after a bloody revolution.Ignoring India's civilizational relationship with Tibet, India hoped to gain from the emerging power of the People's Republic of China and thus celebrated Hindi-Chini bhai bhai. The Chinese military, the People's Liberation Army, replaced the Tibetans across the 4,085 kilometres of Himalayan border which is proverbially said to have been guarded by only 60 Indian policemen. India never had a common border with China before that.If Tibet had remained a free and independent country today it would have been the tenth largest country with 25 lakh square km of land, it's geographical unit being the largest and the highest plateau in the world standing at an average elevation of 4,000 metres above sea level which is often called the roof of the world.The Tibetan Plateau hosts 37,000 glaciers, one fourth of the world. It is a major source of fresh flowing rivers and dotted by thousands of lakes which are origins of some of the biggest and longest rivers in Asia. Rivers like Indus, Satluj, Brahmaputra, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze and Yellow River flow in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and China, catering to a population larger than that of entire China. It is shocking that such a reservoir of water and natural resources in Asia has been occupied by China and there has not been a word of protest on this.Ancient Indian Buddhist culture is preserved in Tibet because of the shared history and culture between India and Tibet. In the Indian public psyche Kailash Mansarovar was part of India. Tibetans used to visit Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India at Sarnath, Bodhgaya, Nalanda and Amravati. Border was irrelevant between India and Tibet. People used to freely crossover. Today there are two armies and there is no point of crossover. Indians have to go to Tibet through Nepal. After the Galwan valley clash the armies of the two countries are standing eyeball to eyeball armed to the teeth.After the Dalai Lama took refuge in India almost one lakh Tibetans have come to India, most of them living in Karnataka and in Indian Himalayan regions. Dharamshala, the seat of the Dalai Lama, is considered the capital of the Tibetans where the Government in exile is based. Although many Tibetans still dream of a free Tibet, India's desire to become close to China in the past has made the possibility of independence for Tibet remote. Being a refugee in India, the Dalai Lama has been speaking for autonomy adhering to India's One-China policy.In seventy years of Chinese invasion more than ten lakh Tibetans have been killed; 6,000 monasteries destroyed; clear felling of Tibetan forest and carting away timbers to China has led to mad floods in lower lands in South Asia; mountains are bombed and strip mined for Gold, Copper, lithium and rare earth; Tibetan nomads and farmers have been robbed of their traditional pastureland and now encased in matchbox houses in artificial villages like the American style reservations.In a nutshell, the genocide Tibet witnessed was ignored by the international community only for the greed for Chinese trade. Faced by the resilience of Tibetan resistance today China is targeting Tibetan language, culture and the Buddhist faith which they consider as the obstacles in their attempts to homogenize the Tibetans and integrate the "minority" into the Chinese hegemony.Globalization has brought over 160 countries to trade with China as the otherwise western "liberal democrats" blindly accepted the One-China policy and recognized Tibet as a part of China. These trading partners have directly benefited at the cost of Tibetan suffering.Burdened under such global pressure Tibetans have been suppressed to such a point that even a simple act of possessing the Dalai Lama's photo in Tibet could land you in jail on charge of separatism. Although Tibetan youth do not retaliate like others in Palestine or Kashmir, many youngsters in Tibet resorted to self-immolation and till now the reported numbers have reached 155 in Tibet alone.
During the visit of Chinese President or Premier Indian police customarily arrest Tibetan activists and jail them to appease China
Tibetans believe that if their spirit is free, China can never conquer them. Whereas Confucianism and Buddhism had a strong hold on Chinese society once, today the only religion the consumerist China worships is money. However, Tibet still maintains a Buddhist culture and that is why the Tibetans believe they will overcome the Chinese rule one day.
During the visit of Chinese President or Premier Indian police customarily arrest all Tibetan activists and jail them only to appease China. Yet, younger generation Tibetans take their inspiration from India's 200 years of freedom struggle. Even up to 1942 most Indians didn't believe their country was going to be free in five years.
The Quit India Movement called upon by Mahatma Gandhi had difficulty garnering mass support. But the situation in London was such that the Empire was collapsing under its own weight. Similarly, Tibetans believe that a day will come when Chinese would leave Tibet to save their own homeland.
China has occupied not only Tibet. The Uyghur East Turkestan, a Muslim country with 18 lakh sq km was occupied by China in 1949. In the same year Southern Mongolia with 12 lakh sq km and Manchuria with 84,000 sq. km were annexed to the People's Republic of China. Today 60% of China's 96 lakh sq km of land is occupied territory. But China's expansionist designs don't stop there. China's Belt and Road project is planned to rule the world industry.
Chinese Communist Party, the biggest political party in the world that runs China as a blatant capitalist country in the name of communism, also owns the PLA, runs the judiciary, the media and also appoints the country's President as Mao's legacy. Therefore even after killing over 4.7 crore Chinese, Mao's portrait still adorns Tiananmen Square. Most people in China do not know anything about the Tiananmen Square massacre, China's open secret.
After the Galwan Valley massacre and the recent case of China again dragging India to the UN on Kashmir is a proof that China has no respect for Indias territorial integrity. As China faces international isolation due to Covid-19 pandemic and the trade war with the US, India must stand up to China's bullying and junk its One China Policy by supporting Tibetan independence. India's support of the Dalai Lama's nonviolent movement for freedom will have global resonance.
Towards this, the first step every Indian must take is to start addressing the "China border" as Tibet border. After all, India has formed Indo-Tibetan Border Police to safeguard its Himalayan borders with Tibet. India must recognize the Tibetan Government-in-Exile and His Holiness the Dalai Lama as leader of all Tibet. Being the most important symbol of peace and leader of nonviolent movement, India must recognize this 85 years old with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.
---
*Tenzin Tsundue is a Tibetan poet and activist, who lives in Dharamshala; Sandeep Pandey is Magsaysay award winning social activist and is vice-President, Socialist Party (India)
Ah, the fresh new term smell of September. In many ways, the first week of this month is more of a new start than January 1.
I have ingrained memories of new blazers, uncomfortable shiny Clarks shoes and a brand new school bag neatly packed.
As a studious schoolgirl, I'd go back into the classroom every autumn brimming with enthusiasm.
And, boy, are we ready for some back-to-school positivity this year.
While my three sons have never shared my swotty tendencies and would normally need some cajoling to get them back into their blazers, this year is different.
Although summer was an adventure of sorts for them sleeping in, taking their chances with groups of teens in the park, going out on their bikes, risking public transport and ordering takeaways wherever they happened to be my youngest, 14, admits even he is bored by it.
Susanna says she and her family are ready for some back-to-school positivity But she says she is confused by the 'mangled mess' of the details of the return. Pictured: These children in Doncaster were among those who had to wear face masks on their first day back at school
And while the alarm call will come as a shock, a return to the school day will do us all good.
But when it comes to the details, I put my hand up from the back of the class and admit I am utterly confused. What a mangled mess.
Piers and I, now back after our summer break, worked throughout the pandemic.
As in all workplaces, there are Covid-19 restrictions in place at the GMB studio but you have to get on with it.
I don't get why that isn't the case with schools. Why does it all seem so neurotic and chaotic?
Even the ever-organised Kirstie Allsopp came a cropper. Yesterday she tweeted she accidentally sent her son back to school a day early.
I, too, was hard pushed to pin down when, where and through which entrance my boys should re-enter their London state secondary.
The school sent out a 20-minute video explaining the details, but it has taken me three attempts to watch it, and I've relied on a parents' group chat to get to grips with the rules.
There will be an early and a late shift, separated by an hour and, of course, my two are in different ones.
Off-air gossip I am heartbroken at the news of brilliant Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman's death from cancer at 43. I was at the GQ Awards 2018, where he won International Man of the Year. Asked about his success, he said he had no choice but 'to live in the moment'. We should all learn from him. Advertisement
Despite being one boy down my eldest is preparing for university the school run just got more complicated.
There will be different entry points for students. Not knowing the names of the doorways, I am leaving it up to my boys to work it all out.
But I can imagine teachers tearing their hair out herding the children like cats as they funnel separate year groups to their safe zones.
How working parents of younger, less independent children will cope is beyond me.
When my youngest son asked if he needed a face mask, I confidently replied 'yes', but only in corridors.
Then a friend told me the answer was 'no', only schoolchildren in lockdown areas in England need to wear them.
A glance at the Government website says that masks are recommended in communal areas where social distancing can't be enforced.
I'm still scratching my head. Does that mean he should wear one in the corridor or not? I'll have to re-watch the video.
Another friend told me masks worn on the bus must be removed on arrival, put in a plastic bag to take home and then a fresh mask worn in school.
It all seems so convoluted, especially when you consider so many of the children will have been hanging out together anyway.
I don't blame teachers for the mayhem.
After dealing with the woeful mismanagement of exam results, headteachers are trying to make schools as safe as possible in the face of an avalanche of guidelines.
Susanna and Piers Morgan worked on Good Morning Britain throughout pandemic. There are restrictions in place at the GMB studio but you have to get on with it and Susanna doesn't understand why the same isn't the case for schools
It was classic Gavin Williamson to issue new Department for Education advice a 25,000-word document on Friday night, the eve of a bank holiday weekend.
Meanwhile, I worry about the experience my eldest faces as he starts university. The University and College Union says it is too dangerous for face-to-face teaching to resume.
But after holidays abroad, being on planes, enjoying a pint in Wetherspoon's, it's frankly ridiculous to put a stop to our 18-year-olds being properly educated in a tutorial.
The truth is our children need their education back and we will get used to the new rules. But no more last-minute guidelines please, Gavin.
It's time to let headteachers get on with their job.
The very real scourge of face mask fatigue
I am a great advocate of face masks but we've all got so lazy with them.
I've seen people wear them on their chins, or only over their mouths, or not at all.
On a hospital visit the other day, an elderly lady removed hers to sneeze as I walked by. I understand why.
The thought of sneezing into one is repulsive, but isn't catching germs the point?
Meanwhile, I had a massage and had to wear a mask while lying face down. I felt like I was about to pass out and had to go home.
We all need to sort out our mask etiquette.
Forget the curse, I hope my friend Ranvir clinches a Strictly romance
The BBC couldn't afford the ludicrous fee Piers would no doubt demand, but I'm excited my beautiful and graceful colleague Ranvir Singh, pictured, is the one stepping into the Strictly limelight this year.
She is about to have the time of her life, with three months on Planet Sequins, so it made me giggle when she said what she was looking forward to was 'having regular Covid testing'.
Her Strictly journey is going to be more exciting than that! It turns out her main fear is the fitness factor as, like me, she's put on a stone in lockdown.
Susanna hopes Ranvir Singh, who is stepping into the Strictly limelight this year, will find romance on the dancefloor
But thanks to the dance practice in the training room, she can rest assured she'll be in the shape of her life by Christmas.
Ranvir is single, so I'm hopeful she might end up in a romantic hold on the dancefloor.
But when I asked her about the Strictly Curse to try to wheedle out who she will be partnered with, she replied coyly: 'Doesn't that only apply when one of the couple is already attached?'
Fancy footwork indeed.
Off-duty Rishi rocks
As if he weren't in favour enough, Rishi Sunak has gone up in the popularity stakes by nailing casual dressing.
A rare achievement for a male politician, but with his smart-casual jacket, navy jeans and stylish footwear, Rishi looks even more like the saviour we need in these troubled times.
Compared with Boris' dishevelled downtime look, Rishi is a fashion icon.
But with tax hikes on the horizon, his stylish look might be a necessary distraction.
Parents going through a divorce, students losing a loved one, or maybe even something as simple as an argument with a friend these are the traumas that students face on a daily basis, many needing to turn to a mentor or counselor to get them through the tough times.
But how does that work when the coronavirus pandemic has taken away students ability to simply drop by their favorite teachers classroom for a quick chat or their school counselors office whose door is always open to talk?
What is the solution when even professional outlet such as the staff of the Waccamaw Center for Mental Health seeing a 50 percent increase in patient intake phone calls since March?
This is what Grand Strand school counselors face as school reopens both in higher education and K-12.
Counselors have been tasked with increasing ways students can access services to help with depression, anxiety and stress from a distance as many campuses have started their school years with a virtual campus, awaiting a potential return to the physical classroom that reintroduces the social interaction many students crave.
Students are now faced with having to be more intentional and proactive about setting up a virtual meeting with a school psychologist.
Coastal Leadership Academy, a Socastee-area public charter high school under Erskine College, has hired a non-profit mental health organization for students, teachers and parents, said Jean Hungerpiller, CLAs guidance counselor.
All of this isolation is very concerning, she said, adding the age group of students she works with is susceptible to depression. Teachers are stressed out, too, and so are the parents. I feel like we are being real proactive by providing those services.
Students, whether learning from a distance or in person, will be placed in a crew group with leaders who will monitor students throughout the year, making sure they are logging into class and doing stress relief exercises, Hungerpiller said.
We have a lot of different people who are staying in contact with the students, she said.
The school plans to dedicate the first two weeks of school to make sure students are comfortable and proficient in accessing their classes. Students were given the choice to do virtual, hybrid or totally in person this school year.
More than 16,700 students across public schools in Horry and Georgetown counties have enrolled in totally virtual learning, which requires a semester-long commitment.
Horry County Schools has 13,377 of its 45,000 students enrolled in the districts virtual program. The school district is also offering a hybrid model that will be determined based on the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control COVID-19 disease activity report that categorizes counties by low, medium or high spread.
Georgetown County School District had 3,349 students as of Aug. 24 enrolled in the districts all-virtual program, said GCSD spokesperson Ray White. GCSD has nearly 8,900 students enrolled for the upcoming academic year, with the highest number of students enrolled virtually at Georgetown High School, according to GCSD data.
GCSD plans to start the academic year virtually on Sept. 8.
Guidance counselors, school psychologists and other mental health staff will be available to support students and staff during the pandemic. GCSD psychologists and counselors began offering telecounseling after schools closed months early at the end of last academic year due to COVID-19.
Students in the brick-and-mortar instruction program will receive telecounseling while the district is in the remote phase, said Emma Wheeler, GCSD psychologist for Waccamaw Middle and High schools.
Wheeler said she was initially nervous when starting telecounseling last school year because it was something new to get used to, but the switch was smoother than she expected.
I quickly realized my students were born into a culture where virtual communication was the norm, so it was not much of an adjustment for them to receive counseling through videochat, she said.
Wheeler quickly discovered advantages of telecounseling, which she said were students being able to show their home and favorite belongings, as well as introduce her to their siblings and pets.
I was also easily able to video chat with parents before or after my students session to get their perspective on how the student was doing, answer questions and address any concerns, she said.
It is essential, Wheeler said, that schools staff let students know they are important to the staff members and that the staff is invested in their well-being, learning and futures.
If a child can do well, they will, Wheeler said. If a child isnt successful in virtual learning, its important families and schools work together to find out why and provide the appropriate support for the student to succeed.
We hope to be able to provide face-to-face counseling to these students, if and when it is determined safe to do so, Wheeler said. Students in the virtual program with counseling services, can continue to receive telecounseling for the remainder of the school year.
Last year, teachers reported some students did not remain in contact with school officials for learning and counseling. However this year, the district said this year will be different.
Within the first few months of closing schools, teachers were directed to reach out to their students and contact by emails, phone calls, texts, digital platforms, and lastly, home visits, according to Executive Director of Special Service Michael Caviris.
He said that if school staff couldnt reach students, they were directed to share those names with school guidance, RBHS counselors, psychologists and school administrators so that they may best communicate with them.
This group was able to at times contact family members or close friends, Caviris said.
When it comes to younger children, they may be disproportionately affected by the coronavirus because most younger children need hands-on teaching and others have no choice but to attend school because of their parents' work schedule, said Melissa Fulton, a parent and counselor at Divine Destiny Counseling & Consulting in Andrews.
Each student is different, each individual is different, Fulton said. However, there are various factors that need to be considered...It just depends on the individual and the child.
Fulton added students with ADHD and behavioral issues may struggle a bit.
To better help those she serves, Fulton has started to offer Telehealth and other virtual services for both parents and students.
I know the stress that can be on not only the students, but the parents as well, Fulton said.
High alert for higher education
Sarah Lozier-Laiola, Coastal Carolina University professor of digital culture, has undergone training to be a mentor to faculty members to help ease their stress and anxiety with teaching online courses. Lozier-Laiola, as well as other professors on campus, has added a section to her syllabus to remind students to take care of their mental health, as well as their physical health.
Maintaining your mental and physical health should always be your number one priority while at school, Lozier-Laiolas syllabus reads. However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is even more important to draw attention to. I will do everything I can in this class to help you prioritize both your physical AND mental health
There are many challenges with online learning and the pandemic depending on the student and professor, said Dr. Elizabeth Carter, director of CCUs Livewell Office.
This is literally a whole new world, she said. Self care does need to look a little different than it maybe has in the past.
She said students being unable to socialize because of social distancing guidelines could be a barrier for some students. The university is offering telemental health appointments to any student in need of the service.
Carter said its important for students and faculty to remember to take breaks, exercise and have a routine.
Coastal Carolina University is launching We Will, a public health campaign to share guidelines, information about the pandemic and how students are stepping up to help prevent the spread of the virus.
At this point, we kind of all know what we should be doing, but its hard, Carter said.
Horry-Georgetown Technical College has several initiatives in place to help with the mental health of students as they are learning online. The college has a licensed counselor on staff who provides in-person and virtual services to students, said HGTC spokesperson Nicole Hyman.
Students have varied needs, Hyman said. We not only provide the mental health counseling, but also help students understand the resources that are available to assist them in meeting their basic needs.
Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca was in Peterborough Wednesday to meet with a small group of educators and union leaders, and he said Premier Doug Fords half-baked plan to return more than two million children to school spends only 78 cents daily on every kid in Ontario an assertion that MPP Dave Smith called inaccurate.
Del Duca met with a dozen teachers and union leaders at the Holiday Inn, and he said hes been touring Ontario to hear from people who all want class sizes to be capped at 15.
Parents and everyone else want smaller class sizes, they want a proper investment, and most of all they want the Premier to step up and show proper leadership, which has been sorely lacking, he said.
Del Duca noted that when Ford announced in late July that children would return to school in September, he announced $309 million would be spent on a safe back-to-school plan that would include spending on personal protective equipment and additional school nurses.
That works out to 78 cents daily per child across Ontario, Del Duca said, which he thinks is underfunding.
But that 78-cent figure is inaccurate, said Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith in an interview. Smith said the provincial government has increased the spending on back-to-school to nearly $900 million, not $309 million as previously announced.
When you do the math on that, its not 78 cents. Its completely a false statement, Smith said. Ontario is investing more money on COVID defence in education than any other province.
Smith also said Ontarios return to school plan is the envy of other provinces.
Were leading the country in a safe return to school, he said.
Ive heard a similar line from Doug Ford: hes talked about Ontarios plan being the best in the country, Del Duca said.
What I would say is that while I respect every other province and territory, my daughters go to school in Ontario.
The Ontario government announced on Aug. 13 it would boost its spending on back-to-school: $50 million more was promised for better ventilation systems in schools, for example.
But that same day the Ontario government also announced that $496 million in school board reserves can be used toward the back-to-school plan, and some critics have said that moneys included in the governments $900 million figure when it shouldnt be.
Regarding the idea of capping class sizes at 15, Smith said it makes no sense when the prevalence of COVID-19 varies from one municipality to the next.
You cannot make a decision centralized in downtown Toronto and say it has to be applied identically across Ontario.
Under the state of California's new COVID-19 reopening plan, only two criteria are used to determine which color "tier" a county is assigned: Number of daily cases per 100,000 residents and test positivity.
Case totals are a function of testing and in order to prevent high-testing counties from being punished, the state added a "test adjustment factor" to the case metric.
"Case rates include an adjustment factor for counties that are testing above the state average," state officials wrote on a page explaining the new system. "The incidence is adjusted downwards in a graduated fashion, with a maximum adjustment at twice the State average testing rate."
State officials originally did not provide any specifics on the adjustment factor, but the state's new "Safer Economy" page now displays the testing adjustment factor in effect in each California county. In the San Francisco Bay Area, eight of nine counties are getting a significant testing boost. The adjustment factor allows San Francisco County, which has a case-per-100K rate in the purple tier, to qualify for red tier status.
All nine Bay Area counties have test positivity numbers that would qualify for the red tier or orange tier.
Here are the listed case totals both adjusted and unadjusted for each Bay Area county when using the state's most recent data (the week of Aug. 12 to Aug. 18):
Alameda (purple tier)
Daily cases per 100,000 residents: 10.6 (purple)
Adjusted case rate: 9.3 (purple)
Contra Costa (purple tier)
Daily cases per 100,000 residents: 10.8 (purple)
Adjusted case rate: 10.8 (purple)
Marin (purple tier)
Daily cases per 100,000 residents: 5.9 (red)
Adjusted case rate: 4.6 (red)
Napa (red tier)
Daily cases per 100,000 residents: 6.5 (red)
Adjusted case rate: 5.8 (red)
San Francisco (red tier)
Daily cases per 100,000 residents: 9.8 (purple)
Adjusted case rate: 6.4 (red)
San Mateo (purple tier)
Daily cases per 100,000 residents: 8.6 (purple)
Adjusted case rate: 7.6 (purple)
Santa Clara (purple tier)
Daily cases per 100,000 residents: 8.6 (purple)
Adjusted case rate: 6.7 (red)
Solano (purple tier)
Daily cases per 100,000 residents: 9.1 (purple)
Adjusted case rate: 8.0 (purple)
Sonoma (purple tier)
Daily cases per 100,000 residents: 15.9 (purple)
Adjusted case rate: 14.0 (purple)
When using the testing adjustment factor, Marin County and Santa Clara County's most recent case totals qualify for the red tier. Counties are assigned their tiers every Tuesday, and a county must remain in a tier for 21 consecutive days before moving to the next one. To move forward, a county must meet the next tier's criteria for 14 consecutive days.
Marin County officials have stated that they expect to move into the red tier next week, although it is unclear if Santa Clara County will be able to record 14 consecutive days of meeting the red tier's metrics before the next assessment on Sept. 8.
Eric Ting is an SFGATE reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting
Tata Motors, Indias leading automotive brand, today announced the launch of the XM(S) variant of the Tata Nexon. In a bid to cater to the growing customer demand, and to make premium features more accessible, the company is now offering the XM (S) variant with an Electric Sunroof at a starting price of INR 8.36 Lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi), making it the most affordable vehicle across segments with this feature in India.
Along with the Electric Sunroof, the XM(S) variant comes loaded with features like Automatic Headlamps, Rain Sensing Wipers and Steering Mounted Controls. The variant also retains the existing features of the Nexon XM, such as the Electronic Stability Program, LED DRLs with Projector Headlamps, Driver and Co-Driver Airbags, Hill Hold Control, ConnectNext Infotainment System by Harman and Multi- Drive Modes (Eco, City and Sport). These along with a plethora of state-of-the-art features make this variant a compelling package.
Available in both petrol and diesel, the Nexon will come with two transmission options - Manual and AMT. Detailed prices are as below:
Petrol Diesel XM (S) Manual 8.36 lakhs 9.70 lakhs XMA (S) AMT 8.96 lakhs 10.30 lakhs
* Prices Ex showroom Delhi
Commenting on the introduction of the Nexon XM(S), Mr. Vivek Srivatsa, Head, Marketing, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit (PVBU), Tata Motors said, The Nexon has always been a product of pride for Tata Motors. It established us as the flagbearer of safety by becoming Global NCAPs first Five Star rated car in India in 2018. The industry, media and customers alike have appreciated the car for its design and driving dynamics. With the launch of our New Forever range of vehicles earlier this year, we promised to keep our products fresh and up to date with the changing customers demands. Keeping up with our commitment, we are elated to announce the launch of Nexon XM(S). A product that will now allow our customers to enjoy superior features such as the electric sunroof at a compelling price. With this addition to our Nexon range, we will provide our customers with a premium driving pleasure & state-of-the-art features at attractive prices, thereby making our products accessible to all.
To know more or to book the new Nexon XM(S), one can visit the nearest Tata Motors showroom or the website https://cars.tatamotors.com/suv/nexon The Company is organising test drives on demand at the customers preferred location. Customers can also enquire, request a test drive, make bookings and choose from a range of attractive financing options, via the Companys recently launched end-to-end online sales platform called Click to Drive, from the comfort and safety of their homes.
#StayHomeStaySafe
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 00:24:42|Editor: huaxia
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Students perform on the opening ceremony of the new school year at a school in Kiev Oblast, Ukraine, Sept. 1, 2020. Over 4.2 million students have resumed their studies in Ukraine, including 428,000 first-graders, as the country marks the start of the new school year. Children from the 21 cities and districts in "red" quarantine zones will not return to school in person, instead studying remotely until the epidemiological situation changes. (Photo by Sergey Starostenko/Xinhua)
KIEV, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Over 4.2 million students have resumed their studies in Ukraine, including 428,000 first-graders, as the country marks the start of the new school year.
Children from the 21 cities and districts in "red" quarantine zones will not return to school in person, instead studying remotely until the epidemiological situation changes.
According to the country's education ministry, educational institutions in "green", "yellow" and "orange" zones will operate as usual, but with strict adherence to precautionary measures.
All personnel in these regions must undergo temperature control at the start of each working day, and classes are advised to have different starting and break times to reduce the risk of infection, the ministry said.
The ministry also suggested that teachers in "orange" zones wear protective shields during classes, while those in "green" and "yellow" zones should practice social distancing.
A total of 123,303 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 2,605 deaths, have been registered in Ukraine as of Tuesday, alongside 57,802 recoveries. Enditem
CLEVELAND, Ohio Cuyahoga County suspended two jail officers and issued a written reprimand to a third for their respective roles in the mistaken release of three inmates in a single day.
The county issued a five-day suspension without pay for Quincy Jimson and one day for Alicia Rowe-Cook. Guard Robert Parente received a written reprimand.
County officials have not yet issued their decision on possible punishment for their supervisor that day, Cpl. Adam Broeckel.
Jimson previously was disciplined with a written reprimand for a mistaken release in the summer of 2019, Cuyahoga County spokeswoman Mary Louise Madigan said. He was one of several employees punished after they released four inmates by mistake over six months, including an inmate accused of murder.
Jimson previously worked in the jail area where jail workers book and release inmates. Rowe-Cook and Parente had not, according to letters of discipline issued Wednesday.
All three officers put incorrect information into the jails computer system on June 13, resulting in the inmates release despite not posting bond set by a judge earlier in the day.
The jail was short-staffed at the time. Six officers typically work in that area, but only two worked that day, according to court records. Rowe-Cook and Parente filled in to help but had no training on how to input information into the jails computer system.
Jimson failed to check on the other two officers work but documented that he did, according to the letter. He also helped input information into the jail computer system for two of the inmates that eventually were released.
Rowe-Cook and Parente also input incorrect information into the jail system. According to the letter, Rowe-Cook was also disciplined for failing to write a written statement about what happened that day.
All three are veteran officers. Jimson was hired in 1995, Rowe-Cook in 1999 and Parente in 2003.
The three inmates each faced misdemeanor charges when the guards released them after their arraignments. Two were charged with domestic violence and one with assault.
Police arrested two later, and the third received a summons to appear in court at a later date.
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Azerbaijani Defense Minister Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov will pay a visit to Moscow on September 3 to participate in a meeting of the defense ministers of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States and members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on September 4, a source in the Defense Ministry told Trend.
According to the ministry, the visit will last until September 6.
In first foreign visit since PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi formed govt in May, French president pledges support for Iraq.
French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged support for Iraq and said the main challenges facing the country are Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group fighters and foreign interference in its affairs.
Macron is the first head of state to visit the Iraqi capital since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Iraqs former intelligence chief, formed a new government in May.
We are here for and we will continue to support Iraq, Macron said at a news conference in Baghdad with his Iraqi counterpart Barham Salih.
Any foreign intervention may undermine the efforts exerted by you as a government.
Iraqi officials should continue to share the vision of restoring Iraqs sovereignty, he said, adding that this is a very significant enterprise not only for Iraq, but also the entire region.
I would like to reiterate that France totally supports the Iraqi state and institutions.
Macron had earlier said he was heading to Baghdad to launch an initiative alongside the United Nations to support a process of sovereignty.
Later on Wednesday, the French leader met al-Kadhimi during his day-long trip, which comes amid a severe economic crisis and coronavirus pandemic that has put a huge strain on Iraqi economy and politics. He is also expected to meet Nechirvan Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region.
Al-Kadhimi was selected by parliament in May to head a government that would guide the country towards early elections and has called for one to be held in June 2021.
His predecessor Adel Abdul Mahdi quit under pressure from protests against corruption and foreign interference in December last year.
Early elections are a main demand of anti-government protesters who staged months of mass demonstrations last year and were killed in their hundreds by security forces and gunmen suspected of links to Iran-backed armed groups.
Salih told Macron the Iraqi leadership is looking forward to a future where Baghdad will claim an essential and a central role in the region.
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This area must be in a peace and stability situation, and the base of this stabilities proceed from the strengthening of Iraqs role as a competent country with sovereignty, he said.
President Salih said he looked forward to a longer visit by Macron in 2021, and al-Kadhimi said he hoped France and Europe as a whole could help restore stability to the rocky region.
We do not want to be an arena for confrontations but a zone of stability and moderation, al-Kadhimi said in a news conference, adding that France and Iraq would sign energy agreements in the future and deepen military cooperation.
We talked about a future project, using nuclear energy to produce electricity and peaceful projects, which will be under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency which will create jobs and address electricity shortages.
US-Iran tensions
After a United States-led invasion toppled former president Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq was ravaged by waves of sectarian conflict that culminated in ISIL capturing swaths of the country six years ago.
At the same time, the country has been caught for years between its two main allies, Iran and the United States, a balancing act that has become increasingly tortured since Washingtons withdrawal in 2018 from a multilateral nuclear deal with Tehran.
France is among the European nations that remain key backers of the 2015 agreement.
Al Jazeeras Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Baghdad, said Macrons visit was an important step, especially since the country is caught between two allies who are at odds with each other.
Al-Kadhimi, who is backed by the US, assumed office on May 7 when Baghdads relations with Washington were precarious. Like previous Iraqi leaders, he has to walk a tightrope amid the US-Iran rivalry.
The January assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and top Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis by the US in Baghdad prompted demands by Shia legislators that US forces leave Iraq.
Al-Kadhimi visited Washington last month, where he held talks with President Donald Trump. He said his administration is committed to introducing security reforms as rogue militia groups stage near-daily attacks against the seat of his government.
Other crises for al-Kadhimi include slashed state coffers in the crude oil-dependent country following a severe drop in prices, adding to the woes of an economy already struggling amid the pandemic.
Tony Abbott, the former Australian prime minister tipped to become a British trade envoy, has said elderly Covid-19 patients should be allowed to die to reduce the economic costs of lockdown.
Mr Abbott accused Western politicians of choosing to spend ruinous amounts of money on healthcare rather than encouraging the public to face up to the risks of the virus.
He warned that thanks to "virus hysteria", draconian lockdown measures could persist almost indefinitely, adding to the economic slowdown and creating a "something-for-nothing mindset" among young people living on furloughs.
His comments, made during a visit to London yesterday, come just a week after it was reported that Mr Abbott - a staunch supporter of Brexit - was to be made Britain's new joint president of the Board of Trade. The position would involve drumming up deals for the UK around the world in the post-Brexit era.
Mr Abbott addressed the Covid issue during a speech to the Policy Exchange think tank, in which he said it would be better to allow elderly Covid patients to die naturally rather than keeping them alive through expensive medical care.
He said it was costing Australia as much as 110,000 (123,600) to give an elderly person an extra year's life, substantially beyond what it would usually pay for life-saving geriatric care.
Conservative MP Caroline Nokes said Prime Minister Boris Johnson should scrap the appointment of Mr Abbott as a trade adviser, saying he was a "misogynist" who would undermine Trade Minister Liz Truss and should not be "anywhere near" the board of trade. "Is he the sort of man who should be representing us globally? No."
Mr Abbott, who was Australia's prime minister between 2013 and 2015, has also warned in public of pandering too much to "health dictatorships" with regard to resolving the pandemic crisis.
Cannabis connoisseurs will have something to be excited about as a new express delivery service for online Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) orders has begun offering its services in the Peterborough area.
Domain Express from Domain Logistics is the company that will be offering the delivery service to places like Peterborough.
Since the beginning of the pandemic we have been offering free one-day shipping via courier service through our partners at Domain Logistics, said Daffyd Roderick, senior director of communications and social responsibility for the provincially operated Ontario Cannabis Store.
We have slowly grown across the province, he said. By the middle of this month it should reach about 73 per cent of adult Ontarians.
The people of Peterborough can expect good service, said Roderick.
Domain Logistics is the company providing the courier service through a variety of local couriers, he said. They can expect a high degree of communication, and for the most part our customers are very satisfied with the service provided by our partners.
Express service of cannabis products will take up to three days, including weekends, and will be delivered to the front door of customers homes between the 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. Registered customers will receive a text message with delivery time.
It is an adult-only product, Roderick said. We only deliver to adult Ontarians, 19 and over and the couriers, using COVID protocols, and will request identification at the doors through glass.
There is no need for contact, there is no need to sign a signature, but one of the real reasons for OCS to request this is that there is safe and responsible distribution of the product.
Roderick said the expansion to Peterborough is happening because the city and area are underserved with regards to deliver of regulated cannabis products.
Postal workers, Canada Post, no longer deliver to the door for products that need to be signed for. They have to be picked up at the depot, for many people that is not something, especially in the early stages of COVID-19 that they were willing to do, he said. So we looked to increase our ability to deliver to the door and we have done that through our partners at Domain Express.
He said cannabis shipments are currently being fulfilled out of a distribution centre out of the Greater Toronto Area, and that they are planning on moving near the end of September to a new facility in Guelph.
Cannabis can be ordered through Ontario Cannabis stores at ocs.ca.
Emboldened by the lack of consequences, the political left in this country has escalated from yelling at people in restaurants to physical assaults, property destruction, and even murder. Senator Rand Paul's account of the harrowing events of the leftist mob following the last night of the Republican convention serves as another reminder for Americans to consider their personal safety.
Self-defense is often an uncomfortable topic for many. A friend recently asked what he should do in circumstances where he and his wife are accosted in public. Setting aside the grief that this is even a topic in our country, he referred to his own health issues as an impediment to self-defense. My response: "The question needs to be asked and answered long before any altercation."
"What are you prepared to do?"
Now in my 35th year as a caregiver for my wife who lives with severe disabilities, I clearly understand the need for her protection and mine. While she cannot be left defenseless, she also cannot be left without a caregiver. Both of her legs are amputated below the knee, and fleeing on prosthetic legs is not an option in an assault. When flight remains impossible, fight is the only option.
If, while in an urban area (which I have no plans to ever visit again), a mob approaches our vehicle, the decision is already made. The vehicle becomes the instrument of self-defense, and the mob endures the consequences. When the choice is to trust one's vehicle versus the benevolence of a mob, the car wins every time. Being pulled from a vehicle could be a death sentence for either of both of us, so one prepares for the worst. Preparation always beats "luck."
YouTube screen grab.
Living defenseless in an America allowing lawlessness in urban areas is like playing Russian roulette. Doing so while caring for an impaired loved one approaches suicidal. Part of self-defense often involves owning a firearm. Since an unloaded and inaccessible weapon is useless, a gun-owner bears the responsibility of learning to properly wield and secure the firearm. Furthermore, if one is a caregiver, that weapon must never be accessible to an impaired loved one (or child).
When violent assault is upon you and a loved one you care for, self-defense remains paramount. Yet the fear of legal charges leads many down an erroneous path of passivism. If attacked by lawbreakers, caregivers themselves may be required to become law enforcement. The legal consequences cannot be as important as survival in those moments. At the beginning of my martial arts instructions, my instructor often stated, "I'd rather be judged by twelve than carried by six."
While some may cringe at such statements, serving as a caregiver provides clarity and perspective about self-defense. Self-defense is not about bloodlust or rage. Standing between an assaulter and a loved one in a wheelchair is not about hating the one in front of you, but rather loving the helpless one behind you.
The challenge is to prepare for those moments long before they arrive. For an increasing number of Americans, those moments are here.
The left continues the absurd desire to defund the police which makes pillaging and plundering much easier. Yet, in a world where elected officials fail to discharge their responsibilities while receiving cover from a compliant media, one cannot solely depend upon the protection of even fully funded police officers. Ironically, the same terms used to describe law enforcement also describe the role of a family caregiver: to serve and protect.
Family caregivers are often the first and last line of defense for the most vulnerable among us. Now, more than ever, we have a responsibility to be prepared.
Peter Rosenberger is the host of the nationally syndicated radio program Hope for the Caregiver. Peter is a 2nd Dan in Hapkido. www.hopeforthecaregiver.
Mr Markey had harnessed support from progressive leaders to overcome the challenge from a younger rival who is a member of Americas most famous political family.
It marks the first time a Kennedy has lost a race for US congress in the state. Mr Kennedy is the son of former representative Joe Kennedy II, the grandson of Robert Kennedy, and the grand-nephew of John F Kennedy.
Mr Markey appealed to voters in the deeply Democratic state by aligning himself with the liberal wing of the party.
He teamed up with a leading progressive, New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, on the Green New Deal climate change initiative and at one point labelled Mr Kennedy a progressive in name only.
That helped Mr Markey overcome the enduring power of the Kennedy name in Massachusetts.
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The 39-year-old congressman had sought to cast the 74-year-old Mr Markey as someone out of touch after spending decades in congress, first in the house of representatives before moving to the senate.
At a victory celebration in his hometown of Malden, Massachusetts, Mr Markey ticked off a series of priorities, from support for the Black Lives Matter movement to a call for Medicare for All, to combating climate change, a signature issue for Mr Markey.
Every other problem is linked to it, he said.
No solution to any challenge will be successful unless we address it. There will be no peace, no justice and no prosperity unless we stop the march to climate destruction.
We must pass a Green New Deal.
Of President Donald Trump, Mr Markey said: He is the most corrupt, most racist, most incompetent president in American history.
We must banish his agenda of division and destruction to the history books.
Earlier on Tuesday, Democratic representative Mr Kennedy said that while the results are not the ones he had hoped for, he would work for Mr Markeys re-election in the November poll.
He said: The senator is a good man. You never heard me say otherwise.
Mr Kennedy also suggested that the movement of supporters the campaign pulled together would continue past the current election.
We may have lost the final vote count tonight but we built a coalition that will endure, he said. I would do this again with all of you in a heartbeat.
In the waning weeks of the campaign, Mr Kennedy had leaned into his familys long political legacy in Massachusetts. His pedigree includes former president John F Kennedy; former US senator and US attorney general Robert F Kennedy, his grandfather; and former US senator Edward Kennedy, who held a senate seat in Massachusetts for nearly half a century until his death in 2009.
Mr Markey countered by leaning into his own family story growing up in the working class city of Malden with a father who drove a truck for the Hood Milk company.
The incumbent now faces a general election contest where he is considered a strong favourite against Republican primary winner, Kevin OConnor, in November.
Ohio-based regional bank holding company Huntington Bancshares, Inc. has committed to $5 billion in loans, investments and philanthropic efforts in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Wednesday.
Its part of a $20 billion community plan that aims to increase access to capital, especially for women-, minority- and veteran-owned businesses; expand lending and education to make homeownership accessible and affordable; and investing in community efforts like affordable housing, food security, workforce development and social equity.
In this critical time when businesses are confronting the extreme challenge of a public-health crisis, recession and issues related to social equity, Huntingtons purpose of looking out for people calls us to do more for Michigans small businesses, consumers and communities, said Sandy Pierce, Huntingtons director of Private Banking, Insurance Agency, Vehicle Finance and Regional Banking in a press release.
We believe this commitment is a very meaningful investment in Michigans economic future.
In the coming months, the bank will announce specific programs to support small businesses along with individuals and communities.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II praised the banks initiative in a press release.
This is great news for Michigans small-business owners who have faced unprecedented challenges as we have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic over the past six months, Whitmer said.
These are Michiganders who have spent their lives building their businesses and who need our help now more than ever. I am proud to work with Huntington Bank as they continue to provide support to our small-business owners and build strong communities in our state, and Im committed to continue working on behalf of small-business owners as we fight back against COVID-19.
At a press conference, Gilchrist said through the federal Small Business Paycheck Protection Program, 785 restaurants got a grant of at least $150,000. Only one was a black-owned restaurant.
Coronavirus itself does not discriminate. But it is a parasite that feeds on the inequities that are historic and that are current in our society, Gilchirst said.
The Huntington investment would help ensure that valuable small businesses in Michigan communities have the capital to operate, he said.
Related stories:
With 4,000 new businesses per week, Michigan entrepreneurship hits record levels during pandemic
After 50 years in business, Michigan bowling alley to permanently close due to pandemic
Nothing is predictable this year: Michigan retailers report positive July despite pandemic disruption
In this article IHG-GB
Hotels are rolling out the red carpet for a new breed of traveler: your new puppy. Lockdowns, social distancing and new work-from-home arrangements have caused animal adoptions to soar across the United States. A new TD Ameritrade survey found that 33% of Americans and half of millennials have considered fostering or adopting a pet since the global outbreak. Rescue centers and shelters have been cleared out, with many reporting more applications than there are animals to adopt. Globally, online searches for "dog-friendly hotels" began trending upward in February, and they've more than doubled from 2019. Hotels are responding to the interest by openly courting owners with packages designed for pets.
Spa packages and special menus
Four-legged guests at The Brazilian Court Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida can get blueberry facials, dead sea salt scrubs and milk thistle paw soaks at a local pet boutique. That's in addition to a welcome box, daily dog-walking services, a 1-hour photo session (with up to 40 images), a 5-hour cruise on a yacht, and a $500 shopping spree, starting at $9,300 for a two-night stay. Owners looking to spend less can opt for the hotel's basic pet package for a one-time $100 fee.
The cost to book the Crescent Canines package at Dallas's Hotel Crescent Court is $150. Vanessa Christina Photography
Guests at Hotel Crescent Court in Dallas, Texas can book "s-paw" pet services (from a local groomer) and receive "pupcakes" treats from Sprinkles bakery, a collapsible water bowl and a dog toy as part of the Crescent Canine package. "Our biggest question wasn't 'why' we wanted to cater to pets, it was 'how,'" said Denise Mope, the hotel's director of sales and marketing. "We're incredibly proud of the Crescent Canines program as it offers the same level of detail and service to our guests' pets as we have provided to them for decades."
Outdoor adventures: hiking, camping and island hopping
Active pet owners and their dogs can look into the "Pines Pup Bucket List" at The Pines Lodge in Beaver Creek, Colorado. Guests receive maps with dog-friendly hiking routes and can record adventures from their dog's point-of-view through a rentable GoPro camera that attaches via a pet harness. Both can cool down over "yappy hours" at pet-friendly restaurants and spa treatments back at the hotel, the latter which includes dog massages, baths and blow-outs.
Tiny Muppet from Vail, Colorado signed the guestbook at The Pines Lodge. Courtesy of The Pines Lodge
Dogs receive their own rawhide bone during the "Pupdown Pillow Service" at bedtime as well as toys and curated menus during their stay. Before departing, they can memorialize their trip by leaving a paw print and photo in the hotel guest book. Campers may want a little pet luxe too. Travelers who book one of over 70,000 pet-friendly RV resorts, cabins and other campsites available on Campspot, a booking platform with locations in 47 states and Ontario, Canada, receive discounts on luxury pet products from Paw.com. The pet supply company can ship faux fur beds, waterproof throw blankets, car seat covers, cargo liners and other pet travel gear to campers' homes before the trip begins.
Paw.com sells car door guards, cargo liners and other pet-related travel supplies. Tyler D. Way
Not only do dogs receive freshly-caught fish for dinner at Le Barthelemy Hotel & Spa, but they get their own reserved lounge chairs on the beach and the opportunity to paddleboard and kayak with their owners in the ocean. Located on the Caribbean island of St. Barts, the hotel is scheduled to reopen on October 28. In 2019, it was named the 25th best resort in the world in the Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards.
Animal swag and souvenirs
At the Mountain Shadows Resort Scottsdale in Paradise Valley, Arizona, dogs are greeted by a welcome card and framed photo of themselves in the room. They leave with a cactus bandana and bag of locally-made apple and oats biscuits as part of the hotel's Pampered Pup Package.
Lemon gets to keep her cactus bandana. Courtesy of Mountain Shadows Resort Scottsdale
Dogs are welcome at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, as are cats, hedgehogs, penguins and ostriches. The San Francisco-based group has hosted those animals, and more, under to its ultra-flexible pet policy. Owned by Intercontinental Hotels Group, the boutique hotel brand operates 69 hotels around the world and provides pet bedding, food and water bowls, and homemade pet treats at no additional cost.
Kimpton's pet policy is simple; if a pet can fit through the door, it can stay. @lisadieder, Courtesy of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
The latest perk? A Spotify pet playlist with 52 minutes of music to ease travel-weary animals. In January, the music service launched an entire website for users to make playlists based on their pets' personalities. "Hotels have been first-to-market in providing pet amenities to attract guests, none more so than Kimpton," Mark Cushing, CEO of the Animal Policy Group and author of Pet Nation, told CNBC's Global Traveler. "Millennials and Gen Z have shown in survey after survey that they want to provide for their pets at the same level as themselves, particularly with health care." Kimpton's concierge services can advise on pet-friendly restaurants, parks, groomers and stores, and the hotels provide dog walking and pet-sitting services. Some hotels have non-alcoholic doggie beer and employ a director of pet relations to greet animals when they arrive.
Sammy, shown here, was named the director of pet relations at Waldorf Astoria Park City. Courtesy of Waldorf Astoria Park City
Six months ago, Money Man had 400,000 Spotify monthly listeners. Now hes at 4.9 million.
Much of that boost comes from the trap rappers Kobe Bryant tribute song 24, which further soared in popularity after Lil Baby jumped on a remixed version in August. But that collaboration wasnt just good fortune. It happened because Ghazi Shami, CEO and founder of indie music distribution company Empire which started working with Money Man in March slid into Lil Babys DMs.
I was like, My bro, got a Money Man record going viral, can I shoot you a bag to hop on the remix?' Shami tells Rolling Stone.
Baby cut the record and sent it back 48 hours later. Shami raced to his self-built studio space at Empires headquarters in San Francisco to tweak the arrangements before remixing and remastering the record himself, and the remix dropped two weeks later to loud applause on August 14th.
Shamis entire business model revolves around being hands-on and fast-acting. He met Money Man two years ago the same way he negotiated the 24 remix with Lil Baby through Instagram DMs. Money Man had recently gotten out of a deal with Cash Money Records and decided to release music independently; Shami was struck by his intellect, and his ability to handle his own contracts and write songs about things like veganism, personal finance, and other topics of substance. Everyone was chasing him because he was charting on Apple Music on his own, says Shami. While heading to dance music festival ADE in Amsterdam, he decided to randomly message Money Man, offering to swap his direct flight for one with a four-hour layover in Atlanta, Georgia to meet up.
And they did. In the Uber ride from the Atlanta airport to meet Money Man, Shami heard the rappers song Exotic for the first time, which featured the lyric Im independent like Ghazi written well before the pair had even started talking.
Story continues
Ive had a lot of these types of moments happen to me in life, where Ive kind of spoken things into existence, says Shami. That felt like one of those moments.
The pair only talked in person for about an hour before signing a deal.
Money Man is still independent; the rapper doesnt have a manager, or even an attorney. After agreeing to work with Shami, Money Man had four songs that had been unofficially released on YouTube so Shami grabbed those songs, took a picture off the rappers Instagram for cover art, and loaded it all right before Christmas 2018. The goal was to show the performer how fast and lean the process of releasing music could be an idea thats relatively unheard of in the major-label system, which often involves much hoop-jumping and periods of hurry up and wait. That project got into the top 15 of Apple Musics album chart.
I wanted to make him look like a god in his own city. Ghazi Shami on the marketing strategy for Money Man
Their next project together, the 15-track Paranoia, got into Apples top five. Thats when everyone really started to pay attention, Shami says. He put together an elaborate and hyper-local marketing plan: I wanted to make him look like a god in his own city, says Shami, who wrapped MARTA trains and buses, placed 30 billboards throughout Atlanta, and took the record to nearby radio stations.
On March 2nd, Money Man dropped the eight-track project Epidemic, on which 24 is the opening song. Another song Courtesy talks about starting a metaphorical pandemic with his music and counting his money while binge-watching Netflix during quarantine. And the artist didnt hesitate to keep the ball rolling, dropping the 14-track State of Emergency before the end of March.
Shamis team immediately sent 24 to TikTok creators and other digital tastemakers. By circulating through the Internets underbelly, the song eventually caught the attention of social-media influencers with millions of followers.
We noticed that 24 just continued to pick up steam, says Shami. It was doing 100,000 plays a day, then it started doing 300,000 a day, then half a million plays a day eventually it was like a million.
Spotifys Carl Chery, creative director and head of urban music, noticed 24 bubbling up on smaller playlists and put it on Rap Caviar. Chery moved it higher on Rap Caviar after the remix dropped; Apple Music also slotted it into its Rap Life playlist, where it took on new life. Instead of stopping there, Shami encouraged Money Man to release a deluxe version of Epidemic, which extended the life of the album and its hit song even further. If this song really reaches critical mass, you could have a gold album, Shami told Money Man.
Empire then had Money Man enter a collaboration with The Shoe Surgeon, revamping the classic Jordan look with purple and yellow snakeskin; Money Man will wear the shoes in the upcoming music video for 24 as the latest artist to embrace brand partnerships in music videos. For now, only tastemakers will be sent the shoes, but eventually fans will also be able to win them in a contest. Money Man has also dropped his own merch line, and Shami says they sold $100,000 in products this week alone.
The rapper is currently in Houston, where hes working on the 24 music video with Lil Baby. Shami who says hes in the studio twice a week, sourcing beats and engineering plans on digging in deeper with Money Man over the next six months. He expects 24 to become the rappers first platinum single in the next 60 days.
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Job Title: Accountant Billing
Organization: Liquid Telecom
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
Reports to: Finance Manager
About US:
Liquid Telecom is the leading independent data, voice and IP
provider in eastern, central and southern Africa. It supplies fiber optic,
satellite and international carrier services to Africas largest mobile network
operators, ISPs and businesses of all sizes. Liquid Telecom also provides
payment solutions to financial institutions and retailers, as well as award
winning data storage and communication solutions to businesses across Africa
and beyond.
Job Summary: The Accountant Billing will be responsible
for assuring billing accuracy and timeliness, this includes creating the
service order and invoicing process. Provides support to the accounts
receivables process through the financial billing reports.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Billing and revenue assurance
Raises Local Service Orders for all new sales
orders capturing both NRR and MRR revenue figures
Generates bills/invoices for all projects
implemented and completed by SDU and forwarded for billing. Including billing
for HAI and VAS domain hosting, Firewall, virtualization among other services
Stops billing for all terminated and/or
disconnected circuits ensuring they are not billed and notice periods are
adhered to
Generates credit notes to correct billing errors
and for SLA rebates ensuring the proper approval process is followed
Proposes provisions for credit notes to account
receivable as per LTU credit policy
Enforces billing contractual terms per contract
between LTU and clients
Customer accounts set up and maintenance
Opens new accounts for new customers upon
confirming that proper approvals have been adhered to
Updates customer records with latest updates as
required from time to time
Customer Relations Management
Maintains high customer satisfaction in the area
of billing
Maintains the efficient control, logging, and
resolution of customer billing enquiries and/or disputes
Liaises closely with interdepartmental resources
while solving customer complaints
Churn Alert
Notifies NAM and Customer experience manager of
any form of churn indication in the day to day dealing with customers
Reporting
Generates daily/weekly and monthly reports
detailing the revenue activity, including, churn, credit notes, short term and
long term deferred reports and any other reports that may be required from time
to time
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
The ideal candidate for the Liquid Telecom Accountant
Billing job must possess the following:
Degree BCOM or business administration
majoring in Accounting and finance is an added advantage (Essential)
Certified Credit Control Professional
Qualification will be an added advantage (Desirable)
CPA II or ACCA II (Desirable)
A minimum of two years of experience preferably
in the telecommunication industry
Extensive knowledge of Billing, receipting, and
accounting packages.
Proficient in using computer software (e.g.
Excel) and accounting application systems
Knowledge of Billing, ERP, and accounting
applications
Demonstrate commercial awareness an interest
in business and an understanding of the wider environment in which an
organization operates: its customers, competitors e.t.c
Very strong Communication Skills and the ability
to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and in
writing.
Highly self-motivated and directed.
Keen attention to detail.
Ability to effectively prioritize and execute
tasks in a high-pressure environment.
Experience working in a team-oriented,
collaborative environment.
How to Apply:
All applications should be submitted to hr.uganda@liquidtelecom.com
Deadline: 2nd
September 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
Open letter from long-stay tourist in Phuket spurs action from Prime Minister
PHUKET: The Prime Minister has ordered his assistants to investigate the circumstances of a German long-stay tourist in Phuket whose open letter was published by The Phuket News, appealing for him to be allowed to stay in the country after the visa amnesty ends on Sept 26, instead of being forced to go back to Germany where COVID-19 infections have recently skyrocketed.
tourismimmigrationCOVID-19health
By The Phuket News
Wednesday 2 September 2020, 09:20AM
An open letter by German long-stay tourist in Phuket Bernhard Stoever has spurred action by the Prime Minister. Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot
An official working at the Prime Ministers Delivery Unit, a research and policy advisory division that operates under the Prime Ministers Office and reports directly to the Prime Minister, confirmed on Tuesday (Sept 1) that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha had read the open letter, penned by German man Bernhard Stoever.
In his open letter, published online by The Phuket News on Aug 22, Mr Stoever urged the Thai government to consider the circumstances he and many other long-stay tourists already staying in Thailand were facing.
I am one of the many long-term tourists who have been lucky enough to be able to extend their stay in Thailand since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. I firmly believe that this saved many peoples lives!
Thanks to the prudent Thai policies, the first wave of global contagion was combated in an exemplary manner. For that, too, I and all stranded would like to thank you very much. And, of course, we would like to especially thank the Thai people who have received us with such indescribable hospitality. Thank you so much Thailand! he wrote.
However, the expulsion on September 26th hits us particularly hard. I would like to use my example to show you what this change does in individual cases. The same applies to many stranded people, he added.
I am a writer, 68 years old, live in Hamburg and am currently in Phuket. Everything is fine with me in terms of health. Nevertheless, I am extremely endangered in Germany. Every year in autumn and winter, Germany and Europe are attacked by a dangerous flu virus that makes millions of people seriously ill and kills tens of thousands, mainly among the elderly. And the course of the disease becomes more severe from year to year. Unfortunately, I am very susceptible and get the flu every year. It was particularly bad three years ago and I almost died from it, he explained.
So I decided to spend the winter in Thailand, which I learned to love a long time ago. Here I dont get any flu and live healthy. But the COVID-19 virus changed a lot.
The second virus wave is now looming in Europe and Germany and will be probably even worse than the first. Together with the flu virus and the high age of most returnees, this means a huge risk for many people. And I too admit with discomfort that if I have to return to Germany in September, I may never see Thailand again. For me, as for many others, it is really a matter of life or death, he added.
Mr Stoever asked the Thai authorities whether it was possible to issue a provisional residence permit for the stranded, so that they can determine the return flight themselves. Or is it possible to make repatriations dependent on the danger that exists in the home country. Nobody wants to die in a corona hotspot, he said.
Speaking to The Phuket News on Tuesday, Mr Stoever said that allowing long-stay tourists such as himself to be able to stay in Thailand was a win-win for both parties.
With long-stay tourists like myself, all my money goes directly to the local community. I stay at a place with no kitchen, so I eat out all the time, and even my laundry is done outside. Everything I do contributes to all the small business around where I am staying. This is the same with any long-stay tourist, he said.
He added that he knew he was not alone with his predicament. A German lady and an American both did not want to return home due to the state of COVID-19 infections in their home countries.
The officer at the PDMU that The Phuket News spoke with on Tuesday said that Mr Stoevers plea had been heard at the highest level. PM Prayut had asked the PDMU to interview Mr Stoever and investigate how many other long-stay foreign tourists already in Thailand were facing the same predicament.
We want to know more about the case of the German man in Phuket, and similar cases in other provinces, the officer said.
We are seeking a way to help the German man, and similar cases, to stay in Thailand and extend their visas. We want them to stay, he added.
Mr Stoever welcomed the news. I want to stay. I want to live, he said on Tuesday.
To gain clear feedback directly from other long-stay tourists wanting to stay in Thailand, the officer at the PDMU invited such tourists to email a clear description of their situation. By arrangement, such tourists can send their emails to stayinthai@classactmedia.co.th. The Phuket News will forward all relevant emails directly to the PDMU. Emails must include contact details and the Subject line must say, Please let me stay.
People were urged to send their emails as soon as practically possible.
We have no deadline for receiving these emails, but the PDMU will report its findings directly to the Prime Minister, and this will need to be done soon, the officer said.
Manuscripts laid hidden in an ancient Chinese tomb for 2,200 years that describe 'pathways' in the human body making them the oldest surviving anatomical text in the world.
The documents were first uncovered in the 1970s by scientists working at the Mawangdui burial site in Changsha, but the team was unable to interpret them and the text had remained a mystery - until now.
Researchers learned the ancient dialect, allowing them to read the 'Mawangdui text' that describes the organization of the body in the form of divisions and each highlighted associated disease patterns that may arise in these pathways.
Prior to the discovery, the roots of anatomy was traced back to ancient Greek, but the 'findings re-write a key part of Chinese history.'
Manuscripts laid hidden in an ancient Chinese tomb for 2,200 years that describe 'pathways' in the human body making them the oldest surviving anatomical text in the world
'The Mawangdui medical texts were only discovered 40 years ago. Nobody has yet proposed that they are an anatomical atlas,' reads the study published by researchers at Bangor University in the journal The Anatomical Record .
'We suggest that the primary reason for this is not that Confucianism renders anatomical study through dissection inherently implausible, instead, we propose that reading these texts requires the ability to view the anatomy of the body through a naive lens that is significantly different to our modern perception of science and medicine.'
'Additionally, reading ancient Chinese is a specialist skill.'
The manuscripts were written in 168 BCE and contain different Chinese languages and dialects that were part of China during the Han era, which was a major hurdle for the scientists who pulled them from the tomb.
The manuscripts were constructed before the well-known acupuncture texts of the Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine, which has been revered in China as the birth of acupuncture
'To read these texts therefore requires not only the ability to read the traditional script, as well as modern simplified script,' reads the study.
'It also represents a substantial paradigm shift for scholars, especially those from the West accustomed to explanations of the universe that are based in modern science.'
The manuscripts were found in 1973 inside the tomb of Lady Dai, a Han dynasty aristocrat, at the Mawangdui burial site in Changsha.
Vivien Shaw with Bangor University and her team spent time learning the ancient language with the hope of one-day reading the words etched on the piece of silk.
'We have to approach these texts from a different perspective than our current Western medical view of the body's separate systems of arteries, veins and nerves,' said Shaw.
'The authors did not have this understanding, instead, they looked at the body from the viewpoint of traditional Chinese Medicine, which is based on the philosophical concept of complementary opposites of yin and yang, familiar to those in the west who follow eastern spiritualism.'
The manuscripts were constructed before the well-known acupuncture texts of the Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine, which has been revered in China as the birth of acupuncture.
The Mawangui texts make no mention of acupuncture, but gives descriptions of pathways, which was adopted by the Yellow Emperor's Canon revealing the texts were written first.
The re-discovered copy maps out structure inside the human body and many were only seen through dissection.
The manuscripts were found in 1973 inside the tomb of Lady Dai, a Han dynasty aristocrat, at the Mawangdui burial site in Changsha
'Our findings re-write a key part of Chinese history,' said Shaw.
'The contemporary Han era was a time of great learning and innovation across arts and sciences, so this type of classical anatomical science fits with the prevailing culture of the time.
'We believe that our interpretation of the text challenges the widespread belief that there is no scientific foundation for the 'anatomy of acupuncture,' by showing that the earliest physicians writing about meridians were in fact describing the physical body.'
Millions of Americans are counting on a COVID-19 vaccine to curb the global pandemic and return life to normal.
While one or more options could be available toward the end of this year or early next, the path to delivering vaccines to 330 million people remains unclear for the local health officials expected to carry out the work.
We havent gotten a lot of information about how this is going to roll out, said Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of Texas Harris County Public Health department, which includes Houston.
In a four-page memo this summer, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told health departments across the country to draft vaccination plans by Oct. 1 to coincide with the earliest possible release of COVID-19 vaccine.
But health departments that have been underfunded for decades say they currently lack the staff, money and tools to educate people about vaccines and then to distribute, administer and track hundreds of millions of doses. Nor do they know when, or if, theyll get federal aid to do that.
Dozens of doctors, nurses and health officials interviewed by Kaiser Health News and The Associated Press expressed concern about the countrys readiness to conduct mass vaccinations, as well as frustration with months of inconsistent information from the federal government.
The gaps include figuring out how officials will keep track of who has gotten which doses and how theyll keep the workers who give the shots safe, with enough protective gear and syringes to do their jobs.
With only about half of Americans saying they would get vaccinated, according to a poll from AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, it also will be crucial to educate people about the benefits of vaccination, said Molly Howell, who manages the North Dakota Department of Healths immunization program.
The unprecedented pace of vaccine development has left many Americans skeptical about the safety of COVID-19 immunizations; others simply dont trust the federal government.
Were in a very deep-red state, said Ann Lewis, CEO of CareSouth Carolina, a group of community health centers that serve mostly low-income people in five rural counties in South Carolina. The message that is coming out is not a message of trust and confidence in medical or scientific evidence.
PAYING FOR THE ROLLOUT
The U.S. has committed more than $10 billion to develop new coronavirus vaccines but hasnt allocated money specifically for distributing and administering vaccines.
And while states, territories and 154 large cities and counties received billions in congressional emergency funding, that money can be used for a variety of purposes, including testing and overtime pay.
An ongoing investigation by KHN and the AP has detailed how state and local public health departments across the U.S. have been starved for decades, leaving them underfunded and without adequate resources to confront the coronavirus pandemic. The investigation further found that federal coronavirus funds have been slow to reach public health departments, forcing some communities to cancel non-coronavirus vaccine clinics and other essential services.
States are allowed to use some of the federal money theyve already received to prepare for immunizations. But AP and KHN found that many health departments are so overwhelmed with the current costs of the pandemic such as for testing and contact tracing that they cant reserve money for the vaccine work to come. Health departments will need to hire people to administer the vaccines and systems to track them, and pay for supplies such as protective medical masks, gowns and gloves, as well as warehouses and refrigerator space.
CareSouth Carolina is collaborating with the state health department on testing and the pandemic response. It used federal funding to purchase $140,000 retrofitted vans for mobile testing, which it plans to continue to use to keep vaccines cold and deliver them to residents when the time comes, said Lewis.
But most vaccine costs will be new.
Pima County, Arizona, for example, is already at least $30 million short of what health officials need to fight the pandemic, let alone plan for vaccines, said Dr. Francisco Garcia, deputy county administrator and chief medical officer.
Some federal funds will expire soon. The $150 billion that states and local governments received from a fund in the CARES Act, for example, covers only expenses made through the end of the year, said Gretchen Musicant, health commissioner in Minneapolis. Thats a problem, given vaccine distribution may not have even begun.
Although public health officials say they need more money, Congress left Washington for its summer recess without passing a new pandemic relief bill that would include additional funding for vaccine distribution.
States are anxious to receive those funds as soon as possible, so they can do what they need to be prepared, said Dr. Kelly Moore, associate director of immunization education at the Immunization Action Coalition, a national vaccine education and advocacy organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota. We cant assume they can take existing funding and attempt the largest vaccination campaign in history.
WHATS THE PLAN?
Then theres the basic question of scale. The federally funded Vaccines for Children program immunizes 40 million children each year. In 2009 and 2010, the CDC scaled up to vaccinate 81 million people against pandemic H1N1 influenza. And last winter, the country distributed 175 million vaccines for seasonal influenza vaccine, according to the CDC.
But for the U.S. to reach herd immunity against the coronavirus, most experts say, the nation would likely need to vaccinate roughly 70% of Americans, which translates to 200 million people and because the first vaccines will require two doses to be effective 400 million shots.
Although the CDC has overseen immunization campaigns in the past, the Trump administration created a new program, called Operation Warp Speed, to facilitate vaccine development and distribution. In August, the administration announced that McKesson Corp., which distributed H1N1 vaccines during that pandemic, will also distribute COVID-19 vaccines to doctors offices and clinics.
With few exceptions, our commercial distribution partners will be responsible for handling all the vaccines, Operation Warp Speeds Paul Mango said in an email.
Were not going to have 300 million doses all at once, said Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the Health and Human Services Department, despite earlier government pledges to have many doses ready by the new year. We believe we are maximizing our probability of success of having tens of millions of doses of vaccines by January 2021, which is our goal.
Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said it will take time for the vaccines to be widespread enough for life to return to whats considered normal. We have to be prepared to deal with this virus in the absence of significant vaccine-induced immunity for a period of maybe a year or longer, Adalja said in August.
In preliminary guidance for state vaccine managers, the CDC said doses will be distributed free of charge from a central location. Health departments local vaccination plans may be reviewed by both the CDC and Operation Warp Speed.
The CDC has vetted state and federal vaccination plans in five locations: North Dakota, Florida, California, Minnesota and Philadelphia. No actual vaccines were distributed during the planning sessions, which focused on how to get vaccines to people in places as different as urban Philadelphia, where pharmacies abound, and rural North Dakota, which has few chain drugstores but many clinics run by the federal Indian Health Service, said Kris Ehresmann, who directs infectious disease control at the Minnesota Department of Health.
Those planning sessions have made Ehresmann feel more confident about whos in charge of distributing vaccines. We are getting more specific guidance from CDC on planning now, she said. We feel better about the process, though there are still a lot of unknowns.
OUTDATED TECHNOLOGY COULD HAMPER RESPONSE
Still, many public health departments will struggle to adequately track who has been vaccinated and when, because a lack of funding in recent decades has left them in the technological dark ages, said Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
In Mississippi, for example, health officials still rely on faxes, said the states health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs. You cant manually handle 1,200 faxes a day and expect anything efficient to happen, he said.
When COVID-19 vaccines become available, health providers will need to track where and when patients receive their vaccines, said Moore, the medical director of Tennessees immunization plan during the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009 and 2010. And with many different shots in the works, they will need to know exactly which one each patient got, she said.
People will need to receive their second COVID-19 dose 21 or 28 days after the first, so health providers will need to remind patients to receive their second shot, Moore said, and ensure that the second dose is the same brand as the first.
The CDC will require vaccinators to provide dose-level accounting and reporting for immunizations, so that the agency knows where every dose of COVID-19 vaccine is at any point in time, Moore said. Although the sophistication of these systems has improved dramatically in the past decade, she said, many states will still face major challenges meeting data tracking and reporting expectations.
The CDC is developing an app called the Vaccine Administration Monitoring System for health departments whose data systems dont meet standards for COVID-19 response, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, a nonprofit based in Rockville, Maryland.
Those standards havent been released, Hannan said, so health departments are waiting to invest in necessary IT enhancements. The CDC needs to release standards and data expectations as quickly as possible, she added.
Meanwhile, health departments are dealing with what Minnesotas Ehresmann described as legacy vaccine registries, sometimes dating to the late 1980s.
A HISTORIC TASK
Overwhelmed public health teams are already working long hours to test patients and trace their contacts, a time-consuming process that will need to continue even after vaccines become available.
When vaccines are ready, health departments will need more staffers to identify people at high risk for COVID-19, who should get the vaccine first, Moore said. Public health staff also will be needed to educate the public about the importance of vaccines and to administer shots, she said, as well as monitor patients and report serious side effects.
At an August meeting about vaccine distribution, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of Illinois health department, said her state will need to recruit additional health professionals to administer the shots, including nursing students, medical students, dentists, dental hygienists and even veterinarians. Such vaccinators will need medical-grade masks, gowns and gloves to keep themselves safe as they handle needles.
Many health officials say they feel burned by the countrys struggle to provide hospitals with ventilators last spring, when states found themselves bidding against one another for a limited supply. Those concerns are amplified by the continuing difficulties providing enough testing kits; supplying health workers with personal protective equipment; allocating drugs such as remdesivir; and recruiting contact tracers who track down everyone with whom people diagnosed with COVID-19 have been in contact.
Although Ehresmann said shes concerned Minnesota could run out of syringes, she said the CDC has assured her it will provide them.
Given that vaccines are far more complex than personal protective equipment and other medical supplies one vaccine candidate must be stored at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit Plescia said people should be prepared for shortages, delays and mix-ups.
Its probably going to be even worse than the problems with testing and PPE, Plescia said.
___
Szabo is a writer for Kaiser Health News. Associated Press writer Michelle R. Smith and KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber contributed to this report.
This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and KHN, which is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Actor Dia Mirza recently received a special mention by the Nelson Mandela Foundation for her contributions to a variety of causes including nature conservation and vulnerable children protection programmes. Dia was surprised and humbled by this and shared how such recognition keeps one motivated to work for the betterment of humanity.
Responding to the tweet by Nelson Mandela Foundation, Dia told Hindustan Times, "It was just a sweet surprise. I had no idea and a mention just popped on my Twitter and it was just so sweet and wonderful. Sometimes surprises and recognitions such as these keep you going and keep you motivated. He was such a wonderful man and I admired him so much and the work that his family is continuing to do is so admirable."
This is so kind. And means so much Thank you. Have always admired Madiba and this is truly special @NelsonMandela https://t.co/LJMbqIkBHt Dia Mirza (@deespeak) August 24, 2020
Talking about the Foundation's 'Celebrate Women, While Women Are Alive' campaign, Dia said, "They've been running a campaign to talking about women and applauding and recognising all those who've been working towards global goals. These are also based on recommendations send to them from people. There must have been people who sent my name to them, that's how it must have happened."
On what drives her to be a part of important causes, Dia said, "Somehow when you are passionate, it defines your purpose and it opens up things. I try not to be consumed by a capitalist approach and think about how much money I have to make. Of course money s important , it can help further many of the causes so many of them need funding as most of what I do is self-funded. I work for money but I don't work only work for money."
Dia is a Goodwill Ambassador for UN Environment, UN Secretary General's advocate for Sustainable Development Goals, and is associated with organizations and causes such as Wildlife Trust of India, Save The Children, and Swacch Bharat Mission.
ALSO READ: Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan And Others Give A Shout Out To Indian Weavers On National Handloom Day
ALSO READ: Dia Mirza: I've Lost Films To Others, But The Things Being Said Are Deeply Personal And Hurtful
The expanded polystyrene market is expected to grow by USD 1.84 billion, accelerating at a CAGR of over 6% during the forecast period. Download Free Sample Report
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Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Expanded Polystyrene Market for Packaging 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)
Environmental benefits associated with expanded polystyrene are one of the major factors propelling market growth. However, the growing popularity of bioplastic packaging will hamper market growth.
Expanded polystyrene packaging products are more sustainable compared to other packaging products such as plastic, wood, and cardboard. They are recyclable, reusable, consume less energy, and are light in weight. Many such environmental benefits are encouraging end-users and consumers to increase the preference for expanded polystyrene packaging products, which is driving the growth of the market.
More details: Report Page Link
Global Expanded Polystyrene Market for Packaging: Application Landscape
Based on the application, the electronic appliances segment will have lucrative growth during the forecast period. The growth of the segment is mainly driven by the increasing use of expanded polystyrene for electronic appliances to ensure safe transportation. In addition, the rising demand for lightweight packaging solutions is fueling the growth of this segment in the market.
Global Expanded Polystyrene Market for Packaging: Geographic Landscape
By geography, APAC will witness lucrative growth during the forecast period due to rapidly expanding e-commerce, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), household appliances, and personal care end-user industries in the region. Also, the rising population in the region is contributing to the overall growth of the global extended polystyrene market.
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Companies Covered
Alpek SAB de CV
BASF SE
Kaneka Corp.
NOVA Chemicals Corp.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp.
SUNPOR Kunststoff GmbH
Synthos SA
The JACKON GROUP
Total SA
Versalis Spa
What our reports offer:
Market share assessments for the regional and country-level segments
Strategic recommendations for the new entrants
Covers market data for 2019, 2020, until 2024
Market trends (drivers, opportunities, threats, challenges, investment opportunities, and recommendations)
Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations
Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends
Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments
Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements
Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Technavio's in-depth research has direct and indirect COVID-19 impacted market research reports.
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Key Topics Covered:
Executive Summary
Market Landscape
Market ecosystem
Value chain analysis
Market Sizing
Market definition
Market segment analysis
Market size 2019
Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024
Five Forces Analysis
Five forces summary
Bargaining power of buyers
Bargaining power of suppliers
Threat of new entrants
Threat of substitutes
Threat of rivalry
Market condition
Market Segmentation by Application
Market segments
Comparison by Application
Electronic appliances Market size and forecast 2019-2024
Food and beverages Market size and forecast 2019-2024
Healthcare Market size and forecast 2019-2024
Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024
Market opportunity by Application
Customer landscape
Customer landscape
Geographic Landscape
Geographic segmentation
Geographic comparison
APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024
Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024
North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024
MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024
South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024
Key leading countries
Market opportunity by geography
Market drivers
Market challenges
Market trends
Vendor Landscape
Vendor landscape
Landscape disruption
Vendor Analysis
Vendors covered
Market positioning of vendors
Alpek SAB de CV
BASF SE
Kaneka Corp.
NOVA Chemicals Corp.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp.
SUNPOR Kunststoff GmbH
Synthos SA
The JACKON GROUP
Total SA
Versalis Spa
Appendix
Scope of the report
Currency conversion rates for US$
Research methodology
List of abbreviations
For more information about this report visit https://www.technavio.com/report/expanded-polystyrene-market-for-packaging-market-industry-analysis
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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.
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Her full recovery is still a distant prospect, the politician says.
Leader of Ukraine's Batkivshchyna Party, MP Yulia Tymoshenko, who recently tested positive for the novel coronavirus, for the first time spoke up about her current health condition.
"Finally today, my crisis condition is behind. And although recovery is still a distant prospect, now there is an opportunity to return to normal life, step by step," the legislator wrote on Facebook.
Tymoshenko says "fighting off a serious disease for almost two weeks alters the perception of reality."
Read alsoDaily COVID-19 spike reaches new high in Ukraine with almost 2,500 cases on Sept 2"I'd like to thank everyone who treated me, who prayed for my health, who in the first minutes of trouble rushed for help, providing medication, treatment advice, and life-saving offers. All this was really timely, necessary, and helpful in fighting off this trouble," she said.
Fighting off a serious disease for almost two weeks alters the perception of reality
Tymoshenko contracts COVID-19: background
On August 23, Tymoshenko's press secretary said the leader of the Batkivshchyna Party had tested positive for COVID-19.
Tymoshenko's daughter Eugenia, as well as Eugenia's husband Arthur Chechetkin, also fell ill, according to media reports.
On August 25, it was reported the politician was on a ventilator.
On August 26, Ukrainian MP from the Batkivshchyna Party's parliamentary faction Vadym Ivchenko said Tymoshenko was in critical condition.
NEW YORK, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Telehealth claim lines[1] increased 4,132 percent nationally from June 2019 to June 2020, rising from 0.16 percent of medical claim lines in June 2019 to 6.85 percent in June 2020, according to new data from FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker. Although considerable, that increase was less than the year-to-year increase the previous month, when telehealth claim lines increased 5,680 percent nationally, from 0.15 percent of medical claim lines in May 2019 to 8.69 percent in May 2020.The data represent the privately insured population, excluding Medicare and Medicaid.
While increasing greatly from 2019 to 2020, telehealth claim lines fell 21 percent nationally on a month-to-month basis, from 8.69 percent of medical claim lines in May 2020 to 6.85 percent in June 2020.
Trends in the four US census regions (Midwest, Northeast, South and West) were similar to those in the nation as a whole. In each region, there were large percent increases in volume of claim lines from June 2019 to June 2020, but these increases were smaller than the increases from May 2019 to May 2020. In addition, in each region, there was a drop in volume of claim lines from May 2020 to June 2020. The biggest drop was in the Northeast, where the decrease from May to June was 33 percent, from 12.5 percent of medical claim lines to 8.4 percent.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is suggested by the higher telehealth utilization from March to June 2020 in comparison with the same months in 2019. In March and April 2020, many states prohibited in-person rendering of elective procedures and non-emergency medical care, making telehealth an attractive alternative. Many of these prohibitions expired in May as states began to open up, perhaps accounting for the drop in the telehealth share of total medical claim lines in May and June relative to April. However, as the pandemic continued, telehealth usage remained high by comparison with 2019.
Other notable findings of the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker concern the top five telehealth diagnoses:
Mental health conditions, already the number one telehealth diagnosis nationally and in every region in May 2020 , accounted for an even larger share of telehealth claim lines in June 2020 . Nationally, this diagnosis increased from 40 percent to 44 percent of telehealth claim lines from May to June 2020 . Increases in the Northeast and Midwest were particularly notable, with claims in the Northeast increasing from 41 percent in May to 48 percent in June, and in the Midwest from 49 percent in May to 54 percent in June.
, accounted for an even larger share of telehealth claim lines in . Nationally, this diagnosis increased from 40 percent to 44 percent of telehealth claim lines from May to . Increases in the Northeast and Midwest were particularly notable, with claims in the Northeast increasing from 41 percent in May to 48 percent in June, and in the Midwest from 49 percent in May to 54 percent in June. Exposure to communicable diseases was the number five diagnosis in the South and in the West in June. This diagnosis did not appear among the top five diagnoses nationally or regionally in May.
Launched in May as a free service, the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker uses FAIR Health data to track how telehealth is evolving from month to month. An interactive map of the four US census regions allows the user to view an infographic on telehealth in a specific month in the nation as a whole or in individual regions. In addition to data on the volume of claim lines, diagnoses and urban versus rural usage, each infographic includes findings on the top five telehealth procedure codes.
FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information. FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated, "It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic is having a substantial impact on telehealth. FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker shows the specifics of how this venue of care is being transformed."
For the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, click here.
Follow us on Twitter @FAIRHealth
About FAIR Health
FAIR Health, a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of private healthcare claims data, which includes over 32 billion claim records contributed by payors and administrators who insure or process claims for private insurance plans covering more than 150 million individuals. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed data and data productsincluding benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indicesto commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D; FAIR Health includes among the private claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish and an English/Spanish mobile app, which enable consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offer a rich educational platform on health insurance. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. FAIR Health also is named a top resource for patients in Dr. Marty Makary's book The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Careand How to Fix It and Elisabeth Rosenthal's book An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.
Contact:
Rachel Kent
Director of Marketing, Outreach & Communications
FAIR Health
646-396-0795
[email protected]
[1] A claim line is an individual service or procedure listed on an insurance claim.
SOURCE FAIR Health
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Former Chief Statistician of India, Pronab Sen, said that the Q1 GDP data does not fully convey the extent of the damage that the lockdown inflicted on the economy. In an interview with moneycontrol.com, Sen said that the data sample contains data from only the larger companies that were impacted due to the lockdown and not the unlisted, smaller firms.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs data would come which would have all registered companies, including the unlisted. Thats where I suspect the damage would really come out because that data would include the smaller companies that I think have been worse affected than the larger ones that are currently included in the sample. And then after that comes the informal sector," Pronab Sen, was quoted as saying.
On Monday, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said GDP contraction in the April-June period of FY21 was the largest slump on record since India started reporting quarterly data in 1996. The fall in output compares to 3.1 per cent growth in the previous quarter, which was the worst performance in at least eight years. This is the sharpest contraction since the nation started publishing quarterly figures in 1996, and is worse than any of the G20 nations.
Commenting on the extent to which the Q1 GDP data reflected the damage to the Indian economy, Sen said that this is only the first step as the QI data reflects the effect of the lockdown and doesnt really provide an indication of what the dynamics would be going forward.
That will come later. The lockdown effects will persist a little longer because we have these localised lockdowns happening. So the data is going to be in a sense affected by that. But when you have damage of this magnitude because of the lockdown, it takes time for it to play out through the economy. Those effects would be starting now and go on possibly for a year, year-and-a-half. So this is only an indication of the initial shock that the economy has faced," Sen added.
Sen said that besides agriculture, there is no data in the informal sector. He, however, added that thats only a part of the story.
First, the first quarterly estimate is largely based on corporate data. Even in that, it is limited to listed companies, those which have to submit quarterly reports to the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Second, as far as the companies are concerned, because of the lockdown, SEBI had extended the time within which the returns have to be filed. So, a lot of the companies have filed the returns yet," Sen told moneycontrol.com.
He added that when those would come in, the numbers would have to be updated again as then there would be the availability of data of all listed companies as opposed to the partial data available at present.
Like I said, this is only listed companies. Then the Ministry of Corporate Affairs data would come which would have all registered companies, including the unlisted. Thats where I suspect the damage would really come out because that data would include the smaller companies that I think have been worse affected than the larger ones that are currently included in the sample. And after that comes the informal sector," he said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2
Trend:
As reported earlier, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today accepted the redentials of the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Greece Nikolaos Piperigos.
Trend publishes some excerpts from President Aliyev's remarks at the meeting.
Frankly speaking, I think the last few years have seen very low levels of cooperation between us, President Aliyev said.
We had more active contacts in the past. As you know, I have paid an official visit to your country, two presidents of Greece have paid official visits to Azerbaijan, and so has the prime minister of your country. However, these contacts stopped after the previous Greek government came to power, and this was an initiative of the Greek government. Thus, there are almost no active contacts at present. There is no exchange of delegations, President Aliyev added.
We need to think about how to plan on our cooperation in the future. Mr.Ambassador, I will speak to you openly. Of course, diplomats have their own style of communication. I studied at an institute that trains diplomats, so I know what diplomatic language is like. But I think that in order to have a clear idea of where we are, what we want and how we can move forward, it would be good if we know each other's positions, the Azerbaijani president said.
The practice of producing herbs in the Armenian Highlands dates back to ancient times. The region was home to a number of valuable herbs which were exported to different parts of the ancient world. Back in the first century Roman author Pliny the Elder praised the toning and rejuvenating properties of the then famous herb Upan (Laserpitium) used in treating tuberculosis, fever, and liver cirrhosis, among other diseases. The healing power of Armenian herbs was also described in the works of Herodotus, Strabo, Xenophon and Tacitus.
Centuries later, Armenian herbs and herbal teas are exported to different countries worldwide including the EU member states where they have earned the appreciation of the Chancellor of Germany. Eastern Partnership: Ready to Tradean EU4Business initiative helps local companies produce internationally competitive herbs and herbal teas and enter new markets. The project is implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and funded by the European Union (EU) under its EU4Business Umbrella.
There is a saying, The higher the mountain, the better the herb, which is most likely the key to success of the local herbal teas, most of them produced from wild herbs. The quality of the local herbs and herbal teas are also praised by the experts of the project who have been providing continued consultations to Armenia-based companies helping them produce internationally compliant teas.
Adhering to quality standards - all the way from cultivating and harvesting - is paramount. Sorting, removal of foreign matter, correct drying levels are key in producing a top-notch product as well as proper storage and warehousing to ensure the material is kept dry and away from light. Quality controls through the production site to reduce any risks quality management systems such as HACCP are an excellent way for a business to review and manage this throughout the supply chain, international tea expert Angela Pryce says.
For two years now Angela and Sanjo Guhu -international tea expert from India - have provided training and individual consultation to the local tea producers from quality control to marketing and logistic solutions.
What works for local customers is not always appealing to European consumers. For example, local consumers like herbal blends with a strong flavour while European customers prefer a more subtle taste. As Angela recommended, we are looking to expand our production to blend local herbs with black and green teas. We also intend to issue a new line of fruit tea blends to make our products more competitive internationally, a project beneficiary, Director of Ritea Company Rita Martirosyan says, adding that the ingredients of medicinal herbal teas should be compliant with the EU database and indicated on the pack when exported to the EU.
The project has also provided Armenian companies consultations on ways to enter new markets and present their products on leading international platforms. Local companies have established business ties with international buyers at major trade shows such as BIOFACH trade fair for organic food, SIAL food processing and ANUGA international food and beverage fairs.
The export potential for Armenian herbs is huge. The main challenge for businesses within the local market looking to export would be to ensure that their product is legally compliant to be sold as a health product within the retail market. Particularly if the product is being sold with a link to health, there are legal requirements in place to make sure that the brands do not mislead the customer or are not making a false claim, notes Angela Pryce.
In 2019 Armenias State Revenue Committee reported 11,6 tons of tea in exports. According to the National Statistical Committee, the volume of tea exports from Armenia dropped to 1,5 tons in January-June, 2020 which is largely due to the COVID-19 crisis. As Angela Pryce notes, the sales of traditional black tea bags is declining as consumers switch to herb and fruit infusions. For instance, the UK market has reported volume growth of around 30% since 2013, which creates favourable conditions for businesses looking to export their herbal products to this or other international markets.
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the International Trade Centre and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
China seeks to set up military logistic facilities in about a dozen countries: Pentagon
International
pti-Madhuri Adnal
Washington, Sep 02: China is seeking to set up more robust logistics in about a dozen countries, including three in Indias neighbourhood, to allow its army to project and sustain its power at greater distances, a Pentagon report has said.
In addition to the three Indian neighbours -- Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar -- the other countries where China is considering to base its military logistics and infrastructure are Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, and Tajikistan, the report said on Tuesday.
High powered group comprising Doval meets, analyses evolving situation with China
In its annual report Military and Security Developments Involving the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) 2020 that was submitted to the US Congress on Tuesday, the Pentagon said these potential Chinese military logistics facilities are in addition to the Chinese military base in Djibouti, which is aimed at supporting naval, air and ground forces projection.
A global PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) military logistics network could both interfere with US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the PRCs global military objectives evolve, the Pentagon said in the report.
China has probably already made overtures to Namibia, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands, it said, adding the known focus areas of PLA planning are along the Seal Lines of Communication from China to the Strait of Hormuz, Africa, and the Pacific Islands.
Similarly, the Pentagon said, Beijing uses One Belt One Road (OBOR) to support its strategy of national rejuvenation by seeking to expand global transportation and trade linkages to support its development and deepen its economic integration with nations along its periphery and beyond.
OBOR projects associated with pipelines and port construction in Pakistan intend to decrease Chinas reliance on transporting energy resources through strategic chokepoints, such as the Strait of Malacca, it said.
Amidst face off with China, why the Indian forces will not budge from the heights
China leverages OBOR to invest in projects along Chinas western and southern periphery to improve stability and diminish threats along its borders, the report said. First announced in 2013, Chinas OBOR initiative is a signature foreign and economic policy advanced by President Xi Jinping.
According to the Pentagon, a global PLA military logistics network could both interfere with the US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the Chinese global military objectives evolve.
"Host nations can perform an essential role in regulating the PRCs military operations as Chinese officials very likely recognise that a stable long-term relationship with the host nation is critical to the success of their military logistics facilities," it said.
Chinese military academics assert that bases abroad can enable forward deployment of its forces and support military conflict, diplomatic signalling, political change, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and training. They also suggest that a military logistic network could enable intelligence monitoring of the US military.
In August 2017, China officially opened its first military base in Djibouti. Chinese Navy Marines are stationed at the base with wheeled armoured vehicles and artillery but are currently dependent on nearby commercial ports due to the lack of a pier on base, the report said. Chinese personnel at the facility have interfered with US flights by lasing pilots and flying drones, and China has sought to restrict Djiboutian sovereign airspace over the base, the report said.
Ed Markey prevailed today over Joseph Kennedy III in the Democratic Party primary in Massachussets, all but securing another term in the U.S. Senate and putting the Kennedy dynasty's political cachet to the torch. Kennedy, endorsed by Nancy Pelosi, is the first of his line to be thusly defeated in Massachussets. Markey, on the other hand, now becomes a progressive legend.
Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins, speaking at that event, praised Markey's ability to communicate with generations of progressive politicians. And she didn't mince words while talking about his challenger, who she suspects was trying to avoid a run against U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley for the next open Senate seat.
"This is a colossal waste of our time as Democrats, we're going to come down to the mat to have a Democrat beat a Democrat and then, you know, bodies strewn across Massachusetts," Rollins told reporters. "I've said this to (Kennedy) I think it's selfish, and it's with respect to him wanting to look at what he wants in the future."
Spriggs Rd., 14000 block, 6:17 p.m. Aug. 21. A message was left on the voice mail at a place of worship, with improper language and the threat of a bomb. No bombs were located. Earlier that evening, officers responded to a threatening message that was reported to have occurred at the Jewish Temple of Congregation Ner Shalom located at 14010 in Woodbridge earlier that evening. The investigation revealed that a message was left on the temples voice mail including inappropriate language and the threat of a bomb. A police K-9 responded and searched the area for any bombs, but none were located. At this time, the threat appears to be isolated to this place of worship. The investigation continues.
A former bodyguard of late North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-il has been denied asylum in Canada, and says he fears he will be killed by the communist regime if deported back to neighbouring South Korea.
The situation is bleak, Lee Young-guk, 57, told the Star on Tuesday through an interpreter.
(The regime) tried to kidnap me when I was in South Korea. If Canada returns me there, Im a dead man.
In 2000, Lee joined an exodus of defectors and made it to Seoul via China. In 2016, he arrived in Toronto with his wife and two children, seeking asylum. He claimed he had fled threats and persecution in South Korea for his outspoken criticism of its neighbour to the north while the two countries were trying to mend their tense relationship.
But in rejecting Lees claim, the Immigration and Refugee Board said he lacked credibility after trying to distance himself from the cruelty of the regime and playing down his role as a military adviser under Kims dictatorship.
Kim died in 2011 and was succeeded by his son, the countrys current leader, Kim Jong-un.
I find there is substantial evidence to show the brutality committed by the regime, by the leaders and the common population throughout the regime of Kim Jong-il, asylum adjudicator Brenda Lloyd wrote in refusing Lees claim in a decision released on July 31.
The claimant himself described I believe that North Korea is the worlds most repressive country.
According to his claim, Lee began working as Kims bodyguard in 1978. When his service ended 10 years later, he became a military adviser from 1988 to 1991. He then took a break to study in university before returning to the military department in 1994.
Lee says he escaped twice, and that the first time he was captured and sent to labour camp for five years.
In the Yodok concentration camp, in order to survive, to get more food, I volunteered to carry and bury deceased inmates in the mountains. People would ask each other, that theyre buried with a piece of note in a medicine bottle containing their personal identity details. I personally buried over 300 bodies.
Lee published a book, I Was Kim Jong-ils Bodyguard, about his life in the dictatorship and said he advocated for the human rights of North Koreans after he defected to the south, where he also changed his name to Lee Young-dae.
However, Lloyd said there was no documentation provided in regards to his human rights activities with the exception of attending conferences as a former bodyguard of Kim Jong-il.
I find the lack of documentation surprising given his allegations this is why he is being targeted and also due to the two books he wrote, Lloyd said.
During the hearings between October and March, the adjudicator also questioned Lees claims that he faced two kidnapping attempts in South Korea, in 2004 and 2007. Lee said South Korean police refused to investigate the incidents because he only reported them in 2014, well past the five-year statutory time limit for prosecution.
Waiting for years after the incidents to file a complaint lacks credibility, she said. If he felt threatened for kidnapping or threats, it is not credible he would delay for so many years.
There is no serious possibility that the claimants would be persecuted or would be subjected, on a balance of probabilities, to a danger of torture or to a risk to life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment in South Korea.
Lee said he was disappointed with the boards decision.
In a dictatorial system, if you dont follow what the government tells you to do, your whole family and you get punished and destroyed, said Lee, who said he would like to appeal the asylum decision.
Jack Kim of HanVoice, a Toronto-based advocacy group for human rights in North Korea, said the dynamic between the two Koreas and the North Korean defectors is complex.
The treatment of the defectors changes between the conservative and progressive administrations in South Korea, he added.
The conservatives are very anti-North Korea and have a very adversarial approach to North Korea. They tend to use defectors as the vanguards. On the flip side, the progressives first priority is to engage with North Korea and make peace, said Jack Kim.
There has been this flip-flop of opinions. The defectors are caught in this political crossfire in South Korea. Currently, (President) Moon Jae-ins administration has been accused of cracking down on North Korean defector groups and NGOs that criticize North Koreas human rights records.
He said North Korean defectors have faced societal discrimination by their peers in the south, with some having complained they have been targeted in isolated incidents by the communist regime after resettling in the south.
It is likely there are agents of the north in the country. It is hard to quantify how many there are, but there is a subjective fear North Koreans do have.
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DJ Erick Morillo, best known for his song 'I Like To Move It' has passed away at the age of 49.
According to TMZ, the DJ and music producer was found in Miami Beach, with Miami Beach PD saying there were no apparent signs of foul play.
DJ Erick Morillo, best known for his song 'I Like To Move It' has died at the age of 49. Photo: Getty
Erick produced his biggest hit I Like To Movie It with Trinidadian vocalist Mad Stuntman in the 90s which the DJ released under the stage name Reel 2 Real.
The track regained popularity after being used in the 2005 DreamWorks animated film Madagascar.
He made one more album as Reel 2 Real called Are You Ready For Some More? before launching his own label, Subliminal Records in 1997.
He then released numerous singles and remixes as well as his 2004 album My World.
According to TMZ, Erick's death comes after he was reportedly arrested in Miami on sexual assault charges.
The DJ reportedly turned himself in on August 6 and was scheduled for a court hearing on Friday according to Local 10.
If you are concerned about the mental health of yourself or a loved one, seek support and information by calling Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline on 1300 789 978, or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.
Click here to sign up to our daily newsletter to get all the latest news and hacks. Or if you have a story tip, email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com.
Imperial Valley News Center
Seventh Generic Drug Manufacturer Is Charged In Ongoing Criminal Antitrust Investigation
Philadelphia , Pennsylvania - Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. (Teva) has been charged with conspiring to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for generic drugs, the Department of Justice announced today.
According to a superseding indictment filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the company participated in three conspiracies from at least as early as May 2013 until at least in or around Dec. 2015.
Todays charge reaffirms that no company is too big to be prosecuted for its role in conspiracies that led to substantially higher prices for generic drugs relied on by millions of Americans, said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justices Antitrust Division. The division will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure that companies that blatantly cheat consumers of the benefits of free markets are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Count one charges Teva for its role in a conspiracy that included Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA (Glenmark), Apotex Corp. (Apotex), and others. On May 7, Apotex admitted to its role in this conspiracy and agreed to pay a $24.1 million penalty. On July 14, a grand jury returned an indictment against Glenmark for its role in the same conspiracy, which todays indictment supersedes. According to the charge, Teva, Glenmark, Apotex, and unnamed co-conspirators agreed to increase prices for pravastatin and other generic drugs. Pravastatin is a commonly prescribed cholesterol medication that lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Count two charges Teva for its role in a conspiracy with Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. (Taro U.S.A.), its former executive Ara Aprahamian, and others. On July 23, Taro U.S.A. admitted to its role in this conspiracy and agreed to pay a $205.7 million penalty to resolve that charge as well as its role in a separate antitrust conspiracy. Aprahamian was indicted in February 2020 for his role in the conspiracy with Teva, among other charges, and is awaiting trial. According to the charge, Teva and its co-conspirators agreed to increase prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for generic drugs including, but not limited to, drugs used to treat and manage arthritis, seizures, pain, skin conditions, and blood clots.
Count three charges Teva for its role in a conspiracy with Sandoz Inc. and others. In March 2020, Sandoz admitted to its role in this conspiracy, as well as in conspiracies with other generic drug manufacturers, and agreed to pay a $195 million penalty. According to the charge, Teva and its co-conspirators agreed to increase prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for generic drugs including, but not limited to, drugs used to treat brain cancer, cystic fibrosis, arthritis, and hypertension.
During these difficult times, it is absolutely essential that our pharmaceutical companies conduct business with the well-being of the consumer in mind, said Acting Special Agent in Charge Steven Stuller, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. When generic drug companies conspire to artificially increase prices, they do so to the detriment of many who depend on these medications to maintain good health. Along with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and our partners at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the USPS Office of Inspector General remains committed to investigating those who would engage in this type of harmful conduct.
Todays charges, the latest in a series of law enforcement actions taken against large drug companies, confirm that this kind of criminal behavior in the generic pharmaceutical industry will not be tolerated, said James A. Dawson, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBIs Washington Field Office. Price fixing and bid rigging is a crime, and the American peoplewho rely on these drugs to treat serious ailmentsare the ones who pay the price when companies like Teva conspire to raise their costs. The FBI remains committed to holding companies accountable for their illegal and reprehensible activity.
Todays superseding indictment against Teva is another important step in this ongoing criminal investigation, which has already recovered hundreds of millions of dollars, said U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Along with our partners at the Antitrust Division, we remain heavily focused on illegal price fixing and market allocation in generic drugs and on addressing the impact those practices have on federal healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
Teva is the seventh company to be charged for its participation in conspiracies to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for generic drugs. Five previous corporate cases were resolved by deferred prosecution agreements, and Tevas co-conspirator Glenmark is awaiting trial. Four executives have also been charged; three have entered guilty pleas, and one is awaiting trial.
A criminal charge merely alleges that crimes have been committed. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Each of the charged offenses carry a statutory maximum penalty of $100 million for companies. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime if either amount is greater than $100 million.
This case is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, market allocation, bid rigging, and other anticompetitive conduct in the generic pharmaceutical industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division with the assistance of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigations Washington and Philadelphia Field Offices, and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
2018s blockbuster film Black Panther will remain one of Marvels most memorable films for a long time. The star-studded cast, including the likes of Michael B. Jordan, Angela Bassett, and the now-deceased Chadwick Boseman, delivered powerful performances that helped the film become one of the highest-grossing films of all time.
Although all of the stars in the film were praised for their performances, Jordan, in particular, was applauded for his harrowing portrayal of Erik Killmonger, the films central antagonist. His preparation for the role has been well-documented, as he claimed he went into deep isolation and worked out for a year and a half to deliver a believable on-screen performance.
Part of this preparation also included the makeup required for his Killmonger costume, which apparently took nearly 3 hours to complete every day!
Michael B. Jordan spent significant time preparing for the Killmonger role
RELATED: Black Panther Star Michael B. Jordan Felt A Little Bit Depressed After Filming Wrapped
Its a known fact that many actors spend months preparing for their roles, both physically and mentally. Method actors, in particular, tend to put themselves through unusual experiences in an attempt to better relate to the characters they are portraying, and Jordan tends to follow this notion.
Jordan went out of his way to better acclimate himself with the Killmonger role in the months leading up to production and hasnt been shy about revealing this. He spent months in solitude and worked out extensively to prepare for his performance, according to Metro.co.uk.
I spent a lot of time alone. Eriks a very lonely guy, a very pained character so thats part of it, Jordan said. And also like physically preparing for it, working out, training, it was kind of a Swiss army knife of a lot of different skill sets. So training for about a year and half before we started filming really helped with the preparation for the role.
His Killmonger Scars took nearly 3 hours to apply each day
One of the more memorable parts of Killmongers appearance was the signature scars that riddled his body. Signifying every kill hed acquired over his lifetime, the scars were clearly visible every time Jordan took his shirt off on-screen.
Apparently, these scars took an extremely long time to apply to his body, requiring several hours a day to install. According to Insider, The [] actor spent around two-and-a-half hours in the makeup chair to get 90 raised marks placed on his body every day. The scarification process entailed transferring each mold and then blending and painting them to match Jordans skin tone.
The scars were inspired by Denzel Washingtons role in Glory
Jordan revealed that the idea for the scarring actually came from a role one of his idols, Denzel Washington, played in the 1989 Civil War drama Glory. According to CinemaBlend, Jordan revealed this truth while honoring Washington during the 47th AFI Life Achievement Gala.
I remember hearing stories about you and I heard stories that when you were huddled around the campfire in that film [Glory], you werent supposed to be shirtless but you still had the scars put on your back, so you could feel it, so you could know thats what your characters been through. I tell you right now tonight, brother, thats the only reason why Killmonger, when I played that role, I had those scars, even when I wasnt shirtless because of you. So I want to say thank you for that.
Sometimes method actors tend to go a little overboard when it comes to preparation, but its a good thing Jordan didnt let this role get the best of him for too long.
WASHINGTON Dr. Scott W. Atlas has argued that the science of mask wearing is uncertain, that children cannot pass on the coronavirus and that the role of the government is not to stamp out the virus but to protect its most vulnerable citizens as Covid-19 takes its course.
Ideas like these, both ideologically freighted and scientifically disputed, have propelled the radiologist and senior fellow at Stanford Universitys conservative Hoover Institution into President Trumps White House, where he is pushing to reshape the administrations response to the pandemic.
Mr. Trump has embraced Dr. Atlas, as has Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, even as he upsets the balance of power within the White House coronavirus task force with ideas that top government doctors and scientists like Anthony S. Fauci, Deborah L. Birx and Jerome Adams, the surgeon general, find misguided even dangerous according to people familiar with the task forces deliberations.
That might be the point.
I think Trump clearly does not like the advice he was receiving from the people who are the experts Fauci, Birx, etc. so he has slowly shifted from their advice to somebody who tells him what he wants to hear, said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease expert at Emory University who is close to Dr. Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator.
Susan, 71, (pictured) from Hertfordshire
SUSAN, 71
Dating Past?
I have dated online over the past five years, mainly at my daughters prompting. Were both single and encourage each other to find someone. But I havent seen anyone seriously and Im not currently on any dating sites. I am open to meeting someone, although coronavirus has made that difficult this year.
VITAL STATISTICS Married for 45 years, single for seven, two sons and one daughter. CURRENT ROLE Retired from the pharmaceutical industry. Now a voluntary worker. WOULD LIKE TO MEET A chap who is kind, youngminded, and cultured. Im not looking for a marathon runner, because I have had joint replacements. Advertisement
He loved languages, but didnt respond when I spoke French
Pre-Date Nerves?
No, Im a sociable person. I did tell my daughter and two friends I was going on a blind date and they said, You go, girl. As a former college lecturer, Im used to meeting new people. I was excited about going to London. For the date, I chose a green outfit that Id bought in Spain before lockdown. I often travel to Nerja to stay with a friend and we go shopping together.
First Impressions?
I was a couple of minutes early, and was sitting by the window when I saw a man with a moustache and wearing a blazer and thought, I bet thats him. While a moustache is not to my liking, he immediately struck me as a nice man.
Easy To Talk To?
Matthew has lived abroad nearly all of his life and told me about his time in the Far East running hotels and his more recent career on cruise ships. His heart is clearly hankering to live abroad again.
Matthew did all the talking and rather liked to chat about himself. When I found out he spoke languages, as I do, I attempted to start a conversation in French, but he didnt continue the conversation and changed the subject. I was surprised, but he may have misheard me.
He has sacrificed a lot for his lifestyle and told me being childless was one of his regrets.
Embarrassing Moments?
None, it was a lovely afternoon.
Did Sparks Fly?
No, he smiled and talked a lot, but there was no chemistry.
Did You Kiss?
No, it was not relevant.
What do you think he thought of you?
I dont think he was interested in me at all. He only asked me one question at the end of our meal, plus Im not sure Matthew wants to settle down.
Would your family like him?
No, because were not on the same wavelength. I liked listening to his stories, but we are too different. I have no regrets, although it was a real leap of faith for me to leave my Hertfordshire home.
Matthew, 66, who works abroad on cruise ships
MATTHEW, 66
Dating Past?
Its been pretty patchy on the romance front because working abroad on ships isnt good for a relationship. I split with my last partner after two-and-a-half years because I was away so often. Unsurprisingly, Ive never married, but I have been engaged twice.
One fiancee unfortunately died and another left me for someone else. I did arrive home once to see another chaps picture next to my then partners bedside.
Pre-Date nerves?
I dont get nervous. At my age nothing fazes me, Im past those sorts of feelings. Although, I did shave off my lockdown beard and get a haircut before the date.
First Impressions?
VITAL STATISTICS Single for two-and-a-half years, no children. CURRENT ROLE Manager on cruise ships. WOULD LIKE TO MEET Someone who likes sports, animals and travel. I love golf and have worked all over the world. Advertisement
At my age nothing fazes me...Im past those sort of feelings
Sue is a bouncy and fun person. I was pleased with the match.
Easy to talk to?
I was a good boy and didnt discuss politics, but explained to Sue I only returned to the UK because of the financial impact on the cruise industry. We have both travelled extensively. I lived in Thailand for 35 years running a hotel before joining the cruise industry. I speak Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian and French, too. I also discovered we have both lived in France and the Middle East.
I let Sue choose the wine: a delicious Spanish white.
Embarrassing moments?
None.
Did sparks fly?
While I tend not to make snap decisions about people, there was no flirting from either side. She was different to my normal type. I think we could be friends, but we didnt exchange phone numbers because I forgot to ask for hers.
Did you kiss?
No. That was out of the question with the coronavirus situation, so we bumped elbows instead. Id be happy to meet up with Sue for lunch whenever she is in London. We spent almost three hours together and there were no awkward silences.
What do you think she thought of you?
I think she will say that I was all right and that we had great fun together. We had a lively conversation and I think she enjoyed it.
Would your family like her?
Yes. She lives in Hertfordshire and we probably know the same social crowd of people.
SUSAN'S VERDICT 7/10 LIKED? I loved having a day out in London. REGRETS? None. COFFEE OR CAB? Cab. Advertisement
Syracuse, N.Y. Alternative rock radio station 95X (WAQX-FM) is helping keep live music alive in Central New York with a virtual festival.
95X announced it will host the Binge This Festival - A Virtual Concert Experience, featuring national recording artists performing over two nights on Sept. 26 and 27. Performances begin at 7 p.m. each night with a lineup that includes The Head and the Heart, Cold War Kids, lovelytheband, Saint Motel, All Time Low, Neon Trees, Judah and the Lion, Barns Courtney, Local Natives, and Nothing But Thieves.
The entire show will be streamed for free online at 95x.com and 95Xs YouTube channel at youtube.com/95xSyracuse.
We knew our listeners were missing live music and since we cant all get together right now, we decided to do the next best thing...Bring the show to them! 95X Program Director Joe D said in a statement. You can sit back on your couch and enjoy the show. Plus, no long lines for the bathroom or overpriced beer!
Concerts have been largely shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic; the 2020 New York State Fair and the entire season at St. Josephs Health Amphitheater at Lakeview were canceled. Many artists have shifted to livestreamed performances or socially distant events, like drive-in concerts.
95X, owned by Cumulus Media, had hosted concerts like the 95X Big-X-Cuse and the 95X-Mas Pajama Jam in recent years.
The Binge This Fest Lineup:
Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.: The Head and the Heart; Cold War Kids; Local Natives; Neon Trees; I Dont Know How But They Found Me; lovelytheband; Dayglow; Barns Courtney; Peach Tree Rascals; Leo the Kind
Sunday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.: Grouplove; All Time Low; Saint Motel; Judah and the Lion; Meg Myers; White Reaper; The Unlikely Candidates; Robert Delong; Nothing But Thieves; Chaz Cardigan; The Dirty Nil
Pope Francis, sitting centre right, during his general audience, the first with faithful since February when the coronavirus outbreak broke out, at the San Damaso courtyard at the Vatican (Andrew Medichini/AP)
Pope Francis has held his first public general audience after a pause of nearly six months due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Francis used Wednesdays audience to call for solidarity as the way to exit the crisis.
The pope said: The current pandemic has highlighted our interdependence: We are all linked to each other, for better or for worse.
Expand Close Pope Francis with Lebanese priest Georges Breidi as they hold a Lebanese flag in a moment of prayer in remembrance of last months explosion in Beirut (Andrew Medichini/AP) / Facebook
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Whatsapp Pope Francis with Lebanese priest Georges Breidi as they hold a Lebanese flag in a moment of prayer in remembrance of last months explosion in Beirut (Andrew Medichini/AP)
He added: To come out of this crisis better than before, we have to do so together, all of us, in solidarity.
About 500 faithful attended the audience in the Vaticans San Damaso courtyard.
Under strict safety rules, the faithful kept social distances as they sat in the courtyard and were all required to wear masks.
Expand Close Pope Francis speaks to faithful wearing face masks (Andrew Medichini/AP) / Facebook
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Whatsapp Pope Francis speaks to faithful wearing face masks (Andrew Medichini/AP)
The pope did not wear one as he met the crowd, but kept a safe distance from the faithful, who were cheering and waving at him.
Dominic Cummings has moved No10 aides into a new 'mission control' as part of a drive to sharpen up government.
The maverick aide - who ditched his has trademark scruffy style for a smart suit as the new political term started yesterday - has introduced a Nasa-style set-up in the Cabinet Office.
The open-plan space is being used by a tight-knit circle of advisers, with socially-distanced desks grouped into policy areas overseen by Mr Cummings and data guru Ben Warner.
Big screens are also being deployed to display detailed metrics about progress with policies and the coronavirus crisis - in keeping with the former Vote Leave head's determination to make government more data-driven.
Dominic Cummings ditched his has trademark scruffy style for a smart suit as the new political term started yesterday (left), in stark contrast to his usual work attire, which typically involves a T-shirt and jogging bottoms or jeans (pictured right last month)
Boris Johnson held his first Cabinet meeting yesterday following the summer holidays
No10 permanent secretary Simon Case was unveiled as the new head of the civil service yesterday - the youngest holder of the post in living memory - with a mandate to force through changes.
In June there were reports Mr Cummings told political aides a 'hard rain is coming' in Whitehall, suggesting the Cabinet Office needed radical overhaul.
A series of mandarins have departed during the drive for change.
While out of government, Mr Cummings wrote extensive blogs detailing his fondness for 'red teams' explicitly tasked with finding reasons why policies should not be pursued, and his criticism of the Whitehall infrastructure.
That included saying the Cabinet room was not fit for purpose because it does not have any 'tools' for modern times - with even the clock not always working.
The former Vote Leave chief, who worked for Michael Gove at the Department for Education, previously described the civil service machine as 'Kafkaesque', and wrote of support for ministers: 'The whole structure of 'submissions' and 'red boxes' is hopeless. It is extremely bureaucratic and slow...
'The whole approach reinforces the abject failure of the senior civil service to think about high performance project management.'
Mr Cummings - who took time off for an undisclosed medical operation recently - donned a smart suit for the first Cabinet meeting called by Boris Johnson after the summer holidays.
It was a stark contrast to his usual work attire, which typically involves a T-shirt and jogging bottoms or jeans.
The upgrade came as the PM spelled out his desire to get the country back towards 'normality' despite the coronavirus crisis.
The government is facing a barrage of problems, with children returning to school for the first time since lockdown this week.
Meanwhile, there is mounting Tory unrest about the handling of the pandemic and the struggle to get workers back in offices, to avert the collapse of town and city centres.
The public finances have been left in tatters by the huge bailouts, but there is fury at briefings suggesting Chancellor Rishi Sunak could raise taxes in the Budget this Autumn.
Police quiet on probe into Phuket students death
PHUKET: Two weeks have passed since the death of 20-year-old student Pornpiphat Mint Iaddam, who collapsed while running after a cheerleading practice session at Phuket Rajabhat University on Aug 19, and police say they are still investigating the students death.
deathpolice
By The Phuket News
Wednesday 2 September 2020, 07:32PM
Deputy national police chief Pol Maj Gen Suchart Theerasawat was in Phuket two weeks ago to give a public update on the investigation, but Phuket police have made no progress since. Photo: The Phuket News / file
They have also confirmed that no new charges have been filed.
Lt Col Chana Sutthimas of the Phuket City Police, who is leading the investigation into Nong Mints death, on Aug 24 said that police had already interviewed many people regarding the young students death.
However, he declined to answer further questions about the investigation yesterday (Sept 1), instead referring all enquiries to Phuket Provincial Commander Col Witoon Kongsudjai.
Col Witoon also remained reserved in his replies to questions from The Phuket News.
Police are continuing their investigation, he said.
I can confirm that no new charges have been pressed against any persons under investigation, he added.
So far police have announced that they have presented a charge of negligence causing the death of another person against a female senior student at the university.
The student has admitted that she ordered Nong Mint to run laps as punishment for making mistakes during the cheerleading practice, but denied the charge against her.
The student has been released on bail, Col Witoon confirmed, but he declined to answer any further questions about the students involvement.
Just days after Nong Mints death, deputy national police chief Pol Maj Gen Suchart Theerasawat, who flew to Phuket to be updated personally on progress in the case, publicly said that police were thoroughly investigating how far Nong Mint was ordered to run as punishment for making mistakes during the cheerleading practice.
The university claims that Nong Mint was ordered to run laps around the car park where the cheerleading practice was held and collapsed, and later died, after running only a few hundred metres.
However, initial news reports consistently reported that Nong Mint was ordered to run eight laps around the pond at the university, and collapsed and died after running several kilometres.
Police so far have yet to make any public statement on this simple, yet critical factor in Nong Mints death.
Col Witoon also declined to comment on whether the university was being investigated for any negligence in Nong Mints death, especially amid reports that only first-year students were ordered to run laps as penance for making mistakes during the cheerleading practice, raising the issue of whether the university was taking any proactive steps to prevent hazing on campus.
Police are also waiting for the results of an in-depth examination of Nong Mints body by hospital staff. At this stage, no other people have been charged, was all Col Witoon would say.
Asked when the investigation was expected to be completed, Col Witoon said, Police are working on it to finish it as soon as possible.
During his visit to Phuket on Aug 24, deputy national police chief Pol Maj Gen Suchart warned against people making any presumptions about what had caused Nong Mints death.
However, he also said, This case should take a short time to process, and if the medical results come quickly, the case can be prosecuted and closed.
The Acting Chief Medical Officer is asking people to double down on their efforts following the highest daily number of new Covid-19 cases in over three months.
Yesterday, it was announced that 217 new infections had been reported but for the tenth day in a row no patients with the virus died.
There were 103 positive tests in Dublin, 25 in Kildare and 17 each in both Limerick and Tipperary.
Ronan Glynn says while the number of cases is substantial, the five day moving average remains relatively stable at 115 cases per day.
Dr Ronan Glynn said: While the number of cases today is the highest daily reported figure since May, the five-day moving average remains relatively stable at 115 cases per day.
"However, this is still a substantial number of cases and I urge everyone to double down on their efforts now wash hands regularly, physically distance from others, wear face coverings where appropriate, avoid crowded areas, know the symptoms, isolate and contact your GP if you have any concerns."
Anthony Staines, Professor of Health Systems at DCU, says it won't be clear how the reopening of schools will affect the numbers for some time.
"The opening of schools had no effect on what has happened. The effect of that - if there is one- won't be visible for five to 10 days," said Prof. Staines.
"But the more transmission there is in the community, the harder it is to keep the schools open.
"I think for all of us it is a very high priority to keep the schools open, to keep them work uninterrupted."
Of the cases reported yesterday, 70% were in people under the age of 45.
Professor Anthony Staines from DCU says we need to communicate better with young people about the dangers of Covid.
"The GAA, for example, have done great work with the number of GAA players who have been affected either themselves or their families.
"I think that kind of direct outreach from young people who know about what is going on to other young people can be very powerful."
Prof. Staines said that he has great admiration for Ronan Glynn but said the audience for his press conferences among 16-25-year-olds would not be very high.
(Natural News) Researchers report that roughly 6.8 million fewer girls will be born throughout India by the year 2030 thanks to the heavy usage of selective abortions in the country.
This is according to a study published in the journal Plos One in which researchers from Saudi Arabias King Abdullah University of Science and Technology projected the sex ratio at birth in 29 Indian states and territories. They found the strongest cultural preference for a boy in 17 northern states in India, with the most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, showing the biggest deficit in female births.
Since sex determination tests started being used in the 1970s, India is estimated to have 63 million fewer women. A 1994 Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act rule made it illegal for an unborn childs sex to be revealed except for strict medical purposes, but the enforcement of this rule has been quite lax in most areas and the sex ratio in much of country has continued to get worse.
The current ratio of women to men in India is between 900 and 930 females per 1,000 males. Some districts fare worse, however. In Sikar, for example, the ratio is 888 girls born for every 1,000 boys. Boys in the country are viewed as breadwinners and are more likely to receive better medical care and more nutritious food than girls, who are widely viewed as a burden across all social classes.
Womens empowerment advocate Anuradha Saxene said: It will take time to remove deep-rooted custom and belief. Progress is slow and incremental, but we are working on making girls valued and cherished instead of being seen as a liability who needs a huge dowry to be married off.
Young marriage contributing to the problem
Adding to the problem is the fact that many Indian girls get married when they are quite young; 27 percent of girls in the country get married before age 18. Many of these young girls lack the awareness and confidence they need to challenge those in their husbands family who are pushing them to abort girls. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently stated he was mulling raising the legal marriage age for girls from 18 to 21.
There is also a very lucrative black market for tests to determine a babys gender. The Guardian reports that police regularly arrest gangs, often in sting operations, who offer to test pregnant women to determine their babys gender for hundreds of dollars.
Another big part of this problem, of course, is the fact that India is not making any moves toward criminalizing abortion, which has been legal in the country for any reason during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy since 1971. The abortion rate in India is considered extremely high, and its believed that more than 300 million babies have been aborted there since 1971. The total market for abortion pills in the country is around half a billion dollars.
Many women who say they are in favor of full abortion rights dont realize the ways in which the practice can work against them, and this is just one example of that in action. Jonathon Van Maren wrote on LifeSite News, A procedure trumpeted as a tool of female empowerment has become the primary method of destroying tiny females in unprecedented and horrifying numbers.
The problem is not unique to India; other countries registering a disproportionately high number of boy births on account of sex-selective abortion include China, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, and some countries in the Balkan peninsula.
A research analyst for the Population Research Institute, Jonathan Abbamonte, said in 2019 that approximately 15.8 million girls have been lost to sex-selective abortion and other forms of prenatal daughter elimination since the year 1990, an amount that is roughly equivalent to the populations of Finland and Portugal combined.
Sources for this article include:
LifeSiteNews.com
ChristianPost.com
BANGKOK, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A growing number of international and Thai companies are investing in Thailand's medical to help address the COVID-19 situation as well as to build on the country's potential as a medical hub, the Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI) said.
BOI data shows that international and Thai investors have filed 50 project applications, worth a total investment value of 12.69 billion baht (USD400 million) during the first six months of 2020. In April, the BOI approved a special incentive scheme to accelerate investment in the medical industry.
"The projects that were submitted largely relate to the production of the medical devices and parts needed to support the rapid response to the coronavirus outbreak," said Ms. Duangjai Asawachintachit, Secretary General of the BOI. "We have approved more than 80 percent of the projects in order to respond to the situation, while paving the way for Thailand's longer-term development as a manufacturing hub for medical devices and supplies."
The 50 applications include projects for the manufacture of medical devices or supplies such as rubber gloves and masks, and of Non-Woven Fabric such as Spunbond or Melt blown used as raw materials in the manufacture of masks and medical devices, BOI data shows.
Other projects are in the field of biotechnology, including that filed by Apsalagen Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Siam Bioscience Co., Ltd. and Germany's Haase Investment, which is the main shareholder in Biotechrabbit GmbH, a producer of biological reagents. Apsalagen's biological reagents and mastermixes are used in the production of rapid tests (RT-PCR) used in the detection of COVID-19.
Recently, the BOI also approved a biotechnology development project undertaken by KinGen Biotech, a 50-50 joint venture between South Korean biotech firm Genexine, and Thailand's KinGen Holdings Co., Ltd. The company has pledged to invest 406 million baht (around USD12.8 million) to develop and manufacture in Thailand bioactive compounds, such as Plasmid DNA and Fusion Protein. The venture will work closely with the King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi in the local research and development as well as the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, the BOI said.
Yerba mate offers the strength of coffee, the health benefits of tea, and the euphoria of chocolate all in one beverage
The instant success of the MateCaps Kickstarter campaign proves demand is high for alternative energy drinks that are not only healthy but also good for the environment. The creators of MateCaps saw a need to provide energy and focus, without the jitters, so they created naked yerba mate Caps to enjoy in a multi-use reusable bottle. They are available now on Kickstarter at Early Bird discounts of up to 42%.
Yerba mate is a traditional South American brew known for offering the strength of coffee, the health benefits of tea, and the euphoria of chocolate all in one beverage. MateCaps offers a 100% compostable energy drink available through a monthly subscription service. Rather than throwing single-use containers in the trash, MateCaps are package-free.
We always knew we had a great product and its exciting to be able to share it with so many backers, said Marcos Stubrin, Co-Founder and CEO of MateCaps. It feels great to offer something that fills a need without having a negative effect on the environment. Were looking forward to shipping MateCaps to every corner of the world.
How it Works:
The MateCaps multi-use bottle is 14 oz. and has the same functions as a reusable travel cup
Users can brew mate with Caps or loose-leaf yerba mate and store any hot or cold drink
Fill up the bottle with water, place the Cap inside the custom filter and go
MateCaps offers fresh and tasty blends of organic yerba mate, each with unique benefits and functions
Our dream is to introduce yerba mate feel good energy to help everyone say goodbye to single-use packaging and reach their highest potential, said Stubrin.
For more information and to pre-order MateCaps at early bird discounts, visit the MateCaps crowdfunding page on Kickstarter. Kickstarter backers receive a lifetime 25% discount.
The MateCaps Mission - The purpose of MateCaps is to build a conscious community and to come together in creating a larger impact in the world. Backing MateCaps means fighting deforestation in the Amazon and supporting local women entrepreneurs from the land of yerba mate in Misiones, Argentina. The bottle is made from durable, FDA approved and environmentally friendly materials. It was sustainably designed to offer multiple functions and to be a long-time MATE.
Vice President Mike Pence visited Luzerne County on Tuesday and continued to push the importance of keeping Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
Im here for one reason and one reason only, because Pennsylvania and America need four more years of President Donald Trump, according to an account from The Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre.
Were going to have a great victory, he told the crowd that gathered at Kuharchik Construction Inc., in Exeter. Were going to make Pennsylvania and American stronger.
Pence noted that he was speaking in a town just a short drive from Joe Bidens hometown of Scranton, the story said, adding that Pence said he and President Donald Trump have become Northeast Pennsylvanias favorite sons. I know were not too far from our opponents boyhood home, but its Trump Country now, Pence said.
Pence spoke for just over a half-hour, according to the story.
A small group of Democrats made the trip and stood holding up signs supporting Joe Biden, according to an account from The Philadelphia Inquirer.
It already has been a busy campaign week in Pennsylvania. Pences visit to Pennsylvania came after Biden visited Pittsburgh on Monday while Lara Trump campaigned in Bucks County, the Inquirer noted. Trump is scheduled to go to Latrobe in Westmoreland County on Thursday.
A judge presiding over a family law case denied a father a fair trial by bullying and demeaning his lawyers in court, an appeal court has ruled.
In an extraordinary case, the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia listened to audio recordings and read transcripts of Federal Circuit Court Judge Guy Andrew's interactions with lawyers in a parenting and property settlement dispute last year.
"Oh, God", "rubbish", "this is pathetic" and "that's garbage" were among the judicial exclamations recorded.
Judge Guy Andrew's treatment of lawyers for a father in a family law case denied the man a fair hearing, an appeal court said. Credit:Angela Wylie
The court Justices Steven Strickland, Ann Ainslie-Wallace and Garry Watts said Judge Andrew's "cruel, insulting, humiliating and rude interactions" with the father's Queens Counsel and solicitor amounted to an abuse of power. The court ordered a retrial before a new judge, at taxpayers' expense.
One month after a massive explosion at a fertilizer storage facility tore through Beirut and reopened Lebanons old wounds, Pope Francis expresses his and the Churchs solidarity with the troubled nation and calls for a worldwide day of prayer on Friday, 4 September.
By Robin Gomes
Pope Francis on Wednesday called for a day of prayer and fasting on Friday for Lebanon. Besides the deadly explosion of 4 August in Beirut, the nation has been going through the worst economic and political crisis in its history.
One month after the tragedy that struck the city of Beirut, my thoughts turn once again to Lebanon and its people, so sorely tried, the Pope said during his weekly General Audience. He called a Lebanese student priest with a flag of his country to stand next to him.
Freedom and pluralism
Reiterating the 1989 appeal of Saint Pope John Paul II he said, Lebanon cannot be abandoned in its solitude. Holding the corner of the Lebanese flag as a gesture of his closeness with the Middle East nation, he described Lebanon as a country of hope and expressed admiration for the peoples faith in God and their ability to make their country a place of tolerance, respect and coexistence unique in that region.
Lebanon, the Holy Father said, is a message of freedom and an example of pluralism, both for the East and for the West. For the good of the country and the world, we cannot let this legacy be lost, he said, alluding to the long-drawn crisis in the country.
Even before Covid-19, Lebanon was undergoing the worst economic crisis in its history, which triggered large-scale anti-government protests last year. Today, nearly half the country's 6 million people are living below the poverty line. Analysts warn that the scale of the catastrophe may be worse than the 15-year civil war, which raged from 1975 to 1990.
Appeal to political and religious leaders
Pope Francis encouraged all Lebanese to persevere in hope and to summon the strength and energy needed to start anew. He particularly urged political and religious leaders to commit themselves with sincerity and openness to the work of rebuilding, setting aside all partisan interests and looking to the common good and the future of the nation.
The Holy Father asked "the international community to support Lebanon and to help it emerge from this grave crisis, without becoming caught up in regional tensions".
He exhorted the people of Beirut to take courage and find strength in faith and prayer. "Do not abandon your homes and your heritage. Do not abandon the dreams of those who believed in the dawn of a beautiful and prosperous country. "
Addressing the country's pastors, bishops, priests, the consecrated and lay people, he urged them to accompany their suffering faithful with apostolic zeal, poverty, austerity and humility. "Be poor together with your poor and suffering people," he said, insisting, "Be the first to give an example of poverty and humility."
Help your faithful and your people to rise up and be protagonists of a new rebirth.
The Holy Father urged the nation's Church leaders to work for harmony, the common good, and a true culture of encounter and living together in peace and fraternity, which he said was so dear to St. Francis.
"This," he pointed out, "will prove a sure basis for the continuity of the Christian presence and your own inestimable contribution to the country, the Arab world and the whole region, in a spirit of fraternity among all the religious traditions present in Lebanon."
Closeness and solidarity with prayer and fasting
Finally, Pope Francis invited "everyone to join in a universal day of prayer and fasting for Lebanon on Friday next, 4 September".
On that day, he said, he intends to send Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to Lebanon as an expression of his "spiritual closeness and solidarity" with the Lebanese people. He encouraged all to demonstrate their closeness through concrete works of charity.
The Pope also invited other Christian Churches and religious traditions to join this initiative in a manner they deem most appropriate.
At the end of the appeal, the Holy Father invited all to stand and pray silently for Lebanon.
Parisans love their cafes. And were not just talking crema: were talking tables, chairs, the whole croissant and kaboodle. But theyre not the only ones with a bean scene. In cities like Sydney, Australia, where there are rapidly growing foodie movements, many citizens now look upon what used to be a revered institution the cafe au lait with disdain, believing their coffee to be the best in the world.
That said, tourists worldwide Australians included still look to the French cafe (if not coffee) experience with reverence, despite most Antipodes arrogantly (but not always incorrectly) asserting Parisian coffee tastes like burnt dishwater. Likewise, across the pond, many Americans still see France as a rite of passage, not just because of the museums and art galleries, but due to the al fresco culture and gastronomy, best experienced with a croissant in one hand and a noisette in the other.
RELATED: Secrets To Dressing Like A Parisian When Youre Not One
But other than our historical and cultural projections, what makes the French cafe experience so popular? One Paris-based photographer Patrick Colpron recently took to Instagram with an image (and caption) we believe sheds light on this question.
Lorette & Les Garcons, Cafe life is when you just take the time to love a little instead of rushing from place to place. It is when you can afford to wait 15-20 minutes to have your order taken for a simple coffee and another 15-20 minutes to have it brought to you. The time it takes to fully enjoy the simple pleasure of another persons company, a fresh newspaper or a good book.
Always something new to discover, taste and experience.
Sounds simple but its a world away from the takeaway piccolos of Sydney or the laptop filled Starbucks of Los Angeles.
Despite the health risks of travelling at a time like this, many argue now could be the best period in history to visit Paris, with Politico reporting a 16 million drop in tourists and the WSJ writing that with such a decline in customers, even waiters are friendly.
Maybe as life gets ever more complicated, and global events threaten to raise the blood pressure of even the most well-adjusted individuals, we could all benefit from getting back to basics.
Your coffee and newspaper await.
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US attempts to re-impose sanctions on Iran doomed to failure: Russia's Lavrov
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 01 September 2020 3:04 PM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has once again taken a jab at the United States' attempts to re-instate sanctions on Iran in violation of a multilateral 2015 nuclear deal, saying such unlawful bids are doomed to failure.
The United States has lost all its rights by abandoning its obligations under the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Lavrov said in an address to students of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations on Tuesday.
"The United States wants now to use a rather complex, sophisticated legal instrument, which was laid down in the JCPOA and approved by the United Nations Security Council [Resolution 2231 that endorses the deal], to restore the collective sanctions," he said.
However, he emphasized, the snapback mechanism has been envisaged "exclusively for a situation when Iran does not fulfill its obligations, which is not the case."
The top Russian diplomat also criticized the US for threatening to re-impose unilateral sanctions on Iran and to ban all other countries from doing trade with the country.
The United States is trying to invoke the snapback mechanism in the multilateral nuclear agreement despite its withdrawal from the accord in May 2018 in violation of UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2231.
All the remaining signatories to the JCPOA say the US does not have the legal right to trigger the provision set out in the JCPOA because it pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
Washington also suffered a humiliating defeat in securing an extension of the UN arms embargo against Iran at the Security Council last month. Only the Dominican Republic voted 'yes' to Washington's resolution calling for the extension of the embargo beyond October 18.
The president of the Security Council on August 25 dismissed attempts by the US to reinstate all UN sanctions against Iran, citing a lack of consensus in the 15-member body.
Elsewhere in his address, Lavrov said his country supports direct dialogue between the United States and Iran and is ready to help prepare the ground in this regard, if both sides are interested.
"It is always better to directly state one's claims and hear a direct answer," the top Russian diplomat said.
Lavrov's speech came on the same day that the remaining signatories to the Iran nuclear deal kicked off a meeting in Vienna to discuss ways to keep the JCPOA alive amid a US push to restore international sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Germany, China urge preservation of JCPOA
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also said on Tuesday that Germany and China share a view that it is essential to preserve the JCPOA after the US withdrawal.
Speaking at a press conference following talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Maas added that the issue had been extensively discussed at the UN Security Council over the past several weeks.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Case Western Reserve University said its partnering with a local company to develop polymer materials that can be used by the U.S. Army.
The Cleveland university said its teaming with PolymerPlus of Valley View on the $5.4 million Army contract, which could be worth as much as $11 million.
PolymerPlus, which was founded in 2010 out of Case Western, is the primary industry contractor on the project, which also includes two other subcontractors. PolymerPlus was recently purchased by Peak Nanosystems LLC of Texas.
Read the full story on cleveland.coms sister site, Cleveland Business Journal.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.2
By Tamilla Mammadova Trend:
Georgia has significantly increased the export of butter to Azerbaijan, Trend reports citing the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
According to Geostat, in 2020 Georgia sold 480 tons of natural, and other types of butter to Azerbaijan worth $2.8 million.
In 2018 Georgia sold 12.2 tons of butter to Azerbaijan worth $73,200.
Geostat did not provide statistics for export of butter from Georgia to Azerbaijan in 2019 and 2017, while in 2016 Georgia supplied 25 tons of butter to Azerbaijan, for $97,400.
The volume of butter exports from Georgia to Azerbaijan was even higher in 2015, when 94.5 tons of butter worth $410,000 were sold to Azerbaijan.
The external merchandise trade (excluding non-declared trade) of Georgia amounted to $6.03 billion from January through July 2020, 17.6 percent lower compared to the same period of 2019.
The exports equaled $1.75 billion, while the imports stood at $4.27 billion (17.9 percent lower).
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Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356
Desperate to salvage his presidency, Donald Trump is inciting racial violence by encouraging armed vigilantes to confront protesters angry over the killing and maiming of unarmed Black people by the police. The president is stoking civil conflict to distract voters from his failed leadership and strengthen his electoral prospects.
Deadly as it is, Mr. Trumps latest tactic reflects his view of the presidency as the tool of one man. Rather than serve the people, Mr. Trump is trying to extend his time in office while undermining any constraints on his power.
Across the executive branch, Mr. Trump and his appointees have flouted long-honored norms and violated laws with relative impunity. They have succeeded largely because Senate Republicans have sacrificed oversight and accountability on the altar of subservience to this president so long as it preserves their majority control.
Under Donald Trump, the abuses have touched almost every corner of government, suggesting the president views democracy itself as his opponent.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2
By Zeyni Jafarov Trend:
The entrepreneurs in Azerbaijans Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic received loans worth 18.9 million manat ($11.1 million) from January through June 2020, Trend reports citing the data of the State Statistics Committee of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Some 11.3 million manat ($6.6 million) of that amount were allocated for the creation or expansion of production spheres, 7.5 million manat ($4.4 million) - for the development of private entrepreneurship.
The production and service facilities were created in various spheres of economic activity within 69 projects through the state support and 133 low-income families were self-employed.
During the reporting period, there were 96,500 hired employees in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, 37,900 employees of them - in the public sector, 58,600 employees - in the private sector. Some 638 new jobs were created.
The average monthly salary of one employee amounted to 524.8 manat ($308.7) during the reporting period.
The employees working in the field of finance, insurance, state governance, social security and those employed in wholesale and retail trade had the highest average monthly salaries.
(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on Sept. 2)
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Follow the author on Twitter: @jafarov_zeyni
The retailer had previously announced it would donate 100,000 items to healthcare workers back in April and was singled out for praise by England's Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
Two months later, it was handed a 573,000 (645,000) contract to make gowns and protective equipment.
The contract was not advertised to other potential suppliers, according to Government records which were published on Wednesday.
EU rules allow the Government to circumvent the usual processes if only one supplier is capable of delivering on the contract, or if unforeseen events mean that speed is vital.
During the early days of the pandemic several luxury fashion brands turned their production lines over to make desperately needed PPE.
Burberrys Castleford site in Yorkshire retooled to produce gowns for healthcare workers.
It allowed to company to win the 573,000 contract, in addition to donations of around 160,000 pieces of PPE to date to the NHS and healthcare charities since the pandemic started.
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This has included non-surgical gowns made at its Castleford site, and surgical masks that it bought abroad, points heavily publicised by the business.
At the start of April, Mr Hancock praised Burberry for its help in supplying the health service with the PPE it needed.
Ill give a shout-out to Burberry who have turned over their production to the production of gowns to add to the stockpile and to get PPE to people who need it which is another part of the national effort, he said.
I think Burberry deserve credit for what theyve done so far for the nation and hopefully lots more Burberry gowns to come.
Weeks later Burberry highlighted the PPE it had donated in an update to investors: Our trench coat factory in Castleford is now manufacturing non-surgical gowns and supplying them to the UK National Health Service.
We are also sourcing surgical masks through our supply chain and supplying them to the NHS and charities such as Marie Curie, which provides nursing care for families living with terminal illness in the UK. To date, we have donated more than 100,000 pieces of PPE.
The UK government has previously faced criticism over some of the contracts it has signed during the height of the pandemic.
Two weeks ago it was revealed that management consultants McKinsey had been paid more than half a million pounds for a less than month-long contract to provide a mission and vision for Englands new test and trace body.
An effort to allow duplexes on most California single-family lots died late Monday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
A bill that would have allowed for duplexes on most single-family lots in California passed the Assembly late Monday night, but died when the year's legislative session came to an end before the Senate could take it up for a vote.
After an initial attempt fell short of passage by three votes, the Assembly took a second look at Senate Bill 1120, passing it with a margin of 42 to 17, just one vote more than was needed and just three minutes before a midnight deadline to clear both houses.
But the bill did not reach the Senate with enough time for legislators to take it up, a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), the bill's author, confirmed.
SB 1120 wouldn't have outlawed single-family houses. But it would have required local governments to permit applications to convert a house into a duplex or to demolish a house and build two units, either as a duplex or two single-family houses.
Property owners could also have split their lot in two and built two more units, thus allowing four homes where there previously was just one.
The defeat marked the latest failure for a series of high-profile measures aimed at boosting density to ease a housing crisis most economists blame on a lack of supply that's caused people to bid up the cost of housing to find a place to live.
Among those efforts was Senate Bill 50 that would have allowed for mid-rise apartment buildings near transit and job centers.
It failed in January, leading Atkins to introduce SB 1120, which she said could increase supply, while respecting neighborhood character.
But like SB 50, it drew fierce opposition from community groups who said it was a developer giveaway that would ruin single-family neighborhoods, while producing mostly high-end housing that wouldn't help those most at need.
In South Los Angeles in particular, residents feared SB 1120 would unleash an investment flood that would accelerate gentrification. Some in the community saw it as an affront to how hard Black Americans fought to join single-family neighborhoods, battling redlining, racist covenants and even violence.
Story continues
SB 1120 passed the state Senate in June, 39 to 0, with one abstention, but still needed to pass the Assembly.
If it did, it would then need to come back to the Senate, because it was amended slightly.
As the clock ticked toward midnight, the bill was finally brought up on the Assembly floor. Among the supporters was Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), who spoke while holding her newborn baby after being denied the ability to vote by proxy amid the pandemic.
"I was actually in the middle of feeding my daughter when this bill came up," she said after arriving on the Assembly floor. "I just come down here in strong support of this bill, and urge my colleagues: It's the simplest way we can have density that still adheres to neighborhood character. "
Others urged a no vote. Some decried that the bill would limit local control; some said they may have supported the bill, but worried a major change to California neighborhoods was being rushed without time for proper debate and analysis.
"This is a major piece of public policy and we should be debating this not for 15 minutes, not for 30 minutes but for several hours," said Assemblyman Chad Mayes, a former Republican Assembly leader and now independent from Yucca Valley. "I still could support, maybe next year, but not this year, because we haven't had the time to properly debate it."
Ten minutes to midnight, the bill hit 38 votes, shy of the 41 needed to pass, and it was put aside.
A few minutes later, it was brought back and passed at 11:57 p.m.
It was on to the Senate, but it was too late.
Midnight passed without a vote in that house where Atkins, the bill's author, is Senate leader.
Photo: The Canadian Press A view of the central building of the Charite hospital where the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is being treated, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was the victim of an attack and poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, the German government said Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020 citing new test results. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the same type of Soviet-era nerve agent used in a 2018 attack on a former Russian spy, the German government said Wednesday, provoking outrage from Western leaders who demanded Moscow provide an explanation.
The findings which experts say point strongly to Russian state involvement added to tensions between Russia and the West. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Navalny's poisoning attempted murder, meant to silence one of Russian President Vladimir Putins fiercest critics.
The Berlin hospital treating the dissident said he remains on a ventilator though his condition is improving. It said it expects a long recovery and still cant rule out long-term effects on his health from the poisoning.
The German government said that testing by a German military laboratory showed proof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group. British authorities identified Novichok as the poison used on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England.
There are very serious questions now that only the Russian government can answer, and must answer, Merkel said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also called on Russia to explain what happened, calling the use of a chemical weapon outrageous. In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot tweeted that it was completely reprehensible.
We will work with allies and the international community to hold those in Russia accountable, wherever the evidence leads, Ullyot said.
The European Union also called for an investigation and its foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said any use of chemical weapons was "completely unacceptable and a breach of international law.
Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator, fell ill on a flight to Moscow on Aug. 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.
He was moved two days later to Berlins Charite hospital, where doctors last week said initial tests indicated Navalny had been poisoned.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the Russian ambassador was summoned to his ministry Wednesday after the latest findings.
Russian authorities appeared reluctant to comment on the poisoning, instead blaming Germany for not sharing its findings with Russian law enforcement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian authorities are ready and interested in full co-operation and exchange of information with Germany but added that Berlin still hasnt provided any official response to formal requests from the Russian prosecutor generals office and doctors who treated Navalny.
Peskov reiterated that Russian doctors didnt find any poisonous substances in Navalnys system. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova charged on state TV that Germany preferred public statements without providing any facts whatsoever to a thorough investigation.
The German government said it would inform its partners in the European Union and NATO about the test results and would consult them on a response. Germany also will contact the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Shortly after the test results were announced, the Charite hospital said that Navalny is still in intensive care but continues to improve.
Recovery is likely to be lengthy, it said in a statement. It is still too early to gauge the long-term effects, which may arise in relation to this severe poisoning.
Andrea Sella, a professor of inorganic chemistry at University College London, said Navalny's prognosis is hard to predict. He said that very swift action is needed to stabilize patients in poisoning cases and noted the significant delay, given that Navalny was initially cared for by Russian doctors who said they had ruled out poisoning.
The problem is that even if Mr Navalny were to survive there may be lingering long-term neurological issues, Sella said.
Navalnys allies in Russia have insisted he was deliberately poisoned by the countrys authorities, accusations that the Kremlin has rejected as empty noise.
To poison Navalny with Novichok in 2020 would be exactly the same as leaving an autograph at a crime scene, like this one, Navalnys longtime ally and strategist Leonid Volkov said in a tweet that featured a photo of Putin's name and a signature next to it.
It would not be the first time a prominent, outspoken Russian was targeted in such a way or the first time the Kremlin was accused of being behind it.
Navalny's allies have also accused Russian authorities of delaying his transfer out of the country after the poisoning. It took much wrangling and 48 hours to move Navalny to Berlin. Local doctors at the time said he was too unstable to be transported, and the Kremlin said it would defer to the physicians.
The Siberian medical team relented only after a charity that had organized a medevac plane revealed that German doctors who examined the politician said he was stable enough to be moved.
The reversal came as international pressure on Moscow mounted substantially.
The system has long lost its ability to operate in an optimal way. It had to choose between the scandal related to Navalnys (possible) death in Omsk and the risk of the poisoning being discovered by German doctors, political analyst Abbas Gallyamov said.
Novichok is a class of military-grade nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Western weapons experts believe it was only ever manufactured in Russia. After the Skripals were poisoned, Russia said the U.S., Britain and other Western countries had acquired the expertise to make the nerve agent and that the Novichok used in that attack could have come from them.
Several Russian lawmakers have said Russia isnt manufacturing Novichok-type agents.
Unless you are working for the military, it is impossible to be accidentally exposed," Richard Parsons, a senior lecturer in biochemical toxicology at King's College London, said. "It is unavailable from anywhere except the Russian military as far as I am aware.
Britain charged two Russians alleged to be agents of the Russian military intelligence service GRU in absentia with the 2018 attack that left the Skripals in critical condition and killed a British woman. Russia has refused to extradite the men to the U.K.
The EU's foreign policy chief held talks with Libya's UN recognised government on Tuesday to push for renewed efforts to resolve the country's long-running conflict.
Josep Borrell met the head of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, whose administration recently announced a truce after months of hostilities with troops loyal to eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar.
"#Libya remains top priority for EU. We welcome recent ceasefire understanding, and continue to support dialogue and Libyan-led political resolution to conflict," Borrell tweeted after the meeting.
Haftar launched an offensive to seize Tripoli in April 2019, but was beaten back this year by Turkish-backed pro-GNA forces. Fighting has stalled around the central Mediterranean port of Sirte, the gateway to Libya's eastern oil fields and export terminals.
The GNA and Aguila Saleh, speaker of the eastern-based parliament that partly backs Haftar, in late August made separate announcements that they would cease all hostilities and hold nationwide elections, drawing praise from world powers.
"EU strongly supports Berlin process, mediation efforts and deescalation measures, including arms embargo - key elements to bring Libyan conflict to an end," Borrell tweeted.
He was referring to a January summit in the German capital where the main countries involved in the Libyan conflict agreed to respect an arms embargo and to stop interfering in Libya's domestic affairs.
Borrell said he had also discussed ways "to advance (the) political process", revive joint military talks between the two sides and to lift an oil blockade imposed since January by pro-Haftar groups demanding a fair share of hydrocarbon revenues.
Sarraj also met with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio. By - (AFP)
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, who also met with Sarraj on Tuesday, said Italy supported the ceasefire and that foreign interference "must stop".
According to comments released after the meeting, Di Maio called Libya "a crucial crossroads for building a new model" of development in the Mediterranean, while Sarraj voiced interest in Italian firms investing "to support Libya's development and growth".
Di Maio previously met with Sarraj in late June, promising that a Mediterranean naval operation to enforce the arms embargo would be effective.
EU diplomat Borrell later on Tuesday met the head of the National Oil Corporation Mustafa Sanalla, and tweeted that they had discussed the "need to ensure that oil production can resume, for the benefit of all Libyans and for the unity and prosperity of #Libya."
Haftar last month authorised a partial lifting of the months-long blockade of oil terminals to help ease power cuts in the east, according to a military official loyal to him.
The north African country, which sits on the continent's biggest crude reserves, has been mired in a complex web of conflicts since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and later killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
Haftar is supported by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates as well as Russia, while the GNA is backed by Turkey and Qatar.
The lawyer representing the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by police when officers executed a no-knock warrant on her apartment in March, said Tuesday that he does not believe his client, Kenneth Walker, fired the shot that injured one officer during the incident.
Walker, 28, is suing the city of Louisville as well as Louisville Metro Police for assault, battery, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process and negligence.
We know police are firing wildly from various angles, Walkers attorney Steve Romines told the Louisville Courier Journal. The timeline and evidence at the scene is more indicative of [police] actually shooting Mattingly than it is Kenny Walker.
Officers claimed they announced themselves when they entered Taylors apartment searching for illegal drugs and said they were immediately met by gunfire from Walker. A wrongful death lawsuit levied by Taylors family said that Walker, a registered gun owner, thought an intruder was breaking into the apartment. Walker fired what he called a warning shot with his gun, for which he has a Kentucky conceal-carry permit. Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was shot in the femoral artery as police exchanged gunfire with Walker.
Louisville has since banned no-knock warrants, the type that was issued for Taylors residence. The warrant was issued because police suspected that a man connected to a drug ring was receiving packages containing drugs at Taylors apartment.
Kenny continues to reel from the death of the love of his life, but he is also the victim and survivor of police misconduct misconduct that threatens his freedom to this day, states Walkers civil lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Jefferson County District Court.
The conduct of the officers is being investigated by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and the FBI.
Taylors name became known nationally during the protests against police brutality and racism that erupted after the police custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
More from National Review
The solid rocket booster roared to life Wednesday on a test stand in Promontory, Utah, guzzling 6 tons of propellant each second for 126 seconds and generating more thrust than 14 four-engine commercial airliners.
The duration of the test, just over two minutes, is how long the booster will ignite when launching astronauts to the moon.
It is really impressive to see a rocket that large fire off into the desert, Bruce Tiller, manager of the Space Launch System boosters office at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center, said during a news conference.
On HoustonChronicle.com: Blue Origin-led lunar lander arrives in Houston
NASA and Northrop Grumman Corp., the boosters prime contractor, conducted a full-scale rocket booster test Wednesday. This booster is part of the Space Launch System rocket NASA is developing to create a sustainable lunar presence.
Each launch of the rocket requires two boosters. The rockets first launch, propelling an uncrewed Orion capsule in the Artemis I mission, is slated for next year and its boosters are currently being assembled in Florida. Artemis II, the first crewed mission, is scheduled by 2023. Then the Artemis III mission would return humans to the moon in 2024.
The Orion spacecraft for Artemis I recently completed an important review and has been approved for flight, NASA said on Tuesday.
A variety of booster tests have already been completed for the first three missions. Wednesdays static fire was to test and evaluate new propellant ingredients and a nozzle design that could be used for deep space missions beyond Artemis III.
On launch day, the 177-foot-long solid rocket booster will stand taller than the Statue of Liberty. Its five motor segments will be filled with a propellant that has the consistency of a pencil eraser. Of the boosters 1.6 million pounds, this propellant accounts for 1.5 million pounds.
These boosters will be attached to the rockets core stage thats being built by Boeing. Together, the two boosters and core stage (which is powered by four of Aerojet Rocketdynes RS-25 engines) will produce 8 million pounds of thrust. The two solid rocket boosters produce more than 75 percent of this thrust during the first two minutes of ascent.
Ultimately, NASA is working to land the first woman and next man on the moon in 2024, though many consider this an aggressive timeline. In a blog post last week, NASAs head of human spaceflight Kathy Lueders said the uncrewed Artemis I mission could launch by November 2021 three years behind schedule.
On HoustonChronicle.com: NASA OIG: Tell Congress that moon rocket is over budget and behind schedule
About the booster Two solid rocket boosters will help propel NASA's Space Launch System rocket. Each booster is: Length: 177 feet Diameter: 12 feet Weight: 1.6 million pounds Propellant: polybutadiene acrylonitrile (PBAN) Thrust: 3.6 million pounds Source: NASA See More Collapse
Lueders also said the rockets development costs through the Artemis I mission increased to $9.1 billion, 30 percent more than the $7.02 billion development baseline cost set in 2014 when NASA was targeting November 2018 for the rockets first launch. A 30 percent increase in development costs requires NASA to notify Congress and not spend additional money beyond 18 months unless the program is reauthorized by law and the agency creates a new baseline for the programs scope, expected costs and schedule commitments, according to the agencys Office of Inspector General.
In her blog post, Lueders said Congress had been notified of the new cost and schedule commitments. She said NASAs assessment occurred prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she remains confident a November 2021 date is achievable.
Tiller was impressed that Northrop Grumman continued manufacturing and organized this test during the pandemic.
To pull it off now after 6 months of what weve been through is very impressive, he said, and NASA is very appreciative of that effort.
andrea.leinfelder@chron.com
twitter.com/a_leinfelder
Chattanooga Area Food Bank announced Wednesday it received a $60,000 donation from Publix Super Markets Charities to support the Food Banks School Mobile Pantry Program and emergency hunger relief in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The Food Bank serves 20 counties across Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia where nearly 200,000 people overall could face food insecurity as a result of the pandemic.
Officials said, "Publix Charities is a long-time supporter of the School Mobile Pantry Program that provides monthly distributions during the school year of needed, nutritious food to families facing hunger. The Food Bank is working closely with schools to ensure programs like School Mobile Pantries continue regardless of changes to school schedules. The donation will help serve the one in five people overall, including one in four children, expected to be affected by the economic impact of COVID-19. Publix Charities has given a total of $674,923 to Chattanooga Area Food Bank since 2008."
It is a fitting way to kick off Hunger Action Month by hosting Publix which is an inspiring example of how action can help fight hunger, said Food Bank Interim President & CEO Mark Hilling. Publix supports our efforts to fight hunger year-round through financial and food donations, giving hope to people across our 20-county service area who are facing hunger.
Officials said, "Additionally, as the impact of the pandemic took shape, many produce and dairy farmers around the Southeast saw their buying partners dry up and found themselves dumping or plowing over product they could no longer sell. Meanwhile, food banks throughout the region were experiencing substantial increases in need. To bridge the gap, Publix implemented a program to purchase surplus produce and milk from farmers and deliver it directly to food banks. Since then, Publix has purchased and delivered more than 11 million pounds of produce and 500,000 gallons of milk to Feeding America member food banks throughout the Southeast, including 284,949 million pounds of produce and 7,920 gallons of milk to Chattanooga Area Food Bank."
It has been our privilege to support hunger relief throughout the Southeast for many years now, and this work has never been more important, said Publix CEO Todd Jones. We are grateful for the opportunity to support Chattanooga Area Food Bank and to alleviate hunger in the communities we serve and bring hope to those who need it most during these uncertain times.
Anyone in need of food can visit chattfoodbank.org/hungry to find help close to where they live. Hamilton County residents may dial 211 or text their zip code to 898-211 to be connected with a voucher for an emergency food box.
The vertical lift module market is expected to grow by USD 758.22 million, accelerating at a CAGR of almost 11% during the forecast period. Download Free Sample Report
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200902005047/en/
Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Vertical Lift Module (VLM) Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)
Rising warehouse capacity addition in Europe is one of the major factors propelling market growth. However, the volatility in steel prices will hamper market growth.
The growth of the pharmaceutical and automobile industries has resulted in the expansion of warehouse facilities across Europe. Besides, technological advancements led by the growth of communication and information technology in many European countries have further increased the demand for warehouses in the region. This is encouraging vendors in the market to expand their warehouse facilities to cater to the growing demand. For instance, DACHSER, a prominent logistics and warehouse player in Europe, is making significant investments to expand its warehouse capacity across Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and France. Such expansion plans are increasing the need for warehouse material handling equipment such as vertical lift modules. Therefore, the rising warehouse capacity addition in Europe is expected to drive the growth of the global vertical lift module market during the forecast period.
More details: Report Page Link
Global Vertical Lift Module Market: Application Landscape
Based on the application, the automotive segment is going to see lucrative growth during the forecast period. The segment is mainly driven by the rising production of automobiles across the world. Besides, the increasing popularity of electric vehicles in countries such as the US, China, and Japan is contributing to the growth of the segment.
Global Vertical Lift Module Market: Geographic Landscape
By geography, APAC is going to witness lucrative growth during the forecast period due to the increasing adoption of automation across various industries in the region. Also, the rising FDI in the manufacturing sector is expected to drive the growth of the vertical lift module market in APAC during the forecast period.
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Companies Covered
Automha SPA
Bastian Solutions LLC
Daifuku Co. Ltd.
EffiMat Storage Technology AS
Ferretto Group Spa
Gonvarri Material Handling AS
Hanel GmbH Co. Kg.
Interlake Mecalux Inc.
Kardex AG
Modula Inc.
SencorpWhite Inc.
SSI SCHAEFER Group
Stanley Black Decker Inc.
Weland AB
What our reports offer:
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Covers market data for 2018, 2019, 2020, till 2024
Market trends (drivers, opportunities, threats, challenges, investment opportunities, and recommendations)
Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations
Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends
Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments
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Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Technavio's in-depth research has direct and indirect COVID-19 impacted market research reports.
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Key Topics Covered:
Executive Summary
Market Landscape
Market ecosystem
Value chain analysis
Market Sizing
Market definition
Market segment analysis
Market size 2019
Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024
Five Forces Analysis
Five forces summary
Bargaining power of buyers
Bargaining power of suppliers
Threat of new entrants
Threat of substitutes
Threat of rivalry
Market condition
Market Segmentation by Application
Market segments
Comparison by Application
Automotive Market size and forecast 2019-2024
Food and beverage Market size and forecast 2019-2024
Retail Market size and forecast 2019-2024
Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024
Market opportunity by Application
Customer landscape
Geographic Landscape
Geographic segmentation
Geographic comparison
Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024
APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024
North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024
South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024
MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024
Key leading countries
Market opportunity by geography
Market drivers Demand led growth
Market challenges
Market trends
Vendor Landscape
Vendor landscape
Landscape disruption
Vendor Analysis
Vendors covered
Market positioning of vendors
Automha SPA
Bastian Solutions LLC
Daifuku Co. Ltd.
EffiMat Storage Technology AS
Ferretto Group Spa
Gonvarri Material Handling AS
Hanel GmbH Co. Kg.
Interlake Mecalux Inc.
Kardex AG
Modula Inc.
SencorpWhite Inc.
SSI SCHAEFER Group
Stanley Black Decker Inc.
Weland AB
Appendix
Scope of the report
Currency conversion rates for US$
Research methodology
List of abbreviations
For more information about this report visit https://www.technavio.com/report/vertical-lift-module-market-industry-analysis
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Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - After a 48-hour lull, Senegal has returned to the gruesome death toll of coronavirus victims with three new deaths, the Ministry of Health and Social Action announced on Wednesday during its daily briefing on the disease
Sanford, Avera health officials say pandemic is at 'whole new level'
Officials said Avera is seeing record positive tests as well as positivity rates, resulting in challenges to both staffing and patient care.
"For nearly six years, Canadians serving in uniform or chipping in at home played a vital role in achieving a hard-won peace," said Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence. "The Royal Canadian Mint's circulation coin issued on the 75 th anniversary of the end of the Second World War is a fitting tribute to their legacy of bravery, of service, and of tremendous sacrifice. They have our enduring thanks, and I hope we can all live up to that legacy as this coin changes hands from one generation to the next."
"The Royal Canadian Mint's tradition of honouring our troops through coins goes all the way back to 1943, when Chief Engraver Thomas Shingles created the first Victory Nickel that called on all Canadians to work together to win the Second World War," said Marie Lemay, the Mint's President and CEO. "Today, that inspirational message has found a new home on a special $2 commemorative circulation coin that is a proud 75th anniversary salute to every Canadian who played a role in ending this historic conflict."
The $2 circulation coin commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War is inspired by the 1943-45 Victory Nickels designed by Thomas Shingles. The "V" for Victory on the inner core of the new toonie was, at the time, a rallying call to support the war effort from coast to coast to coast. The letter is overlaid with a flaming torch and flanked by maple leaves over the dates 1945 and 2020.
The words VICTORY and VICTOIRE appear on the outer ring, as does a message engraved in Morse code. "We win when we work willingly" and "La bonne volonte est gage de victoire" first appeared on wartime Victory Nickels. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, designed by Canadian artist Susanna Blunt in 2003.
Limited to a mintage of three million coins, two million will feature colour. The new $2 coin is now entering general circulation. Canadians will find it in their change as bank branches and businesses replenish their inventories of $2 coins.
Veterans of the Second World War, residing at the Perley and Rideau Veterans' Health Centre in Ottawa, also shared their thoughts on the 75th anniversary of the end of hostilities:
Betty Bell (Royal Canadian Air Force, Women's Division, Air Woman Grade 1)
"I was in London, England, when victory was declared and the city erupted in one huge celebration. The crowd danced and sang in the streets of Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square. Servicemen were sitting on top of lamp posts above the cheering crowd. Victory had been won at a price, but now Europe was free and the lights were on again. No more blackout, no more bombs."
John A. Commerford (Canadian Army, Artillery Gunner)
"I felt a great sense of relief and appreciation for still being alive."
Carl Reiser (Royal Canadian Air Force, Flying Officer)
"I was happy to be going home."
The Mint is adding to this historic commemoration by offering related collector products. There are 15,000 coloured and 5,000 uncoloured limited-edition special wrap rolls of 25 uncirculated coins each, retailing for $79.95. Customers may also purchase a collector keepsake set featuring both versions of the commemorative circulation coin, packaged with uncirculated versions of our 2020 classic circulation coins (5-cent to $1). It retails for $22.95 and its mintage is set at 100,000.
These collectibles may be ordered as of today by contacting the Mint at 1-800-267-1871 in Canada, 1-800-268-6468 in the US, or online at www.mint.ca/victory.They are also available at the Royal Canadian Mint's Winnipeg boutique, as well as through the Mint's global network of dealers and distributors, including participating Canada Post outlets.
About the Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada's circulation coins. The Mint is one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca. Follow the Mint on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Images of the circulation coin and collector products are available here.
SOURCE Royal Canadian Mint
Related Links
https://www.mint.ca/
An internet imagery.
NEW DELHI (PTI): The Indian and Russian navies will hold a mega military exercise in the Bay of Bengal on September 4 and 5 to further bolster their operational interoperability in dealing with emerging security challenges, official sources have said.
As part of the Indra Navy exercise, a plethora of maritime drills such as gun firing on surface and aerial targets, tracking exercises and replenishment at sea approaches are planned, they said on Tuesday.
The exercise is taking place at a time when India is engaged in a bitter border row with China in Eastern Ladakh.
The Indian Navy has significantly expanded its presence in the Indian Ocean Region, deploying a plethora of warships and submarines following the border row to send across a message to Beijing as the maritime space around the Malacca Strait is very critical for China's supply chain through sea routes.
In July, the Indian Navy carried out a military exercise with a US Navy carrier strike group led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz off the coast of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The USS Nimitz is the world's largest warship.
The Indra exercise was earlier planned in Vladivostok in Russia but was postponed due to the corona virus pandemic.
Russian Navy ships Admiral Vinogradov, Admiral Tributs and Boris Butoma along with a fleet of helicopters will be part of the exercise, the sources said.
The Indian Navy will deploy Ranvijay (destroyer), Sahyadri (frigate) and Kiltan (corvette) and Shakti (tanker) with integrated helicopters, they said.
The sources said the exercise will be non-contact and at sea only passage exercise.
"The exercise will once again showcase the level of friendship, trust and interoperability between Indian Navy and the Russian Navy," said a source.
The Russian naval fleet is visiting the port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka from August 31 to September 3.
India-Russia Indra exercises among the armies, navies and air forces of the two countries have been taking place since 2005.
In the exercise with the US Navy in July, four frontline warships of the Indian Navy participated. The US carrier strike group was transiting through the Indian Ocean Region on its way from the South China Sea.
The US Navy carrier strike group comprises USS Nimitz, Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett and USS Ralph Johnson.
The Indian Navy carried out similar exercises with the Japanese navy in June.
North Adams Schools Use $1M in Grants to Prepare for School Year
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The North Adams Public Schools has received more than $1 million grants to aid it in shifting to remote learning or, later on, a hybrid model of learning.
The grants will fund a range of technology and support materials as well as a coordinator of digital learning and instructional technology.
"North Adams was recently the recipient of a rather large remote-learning grant that has allowed us to really think about how we would utilize that those funds to support our teachers this year, knowing that we will be highly dependent on remote learning, whether it's hybrid or fully remote," Superintendent Barbara Malkas told the committee on Tuesday, adding that the grant also allowed the school system to bring back all the teaching assistants that had been reduced because of the level-fund budget.
Business Administrator Carrie Burnett said the grants totaled $1,013,392. The major grants included:
Remote Learning Technology Essentials grant for $61,293 to purchase Chromebooks and hotspots.
Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief of $491,049
Coronavirus Relief Fund school reopening grant for $304,425, which was used to bring back all the TAs.
The total grants, including from the city's Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, are funding support for video for remot instruction on the Canvas online learning platform; webcams for Zoom and Google Meet sessions for conferencing; short-throw projectors for remote learning and to ensure social distancing within classrooms; the use of Zonar Systems, a bus tracking software; insulated food bags for serving in the classrooms; device carts, dashboard management, warranties, licenses, Chromebooks, internet and broadband upgrades; and cloud-based services.
"This has allowed us to officially be a one-to-one device district," Burnett said.
"I just want to acknowledge the incredible work of Dr. Kimberly Roberts Morandi, Miss Kimberlee Chappell, and Ms. Carrie Burnett," said Malkas, also adding in Thomas Simon, director of student support services. "We were getting grant RFPs very, very quickly, and many other districts chose not to even pursue some of the competitive grants, because they felt that they just didn't have the bandwidth to do this. ...
"I really want to acknowledge their work and their contributions because they have really allowed us to be in a place where we feel very confident in providing a really safe, as well as appropriate supported education, as we go into the 2020-2021 school year."
The school year began on Monday for staff and faculty, as teachers began professional development for the remote-learning model that begins on Sept. 15 for all students. The state Department of Education has allowed schools to reduce the number of required school days from 180 to 170 if those 10 days are used for teacher professional development and preparation.
Vice Chairwoman Heather Boulger asked what the timeline was for transitioning from remote to hybrid having students at least part time in the classroom.
"We voted at the last meeting to start the school remotely, but we neglected to have a timeline associated with that," she said. "And I was wondering what that timeline is. I know that there's lots of parents and teachers and community people that are very anxious to get things started."
Mayor Thomas Bernard, chairman, said the negotiations subcommittee is currently in talks with the North Adams Teachers Association on that issue.
"I know that everybody's impatient, everybody's got a lot to balance, and I know we're doing this as other districts are, trying to be respectful of all constituencies," he said.
Boulger said she was wanted to make sure that parents were fully informed of the process and that any agreements be communicated as quickly as possible.
"I just wanted to say that I know that everybody's working really, really hard," she said. "So as soon as we can get that information out to the public that would be greatly appreciated."
School districts around the state have been separately negotiating with teachers on how instruction will be delivered. The position of a coalition of school workers that includes the Massachusetts Teachers Association is that health concerns should take priority in any reopening plans including such issues as sanitation, ventilation, and rapid testing.
About a third of teachers in the North Adams Public Schools have opted to work completely remotely.
"As of right now our percentage for teachers who have been asked to be completely remote is 32.6 percent of our teachers," Malkas told the committee. "However, I have recently received another two requests that are being processed so that percentage would actually be closer to 33."
DALLAS, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Among playwright Mark Oristano's earliest childhood memories is a photograph in his grandmother's New York apartment. It was of Albert Einstein, inscribed to his grandfather, Herbert Maass, Sr., thanking him for everything he had done.
Albert Einstein, (l) and Herbert Maass, (2nd from rt) at groundbreaking for the Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, NJ, 1939.
"My grandfather was a top Wall Street lawyer from the 20's through the 50's. But it wasn't until long after he was gone that I learned he had been instrumental in both bringing Einstein out of Nazi Germany to the U.S., and building the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, where Einstein spent the last part of his career."
Having read a few of the thousands of books on Einstein, Oristano said he was struck by an idea.
"I always thought it amazing that we had this genius of geniuses in America, but he was not involved in the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. He was, however, longtime friends with the project director, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer. So, in 'what if' playwright mode, I wondered what would happen if Einstein wangled an invitation in March of 1945 to Los Alamos, New Mexico, and spent a day trying to convince Oppenheimer to make sure the bomb was a dud."
The result, The Impact of the Gadget on Civilization, will be shown in online streaming form, produced by Dallas theater company IMPRINT Theatreworks. The streaming schedule runs from September 17th through the 26th, at 8pm US Central time each night. Tickets are available at www.imprinttheatreworks.org.
An ensemble-driven company, IMPRINT Theatreworks dedicate each of their seasons to providing unique and thought-provoking theatre while uniting and engaging the community. IMPRINT remains committed to providing a safe space for artists to work together to create, with intention toward inclusivity and collaboration. We promise to not allow hate to define this critical moment.
WWW.IMPRINTTHEATREWORKS.ORG
Contact: Ashley White
[email protected]
646-932-7555
SOURCE Mark Oristano
Related Links
http://www.imprinttheatreworks.org
KABUL -- Afghan officials say the government is dispatching a delegation to Qatar ahead of long-delayed peace talks after authorities pressed ahead with the release of Taliban prisoners.
Kabul broke an impasse with the Taliban this week by resuming a prisoner exchange, a key hurdle in the launch of negotiations in the Qatari capital, Doha, where the militant group has a political office.
A government source told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that all of the remaining Taliban in custody will be released on September 2.
"All obstacles have been removed," Firdon Khawzon, a spokesman for Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation, the body leading the peace process, told AFP. "The prisoners' exchange will be completed soon."
Speaking to Reuters, Khawzon said that a government-mandated negotiation team will leave for Doha on September 3.
Najia Anwari, a spokeswoman for the State Ministry for Peace Affairs, said that a "small technical team" had been sent for Doha "for logistical preparations."
Kabul's team of negotiators will also leave for Qatar "very soon," Anwari said.
Officials were quoted as saying Kabul had released some 200 Taliban inmates since September 1 to spur the start of long-delayed peace negotiations.
The fate of a group of 400 "hardcore" Taliban prisoners has stalled peace negotiations between the government in Kabul and the Taliban to end nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan.
The Taliban has blamed Kabul for delaying the talks and said they are willing to begin peace talks "within a week" of the prisoner exchange being completed.
The negotiations are part of an agreement reached between the militants and the United States in February in an effort to end the Afghan conflict.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
Scientists at UC San Diego have discovered a new anode material that enables lithium-ion batteries to be safely recharged within minutes for thousands of cycles. Known as a disordered rocksalt, the new anode is made up of earth-abundant lithium, vanadium and oxygen atoms arranged in a similar way as ordinary kitchen table salt, but randomly. It is promising for commercial applications where both high energy density and high power are desired, such as electric cars, vacuum cleaners or drills.
The study, jointly led by nanoengineers in the labs of Professors Ping Liu and Shyue Ping Ong, was published in Nature on September 2.
Currently, two materials are used as anodes in most commercially available lithium-ion batteries that power items like cell phones, laptops and electric vehicles. The most common, a graphite anode, is extremely energy dense--a lithium ion battery with a graphite anode can power a car for hundreds of miles without needing to be recharged. However, recharging a graphite anode too quickly can result in fire and explosions due to a process called lithium metal plating. A safer alternative, the lithium titanate anode, can be recharged rapidly but results in a significant decrease in energy density, which means the battery needs to be recharged more frequently.
This new disordered rocksalt anode--Li3V2O5 --sits in an important middle ground: it is safer to use than graphite, yet offers a battery with at least 71% more energy than lithium titanate.
"The capacity and energy will be a little bit lower than graphite, but it's faster, safer and has a longer life. It has a much lower voltage and therefore much improved energy density over current commercialized fast charging lithium-titanate anodes," said Haodong Liu, a postdoctoral scholar in Professor Ping Liu's lab and first author of the paper. "So with this material we can make fast-charging, safe batteries with a long life, without sacrificing too much energy density."
The researchers formed a company called Tyfast in order to commercialize this discovery. The startup's first markets will be electric buses and power tools, since the characteristics of the Li3V2O5 disordered rocksalt make it ideal for use in devices where recharging can be easily scheduled.
Researchers in Professor Liu's lab plan to continue developing this lithium-vanadium oxide anode material, while also optimizing other battery components to develop a commercially viable full cell.
"For a long time, the battery community has been looking for an anode material operating at a potential just above graphite to enable safe, fast charging lithium-ion batteries. This material fills an important knowledge and application gap," said Ping Liu. "We are excited for its commercial potential since the material can be a drop-in solution for today's lithium-ion battery manufacturing process."
Why try this material?
Researchers first experimented with disordered rocksalt as a battery cathode six years ago. Since then, much work has been done to turn the material into an efficient cathode. Haodong Liu said the UC San Diego team decided to test the material as an anode based on a hunch.
"When people use it as a cathode they have to discharge the material to 1.5 volts," he said. "But when we looked at the structure of the cathode material at 1.5 volts, we thought this material has a special structure that may be able to host more lithium ions--that means it can go to even lower voltage to work as an anode."
In the study, the team found that their disordered rocksalt anode could reversibly cycle two lithium ions at an average voltage of 0.6 V--higher than the 0.1 V of graphite, eliminating lithium metal plating at a high charge rate which makes the battery safer, but lower than the 1.5 V at which lithium-titanate intercalates lithium, and therefore storing much more energy.
The researchers showed that the Li3V2O5 anode can be cycled for over 6,000 cycles with negligible capacity decay, and can charge and discharge energy rapidly, delivering over 40 percent of its capacity in 20 seconds. The low voltage and high rate of energy transfer are due to a unique redistributive lithium intercalation mechanism with low energy barriers.
Postdoctoral scholar Zhuoying Zhu, from Professor Shyue Ping Ong's Materials Virtual Lab, performed theoretical calculations to understand why the disordered rocksalt Li3V2O5 anode works as well as it does.
"We discovered that Li3V2O5 operates via a charging mechanism that is different from other electrode materials. The lithium ions rearrange themselves in a way that results in both low voltage as well as fast lithium diffusion," said Zhuoying Zhu.
"We believe there are other electrode materials waiting to be discovered that operate on a similar mechanism," added Ong.
The experimental studies at UC San Diego were funded by awards from the UC San Diego startup fund to Ping Liu, while the theoretical studies were funded by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation's Data Infrastructure Building Blocks (DIBBS) Local Spectroscopy Data Infrastructure program, and used resources at the San Diego Supercomputer Center provided under the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE).
###
The team also collaborated with researchers at Oak Ridge National Lab, who used neutron diffraction to determine the atomic structure of the Li3V2O5 material. Researchers at UC Irvine and Brookhaven National Lab led by Professor Huolin Xin performed high resolution microscopic studies to resolve the structural changes after lithium insertion. Finally, the teams at Argonne National Lab led by Jun Lu, and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, conducted X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption studies to reveal the crystal structural change and charge compensation mechanisms of the material during (de)lithiation. This study used national lab facilities including the beamline VULCAN (Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Lab), beamline 17-BM (Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Lab), beamline 5.3.1 (Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab).
Paper Title: "A disordered rock salt anode for fast-charging lithium-ion batteries." Co-authors include Haodong Liu, Zhuoying Zhu, Qizhang Yan, Sicen Yu, Yiming Chen, Yejing Li, Xing Xing, Yoonjung Choi, Shyue Ping Ong and Ping Liu, UC San Diego; Xin He, Jun Feng, Robert Kostecki, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Yan Chen, Ke An, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Rui Zhang, Huolin L. Xin, University of California; Lu Ma, Ruoqian Lin, Brookhaven National Laboratory; Tongchao Liu, Matthew Li, Khalil Amine, Tianpin Wu, Jun Lu, Argonne National Laboratory; Lucy Gao, Del Norte High School; Helen Sung-yun Cho, Canyon Crest Academy.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Libya, Stephanie Williams, on Wednesday called for the resumption of the political process in Libya before the fragile opportunity created by the informal cessation of hostilities is lost
When President Donald Trump visited Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday to survey the damage caused by violent protests, at least one local store's owners said they had no interest in meeting with the president.
"I said no, thank you," Paul Willette told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Willette is co-owner of Rode's Camera Shop, which opened more than 100 years ago before being destroyed in a fire caused by rioters. "I didn't want anything to do with President Trump."
"If it were any other president I would, but not this one. I can't begin to describe my frustration with him. I politely declined coming down there. I didn't want to be part of that fiasco."
Rode's Camera Shop first opened in 1911. Longtime employees Willette and Tom Gram bought the store from their employer, John Rode, in 2011.
Gram, who worked in the shop for more than 40 years before buying it, told WTMJ the White House called him Monday to see if he would join the president to discuss the damage caused to his store. Gram said he immediately refused.
Trump in Kenosha: Trump claims credit for bringing calm to Kenosha in visit criticized as politicizing unrest
I think everything he does turns into a circus and I just didnt want to be involved in it, Gram told the Milwaukee station.
The violent demonstrations broke out in Kenosha after a police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, multiple times in the back in August, leaving him paralyzed.
President Trump talks to reporters in front of the burned out remains of B & L Office Furniture in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Sept. 1, 2020.
Gram was surprised to see on TV that Trump was instead joined by Rode, the store's former owner, who still owns the property. Rode was very supportive of the president.
"John Rode III, owner of Rode's Camera Shop," Trump said, introducing the previous owner during a roundtable discussion in Kenosha. "We're going to help you. That's a very, very complete rebuild we're talking about down there."
Trump said the business might have been spared if Wisconsin's Democratic Gov. Tony Evers had called in the National Guard sooner, repeating a claim he made throughout his visit to the town.
Story continues
But it was Evers who activated the states National Guard on Aug. 24, which was the same day Rode's Camera Shop was burned and a day after Blake was shot. Three days later, Evers asked for help from Arizona, Michigan and Alabama, which sent Guard troops.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump and Rode stood outside a burned out storefront, which the Sentinel Journal reported was B&L Office Furniture, a store that was also torched by protesters. The furniture store is located a few streets over from Rode's Camera.
"This store was here 109 years. Just about the oldest in the nation, doing what you do," Trump told Rode.
"I just appreciate President Trump coming today; everybody here does," Rode said. "Were so thankful that we got the federal troops in to help because once they got here, things did calm down quite a bit. And our city police and sheriff and fire departments are awesome. They worked harder than you can believe, 24/7."
Trump claimed that if federal support had been called in a "day earlier, we wouldve saved your store."
"Were going to work with you. Were going to help you," Trump told Rode. "Well help you rebuild. Its a great area. Its a great state. This should never happen. A thing like this should never happen. They have to call early."
In addition to Rode, Trump was joined at the roundtable by Scott and Linda Carpenter, owners of B&L Office Furniture, Kimberly Warner, owner of the Authentique Gifts and RePourd Candle Factory, and Riki Tagliapietra, who said he was representing two downtown businesses that were vandalized.
Like Rode, Warner praised the president and offered him "great thanks for saving our town."
'They miss a 3-foot putt': Trump tells Ingraham some officers 'choke' during shootings
Gram told WTMJ he was disappointed to see Rode's views portrayed as those of current ownership.
He said Trump needs to "bring this country together rather than divide it."
"I think theres a lot of good people in this community and to say that only law enforcement is correct is not the message we need to hear right now," Gram said.
After the store was destroyed, Gram and Willette told the Kenosha News they were devastated by the loss of the business.
"This was just a building, but peoples memories were inside. Thats what is killing me," Willette said.
"A woman had just come in Monday and brought in a photo of her grandparents in elementary school, wanting it to be restored. I left it on my desk," he added. "Now its all gone. Our customers lost family memories."
"We understand the protests," Gram told the Kenosha News. "but why destroy these businesses?"
Contributing: Courtney Subramanian and David Jackson
Trump unmasked: President goes maskless in Kenosha, and urges others to do so despite COVID-19 order
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump in Kenosha: Owners of destroyed store refused to meet Trump
Stranded assets
A few dots near the bottom corner of the world map in the southern Atlantic, the Falkland Islands were once at the forefront of a new era for the oil industry as companies scoured the planet for resources.
Yet a decade after the discovery of as much as 1.7 billion barrels of crude in surrounding waters, the British overseas territory known for sheep rearing and tension with Argentina looks as remote as ever. Rather than the next frontier, the project to extract energy risks being added to a list of what companies call stranded assets that could cost them huge sums to mothball.
As the coronavirus ravages economies and cripples demand, European oil majors have made some uncomfortable admissions in recent months: oil and gas worth billions of dollars might never be pumped out of the ground.
With the crisis also hastening a global shift to cleaner energy, fossil fuels will likely be cheaper than expected in the coming decades, while emitting the carbon they contain will get more expensive. These two simple assumptions mean that tapping some fields no longer makes economic sense. BP Plc said on Aug. 4 that it would no longer do any exploration in new countries.
The oil industry was already grappling with the energy transition, copious supply and signs of peak demand as Covid-19 began to spread. The pandemic will likely bring forward that peak and discourage exploration, according to Rystad Energy AS. The consultant expects about 10% of the worlds recoverable oil resourcessome 125 billion barrelsto become obsolete.
There will be stranded assets, said Muqsit Ashraf, senior managing director responsible for the global energy industry at Accenture Plc. Companies are going to have to accept the fact.
The Sea Lion that cannot roar
The Sea Lion project in the Falklands promised to be a world-class resource when Rockhopper Exploration Plc found the field in 2010. Hundreds of millions of dollars later and after enduring a flare up between Argentina and Britain over the legality of the project, the first phase still hasnt brought any oil to market.
Premier Oil Plc, Rockhoppers partner, suspended work on Sea Lion earlier this year, and on July 15 wrote off $200 million of investment because later phases looked unlikely to happen.
Larger companies have also begun voicing that realization for other projects. BP said in June it would evaluate its portfolio of discoveries and leave some undeveloped. Chief of Staff Dominic Emery already hinted last year at what kind of resources might never see the light of day. Complicated projects could be shelved in favor of fields that are quicker to develop, such as U.S. shale, he said.
The pressure to curb emissions may also prompt companies to leave the most carbon-intensive reserves in the ground, as Frances Total SE acknowledged last month when it took an $8 billion writedown on carbon-heavy assets.
The list of projects most at risk includes deepwater discoveries off Brazil, Angola and in the Gulf of Mexico, said Parul Chopra, vice president for upstream research at Rystad. Canadian oil-sands projects such as the expansion of the Sunrise development in Alberta are also in doubt, he said.
Sunset at Sunrise
The Sunrise deposit, a joint venture between BP and Husky Energy Inc., has an abundant supply of bitumenpotentially as much as 3.7 billion barrels. Extraction, though, is complicated. Most oil-sands projects resemble mining operations. The bitumen is dug out of the ground and processed into heavy crude, which must then be diluted with lighter hydrocarbons before it can be refined into fuel.
Sunrise is more complex and more costly. The deposit is too deep to be dug up, so instead its injected with steam to get the bitumen flowing into a well, from where it can be pumped to the surface.
Sunrise was meant to be built in three phases, ultimately producing more than 200,000 barrels of bitumen a day over 40 years. The first 60,000-barrel-a-day stage started in 2015, just as crude prices were slumping amid the first U.S. shale boom. Since March this year, output has shrunk to around 10,000 a day, net to Husky, amid plunging prices and restrictions on pipeline capacity.
Oil price milestones from 2008 to present:
June 2018: 165.76 USD/barrel (all-time high)
2011 to July 2014: Around 100-120 USD/barrel
From October 2014: Decreased to below 60 USD/barrel
January 2016: Decreased to below 40 USD/barrel
April 2020: Reduced to 11.26 USD/barrel
Currently: Around 40 USD/barrel Neither Husky, which runs the project, nor BP have disclosed a timeframe for the next stages of development. Theyll require crude prices well above current levels, suggesting an expansion isnt imminent, said Mike Coffin, an analyst at research group Carbon Tracker Initiative.
Beyond their economic viability, carbon-intensive oil sands also sit uncomfortably with BPs ambition to become a net-zero company by 2050. No new oil-sands projects fit in a world compliant with the Paris climate accord, according to Carbon Tracker.
Husky has said its long-term plans include the potential to expand Sunrise, but declined to estimate timing or the oil price required. A BP spokesman said the company is reviewing oil-sands projects.
Ultimately, with oil in abundance, doubts about the strength of long-term demand and pressure to eliminate the most carbon-intensive production, its a calculation that may become increasingly stacked against projects like Sunrise and Sea Lion.
Many assets are already stranded from an oil-price cycle perspective, said Christyan Malek, head of EMEA oil and gas research at JPMorgan Chase & Co. But when you then add the carbon curve, that takes a bigger chunk out.
Van Cuong
Photo credit: Matthew Horwood - Getty Images
From House Beautiful
IKEA is donating $2 million to help fund Governor Ralph Northam's initiative to help Virginia residents facing evictions due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The donation, which Virginia is matching, will go toward expanding legal services for those residents at risk of losing their homes.
"Our Commonwealth faced an eviction crisis before COVID-19 arrived in early March, and the ongoing global pandemic is making this problem even worse," Governor Northam told 13News Now. According to the Washington Post, Governor Northam said that more than a million Virginians have filed for unemployment because of lost jobs due to the pandemic, putting them at risk for eviction.
The IKEA U.S. Community Foundation's $2 million donation is the amount of money that the retailers' Virginia-based employees received in unemployment benefits when its two locations were closed at the start of the pandemic, the Washington Post reports. The Legal Services Corporation of Virginia will use IKEA's donation and the state's funds to hire 20 Legal Aid attorneys over the next two years, so that Virginia residents facing evection will have legal representation if they have to go to court.
We are appreciative of the ongoing support from the Commonwealth of Virginia, including the unemployment funds paid to our co-workers who were furloughed in the early weeks of the pandemic, IKEA Retail U.S. president Javier Quinones said, according to 13News Now. People are the heart of our business, and these unemployment benefits helped IKEA U.S. co-workers during a difficult time. We now have a better understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on our business, and weve decided to pay it forward to support the ongoing relief efforts in our local communities.
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Although shared enmity of Iran has largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians, Israel remains unpopular in much of the Arab world. The UAE has promoted the deal as a tool to force Israel into halting its contentious plan to annex parts of the West Bank sought by the Palestinians for their future state. Saudi Arabia welcomed the UAEs move but was careful to stress it would only open ties with Israel on the condition that peace is reached with the Palestinians.
T-Mobile to lay off 74 Overland Park employees KANSAS CITY, Mo. - T-Mobile is expected to lay off 74 employees in Overland Park. A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice was posted Monday on the Kansas Works website. The company already had let go of more than 200 workers in June following a merger with Sprint.
Following at Sprint takeover, the winning telcom giant has continually told lame mainstream local media that they're keeping the HQ and saving as many metro jobs as possible. Meanwhile layoffs keep moving forward. Read more:
While most Charleston-area music venues are just now figuring out how to reopen to the public safely after the governor's performance hall ban was lifted in late July, a bar hangout on the Isle of Palms has been hosting concerts since early May.
The Windjammer has a unique feature that allowed the beachfront space to keep hosting large-capacity shows, even with the 6-foot social distancing mandate.
Its "sunset stage," an outdoor stage at the edge of the volleyball court, has become a haven for acoustic and full-band performances alike for months now, even with the noise ordinance curfew, which originally cut off music at 9 p.m. but now kicks in at 10 p.m.
Unlike The Gaillard Center or Charleston Music Hall, which operate exclusively as performance venues, The Windjammer falls in the category of The Royal American or Tin Roof a bar and restaurant that also hosts live music. That means it was allowed to open when restaurants were (with guidelines) back in May, and it was allowed to host up to 250 patrons like other concert venues at the end of July the best of both worlds.
The first show ever on The Windjammer's sunset stage was Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish back in 2015, when the entire volleyball court, deck and surrounding beach were packed with shoulder-to-shoulder fans. The coronavirus-era concerts at The Windjammer look much different.
The 1,100-capacity outdoor area must adhere to the 250-person limit currently set under Gov. Henry McMaster's executive order. The volleyball court is now filled with spaced-out tables for parties of eight or less at each. Masks must be worn when patrons aren't seated and eating or drinking.
"We don't think it's safe to put 250 people inside The Windjammer, so we've pushed them outside," The Windjammer's talent buyer Scottie Frier offered.
After The Windjammer reopened on May 7, he hosted the first music performance on May 8. It was an acoustic set, as were many that first month, and no advertising was involved. A beach bar in the peak of the summer season doesn't need any advertising, even during a pandemic, Frier assured.
"I never thought when I was hired here, Id be trying to keep people away from the venue," he said. "We dont want successful promotion to cause a problem with a show. We've had to turn people away already many times."
The Windjammer hasn't hosted an indoor show since March, but figuring out exactly how to utilize the outdoor stage wasn't a walk in the park either.
At first, patrons tried dancing in front of the stage, so staff put up caution tape and trash cans to block them, Frier recalled. Some mischievous rule-breakers tried to move tables together at one point, but that was ameliorated with barricades between each party and extra security.
"I dont think theres a better group out here when it comes to being conscious of how they run their operations," said Isle of Palms Mayor Jimmy Carroll.
Carroll said that The Windjammer has had employees test positive for the coronovirus since reopening. In response, the venue was closed and deep-cleaned and all employees were sent home and tested.
"They're doing everything right," Carroll said. "That's what I'd like to see of all of our businesses."
The Windjammer is in a unique, and tough, position in which many of its patrons are visitors in town for a beach vacation. Patrons who just set their suitcases down at Wild Dunes Resort might not have heard about the local mask mandate. Those in vacation mode are looking for a good time and letting loose inhibitions, a mindset that doesn't mix well with pandemic rules.
"When people get a little drunk, they can move around a little more than they're supposed to," said Brian Jarvis of The Midnight City Band, which played at The Windjammer on July 6. "But The Windjammer staff is doing everything possible to enforce those rules."
Another complication involves the controversial new parking rules on Isle of Palms that initially warded off The Windjammer's potential patrons. The Isle of Palms City Council has responded to some of those concerns by cutting off front-beach meters at 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. Many metered, lot and free spaces that were limited at one point are now available again.
For the local bands that The Windjammer is hosting again, this stage feels far more familiar than the limited-capacity bar and restaurant gigs they've been scraping by on during the pandemic.
"Were making due with the bars, but The Windjammer feels the closest to what we had before COVID," Jarvis said. "It feels like a real show."
Pakistanis to protest arrival of Chinese fishing vessels
by Adnan Aamir
September 02,2020 | Source: Nikkei
Fishermen in Pakistan will protest the arrival of 20 Chinese deep-sea trawlers that will fish in the exclusive economic zone off Sindh and Baluchistan provinces.
The pressure group Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum has announced a campaign against the trawlers' arrival near Karachi. According to the PFF, fish stocks in coastal areas have already declined by more than 72% since last year due to uncontrolled fishing. Now they fear that the trawlers will further deplete Pakistan's marine resources.
The trawlers arrived off the coast of Sindh and Baluchistan in the first week of August. They have not started fishing yet. It is not known which part of China they came from.
PFF Chairman Muhammad Ali Shah said in a statement, "These vessels threaten the livelihoods of small fisher[men] by depriving them of catch today, and in future by ecologically destroying the sea."
Following the PFF's lead, fishermen in the southwestern city of Gwadar have also announced a protest campaign against the vessels. Gwadar is a central part of the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative. In the past, Gwadar fishermen have protested against Belt and Road infrastructure projects that prevented them from going to sea.
The president of the Gwadar Fishermen Alliance, Khuduaidad Waju, said the Chinese ships will badly hurt local fishermen.
"Fishing in the sea is a source of livelihood for over 2.5 million people in coastal towns of Sindh and Baluchistan, and the new trawlers will deprive us of our livelihood," he told the Nikkei Asian Review.
In the wake of protests, the provincial supervisory body Registrar Cooperative Societies Sindh has written a letter to a manager of the Fishermen's Cooperative Society, which issued the permit to the Chinese deep-sea fishing vessels. The letter, a copy of which was made available to Nikkei, asks the manager to detail the agreement with the company that owns the vessels, the Fujian Hengli Fishery.
The issue has reached the National Assembly. Aslam Bhootani, who represents Gwadar, told the legislature last week that the arrival of the Chinese trawlers has created fear among the area's fishermen.
Bhootani told Nikkei that the deep-sea vessels "have large fishing nets which not only capture a lot of fish but also destroy the ecology of the marine life." He added that the fishermen of Gwadar have small boats and can't go into deep waters. "Local fishermen of Gwadar do not stand a chance against these Chinese vessels, and that is why we oppose them," he said.
Experts also view the protests against the backdrop of wider resentment against Chinese economic expansion in Pakistan under the Belt and Road framework.
Mohan Malik, a professor of strategic studies at the National Defense College of the United Arab Emirates, told Nikkei that most developing countries that signed on to the Belt and Road Initiative do not have much leverage to say "no" to China even when its deep-sea fishing fleet engages in predatory practices at the expense of workers and fishermen in host countries.
China has built the world's largest fishing fleet with heavy government subsidies, Malik added. Faced with depleted fish stocks in the seas around China, Beijing's giant trawlers are increasingly targeting new waters, such as the Arabian Sea off the coast of Pakistan, to satisfy the country's insatiable appetite for seafood -- one-third of total world consumption.
Resentment against the Chinese is also reflected in the Gwadar fishermen's opposition to the Chinese deep-sea vessels.
"Allowing the Chinese deep-sea trawlers to fish is tantamount to selling the seas of Baluchistan to them," Waju said. He vowed that the fisherman of Gwadar will hold strong protests against the new vessels starting next week.
Nikkei Inc.
Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods.
BERLIN Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the same type of Soviet-era nerve agent used in a 2018 attack on a former Russian spy, the German government said Wednesday, provoking outrage from Western leaders who demanded Moscow provide an explanation.
The findings which experts say point strongly to Russian state involvement added to tensions between Russia and the West. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Navalnys poisoning attempted murder, meant to silence one of Russian President Vladimir Putins fiercest critics.
The Berlin hospital treating the dissident said he remains on a ventilator though his condition is improving. It said it expects a long recovery and still cant rule out long-term effects on his health from the poisoning.
The German government said that testing by a German military laboratory showed proof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group. British authorities identified Novichok as the poison used on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England.
There are very serious questions now that only the Russian government can answer, and must answer, Merkel said.
The United Kingdom and Italy also called on Russia to explain what happened, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling the use of a chemical weapon outrageous. In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot tweeted that it was completely reprehensible.
We will work with allies and the international community to hold those in Russia accountable, wherever the evidence leads, Ullyot said.
The European Unions foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said any use of chemical weapons was a breach of international law.
Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator, fell ill on a flight to Moscow on Aug. 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.
He was moved two days later to Berlins Charite hospital, where doctors last week said initial tests indicated Navalny had been poisoned.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the Russian ambassador was summoned to his ministry Wednesday after the latest findings.
Russias deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, dismissed the finger pointing as a knee-jerk reaction. Today accusing #Russia is a must-do for any Western country, he said in a tweet.
In Moscow, Russian authorities were quick to blame Germany for not sharing its findings.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian authorities are ready and interested in full cooperation and exchange of information with Germany but added that Berlin still hasnt provided any official response to formal requests from the Russian prosecutor generals office and doctors who treated Navalny.
Peskov reiterated that Russian doctors didnt find any poisonous substances in Navalnys system. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova charged on state TV that Germany preferred public statements without providing any facts whatsoever to a thorough investigation.
The German government said it would inform its partners in the European Union and NATO about the test results and would consult them on a response. Germany also will contact the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Shortly after the test results were announced, the Charite hospital said that Navalny is still in intensive care but continues to improve.
Recovery is likely to be lengthy, it said in a statement. It is still too early to gauge the long-term effects, which may arise in relation to this severe poisoning.
Andrea Sella, a professor of inorganic chemistry at University College London, said Navalnys prognosis is hard to predict. He said that very swift action is needed to stabilize patients in poisoning cases and noted the significant delay, given that Navalny was initially cared for by Russian doctors who said they had ruled out poisoning.
The problem is that even if Mr Navalny were to survive there may be lingering long-term neurological issues, Sella said.
Navalnys allies in Russia have insisted he was deliberately poisoned by the countrys authorities, accusations that the Kremlin has rejected as empty noise.
To poison Navalny with Novichok in 2020 would be exactly the same as leaving an autograph at a crime scene, like this one, Navalnys longtime ally and strategist Leonid Volkov said in a tweet that featured a photo of Putins name and a signature next to it.
It would not be the first time a prominent, outspoken Russian was targeted in such a way or the first time the Kremlin was accused of being behind it.
Navalnys allies have also accused Russian authorities of delaying his transfer out of the country after the poisoning. It took much wrangling and 48 hours to move Navalny to Berlin. Local doctors at the time said he was too unstable to be transported, and the Kremlin said it would defer to the physicians.
The Siberian medical team relented only after a charity that had organized a medevac plane revealed that German doctors who examined the politician said he was stable enough to be moved.
The reversal came as international pressure on Moscow mounted substantially.
The system has long lost its ability to operate in an optimal way. It had to choose between the scandal related to Navalnys (possible) death in Omsk and the risk of the poisoning being discovered by German doctors, political analyst Abbas Gallyamov said.
Novichok is a class of military-grade nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Western weapons experts believe it was only ever manufactured in Russia. After the Skripals were poisoned, Russia said the U.S., Britain and other Western countries had acquired the expertise to make the nerve agent and that the Novichok used in that attack could have come from them.
Several Russian lawmakers have said Russia isnt manufacturing Novichok-type agents.
Unless you are working for the military, it is impossible to be accidentally exposed, Richard Parsons, a senior lecturer in biochemical toxicology at Kings College London, said. It is unavailable from anywhere except the Russian military as far as I am aware.
Britain charged two Russians alleged to be agents of the Russian military intelligence service GRU in absentia with the 2018 attack that left the Skripals in critical condition and killed a British woman. Russia has refused to extradite the men to the U.K.
___
Associated Press writers Daria Litvinova in Moscow, Jill Lawless in London, Raf Casert in Brussels, Matthew Lee in Washington, David Rising and Frank Jordans in Berlin, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this story.
Credit for this accolade goes to our incredibly dedicated, skilled, and hard working team, and to our valued and loyal customers who have put their trust in us for the last 23 years.
Carolina Restoration Services, which since 1997 has provided tens of thousands of residential and commercial clients across the Carolinas with comprehensive start-to-finish insurance reconstruction solutions, proudly announced today that it has been named to the Inc. 5000. The Morrisville, North Carolina-headquartered company was ranked 4,708, and was also named to the Inc. 5000 in 2018.
The Inc. 5000 is widely considered the most prestigious and authoritative annual ranking of the nation's fastest-growing companies, and the hallmark of entrepreneurial success. All firms named to the 2020 list are privately held, based in the U.S., have generated revenues of at least $2 million in 2019, and have demonstrated revenue growth over a three-year period (2016-2019).
We are delighted to be making our second appearance on the distinguished Inc. 5000 list, commented Carolina Restoration Services President Travis Bailey, whose company is the largest family-owned and operated full-service disaster restoration firm in North Carolina. What makes this distinction so important and meaningful is that it recognizes sustained growth over a period of three years. Credit for this accolade goes to our incredibly dedicated, skilled, and hard working team, and to our valued and loyal customers who have put their trust in us for the last 23 years."
Last month, Carolina Restoration Services was named a Best Places to Work in 2020 by the Triangle Business Journal. It was the third time that the company received the prestigious honor, which celebrates companies for creating policies and a work environment that employees value.
In addition, Carolina Restoration Services has been named by the Triangle Business Journal as one of the Triangles 50 fastest-growing firms (Fast 50) in six of the last seven years. The IICRC-certified company has also been awarded Best Family Business by the Triangle Business Journal, and Employer of the Year by the Town of Cary Chamber of Commerce.
About Carolina Restoration Services
Based in Morrisville, NC, Carolina Restoration Services is the largest family-owned and operated full-service disaster restoration firm in North Carolina. The company assists residential and commercial property owners experiencing damage from fire, smoke, water or storm-related events through a full range of solutions, including 24-hour emergency response. Learn more at http://www.carolinarestorationservices.com \or connect through LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/carolina-restoration-services.
By Park Ji-won
Pastor Kim Hong-do Korea Times file
Rank 6 | Dubai | Country: United Arab Emirates (Image: Reuters)
Indians traveling home from UAE no longer need to register with the local consulate, the Consulate General of India in Dubai said in a statement on September 1.
The registration was required for those traveling on the repatriation flights introduced from May under the Vande Bharat Mission.
But "since a number of flights are operational by both UAE and Indian carriers along with flights operated by Air India/Air India Express from Dubai/Sharjah, tickets for which are available online, the process of registration at the website of the Indian Consulate, has been abolished with immediate effect," the statement said.
Also Read: International flights on September 2: Here are the flights operated by Air India under Vande Bharat Mission
UAE was among the first countries with which India established an air travel bubble to operate scheduled flights.
Apart from Air India and its unit Air India Express, many of the private carriers, including IndiGo, Vistara and SpiceJet are operating flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The statement reiterated that passengers traveling to India are 'advised' to get the RT-PCR test done, not before 96 hours of the departure and upload it on Air Suvidha portal, to get exemption from institutional quarantine for all airports in India.
Rights of media employees violated 17 times in Russia in July through August
RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov
16:49 02/09/2020
MOSCOW, September 2 (RAPSI) Seventeen cases of violation of the rights of persons being employees of mass media outlets were registered in Russia over July and August by a center monitoring how the rights of journalists are respected, the press service of Russias Presidential Human Rights Council reports on Wednesday.
According to the centers documents, violations were recorded in the Khabarovsk, Astrakhan, Saratov, Tomsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Kemerovo, and Krasnoyarsk regions, as well as in the Republic of Bashkiria.
The monitoring center Protection of Media Rights was founded in March 2019 with the aim to create a system of monitoring of observance of journalists rights in Russias regions.
Electric vehicle charging groups are pulling their opposition to a bill making its way through the California Legislature that would add training requirements on workers who install charging equipment.Groups like the Electric Vehicle Charging Association (EVCA) and ChargePoint, a charging infrastructure supplier, were able to work through concerns about Assembly Bill 841 . The legislation is designed to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure in underserved communities as well as create a new program within the California Energy Commission (CEC) to fund school upgrades through electric ratepayer-funded energy efficiency efforts. The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, also contains provisions related to training certifications for electric vehicle infrastructure installers.Charging infrastructure leaders like EVCA, found the requirements well intentioned, but faulted requirements related to electricians' compliance with the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVITP), a trademarked curriculum, which industry officials originally described as lacking proper oversight. They also aregued that the requirements would impose a significant burden on electrical installers in rural areas outside of the Bay Area or Los Angeles who would have less access to the training program.Our position is that if the state is going to mandate EVITP for training content on EV charging, then we would like government oversight of the program to ensure the curriculum is up to date and inclusive of higher speed technology; available statewide including north of Sacramento and in the Inland Empire; available online and quickly to avoid slowing down installations when the bill goes into effect; and affordable to all participants, wrote Anne Smart, vice president of public policy at ChargePoint, in an email toin August before the bill was amended.Negotiations among the parties and Tings office led to changes to the bill which would place more state oversight over the program, allow third-parties to provide required training, open up more training opportunities in other parts of the state, and would also delay the requirement for a year.Of the more than 30,000 state-certified general electricians in California, most have the skills to install charging infrastructure, say industry officials. However, only about 1,400 of them have been certified through the EVITP, with only about 40 certified trainers in the program, according the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).Together, these amendments will better ensure charging station deployment is not unduly slowed while achieving your goal of instituting safety standards, wrote a coalition of officials from ChargePoint, EVCA and Enel North America in an Aug. 24, 2020 letter to Tings office.The changes come as the state is set to rapidly expand its EV charging infrastructure in southern California with the announcement by electric provider Southern California Edison to invest $417.5 million toward deploying charging infrastructure across its service area.The move, which will install thousands of charging spots in the southern third of the state, will add to the employment opportunities for electricians and other workers affiliated with EV charging infrastructure, as well as greatly add to the overall charging network.The Los Angeles region is an electrification hot spot not only because of its population and tremendously busy roadways with resulting air-quality challenges, but because it is a place where the electric car market is already beginning to thrive, said Gennet Paauwe, communications advisor for Veloz, an EV advocacy group based in Sacramento. Expansion of the charging network will lead to its visibility and more widespread acceptance that owning and charging an electric vehicle is not just possible, but easy easier and less costly than stopping at the gas station.The program to expand charging infrastructure, outlined by SCE directly aligns with ChargePoints mission to accelerate the buildout of essential EV charging anytime a driver needs and everywhere they go across the states metropolitan areas, rural and disadvantaged communities, and on the highway, said Anthony Harrison, head of utility partnerships at ChargePoint, in a statement.
The Susan G. Komen Foundations San Antonio office will close as part of the breast cancer nonprofits major restructuring a move that will eliminate more than 60 affiliate groups across the country and consolidates operations under a single corporation.
Elyse A. Bernal, the charitys San Antonio executive director, said she learned in late April that the groups local operations eventually would be integrated into the national organization, based in Dallas.
Komen communications director Sean Tuffnell said the San Antonio chapter hasnt been given a timeline yet for its closure, but its not among the first group of affiliates thats being asked to close by the end of the year.
The Susan G. Komen San Antonio board of directors has not made any decisions at this time regarding closure, as they continue to gather additional information regarding the intention and future plans of our national Susan G. Komen office, Bernal said Wednesday.
She referred most questions to the national organization.
Tuffnell didnt know how many employees of affiliate chapters would lose jobs, but said they are encouraged to apply for new positions within the centralized organization.
On ExpressNews.com: 20th annual Komen Race for the Cure draws thousands
Before the pandemic, the San Antonio chapter had a staff of three employees, including Bernal, who worked out of an office near San Antonio International Airport, the chapters website states.
A 2018 group tax filing for Susan G. Komen shows the San Antonio chapter also has a 13-person governing board made up of unpaid volunteers. They likely will be asked to serve in advisory positions, Tuffnell said.
He said that up until this spring, the nonprofit was operating as separate incorporated entities and everyone was executing the mission differently.
Despite the eventual closure, Bernal said the chapters mission remains the same ensuring that each dollar raised in San Antonio stays in San Antonio to assist with breast cancer treatment, services, and research impacting our most vulnerable populations.
Its race and walk fundraiser was postponed in the spring amid restrictions on social gatherings, but is planned as a virtual walk Sept. 26.
Like all nonprofits across the city, we are shifting to creative approaches during the pandemic to make sure our constituents can support our mission in a safe and meaningful way, she said.
A group of local breast cancer survivors opened the San Antonio chapter in 1997. Since then, it has pumped millions of dollars into organizations that offer screenings, treatment, education and after-care services.
This year, a total of $217,500 was awarded in grants to several agencies, including the American Cancer Society, which provides free transportation to treatment, and the SLEW Wellness Cancer Center, which provides wigs, bras, massage therapy and counseling for residents who cannot otherwise afford it.
A $21,750 grant covered the cost of 140 mammograms for low-income women between the ages of 40 to 74 at the Robert B. Green Downtown Campus and the Mays Cancer Center.
University Health System spokeswoman Shelley Kofler said the Komen Foundation told the county hospital that this grant would be its last because the chapter is closing by the end of the year.
On ExpressNews.com: San Antonios Mays Cancer Center gets $10.3 million in state funding
Nonprofit organizations across the country are facing financial shortfalls amid fewer donations. The traditional model of raising funds to give to other organizations may be on its way out.
On April 24, Komen CEO Paula Schneider said the nonprofits reorganization would focus on supporting patients in a more direct, personal way.
She announced plans to develop a new patient navigation program and improve its national Komen Breast Care Helpline (1-877-GO-KOMEN) and treatment assistance program.
The needs of our community are changing, and we must change to more effectively meet those needs, she said.
Part of that new direction means shifting away from paying for brick-and-mortar office space, Tuffnell said.
Soon after the panademic reached Texas in March, Komen officials decided to close its physical offices in Dallas, which serves as its headquarters, allowing employees to work from home.
Tuffnell said switching to remote work ensures that more of the donors dollar will be spent directly on services in areas where there is the greatest need.
Theres no reason why we need an IT person in San Antonio and Austin and Dallas, said Tuffnell, who has worked remotely since March. We can have one person to support the entire enterprise. We want to make it a unified experience for everybody so that no matter where you live you can access Komens support.
Laura Garcia covers the health care industry. To read more from Laura, become a subscriber. laura.garcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @Reporter_Laura
Recent estimates indicate a prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States of 1 in 59 children with a well-established 4:1 male predominance.
Individual costs for care are estimated at about $2.4 million, yielding a societal burden that is expected to exceed $400 billion by 2025. Currently, there are no FDA-approved medications that improve the core symptoms of ASD.
Neuroscientists in the laboratory of Randy D. Blakely, Ph.D., professor of biomedical science in Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine and executive director of the FAU Brain Institute, are focused on serotonin, a mood-regulating molecule in the brain that regulates many brain synapses -; the gaps between nerve cells where signals are sent and received.
The supply of serotonin is tightly regulated by a protein called the serotonin transporter (SERT), which sweeps away serotonin from synapses to limit its action. Shifts in the transporter's activity can significantly impact the ability of serotonin to act in the brain.
Changes in signaling by the neurotransmitter serotonin has been connected to autism for more than 50 years, dating back to findings of elevated serotonin levels in the blood of some people with the disorder, a feature termed hyperserotonemia.
Since this time, multiple rare changes in the genetic code that impact SERT have been observed. Recent studies of mice expressing the most common of these gene variants, called SERT Ala56, induces behavioral changes in animals that scientists connect to alterations in people with autism repetitive behavior, altered communication, and atypical social interactions, as well as hyperserotonemia.
Although the effects of the SERT Ala56 mutation are paralleled by other mutations in the SERT gene, none of these mutations are common enough to account for the number of individuals with autism demonstrating hyperserotonemia.
Blakely and collaborators have published a study in the journal Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, which now offers a possible explanation for this puzzle.
We have known for some time that the activity and regulation of the SERT protein is critically dependent on a number of other proteins that tell the protein where to locate on nerve cells and how to act." Randy D. Blakely, Ph.D., Study Lead Author and Professor of Biomedical Science, Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University
It turns out that the SERT Ala56 mutation changes the structure of the transporter in ways that keep these partner proteins from interacting with the transporter, a protein that Blakely's laboratory identified thirty years ago.
Last year, Blakely's former graduate student Meagan Quinlan, Ph.D., first author and a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Washington, demonstrated that the SERT Ala56 mutation impacts the structure of the SERT protein in cells in culture, revving up the transporter into a state of abnormally high activity.
"We think that this high-activity state results in removal of too much serotonin from sites in the brain where serotonin is needed, both during development and in adults," said Quinlan. "I suspect that the structural changes we have observed likely reflected changes in the regulatory ability of SERT-associated proteins to maintain serotonin inactivation at normal levels."
To test this concept, Quinlan purified the mutant transporter from the brain of SERT Ala56 expressing mice, as well as from normal mice, and then determined whether proteins normally bound to SERT were still attached.
"We found that only a few proteins seemed to interact with SERT Ala56 more than they should. In contrast, many more proteins appeared no longer tethered to the transporter, including some proteins we already knew to be SERT regulators and others that have been linked to ASD," said Quinlan.
Blakely was actually quite surprised at the findings. "It is quite amazing that one of the smallest changes you can make in SERT can alter its interactions with partners," said Blakely.
According to Blakely, further work could reveal more extensive links between SERT and other genes known to associate with autism, broadening the impact of SERT Ala56 to other neurotransmitter systems.
"Following the scent of serotonin may well take us to molecules and medications we had no clue about just a few years ago," said Blakely.
Blakely's team recently reported a new small molecule that can tone down SERT activity and normalize behaviors in the SERT Ala56 mouse, a molecule that he hopes may lead to a new therapeutic.
"A goal moving forward with this drug is to see if it can reverse the changes in SERT Ala56 protein associations, tying the molecular changes we see with the mutant to how the drug may work," said Blakely.
ASD is a serious developmental disorder with increased prevalence that impairs the ability to communicate and interact and impacts the nervous system. The range and severity of symptoms can vary widely and common symptoms can include difficulty with communication and social interactions, obsessive interests, and repetitive behaviors. No current medications treat the core features of ASD.
A look at the shareholders of Caledonia Investments plc (LON:CLDN) can tell us which group is most powerful. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. Companies that used to be publicly owned tend to have lower insider ownership.
With a market capitalization of UK1.4b, Caledonia Investments is a decent size, so it is probably on the radar of institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutions own shares in the company. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Caledonia Investments.
Check out our latest analysis for Caledonia Investments
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Caledonia Investments?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Caledonia Investments. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Caledonia Investments' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Caledonia Investments. Cayzer Trust Company Ltd is currently the largest shareholder, with 35% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.7% and 4.4% of the stock.
Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 51% of the company is controlled by the top 4 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.
Story continues
While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.
Insider Ownership Of Caledonia Investments
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Caledonia Investments plc. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth UK20m. Most would see this as a real positive. Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, with a 11% stake in the company, will not easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.
Private Company Ownership
We can see that Private Companies own 46%, of the shares on issue. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.
Next Steps:
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Caledonia Investments you should be aware of, and 2 of them make us uncomfortable.
If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
The Board of Directors of Ltd (VIL) will meet on Friday to discuss and evaluate proposals for raising funds in one or more tranches through public issue, issue of equity shares or securities among other options.
The announcement came after the Supreme Court's September 1, verdict on the (AGR) issue, wherein the top court gave a 10-year timeline to the telcos to repay their dues, with an upfront payment of 10 per cent by March 31, 2021.
"A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on September 4, 2020, inter-alia, to consider and evaluate any and all proposals for raising of funds," the company said in a regulatory filing late Tuesday.
The board will consider raising funds in one or more tranches by way of a public issue, preferential allotment, private placement, including a qualified institutions placement or through any other permissible mode or combination thereof, by way of issue of equity shares or by issue of any instruments or securities, including securities convertible into equity shares.
According to an assessment by the Department of Telecommunications, (DoT), owed a total of Rs 58,254 crore. As per the government, the operator now owes balance AGR dues of around Rs 50,399 crore.
On Wednesday, shares of rose after plunging in the previous session weighed down by the verdict. Around 11 a.m., its shares on the BSE were trading at Rs 9.61, higher by 8.10 per cent from its previous close.
--IANS
rrb/sn/in
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. Germany claims the Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has been poisoned with a Novichok class nerve agent.
German Cabinets Spokesperson Steffen Seibert said that at the initiative of the Charite hospital the Bundeswehrs special laboratory had carried out toxicological analysis of Alexei Navalnys test samples, TASS reports.
The analysis provided indisputable proof of the presence of a Novichok class nerve agent, he said.
Seibert added that Chancellor Angela Merkel held a meeting with some ministers and agreed a number of steps in the light of the latest data. According to the spokesman, the German Foreign Ministry is to officially inform Russias ambassador on the results of the tests. The European Union, NATO and the OPCW will also be briefed about Navalny.
Navalny was rushed to hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk on August 20 after collapsing on the Tomsk-Moscow flight. He was in a coma and was put on a ventilator in the intensive care unit. On August 22, he was airlifted to the German hospital Charite. On August 24, German doctors said that indicators of cholinesterase inhibitors had been found in his body. The doctors added that his life was out of danger but long-term complications for his nervous system could not be ruled out.
Miffed with the forest departments report which claimed that just 11 to 14 mangrove trees were hacked at Panje in Uran, Navi Mumbai, a local resident and an environmentalist have filed a follow-up complaint submitting photographic evidence of 66 hacked trees at the site.
The mangrove cell has agreed to reinvestigate the site to confirm the allegation.
Meanwhile, a member of the Bombay high court (HC)-appointed mangrove and wetland grievance redressal panel has asked all city-based environmentalists to approach the HC to file a contempt petition, as the committee had failed to address several cases of mangrove destruction, including Panje.
On Monday, a local resident and birder Parag Gharat, and environmentalist Aishwarya Sridhar wrote to the forest department opposing the mangrove cells submissions that investigated a section of the Panje wetland on Saturday.
The duo were also among the complainants who highlighted the mangrove destruction at Panje last week by filing separate complaints on Wednesday and Friday. We decided to visit the site during low tide on Monday for easier access to deeper patches that were not inundated and found 66 hacked mangrove tree branches at a small distance from each other. We have taken photos of each branch and can guide the forest department through the entire route of environmental violation, Gharat said, adding, The reason why the forest department found very little trees cut is because their inspection took place closer to high tide when most of the cut branches were underwater and could not be clearly seen.
Mangrove destruction was banned by the HC in September 2018 across Maharashtra. This is clearly contempt of HC orders and an attempt to prove that this wetland has no mangroves so that the Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone (NMSEZ) can start land filling the area, said Sridhar.
Environmentalists, the City Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (Cidco), and private companies have been in a tussle for over two years now to protect Panje from proposed industrial and residential projects including the NMSEZ. The owner of the land is Cidco, Navi Mumbais planning agency, which has leased it out to private companies developing the NMSEZ.
On Saturday itself, the forest department wrote to the Raigad district administration to act in the matter and told Cidco to respond to the environmental violation. HT had reported on Sunday that Cidcos nodal officer (environment) said that mangroves had been hacked by unidentified persons for aquaculture purposes (tree branches to hold nets during high tide). There is no such activity at Panje or in the vicinity for decades now, countered Sridhar.
Ashish Thakre, the deputy conservator of forest (Alibag) said, We will be sending our team of forest officers to the site again during low tide to inspect and confirm the exact number of trees hacked. It is a serious violation and exact details need to be brought on record.
Stalin D, a member of the HC-appointed panel, responded to one of the complainants in the Panje mangrove destruction case on Sunday. His letter, which HT has reviewed, read, As a member of the committee I apologise for the miserable failure on the ground to protect Panje. All directions given by the committee to Cidco, revenue department and local administration have been flouted time and again. Please consider filing a contempt petition in the Bombay HC at the earliest.
He told HT that the states coastal zone management authority, responsible for issuing permissions for building a seawall near Panje, had not attended a HC-committee meeting while local residents of Panje village had vested interests in actively pursuing wetland destruction. I want to ensure citizens do not feel handicapped in such environment violations, and complainants need to know the facts. There is a need to highlight the lawlessness even after clear instructions have been passed by the HC, said Stalin.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Badri Chatterjee Badri Chatterjee is an environment correspondent at Hindustan Times, Mumbai. He writes about environment issues - air, water and noise pollution, climate change - weather, wildlife - forests, marine and mangrove conservation ...view detail
Harpreet Bajwa By
Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: On a day when 106 deaths were reported due to coronavirus in Punjab, many villages in Moga, Muktsar, Patiala, Sangrur, Bathinda, Mansa, SBS Nagar districts, have decided to not allow state health department teams to enter their villages for testing.
Villagers of Bhuttiwala in Muktsar had opposed the Health Departments team which had come to collect the samples for Covid-19 testing and even passed a resolution to that effect which stated that unwilling and asymptomatic persons cannot be tested for the virus, while also raising doubts about the procedure.
A panchayat member said: We will not allow sample collection of asymptomatic and unwilling people. But will not stop anyone willing to undergo a test.
In a separate incident, a case has been registered against a 23-year old Ram Singh of Nangla village in Bathinda by the Mansa Police for spreading rumours about the pandemic on Whatsapp, as per sources.
Batala Police has also registered a similar case against few persons for stopping health workers from executing their duties at Hargobindpur due to spread of misinformation, as a result of which, multiple villagers are now refusing to get tested.
Meanwhile in Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singhs home district Patiala, a few panchayats of Ageta, Dhanauri, Dhanaura and Fatehgarh Chana have too passed similar resolutions.
"The health workers will not be allowed to take samples without our consent, they have to do sampling in our presence we will cooperate with them, a villager said.
Reacting to recent developments, Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that delayed diagnosis is the main cause behind the state's high mortality rate.
As many as 67 per cent of all covid-19 deaths were due to patients reporting at the health facility for the first time after suffering severe signs and symptoms, he disclosed, adding that these cases then become
difficult to manage, leading to fatalities.
Pointing to reports received from districts about resistance in communities to sampling and testing for COVID, he said even symptomatic persons with co-morbidities have not been reporting to the healthcare facilities till the disease becomes acute.
Sharing a glaring statistic, Sidhu said that more than 50 per cent covid-19 fatalities in Punjab were reported among people suffering from diabetes.
The situation could worsen if the 'negative propaganda' against health workers isn't brought to a halt, he said and appealed people to cooperate with the state government in arresting the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, as many as 35 MLAs including Randeep Nabha and Parminder Dhindsa have tested positive for coronavirus in the state so far.
SPRINGFIELD City Councilor Adam Gomez soared to victory in Tuesdays primary for state Senate in the Hampden District, defeating five-term incumbent Sen. James T. Welch.
Gomez took 10,270 votes to Welchs 6,929, for a margin of 60% to 40%.
There is no Republican on the ballot for Novembers general election, meaning Gomez is almost all but certain to claim the seat. Welch called to congratulate Gomez, and said he will help him in any way for the transition. The term begins in January.
Gomez said he and his supporters are going to soak in this win.
Were excited, were overwhelmed, but were happy, and were ready to meet with all leaders and all parts of the community that are encompassed in the Hampden District, Gomez said. His top priorities are economic development, housing and health care, he said.
He also said he was looking forward to spending some quality time with family and thanking his supporters.
Were just humbled, Gomez said. It was a really close race. And we look forward to the future of the Hampden District, Gomez said.
Gomez is midway through a two-year term on the council, and he did not say Tuesday whether he will finish out his term.
Gomez and his supporters spent the day at the polls after beginning their day at a ground zero tent erected on Demond Street in the citys Brightwood neighborhood, the candidate said. There were efforts at keeping volunteers and supporters safe from the coronavirus by social distancing and other precautions, he said.
The Hampden District includes all of West Springfield, along with Wards 2, 3 and 4 in Chicopee, and more than half of Springfield including the citys more racially diverse neighborhoods.
Welch, who was first elected to the Senate in 2010 after serving as a state representative, congratulated Gomez on running a spirited race.
He was a gentleman throughout, Welch said.
Welch, of West Springfield, and supporters had a low-key event at his campaign headquarters on Hampden Street in the Springfields downtown. He spent Tuesday driving from poll to poll and delivering doughnuts to those working the polls.
Welch had said that dealing with the coronavirus pandemic was a top priority in running for reelection, and he cited his experience on Beacon Hill.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 03:30:17|Editor: huaxia
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Photo taken on Sept. 1, 2020 shows a view of the outdoor exhibition area near the China National Convention Center, where the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) will be held, in the Beijing Olympic Park in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)
"It would send a positive signal to the world that, despite some negative impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, states like China are still able to pursue the way towards economic recovery, international cooperation and foreign trade, particularly in the sector of services, which is a very important part of the global economy."
by Li Jizhi
BRUSSELS, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) is an ambitious event that will send a positive signal to the world as most countries are endeavoring to contain the coronavirus pandemic, a member of the European Parliament said on Tuesday.
Jan Zahradil, chairman of the EU-China Friendship Group in the European Parliament, noted that the event, to be held later this week in Beijing, has been supported by international organizations such as the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
"It would send a positive signal to the world that, despite some negative impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, states like China are still able to pursue the way towards economic recovery, international cooperation and foreign trade, particularly in the sector of services, which is a very important part of the global economy," he said.
China's total trade in services amounted to 2.62 trillion yuan (about 382.4 billion U.S. dollars) from January to July, down 15.2 percent year on year, Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.
The trade in knowledge-intensive services reached 1.15 trillion yuan, up 8.9 percent year on year, accounting for 44 percent of the total services trade in January-July.
Commenting on the statistics, Zahradil said some figures are positive and some are not that positive, but it seems that China is getting out of the crisis caused by COVID-19.
Photo taken on Sept. 1, 2020 shows a rehabilitation robot functioning in an outdoor exhibition pavilion near the China National Convention Center, where the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) will be held, in the Beijing Olympic Park in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)
Since China is a vital part of the global economy, its partially recovered growth and improved situation in foreign trade will benefit the global recovery, he told Xinhua in an interview.
The progress will affect Europe as well, as the European Union (EU) is also a substantial part of the global economy, said Zahradil, who is also vice chair of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade.
The MEP reminded both Europe and China to be alert to the possible second wave of the pandemic, which could mean another economic slowdown. As autumn is coming, some European countries have reintroduced restrictive measures, he noted.
Zahradil hoped the event, which feature 190 online and offline forums and business negotiation sessions, will not be spoiled by uncertainties stemming from the pandemic.
"I would be moderately optimistic, but I think we cannot say that we are out of the worst already. So let's be patient, let's be careful and let's be prepared for further complications."
As of Aug. 30, over 2,000 firms had signed up as offline exhibitors, while more than 4,000 companies will showcase their products and services online. More than 17,000 companies will attend CIFTIS, according to the organizers.
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Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, September 2, 2020 08:15 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c4211ffb 1 Editorial COVID-19,pandemic,Jakarta-COVID-19,PSBB-Masa-Transisi,lockdown,physical-distancing,hospital Free
From whatever angle, the current state of the pandemic in the country does not look good. The first wave of transmission that began six months ago has not ended. The number of cases and deaths has continued to increase and the curve of infection has never flattened, despite the implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in virus epicenters like Jakarta and East Java.
There has not been any significant improvements in measures to reduce transmission either, turning hospitals in the worst-hit regions into virus clusters, instead of safe places where people can receive treatment. There have been numerous reports of hospitals becoming overwhelmed, with bed occupancy exceeding half of the maximum capacity.
Health workers have been the main casualties of the uncontrolled transmission. The Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) reported on Monday that 100 doctors had died from COVID-19 since the first cases were confirmed on March 2. As of Tuesday, Indonesia had recorded more than 177,500 confirmed cases and more than 7,500 deaths.
The Health Ministry has played down claims about hospitals becoming overwhelmed, saying the nationwide capacity was still sufficient. But we have reason to doubt this, given the governments poor reporting on cases and deaths.
COVID-19 task force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito has admitted that the bed occupancy rate at COVID-19 hospitals in Jakarta was no longer ideal. Jakarta currently has 67 COVID-19 referral hospitals and 170 hospitals providing services for COVID-19 patients.
However, he added, the bed occupancy rate in isolation rooms and intensive care units (ICU) in Jakarta had reached 69 percent and 77 percent respectively. Wiku said the rate needed to drop to 60 percent to reduce the burden on healthcare workers.
Given the situation, the reopening of schools and other activities must be delayed and drastic measures need to be taken to stop transmission. It has been proven that compromises to salvage the economy do more harm than good in the fight against the virus.
For virus epicenters like Jakarta, it is time to consider whether the transition to normal activities should be stopped and restrictions reimposed.
The government should even consider implementing a full lockdown in the capital to curb high intercity mobility. Strict measures to enforce health protocols and ban crowds should also be considered.
In countries known for their success in handling COVID-19, like China and South Korea, governments were prepared to reinforce lockdowns to prevent further spikes in cases. Indonesia has not looked back since it moved to reopen the economy two months ago.
It is true that Jakartas transition out of restrictions has been extended and Balis reopening has been delayed, but no real measures have been taken to ban crowds and restrict mobility. People seem to have returned to normal activities despite the crisis facing hospitals, as more doctors and nurses fall prey to the virus.
The lack of awareness about the hospital crisis must be addressed, or else the countrys health system will be in danger. We face a long and uncertain fight against the virus.
Russian President Vladimir Putin may address the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, according to a preliminary program of speeches at the general debate released on Tuesday.
This year the debate is expected to be held in the format of recorded video addresses due to the coronavirus restrictions. However, the UN noted that leaders are not forbidden to personally visit the organizations headquarters, TASS reported,
Now the Russian leader is the seventh in the list of speakers, after the heads of Brazil, the United States, Turkey, China, Chile and Cuba. On the same day, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and French President Emmanuel Macron plan to address the UNGA.
The UNGAs high-level week this year is scheduled for September 22-29 mainly in a virtual format. So far, US President Donald Trump and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have announced plans to arrive and deliver their speeches.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Vindicator in Youngstown, a 150-year-old paper that shut down last year because of financial struggles, is being celebrated in a new book on the anniversary of its final edition.
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This article was published 2/9/2020 (505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Vindicator in Youngstown, a 150-year-old paper that shut down last year because of financial struggles, is being celebrated in a new book on the anniversary of its final edition.
"No Holds Barred" includes hundreds of columns by the paper's long-time columnist, Bertram de Souza, multiple historic photos, and reminiscences by former writers and editors at the paper, whose closing one of the biggest U.S. papers to disappear to date left a hole in northeastern Ohio media coverage.
FILE - In this Aug. 7, 2019, file photo, Bertram de Souza works on a story for The Vindicator newspaper in Youngstown, Ohio. The Vindicator, a 150-year-old paper that shut down last year because of financial struggles, is being celebrated in a new book on the anniversary of its final edition. "No Holds Barred" collects hundreds of columns by de Souza, the paper's long-time political columnist. It also features multiple historic photos and reminiscences by former writers and editors at the paper, whose closing, one of the biggest U.S. papers to disappear to date, left a hole in northeastern Ohio media coverage. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)
The hard-charging columns by de Souza often elicited angry and unprintable letters to the editor and web comments. One reader was so furious they used an ice cream store's sign to direct a public expletive at him in the mid-2000s.
Taking it all in stride was de Souza, 70, a native of Uganda who earned a journalism degree at Kansas State University, worked for the Selma (Alabama) Times Journal and earned a political science master's at Marquette University before arriving in Youngstown in 1979.
He said the book celebrates the support that reporters received from the family-owned paper, no matter how rocky the going got. With the help of former colleagues, de Souza winnowed about 1,600 columns down to about 300 that appear in the book.
"The columns reflect the commitment of this family to really watchdog journalism, to trail-blazing journalism," de Souza said. "They gave me free reign to write whatever I wanted to write."
Vindicator publisher Betty Brown Jagnow and her son, Mark Brown, the general manager, announced in June 2019 that The Vindicator would cease publication because of financial losses. It shut down for good on Aug. 31, 2019.
The paper's support for journalism for the public good dates to the 1920s and 1930s, when The Vindicator railed against attempts by the Ku Klux Klan to establish a foothold in the Mahoning Valley, Brown said in an interview.
The paper "always fought for the common man, always tried to do what was right for the general public," Brown said.
"No Holds Barred" book divides de Souza's columns by topic, including the mafia, public corruption, General Motors the GM plant in nearby Lordstown finally closed in 2019 Youngstown State University and politics.
In a 1998 column, de Souza mocked an apparent mob warning to a county prosecutor to keep his mouth shut, delivered in the form of a dead finch. "Its supposed to be a canary, stupid," de Souza wrote.
In a 2005 piece, as gang violence rocked the city, he suggested sending gang members convicted of gun crimes to Iraq for two years. "That should be enough time for the cretin to either get killed, injured or to find God. Any of the three outcomes would be acceptable."
A 2012 column lambasted bonuses given to 400 Youngstown State employees for student enrolment increases as the worst idea "in the annals of dumb decisions" made on the university's "hallowed grounds."
One of de Souza's favourite targets was native son Jim Traficant, a sheriff turned U.S. representative who became just the second member of Congress to be expelled when a jury convicted him in 2002 of corruption charges. Traficant died in 2014 after a tractor accident on his farm.
In 1998, de Souza called Traficant's hiring of a economic development specialist with questionable qualifications, "tantamount to letting a butcher perform surgery."
The book is history told by commentary, said Robert McFerren, the paper's former art director and the book's designer.
"We cant let this just be forgotten," he said. "It needs to be remembered in the long term because it is part of our history and our job of what we did here."
Although the paper died, its name lives on as part of a deal with The Tribune Chronicle in neighbouring Trumbull County. The Ogden Newspapers chain bought the name, subscriber list and news website from the family-owned "Vindy" in Youngstown.
Three TV stations still cover the area, along with the Tribune-Chronicle, the Youngstown Business Journal, and Mahoning Matters, a McClatchy and Google news initiative.
Though de Souza's columns reflect the past, their subject matter is evergreen, said the book's editor, Cynthia Rickard, de Souza's ex-wife and a longtime Vindicator reporter and editor.
"Going through these columns was not just a look back into history but an eye-opener that we are still going through these same issues today," Rickard said.
US can 'assure Taiwan nothing'
Global Times
By Yang Sheng Source: Global Times Published: 2020/9/1 22:42:42 Last Updated: 2020/9/1 23:24:27
China should prepare for 'showdown' on island as Washington escalates hostility: expert
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has warned the US not to go any further on a "wrong and dangerous path" on Tuesday, after the US declassified its detailed documents showing illegal assurances that were made by Washington to the island of Taiwan in 1982 and posted them on the American Institute in Taiwan's (AIT) website on Monday.
Chinese mainland experts said in the past, Washington was cautious about playing the "Taiwan card" in dealing with Beijing and it kept a low-profile on making exchanges with Taiwan as Washington used to concern about Beijing's reaction, but the latest move has proven that the hostility among US decision-makers against China is unprecedented, and China should seriously prepare for a final "showdown" with the US on the island.
The US released two declassified cables from nearly 40 years ago on its security assurances, or the so-called "six assurances," to the island of Taiwan that reflected the US' commitment to the island after it discontinued recognition of the island's "sovereignty" and established formal diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1979. The two cables from 1982, declassified on July 16, 2020, and posted on the AIT's website earlier on Monday, focus on arms sales to Taiwan and the 'Six Assurances' made to the island.
The six assurances are: the US has not agreed to set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan; Has not agreed to consult with the PRC on arms sales to Taiwan; Will not play a mediating role between Taipei and Beijing; Has not agreed to revise the Taiwan Relations Act; Has not altered its position regarding sovereignty over Taiwan; Will not exert pressure on Taiwan to enter into negotiations with the PRC.
Former US president Ronald Reagan secretly made these assurances to the Chinese island territory in 1982 without informing the PRC. The assurances were made following calls from US defense experts, former officials and pro-Taiwan politicians who received funding as political donations from the island's authorities while serving in Congress at the time.
But these assurances are not a secret at all, the US was previously low-profile and few of its diplomats and officials would openly talk about the issues during formal occasions, as they cared about the mainland's reaction, said experts.
Hua Chunying, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a routine press conference on Tuesday that "the Taiwan Relations Act and the so-called six assurances that the US unilaterally made to Taiwan has seriously violated the one-China principle" and "the China-US Three Communiques" - the "political foundation and fundamental preconditions" for China and the US to establish diplomatic ties.
"From the very beginning, China has always opposed" the six assurances and the Taiwan Relations Act, as they are "totally incorrect, illegal and invalid," Hua said.
Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of the PRC, remarked on Tuesday that "the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority's act to rely support from the US for its separatist activities will face consequences, responding to the DPP authorities showing gratitude to the US for reaffirming its assurances.
Jin Canrong, associate dean of the Renmin University of China's School of International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday that in the past, China had made it very clear to the US that the Taiwan question is the relationship's most sensitive issue, so the US has kept a low-profile even if it played the Taiwan card from time to time.
But the unprecedented hostility that the Trump administration has shown toward China could at least remind Beijing to abandon any illusions and prepare for a final showdown with the US regarding the Taiwan question, he said.
"Now we are not sure if the US would dare to establish formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan or not, and what China can do is to prepare for the worst-case scenario and speed up its military preparation. Once the US breaks the bottom line, the mainland must solve the problem by force once and for all," Jin stressed.
'Unable to assure anything'
Although hyping these declassified documents is provocative, the US State Department's top diplomat for East Asia still wants to make it clear that this was not a US policy shift, as the Trump administration understands the consequences, said analysts.
David Stilwell, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told a virtual forum hosted by the conservative Heritage Foundation that the US' latest moves were not a policy shift, but part of a set of "significant adjustments" within Washington's longstanding "one-China" policy, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
In fact, both US politicians and the Taiwan separatist authorities understand that the US can assure Taiwan nothing if the mainland launches a military operation to reunify the island, and this is why the US always keeps its commitments or assurances to Taiwan vague, Lu Xiang, a research fellow on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The US dare not make any clear assurances to Taiwan on sending troops to fight in a war with the mainland once the island is reunified with the mainland by force, and the assurances instead focus on how to make the island an ATM for US military industrial giants, said mainland experts.
Lu said the authorities on the island also understand that they are "pawns on a chessboard" and that's why they are also afraid of a miscalculation with the mainland.
Taiwan gets frightened
The latest incident has revealed that Taiwan authorities are worried about a potential conflict caused by a miscalculation or accident. A US military aircraft appeared in the skies over Taiwan on Sunday, which was suspected of taking off from a Taiwan-based airfield and flew to Japan, according to a Beijing-based think tank.
But on Monday, the Taiwan "air force" immediately said the information was "totally against the facts" and accused the mainland think tank and media of "releasing disinformation to damage regional security and stability," according to Taiwan media cna.com.
A Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times "it's hilarious that the Taiwan military has accused the mainland think tank and media with such a tone, because it was them and the US who increased military interactions and activities to provoke the mainland recently. And they didn't explain why the aircraft's ADS-B signal was detected in the skies over the island."
This could be a US military plot to fabricate the signal to show the positioning of the aircraft in Taiwan "airspace," increasing the chances of miscalculation and military conflict with the mainland, but the US didn't inform the Taiwan military, and the island's authorities became extremely frightened and worried about its own security once the tensions escalate, but they also dare not blame their "American bosses," said the expert.
Lu said a series of ongoing drills in four different regions of the West Pacific by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have already displayed China's stance and determination on the matter, as well as military preparation for a final showdown.
Since the US seeks to maintain its provocations, then the war of words would be useless, and China's reaction would be to reveal more of its military operations instead of solely releasing statements, he noted.
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She recently announced that she's expecting her first child with fiance and Tammy Hembrow's ex Reece Hawkins.
And now American model London Goheen has been slammed for charging her followers to see photos of her baby bump on OnlyFans.
The 22-year-old, who boasts 515,000 Instagram followers, copped backlash after revealing that she's going to be charging fans $14.99 per month on the subscription service.
Backlash: Instagram model London Goheen was SLAMMED by her followers this week for making people pay $15 per month to see her baby bump on OnlyFans, after announcing her pregnancy. Pictured with fiance Reece Hawkins
'She's literally charging people for her OnlyFans to view pics of her bump? What the f**k,' one follower commented on London's pregnancy announcement on Instagram.
Another wrote: 'Wow sis is really charging $9.99 per month to see her pregnancy photos lol.'
One fan said that while she's happy for influencer Reece, 25, and London, they just can't comprehend coughing up the cash for the images.
'What the f**k': The 22-year-old, who boasts 515,000 followers, copped backlash after revealing she's going to be charging fans $14.99 per month on the subscription service
'Congratulations. I would love to keep track of everything for your pregnancy. Just like with your relationship to watch you guys grow together... But I don't want to pay for an OnlyFans...'
However, another follower said that posting to OnlyFans is a good idea, saying it's 'so much safer and more secure!!'
In a statement to Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday, London defended her decision to show off her baby bump on OnlyFans.
Baby joy! On Wednesday, Reece and London announced that they're expecting their first child together, just weeks after getting engaged
'I have chosen to show detailed parts of my pregnancy on that platform because I've had to experience harassment and bullying for the last two years over my relationship with Reece,' she explained.
'I have 100 per cent control of my profile and what people have access to and comment on.
'I never said it was compulsory. People can choose if they wish to subscribe or not. If people don't like the idea of it or disagree with my decision then they don't have to be involved...
'I'm pregnant!' London, who recently moved to the Gold Coast to live with Reece, also shared a lengthy statement on her Instagram story, explaining that she'll be posting about her pregnancy journey on another platform, before linking to her OnlyFans account
'We're just doing this to ensure a HAPPY POSITIVE FRUITFUL PREGNANCY.'
On Wednesday, Reece and London announced that they're expecting their first child together, just weeks after getting engaged.
American model London made the announcement on Instagram, by sharing a sweet image of herself kissing influencer Reece.
More secure: She said she made the decision to post on OnlyFans because over the years she and Reece have been 'harassed to the point where we've had to seek legal action'
'Been busy growing a BABY in my belly with this one wbu?' London captioned the image.
Reece also shared similar images of the pair, calling London his 'Baby Momma' and the 'love of my life.'
'Baby Momma alert. Having a baby with the love of my life and my best friend,' he wrote.
London, who recently moved to the Gold Coast to live with Reece, also shared a lengthy statement on her Instagram story, explaining that she'll be posting about her pregnancy journey on another platform, before linking to her OnlyFans account.
Content: London said she'd be posting 'updates, gender reveal and more intimate photos of me and Reece' online
'I'm so excited that I can finally share with y'all the news that I'm PREGNANT!!!' London's post began.
She said she made the decision to post on OnlyFans because over the years she and Reece have been 'harassed to the point where we've had to seek legal action.'
'We've also been harassed to the point where we've had to seek legal action a few times due to harassment, bullying and stalking over the last year... with that being said I've decided I'm going to share my pregnancy journey on another platform where I feel SAFE and POSITIVE,' she explained.
She added that she wants to welcome her child in a 'happy and healthy environment.'
Would you pay? OnlyFans is a subscription-based adult website where content can range from something as innocent as a suggestive selfie, all the way to hardcore pornography. London is charging fans $14.99 a month for content
'This is the most magical time in my life and I feel so blessed to be able to share my journey and for the people who support us to be involved in watching our family grow together,' she concluded.
London said she'd be posting 'updates, gender reveal and more intimate photos of me and Reece' online.
OnlyFans is a subscription-based adult website where content can range from something as innocent as a suggestive selfie, all the way to hardcore pornography.
London is charging fans $14.99 a month for content.
Wedding bells: Reece has been dating the Texas-born beauty since mid-2018, after announcing his split from ex-fiancee Tammy Hembrow, 26, after five years of dating. Last month, Reece and London announced their engagement
In another post, she clarified that she will still be posting on Instagram but won't be going into 'detail.'
'Hope everyone can understand and if you can't and your angry and you feel the need to tell me about your anger towards me then clearly that shows I've made the right decision,' she wrote in one Instagram story.
Reece has been dating the Texas-born beauty since mid-2018, after announcing his split from ex-fiancee Tammy Hembrow, 26, after five years of dating.
Last month, Reece and London announced their engagement.
Reece shares two children with ex Tammy Hembrow, son Wolf, five, and daughter Saskia, four.
Biden made the comment a day before he is set to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Trump travelled on Tuesday.
United States presidential candidate Joe Biden has called for the officer who shot Jacob Blake to be charged as he prepares to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Biden will visit the city, which has seen daily protests since the August 23 incident, on Thursday, just two days after US President Donald Trump made a controversial trip to Kenosha. That came despite requests from local and state officials that the president stay away for fear his presence would further agitate the situation.
On Wednesday, Biden told reporters that the officer who shot Blake, Rusten Sheskey, needs to be charged while also calling for charges in the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment in March.
Lets make sure justice is done, the candidate said.
Biden said the trip is intended to help heal the city, where there have been daily, and at times violent, protests following the wounding of Blake, who was shot seven times in the back and reportedly paralysed as he was trying to get into a car as police US tried to arrest him. The states governor last week activated the National Guard to quell the unrest.
Former Vice President Biden, who has already been in contact with Blakes family, said he planned to meet with business and civic leaders during the trip.
Diverging messages
Bidens call for the officers to be charged represents a counterpoint to Trumps approach to the unrest that has swept across the US during months of demonstrations calling for racial justice, initially sparked by the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minnesota in May.
During his trip to Kenosha, a city about 100,000 in the battleground state of Wisconsin, Trump visited a street where buildings had been burned by the protests before holding a round table with law enforcement. He pledged to continue to support police in the state and country and denied systemic racism was a factor in police killings of Black people.
Instead, Trump said, bad apples and good cops who choke were mostly to blame for recent high-profile incidences. The president said he continued to push a wider law and order message that says US cities and suburbs are under threat from agitators, rioters and looters.
Both supporters of President Donald Trump and Black Lives Matters protesters came out from the presidents controversial visit [Morry Gash/The Associated Press]
Biden, meanwhile, has sought to underline wider security concerns in the country, fuelled by what he calls Trumps ineptitude to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and his fomenting of racial discord.
Biden has also accused Trump of failing to condemn the violence committed by his supporters.
On Monday, Trump defended Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old who allegedly fatally shot two men after coming to the Kenosha protest armed with a semiautomatic rifle. In mobile phone footage recorded before the killings, the teenager, who has received significant support from some segments of the right, said he had come to Kenosha to protect property.
Trump suggested to reporters that the killings appeared to be self-defence, a view that diverges from prosecutors account of the events.
Playing politics
Both campaigns have accused the other of playing politics with Kenosha, with Trump acknowledging before his trip that the visit could increase enthusiasm.
Kenosha represents the first city that has become a hot spot of the recent race-related unrest that either candidate has visited in recent weeks. Both the president of the local NAACP chapter and the citys mayor said earlier this week it was too early for either candidate to come to the city.
In many ways, Kenosha encapsulates the states voting potential for both candidates. Trump carried the county by just 238 votes in 2016, while Obama trounced his Republican opponents in the county by 18 and 12 percentage points in 2008 and 2012, respectively.
Trumps narrow win in Wisconsin in 2016 was fundamental to his Electoral College victory. He was the first Republican to win the state since 1984. Meanwhile, Democratic opponent Hillary Clintons failure to visit Wisconsin during the campaign is often cited as one of many contributing factors to her surprise loss.
While some analysts have suggested that northern battleground states like Wisconsin, with predominantly white populations, may be particularly susceptible to Trumps tough-on-crime rhetoric, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed crime remained way down on the list of Americans concerns, with only eight percent citing prevention as a top priority.
Meanwhile, 78 percent said they were very or somewhat concerned about the coronavirus, and 30 percent said the economy and jobs were their top priority for the country.
Claris Ventures, a Turin, Italy-based newly formed venture capital firm, announced the first closing of its maiden fund, Claris Biotech I, at $30m.
The fund, which has a final target of 80m, is focused on early stage biotech investments. It is backed by primary Italian institutional investors including CDP Venture Capital and Compagnia di San Paolo, as well as other local family offices and private investors.
Founded by Pietro Puglisi and Ciro Spedaliere, Claris will mainly invest in Italian companies with therapeutic compounds possibly addressing highly unmet clinical needs. The ideal investment stage is 12-24 months before Phase 1 study launch. The firm will lead 5-15m financing rounds, aiming at providing adequate resources to get to a clinical proof-of-concept, typically completing a Phase 1/2a study.
The team actively collaborates with the Molecular Biotechnology Center (University of Turin) and with the CEINGE research and diagnostics center (Naples).
Commenting on the announcement, Pietro Puglisi said: Contributing to the development of new therapies and, at the same time, creating value and economic impact is a challenge we are honored to accept.
The passage from preclinical to clinical development is crucial for the future of new biopharma ventures: our exclusive focus allows us to curate every little detail, maximize the probability of success, he added.
We work across research, finance and pharmaceutical industry. Understanding the fundamental logic of different ecosystems is key to provide strategic insights to our portfolio companies, Ciro Spedaliere said.
The closing was advised by McDermott, Will & Emery law firm.
FinSMEs
02/09/2020
The Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer will be opening a new office in Dalton, with a grand opening celebration on Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. at 1300 North Thornton Ave. Suite #2.The Austin Hatcher Foundation offers free services to families faced with pediatric cancer, and the addition of this new office in Dalton will allow the foundation to reach and serve more families in the surrounding areas. The Dalton office will offer mental health counseling, occupational therapy, neuropsychological testing and art-based therapy.In June, the foundation opened its newest 33,000 square-foot Education Advancement Center in Chattanooga to expand the services offered to families faced with childhood cancer.The Dalton location is a phase-one office location, providing the foundation with a space to grow and have a larger North Georgia footprint in the future.This space to grow our services was made possible by Hamilton Health Care Systems President and CEO Jeff Myers, and we are so grateful for this support, said Austin Hatcher Foundation President Amy Jo Osborn. This gives us the opportunity to continue extending our services to more and more families, not only in Chattanooga but also to our surrounding neighbors in Dalton.
New Delhi: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested a drug peddler named Basit on Wednesday morning with links to Rhea Chakraborty's brother Showik Chakraborty. According to NCB sources, Showik allegedly used to buy drugs from Basit.
This is the second arrest made by the NCB in less than 24 hours. On Tuesday evening, the agency arrested another drug peddler after conducting multiple raids based on information related to drug supply. The arrested drug peddler has been identified as Zaid. As per sources, Basit had introduced Showik to Zaid.
With these two arrests and the drug peddlers' links to Showik, it has been learnt that the NCB can soon summon Rhea and her brother for questioning.
Meanwhile, as per sources, the NCB sleuths on Tuesday also detained two more alleged drug suppliers and brought them to its Mumbai office for questioning.
The NCB has already registered a criminal case against Rhea, Showik, her talent manager Jaya Saha and a Goa-based hotelier Gaurav Arya under several sections of the NDPS Act.
Rhea and Gaurav Arya allegedly exchanged messages about drug consumption. Her deleted WhatsApp chats hinted at a possible drug conspiracy in Sushant's case.
Gaurav Arya has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and appeared for questioning on Monday and Tuesday. The ED is recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
He, however, has claimed he had never met Sushant but said that he had met Rhea once in 2017. He also stated that he has no connection with the Sushant case.
Sesa sen By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Retail loan growth, which has seen a dramatic decline, now appears to be making a recovery. In July, the segment registered a growth of 11.2 per cent (it was slowest in June at 10.5 per cent in the last 12 months), showed the Reserve Bank's monthly credit data. In absolute numbers, the outstanding credit rose to Rs 25.3 lakh crore during the month as against Rs 24.9 lakh crore in the same period of the corresponding year.
The gradual unlocking of economic activities has also seen the month-on-month growth in credit to the sector inching up 1.6 per cent in July (the highest since February). During the lockdown months, retail loans covering segments like home loans, vehicle loans, and credit cards nosedived Rs 62,861 crore in April, followed by Rs 11,928 crore dip in May.
According to the RBI data, segments such as credit card debt (+7.9% YoY) vehicle loans (+8.1% YoY) and other personal loans (+13.3% YoY) drove the recovery in July.
In fact, consumer durables registered a 62.3 per cent growth vs degrowth of 72.5 per cent in July last year. On the other hand, education loans registered a degrowth of 3.8 per cent as compared to a decline of 1.8 per cent a year ago.
Similarly, housing loans, which accounted for 53 per cent of the retail loans, slowed to 12.3 per cent this year in July as compared with 19.2 per cent in July 2019.
Broadly, however, retail credit is still lower than the year-on-year growth over the last two years when it has been in the range of 15-20 per cent. In July 2019, the y-o-y growth in retail loans was a strong 17 per cent.
Analysts say people aren't feeling confident to borrow even as banks are flushed with funds. The bruised economy, further battered by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, has dragged consumption and the data is in sync with indicators such as falling sales of automobiles, consumer durables and homes.
The slowing growth also comes despite the central bank cutting repo rate by 115 bps since the lockdown was imposed late March.
Banks continue to remain risk averse, despite availability of ample liquidity, due to the Covid-led uncertainty contributing to weak credit pick-up. We expect overall credit growth to remain slower in the near term as banks are selective in giving fresh loans due to asset quality concerns, said Sanjay Agarwal Senior Director, Care Ratings.
Whether the uphill trend in retail loan growth will sustain will be known after repayments start flowing in as the loan moratorium ends.
Besides, another set of much-awaited fiscal stimulus to boost consumption ahead of the crucial festive season would advance credit flow and the larger economy facing recession. It also requires government measures to arrest job losses and increase disposable incomes.
A young pregnant woman was found dead with her unborn child cut out of her womb after being lured to a fake baby shower by a friend who had become obsessed with stealing a child.
The woman, who has been identified locally as Flavia Godinho Mafra, 24, was 36 weeks pregnant when she was murdered in the town of Canelinha, in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina.
The partner of her school friend admitted using a brick to kill her after luring her to the murder scene on the pretence of a baby shower, local media reported.
The friend confessed to having become obsessed with stealing a child after she had a miscarriage earlier this year, police said.
Brazilian woman Flavia Godinho Mafra, 24, is pictured in an undated photograph. Mafra, who was 36 weeks pregnant, was brutally murdered by an old school friend who had become obsessed with stealing a baby after having a miscarriage herself. She removed the baby from the mother's body using a blade
Mafra poses with her husband in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. Mafra was 36 weeks pregnant at the time of the murder. It's unknown whether the baby was removed while she was still alive
Pictured: The knife used in the horrific crime in Brazil. Police said Mafra's cause of death was a sharp cut to the abdomen and wounds sustained from being hit with a brick
The detective responsible for the case, Paulo Alexandre Freyesleben e Silva, confirmed that the cause of death of the 24-year-old victim was a sharp cut to the abdomen and wounds from a brick, according to national newspaper G1.
The body was reportedly found by the victim's husband and mother at around 9am on Friday.
It had been dumped in an abandoned pottery yard in the Galera neighbourhood.. The baby was missing.
Police later found it had been taken to the hospital by the suspect and her husband, who were both arrested.
According to the police investigation, the arrested woman, who was an old school friend of the victim, told the police officer she had lost a child due to a miscarriage in January and had become obsessed with stealing a child.
Mafra's body had been dumped in an abandoned pottery yard in the Galera neighbourhood of Canelinha, in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina
According to NSC Total, the baby girl remains in the Children's Hospital of Florianopolis, where she has been given antibiotics and pain medication for the injuries sustained when she was ripped from her mother's belly, but is otherwise in good general health.
The autopsy will confirm if the baby was removed with the pregnant woman alive or if she was already dead.
Flavia, who studied pedagogy and worked as a substitute teacher, was buried in the Municipal Cemetery of Canelinha after a brief ceremony.
A shooting earlier this month in Eastons West Ward was justified because the shooter was defending herself against an attacker, according to Northampton Countys district attorney.
The woman who was shot, 30-year-old Tiasha Elaine Ennis of Easton, is charged with aggravated assault for punching and kicking a woman she believed was having relations with the father of Ennis child, according to court papers.
Ennis was shot in the shoulder and suffered a collapsed lung during the incident just before 1 p.m. Aug. 17 in the 900 block of Ferry Street, District Attorney Terry Houck said at a press conference Wednesday morning.
She felt terrified and afraid for her life, Houck said of the woman who shot in self-defense.
Ennis was riding in a car with acquaintances when in the 900 block of Ferry Street she yelled, stop the car, stop the car, and then got out and confronted a woman on the sidewalk on the north side of the street, court papers say.
Ennis accused the other woman of having intimate relations with Ennis childs father, court papers say. Houck said Ennis claimed she found proof of the infidelity on social media, but the woman later told police she didnt know Ennis. The woman is identified in court papers only as N.S.
Tiasha Elaine Ennis was shot the afternoon of Aug. 17, 2020, in the 900 block of Ferry Street in Easton, police said.Tony Rhodin | For lehighvalleylive.com
Houck said Ennis is 6 inches taller and 80 pounds heavier than the woman she confronted. The other woman felt overpowered and unable to break free from Ennis grasp, court papers say. Pushed up against a brick wall and taking several punches to the face and being kicked, the other woman was terrified and afraid for her life, court papers say.
The woman removed a gun from her fanny pack and warned Ennis about the 9 mm Luger, police said. Ennis continued to punch and grabbed at Ennis hand and the gun, police say. Ennis fired the gun once and the round went through Enniss upper body, police said.
The woman had a valid Pennsylvania concealed carry permit, police said.
The woman summoned help and tried to get people to call 9-1-1, court papers say. Witnesses were reluctant to help police with the investigation, according to Easton police Lieutenant Matthew Gerould.
Someone later approached police and said she received video footage of the shooting from someone on social media, court papers say. The footage confirmed the shooters statement, police said. Police provided the video to lehighvalleylive.com. Police still arent sure who shot the video of the incident, Gerould said.
Ennis, later speaking from St. Lukes University Hospital in Fountain Hill, admitted she had never met the woman she confronted. Ennis said the other woman denied the infidelity and, feeling disrespected, Ennis grabbed her by the hair, and then began beating her up and punching her, police said.
Ennis was released Aug. 20 from the hospital and is expected to recover, police said.
Houck said some reasons the shooting was justified include: the woman attacked was on her parents porch and never left her private property, she suffered an unprovoked attack by a woman she says she didnt know, the attack was by a much larger woman, she warned Ennis to stop attacking or she would shoot and she stayed there until police arrived.
Ennis charges should serve as a cautionary tale to others who seek street justice, Houck said.
This is why you dont do stuff like this, Houck said. Just because youre bigger or stronger, you dont know what youre going up against when you have somebody involved like this. This ought to be a message to people to not do this kind of stuff because this is what can happen.
Someone else suffered injuries not related to gunfire and was checked out by medical personnel, police said. The other woman was bleeding from the mouth, had scrapes on her face, a bite on her hand and swelling to her head, police said in court papers.
Investigators did not get initial cooperation from witnesses, police said. There have been 16 shootings in the past 14 weeks in Easton, Gerould said. He said victims and witnesses are consistently uncooperative, and in the Ennis case police encountered people who were counterproductive to our investigation.
Thats frustrating for police and prosecutors, Houck said. Theyre supposed to be on the same side as the bystanders, he said. Neighbors should not fear retribution for cooperating with authorities, Houck said.
With respect to the shootings in Easton, I worry that somehow these people think that somehow these punks and these thugs are somehow connected to something greater than they are. We dont believe that. These guys are just punks. Theyre not members of these intricate gangs, Houck said.
He said neighbors can report information anonymously. They need to work with law enforcement before violence escalates more, Houck said.
If people are afraid for those reasons to speak up, they shouldnt be, Houck said. Because what will ultimately happen here is a child is going to get killed in the crossfire. And then when that happens, everything is going to go nuts. As it should.
Ennis, of the 100 block of South Ninth Street in Easton, is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, records show.
District Judge Robert Weber on Wednesday morning set bail at $25,000 unsecured during Ennis arraignment. Ennis preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled 9 a.m. Sept. 14 before District Judge Daniel Corpora.
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Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
Penal facilities in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region lack mother-and-child homes ombudsman
flickr.com/ Quinn Dombrowski
12:08 02/09/2020
ST. PETERSBURG, September 2 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) Correctional institutions of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region have no functioning facilities where women giving birth in penal colonies could live with their children, the Office of St. Petersburg Rights Commissioner Alexander Shishlov informs RAPSI on Wednesday.
The fact was revealed when the Ombudsman studied a case of a convicted woman, who gave birth in a penal colony run by the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN). The body reported that no such home existed at any correctional facility it operated.
The case of this young convicted woman was reported to the St. Petersburg Ombudsman by city rights activist Grigory Mikhnov-Vaitenko; Leningrad Region Children Ombudsman Tamara Litvinova and rights activist Leonid Agafonov took part in settling the situation in the interests of the child.
Army convoy moves on Srinagar- Ladakh highway at Gagangeer, in Ganderbal district of Central Kashmir. In a fresh incident in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese PLA carried out "provocative military movements" to "unilaterally" change the status quo on the southern bank of Pangong Tso (lake) but the attempt was thwarted by the Indian troops, the Army said on Monday. (PTI)
Contradicting Indias stand that the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) had carried out provocative military movements in an attempt to change the status quo at the Southern Bank of Pangong Tso Lake in the Ladakh sector both on Saturday night and on Monday, China on Tuesday lodged a protest and accused India of grossly violating China's territorial sovereignty, seriously violating relevant agreements, protocols ... and severely damaging peace and tranquillity in the border areas on Monday, adding that it has made solemn representations to the Indian side, urged the Indian side to strictly control and restrain its frontline troops, earnestly honour its commitments.
This came on a day when New Delhi said that even on Monday (August 31), even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation, the Chinese troops again engaged in provocative action (for the second time since Saturday late night).
In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi said, On August 31st, Indian troops violated the consensus reached in previous multi-level engagements and negotiations between China and India, illegally trespassed the LAC again at the southern bank of the Pangong Tso Lake and near the Reqin Pass in the western sector of China-India border, and conducted flagrant provocations, which again stirred tension in the border areas.
Claiming that what India has done runs counter to the efforts made by both sides for a period of time to ease and cool down the situation on the ground, the Chinese Embassy statement also accused Indian troops of violating the consensus reached in previous multi-level engagements and negotiations between China and India, illegally trespassing the Line of Actual Control (LAC) again at the southern bank of the Pangong Tso Lake and near the Reqin Pass ... and conducting flagrant provocations, adding that this again stirred tension in the border areas.
China claimed it has made solemn representations to the Indian side, urged the Indian side to strictly control and restrain its frontline troops, earnestly honour its commitments, immediately stop all the provocative actions, immediately withdraw its troops illegally trespassing the LAC, and immediately stop any actions leading to the escalation and complication of the situation.
The Chinese Embassy added, Indias move has grossly violated China's territorial sovereignty, seriously violated relevant agreements, protocols and important consensus reached between the two countries, and severely damaged peace and tranquility along the China-India border areas. What India has done runs counter to the efforts made by both sides for a period of time to ease and cool down the situation on the ground, and China is resolutely opposed to this.
The Chinese side however, violated this understanding and engaged in provocative military maneuvers in the late night of 29th and on 30th August in an attempt to change the status quo in the South Bank area of Pangong Lake.
As stated by Indian Army, the Indian side responded to these provocative actions and took appropriate defensive measures along the LAC in order to safeguard our interests and defend the territorial integrity.
Furthermore, on 31st August, even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation, the Chinese troops again engaged in provocative action. Due to the timely defensive action, the Indian side was able to prevent these attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo.
In 2019, there were 16.1 million tourists that traveled in 2018 through the breathtaking Country of Indonesia. Comprised of 17,000 islands, each year, Indonesia was ranked at 20th in the world tourist Industry in 2017, also ranked as the ninth-fastest growing tourist sector in the world and saw around 20 millions tourists in 2019.
Despite the tourist frenzy, for Gregg Jaden, it is an incredible place to photograph and film.
Even if you're not looking to take stunning photos like Jaden, Indonesia has something for everyone. Whether it is foods to taste, places to explore, or interesting people to meet you will never be bored in this beautiful country many people call home.
Come Along on the Ultimate Travel Guide for 7 Incredible Must See Locations When Traveling to Indonesia.
1 - TumpakSewu Waterfall In East Java, Indonesia
TumpakSewu waterfall is quickly becoming famous as one of the most incredible waterfalls in Lumajang, East Java. Social media has exploded tourism to this location that offers endless angles to photograph.
It is made up of so many waterfalls unlike anything you have ever seen. You can hike down the steep mountain side to see these falls first hand being submersed in the rushing water or take a breather gazing ad its entirety from above.
These waterfalls roar into a horseshoe shaped jungle ravine that looks like something right out of a movie. The feeling can only be described as an enchanted experience if you visit these incredible falls.
2. Borobudur Jawa Tengah
On your trip to Indonesia, you need to explore the largest Buddhist temple in the world, Borobudur Jawa Tengah near Yogyakarta.
This fascinating ancient architecture allows tourists to see every single level of this 1,200-year-old temple.
If you're planning to see Borobudur, then it's ideal to wake up early get a good spot for sunrise. Around five in the morning is the most tranquil time of the day and perfect for taking photographs as the sun rises in the distance of this beautiful temple.
3. Jomblang Cave
You are about to be mind blown. Traveling to the Jombalang Cave will take you about a day hike but the view and feeling of silence mixed with unreal sunbeam light is well worth the journey. Another location to arrive early as you'll be spending half the day there. Check times for best light conditions inside the cave.
Jombalang Cave isn't necessarily a cave either, rather a sinkhole that is apart of a cave system. You will need to book a tour for this cave experience because you will be lowered down into the cave using rappelling equipment and a harness.
Don't worry if you're a first-time cave explorer either! Since you need a tour to explore this cave, then it is without a doubt perfect for beginners. They will walk you through every step of the way so there is no need to worry.
4. Prambanan Temple
If you're looking to experience traditional Indonesia's cultural, then Prambanan Temple is a magnificent place to visit. The temple was built over 1,000 years ago so you can only imagine how fantastic it looks today.
Exploring these temples is a trip that you want to absorb all day long. You can walk in the temples and on the grounds of these fantastic beasts. The tall central tower is 154 feet high and stands right in the middle of it all.
If you're looking for a bit of an explanation of the temple, guided tours are offered. If you're looking to spend the day photographing the beautiful sights, then you will want to venture off and explore on your own.
5. Kampung Warna-WarniJodipan
The Kampung Warna-WarniJodipan is located in Malang, Indonesia, and is also known as the village of color. The residents of this one of a kind place have really put this on the map. You will want to visit and see the rows of brown and white houses all of a sudden transform into rows and rows of vibrant and magnificent colors like a rainbow.
This was a project done by the community which goes to show how kind and hospitable the people here truly are. They want to bring peace and happiness to everyone around them. Make sure to take the time to meet some of the people who are living within the village during your visit!
6. Mount Bromo
Mount Bromo is one of the best adventures in East Java. It is one of the many active volcanos in Indonesia. It also is the second-highest waterfall and provides some must-see views.
There are so many different angles to take photos of if you're planning to travel to Mount Bromo. You're going to want to spend lots of time here. Get there early. You will need to rent a jeep to get up the mountain as the roads turn to sand near the top. The crowd usually leaves after sunrise.
One of Gregg Jaden's favorite things to do at this spot in Indonesia is to get there early and catch an amazing sunrise. You will need to start your journey in the middle of the night like at 2:30 am to see the beautiful sunrise and snap a few amazing moments.
7. Tegalalang Rice Terrace
Another stunning location right in Bali is the Tegalalang Rice Terrace with its green rice paddies on countless levels that seem to stretch on for miles and miles with no end in sight.
When you get to the Tegalalang Rice Terrace you will see the view from above as it rolls down as a hill would. It will take you about 30 minutes to an hour and a half to hike down and explore the entire rice terrace but it is well worth it!
This is a favorite place for Gregg Jaden, he always flies his drone as the shots from above are truly awe-inspiring. To increase the magic of this amazing location, having a model in the middle of the rice fields will stamp the photos timeless.
Why Everyone Must Travel to Indonesia
Whether you're planning a trip to travel to Indonesia or you're only adding it to your bucket list there are plenty of places that you will want to see in this incredibly gorgeous Country. You can without question take Jaden's word for it as you can see from the photos.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-03 06:05:44|Editor: huaxia
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UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday noted "with concern" the imposition by the United States of sanctions against the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and another senior official, in the latest of a series of unilateral policy moves against the body.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the ICC of "illegitimate attempts to subject Americans to its jurisdiction," announcing sanctions against Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the head of the Jurisdiction Complementarity and Cooperation Division, Phakiso Mochochoko, in accordance with a U.S. executive order issued in early June by President Donald Trump involving "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Associated with the ICC."
Pompeo made the accusation as The Hague-based court probes whether U.S. forces have committed alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, UN News has reported.
On behalf of the UN chief Antonio Guterres, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said "we continue to closely follow developments on this matter."
"We will be analyzing any possible implications that this development may have with respect to the implementation of the agreement," he said.
Cooperation between the United Nations and the ICC is founded on their Relationship Agreement, which was approved by the General Assembly on Sept. 13, 2004.
In line with previous statements of the U.S. secretary of state, Dujarric said, "we trust that any restrictions taken against individuals would be implemented consistently with the host country's obligations" under the UN Headquarters Agreement.
As the top prosecutor, Bensouda has visited the United States frequently to attend key meetings in the Security Council. Enditem
IT Hiring vacancy
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Amid the Covid pandemic and issues around H-1B visas, experts had suggested that IT firms offshore-onshore ratio the number of people working in India versus onsite could increase, and onsite hiring may slow down. The remote working model, they explained, would drive this.
That may not quite be the case as factors such as visa denials, travel costs and the need to have local employees from the same culture and time zone influence decisions around this.
Infosys to hire more in the US
Bengaluru-based IT major Infosys has announced that it will hire 12,000 people in the US over the next two years. According to analysts, this could be because of uncertainty over overseas travel, visas and improving margins.
Over the last couple of years, Infosys margins have been a concern. Salil Parekh, the companys CEO, said in a press conference last year that the increase in subcontractor costs is affecting margins and increasing localisation would help bring it down.
This came on the back of rising visa rejections. Infosys saw the highest denial rate for new H-1B petitions in the US (59 percent) between October 2019 and March 2020, according to an analysis by the National Foundation for American Policy, an immigration think tank. The denial rate has increased by over 50 percent for the company over the last five years.
This impacted margins as the company had to make do with subcontractors, who are expensive, in the US. For instance, the cost of subcontractors increased from Rs 1,166 crore in 2008-09, when Infosys revenue was Rs 20,264 crore, to Rs 7,646 crore in 2018-19, when revenue was at Rs 73,107 crore. Subcontracting costs shot up 555 percent over the decade, outpacing the companys 260 percent revenue growth.
So, Infosys has been stepping up overseas hiring since 2017. The company currently has about 13,000 local hires in the US.
Infosys peer TCS employs close to 20,000 American workers. Over 60 percent of the employees of the top four IT firms in the US are locals.
Pareekh Jain, founder, Pareekh Consulting, explained that most of these US hires are likely to be freshers, unlike the H-1B visa holders, who are in the mid to senior job band. This would help in improving margins, he added.
Long-term strategy needed
That is only a part of the issue. Covid-19 has made companies realise they need a long-term strategy for the overseas market as digital gains momentum.
Business travel is a significant portion of the cost for IT firms. Travel increased over the last couple of years as digital gained traction, which translates to an increased need for onsite engagement with clients.
In an earlier interaction with Moneycontrol, Manoj Bhat, CFO, Tech Mahindra, said: Digital as a category has been characterised by people wanting to sit across the table, brainstorming and trying to figure out solutions in an agile manner. So, if you look at onsite as a percentage of revenue, it has been consistently high and that is directly linked to visa costs.
Companies had to put a break on travel due to Covid-19 and are now closing deals virtually. But once the situation comes under control, the need for more such conversations could increase and having local employees in the same culture and time zone would definitely be a big help.
This would also help companies mitigate sudden challengers such as the recent visa ban introduced by the US government. The ban made it difficult for IT firms to move resources.
All IT firms, including Infosys, would want to avoid a situation where they are unable to cater to a project or close a deal because of unavailability of onsite resources. This is important considering that the US accounts for about 60 percent of their revenues.
A man who accidentally sent 20 sexually explicit photos and two videos of his ex-wife to her young son has been placed on a good behaviour bond.
The Brisbane man was found guilty on Tuesday of using a carriage service to harass after he sent the material to a mobile phone in March 2018, The Courier Mail reported.
While the phone was originally bought for the 11-year-old boy, it was also used to facilitate contact between the former lovers after she blocked him on her phone.
The court heard how the boy took the device to his mother when he received the messaged and did not open them.
The court heard the boy took the device to his mother when he received the messaged and did not open them (stock image)
Magistrate Belinda Merrin told the court that the woman felt 'degraded, sick and angry' when she saw the messages.
All images and videos were taken consensually while they were married, the court heard.
The man pleaded not guilty to the harassment charges, claiming he was trying to 'rekindle' their relationship.
But Ms Merrin rejected his claim and said his ex-wife made it clear she only wanted to communicate via email.
'They were sent in circumstances that the complainant was very clear that the only method of communication she wanted to have with the defendant was by email and solely for the purposes, as it related to the children.'
'It must be very obvious to you that would have been completely unwanted, unwelcome and likely to cause upset.'
When asked whose phone it was by police, the man responded: 'That's not his phone that's [the woman's] phone.'
The magistrate could not prove the man was aware the phone belonged to the woman's son when he sent the messaged.
He was released on a $600 recognisance order and a nine-month good behaviour bond.
Footy WAG Rebecca Judd has revealed that her nine-year-old son, Oscar, is going on school camp later this week, despite the stage-four lockdown in Melbourne.
The model-turned-entrepreneur, 37, revealed on Tuesday's 3pm Pick-Up that Oscar was preparing for his first ever overnight camp... at home via Zoom.
The 'virtual camp' for year three students was introduced because coronavirus restrictions in Victoria made an actual excursion impossible.
Milestone moment: Footy WAG Rebecca Judd has revealed that her nine-year-old son, Oscar, is going on school camp later this week, despite the stage-four lockdown in Melbourne
'My son Oscar has his year three camp coming up,' Rebecca began.
She explained that her eldest child will stay at home for the duration of the 'trip', and has been given a number of tasks and activities to keep him occupied.
'We got a big list of all the things sent home to prepare,' the mother of four said.
School camp, COVID-style: The model-turned-entrepreneur, 37, revealed on Tuesday's 3pm Pick-Up that Oscar (left) was preparing for his first ever overnight camp... at home via Zoom
The parents at Oscar's school were told to make space and provide play equipment for their children to build forts and cubby houses.
School administrators also sent a tongue-in-cheek letter asking for 'permission to tear the house apart'.
Rebecca added: 'Bush art is needed to be collected. We have a list of gum nut sticks, twigs, rocks...
'There's a Minute to Win It game, so we need plates, biscuits - chocolate-coated will give the best result.'
New normal: The 'virtual camp' for students was introduced because coronavirus restrictions in Victoria made an actual excursion impossible. Pictured: Oscar Judd
Rebecca called her son from the radio studio, and he explained that the first night will involve his class cooking chicken schnitzels at home and watching a movie.
The Judds' children are being home-schooled as Melbourne remains under stage-four lockdown following a deadly second wave of COVID-19.
Rebecca often jokes that her kids are too much to handle, sharing videos to Instagram highlighting the mess they cause around the house on a daily basis.
She and her husband, retired AFL star Chris Judd, share four children, son Oscar, daughter Billie, five, and twin boys Tom and Darcy, three.
Carnage: The Judds' children are being home-schooled as Melbourne remains under stage-four lockdown. Rebecca often jokes that her kids are too much to handle, sharing videos to Instagram highlighting the mess they cause around the house on a daily basis
The Bering Sea in the Northern Pacific Ocean has less ice than at any time in the last 5,500 years due to climate change, a new study shows.
Analysis of vegetation from St Matthew Island off the coast of Alaska shows sea ice in the region was last this low at the end of the Stone Age and before the reign of the pharaohs.
The Bering Sea will 'inevitably' lose its winter sea ice in the coming decades, due to solar radiation and greenhouse gases from human activities released into the atmosphere, US experts say.
Usually in the Pacific Ocean, as the ice melts and retreats each spring, it releases fresh water and nutrients into the sea water.
Changes to when and where this meltwater is released can affect phytoplankton blooms and in turn disrupt Bering's entire ecosystem.
A view of St Matthew Island in the Bering Sea. Isotope analysis of a peat sample from the island allowed researchers to determine sea ice extent in the region for the past 5,500 years
'What we've seen most recently is unprecedented in the last 5,500 years,' said study author Matthew Wooller, director of the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF).
'We haven't seen anything like this in terms of sea ice in the Bering Sea.'
Researchers focused on a sample of peat made from partially decomposed organic matter including plant material to reveal historical ice cover in the Bering.
The peat core from the 140-mile-square St Matthew Island provides 'a look back in time', according to UAF, as it's naturally been recording what's happening in the ocean and atmosphere.
Researchers sampled peat cores from St. Matthew Island - a remote island in the Bering Sea in Alaska
By analysing the chemical composition of the core, which includes plant remains from 5,500 years ago to the present, scientists can estimate how sea ice in the region has changed.
In particular, changes are indicated by the relative amounts of two isotopes of oxygen oxygen-16 and oxygen-18.
The ratio of those two isotopes changes depending on patterns in the atmosphere and ocean, reflecting the different signatures of precipitation.
More oxygen-18 makes for an isotopically 'heavier' precipitation, while more oxygen-16 makes precipitation 'lighter'.
A heavy ratio signals a seasonal pattern that causes the amount of sea ice to decrease and a light ratio indicates a season with more sea ice.
The scientists analysed isotope ratios throughout the peat layers, providing a time stamp for ice conditions that existed through the millennia.
They generated computer simulations using an isotope-enabled general circulation model called IsoGSM.
After reviewing the isotopic history, researchers determined that modern ice conditions are at remarkably low levels.
Reductions in Bering Sea ice are due to more than recent higher temperatures associated with global warming, however.
Atmospheric and ocean currents, which are also affected by climate change, play a larger role in the presence of sea ice.
'There's a lot more going on than simply warming temperatures,' said lead author Miriam Jones at the US Geological Survey.
'We're seeing a shift in circulation patterns both in the ocean and the atmosphere.'
The findings also suggest the North Pacific is sensitive to even small changes in the difference between sunlight absorbed by the Earth and energy radiated back into space.
This difference, known as radiative forcing, is affected by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere by human activities, such as the burning of fuels.
But it's possible that the effects of carbon dioxide concentrations on sea ice may only become apparent after several decades.
This could mean there will be a complete loss of winter ice by the year 2050 in the Bering Sea, thanks to today's emissions.
The study, published in Science Advances, sheds light on just a fraction of the planet's oceans and historical ice cover.
Slide me By the end of April 2018, ice cover in the Bering Sea was far below average for the time of year. The maps above show sea ice extent in the Bering Sea on April 29, 2018 compared to more normal conditions on April 29, 2013
In its annual rhythm of growth and melt, sea ice across oceans generally retreats throughout spring time, although not every region melts equally.
Summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has noticeably diminished in recent decades as carbon dioxide emissions have increased.
Meanwhile, winter ice coverage in the Bering Sea, which melts by summer, has appeared to remain relatively stable over the record, the UAF researchers reveal.
This suggests that winter sea ice may be less vulnerable to climate change compared with summer ice.
In 2018, NASA reported that about 310,000 square miles or 'two Texases' of ice had disappeared from the Bering Sea at springtime, compared with the same time of year for 2013.
According to the International Arctic Research Center and NOAA, the winter of 2017 to 2018 brought less ice in the Bering Sea than any winter since the start of written records in 1850.
Secondary schools are facing a chronic shortage of teachers in the coming months due to delayed retirements, high-risk staff needing time off and people not applying for jobs in urban areas due to high rents.
Unions speaking at the Covid-19 response committee today have painted a bleak picture as schools across the country reopen.
The committee is meeting today to hear input from teachers and parents about how the return of schools is operating on the ground.
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The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) said schools in cities, particularly Dublin, will be hit hardest.
General secretary Michael Gillespie said there is a serious lack of teachers for pinch subjects such as languages and science.
In a months time we will have delayed retirements going to hit the system so there is going to be a massive shortage of teachers and we will only have a minor number available to replace them, he said.
The number of teachers who are at high risk plus the retirements that are coming, we believe there will be a chronic shortage of teachers, most of these will be in the urban areas, in particular Dublin.
Mr Gillespie said the number of young people testing positive for coronavirus is rapidly on the rise and that schools do not have the staff to support absences.
If youre the only physics teachers in the school and you go out sick, you wont get a replacement. Thats absolutely certain, he said.
The committee also heard how a large number of teachers are expecting babies and are very concerned about returning to the workplace.
John Boyle, general secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), said some female teachers who are pregnant are being advised by their GPs not to return to school.
This is despite HSE advice stating that evidence gathered so far shows that pregnant women are not at-risk.
We dont fully know how it affects pregnant women and their babies, the advice on the agencys website states.
A circular from the Department of Education also states: Under the current HSE guidelines, a pregnant employee is not deemed to be at very high risk of serious illness from contracting Covid-19, unless suffering from a serious heart condition.
Mr Boyle said anecdotally the union is hearing that there have been very few applicants for jobs in urban areas and that in time, this can only get worse.
He said younger teachers are choosing to work in rural areas where there is a lower cost of living.
Meanwhile, concerns were also raised about staff having to restrict movements not being paid for time off.
We do have concerns where a teacher will be self-isolating, if that were to occur a number of times throughout the year, it wouldnt take too long to mount up the days so that the teacher would end up being on half pay or potentially no pay due to Covid-19, Mr Boyle said.
We know there is Covid pay for people who test positive but if teachers are off for a number of days and test negative, the days will build up, he added.
Education Minister Norma Foley is due to appear before the committee later today.
Dr Kafeel Khan was released from the Mathura jail as the Allahabad High Court granted temporary bail to him. Dr Khan was charged under the NSA for his alleged inflammatory statements at the Aligarh Muslim University during CAA protests.
Hours after the Allahabad High Court granted conditional bail to him, Dr Kafeel Khan was released from the Mathura jail. Dr Khan was charged under the National Security Act for his alleged inflammatory statements at the Aligarh Muslim University during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Notably, the order came days after the Supreme Court asked the High Court to decide and dispose of the petition related to the release of Kafeel Khan in 15 days. Khan told reporters shortly after his release that he wanted to thank all 138 crore Indians for standing by him during his struggle, he thanked the judiciary for giving the order, in which they said that the Uttar Pradesh government made a false, baseless, and fictitious case to keep him in prison.
In a light-hearted tone, he further added that he also thanks to the UP STF which did not kill him while bringing him to Mathura from Mumbai. Speaking about his future plans right after his release, Khan said that he wanted to go to the flood-affected states of Bihar, Kerala, and Assam and take part in the relief works there.
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He also put forth a plea to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, stating he urges the chief minister to reinstate him in his job so that he could work for the people as a Corona warrior. Khan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force in January from Mumbai after he allegedly made inflammatory statements at the Aligarh Muslim University during a protest against the CAA on December 12, 2019. He was on February 14, 2020, charged under the National Security Act.
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One name calling writer wants the Quickly editors to reveal their names. How ridiculous! I believe one of Quicklys intent is to provide a means for free and open commentary that is not compromised or personalized by revealing names of editors or writers. However, the writer wants a specific name because in his/her world it is not enough to focus on ideas, opinions, and quips. The writer wants to openly denigrate the commentary, the person who wrote the comments, and the person(s) who had the nerve to select comments that are not aligned with his/her world.
An aerial view of al-Dora oil refinery in Baghdad
CAIRO (Reuters) - Iraq oil minister said the country seeks exemption from OPEC export cut agreement during the first quarter of 2021, state news agency reported on Wednesday citing local media.
Ihsan Abdul Jabbar added Iraq will adhere to cuts over the next three months.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein, writing by Hesham Abdul Khalek)
The family of the late politician, Moshood Abiola, have narrated how they were attacked by some gun-wielding armed robbers on Wednesday, at their Ikeja home in Lagos.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the armed robbers attacked the house, on Wednesday, and went away with property worth millions of naira. The incident occurred around 4 a.m.
Speaking on behalf of the family, one of the children of late businessman, Tundun Abiola, in a statement said the family members were subjected to emotional torture by the armed robbers.
The hoodlums subjected the family to extreme emotional torture and harassment and stole cash and other valuable items belonging to the family. The police have since been informed. The crime is being investigated, part of the statement read.
We are consoled by the fact that no life was lost in this unfortunate and frightening incident.
We give glory to Almighty Allah and we thank friends and family members across the world who have called and sent messages of support and solidarity, the statement said.
This newspaper also gathered that the Lagos State police commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, has visited the family.
Mr Abiola, a business mogul cum politician, contested for the presidency in 1993.
The election results were annulled by military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, even when it was certain that Mr Abiola had won the polls.
He was awarded the national honour of GCFR posthumously on June 6, 2018, by President Muhammadu Buhari who also changed democracy day to June 12 in honour of the deceased.
The state education department on Wednesday decided to reduce the syllabus for classes 9 to 12 by 30%.
The decision has been taken on the recommendation of experts committee and in consultation with the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education chairman, said education minister Govind Singh Thakur on the sidelines of a meeting with department officials.
During the term and annual exams, questions will be asked from reduced syllabus, but the teachers will have to teach the full syllabus.
The minister said the decision to cut the syllabus has been taken in view of the Covid-19 outbreak due to which schools in the state were closed for over five months. A notification to this effect will be issued soon, he said.
In the Covid-19 times, the department tried to continue education through TV and online mediums. However, students have been facing many problems like lack of connectivity and some even dont have smart phones. So, the syllabus has been reduced on the lines of CBSE, said Thakur.
WINTER VACATION CANCELLED
He said the government has also decided to cancel the school winter vacation. There will be no holidays on second Saturdays and even the gazette holidays will be reduced, he said.
This will help compensate for 55 to 60 academic days lost due to Covid pandemic, said Thakur.
Annual exams for all schools will be held in March next year, while the practical examination will take place in the month of April.
TEACHERS DAY EVENT POSTPONED
The education minister informed that the Teachers Day programme slated for September 15 has been postponed due to national mourning on the death of former President Pranab Mukherjee.
The event will now be held on October 5 on the occasion of World Teachers Day.
Education secretary Rajiv Sharma, Himachal Pradesh School Education Board chairman Suresh Kumar Soni, board secretary Akshay Sood and elementary education director Shubh Karan Singh were present in the meeting.
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Washington: The US has claimed that China is looking to set up more robust military logistics and infrastructure in more than a dozen countries to project and sustain its power at greater distances, as per a report by Pentagon.
China is seeking to set up more robust logistics in about a dozen countries, including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, and Tajikistan, the report said on Tuesday.
The Pentagon, in its annual report "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China (PRC) 2020" that was submitted to the US Congress, said these potential Chinese military logistics facilities are in addition to the Chinese military base in Djibouti, which is aimed at supporting naval, air and ground forces projection.
"A global PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) military logistics network could both interfere with US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the PRC's global military objectives evolve," the Pentagon said in the report.
The report said that China has probably already made overtures to Namibia, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands, adding the known focus areas of PLA planning are along the Seal Lines of Communication from China to the Strait of Hormuz, Africa, and the Pacific Islands.
Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are vital to global trade.
"China's leaders use tactics short of armed conflict to pursue China's objectives. China calibrates its coercive activities to fall below the threshold of provoking armed conflict with the United States, its allies and partners, or others in the Indo-Pacific region," the Pentagon said in its annual report to the Congress.
The report also mentions that China is likely to increase the number of its nuclear warheads over the next decade from the low 200s now and is nearing the ability to launch nuclear strikes by land, air and sea, a capacity known as a triad.
The Pentagon said the growth projection was based on factors including Beijing having enough material to double its nuclear weapons stockpile without new fissile material production.
According to the Pentagon, a global PLA military logistics network could both interfere with the US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the Chinese global military objectives evolve.
"Host nations can perform an essential role in regulating the PRC's military operations as Chinese officials very likely recognise that a stable long-term relationship with the host nation is critical to the success of their military logistics facilities," it said.
Chinese military academics assert that bases abroad can enable forward deployment of its forces and support military conflict, diplomatic signalling, political change, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and training.
They also suggest that a military logistic network could enable intelligence monitoring of the US military.
The revelations came as tensions rise between China and the United States and as Washington seeks to have Beijing join a flagship nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 2, 2020) - Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. (TSXV: CEM) (OTCQX: CNSNF) ("Constantine" or the "Company") is pleased to report that on August 28th, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the Bureau of Land Management's approval of the Palmer Project's Plan of Operations for exploration work and road construction.
The Company is also pleased to report that 2020 field work season began in early August at the Palmer Zinc-Copper-Gold-Silver Project in Southeast Alaska ("Palmer" or the "Project"). The work represents the major portion of the 2020 budget of US $2.15 million.
BLM Wins 9th Circuit Court Appeal
In December 2017 groups aligned with the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) sued the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for granting Constantine's Plan of Operations (PoO) authorizing construction of 2.5 miles of road in support of exploration, contending that the impacts of a future mine should have been part of the exploration approval process. On March 15, 2019 Judge Burgess, presiding Judge of the Federal District Court for the District of Alaska, granted summary judgment to the BLM, Constantine, Alyu Mining Co., Inc. and Haines Mining & Exploration Inc., thereby denying each of SEACC's claims. In an eight-page Decision filed on August 28, 2020 the Ninth Circuit affirmed Judge Burgess's Order.
The Company agrees with the Court's opinion that the potential impacts of a future mine were not required to authorize construction of 2.5 miles of road in support of exploration. Constantine recognizes the importance of ongoing scientific studies and stakeholder discussions during the exploration process and remains committed to quality science and meaningful engagement with stakeholders through every step of our mineral exploration, that will help us create a responsible mine proposal for consideration in the future.
Garfield MacVeigh commented that, "We believe the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided correctly on this matter and are pleased with this opinion that is important for all companies conducting exploration projects in the United States."
2020 Field Program
The program includes summer field work, environmental and project permitting work for future underground exploration development and continued outreach to keep the Haines Borough and State of Alaska informed on project activities.
Surface geological work is focused on upgrading geological and prospect information to assist in advancing drill targets and resolving the offset on the Kudo fault that displaces the thickest part of the downdip South Wall deposit (CMR14-65 -89.0 meters grading 0.79% copper and 5.03% zinc including 7.4 meters grading 2.05% copper and 10.23% zinc). Much of this work is being carried out from the new road that has been completed to an underground exploration portal site.
Additional work is also in progress on the AG deposit (Inferred Resource of 4.3 million tonnes at 4.64% zinc, 0.12% Copper, 119.5 g/t silver, 0.53 g/t gold, 34.8% barite) that is the subject of a Master of Science dissertation.
2020 Environmental Studies and Permitting Update
The Company continues to build and expand the baseline environmental science database, fulfill environmental monitoring requirements and advance project permitting for future underground exploration.
In July 2019, the Company received all the necessary approvals to proceed with an underground exploration plan for the Palmer Zinc-Copper-Silver-Gold Project, Southeast Alaska. Subsequent to approval, the Waste Management Permit ("WMP") to manage wastewater and waste rock issued by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation ("ADEC") was remanded to ADEC staff for further review due to a 9th Circuit Court Decision in the County of Maui vs. Hawaii Wildlife Fund. That review is continuing so that the Company can comply with the new interpretation of the Clean Water Act that arose out of the Supreme Court's April 23, 2020 Opinion in the County of Maui vs. Hawaii Wildlife Fund case. The Company, in consultation with ADEC, has been collecting additional hydrologic information and plans to submit an updated Wastewater Discharge System Design and supporting data to ADEC for final discharge authorization in the future.
About the Palmer Project
Palmer is a high-grade volcanogenic massive sulphide-sulphate (VMS) project located in a very accessible part of coastal Southeast Alaska, with road access to the property and within 60 kilometers of the year-round deep-sea port of Haines. Mineralization at Palmer occurs within the same belt of rocks that is host to the Greens Creek mine, one of the world's richest VMS deposits.
A Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) presents a low capex, low operating cost, high margin underground mining operation with attractive environmental attributes (see news release dated June 3, 2019). Exploration has resulted in the discovery of the new AG deposit and continued to grow the resource base to its current estimated size of 4.68 million tonnes indicated grading 5.23 % zinc,1.49 % copper, 30.0 g/t silver, 0.30 g/t gold and 9.6 million tonnes inferred grading 4.95 % zinc , 0.59 % copper, 69.3 g/t silver, 0.39 g/t gold. VMS deposits are known to occur in clusters, and with at least 25 separate base metal and/or barite occurrences and prospects on the Project, there is abundant potential for discovery of multiple deposits.
The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that PEA results will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Constantine is proud to be contributing to the local Haines economy by creating employment opportunities and working with local businesses to support exploration work at the Palmer Project.
Qualified Person Statement
Michael Vande Guchte, P.Geo, is the Company's Vice President Exploration and a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Vande Guchte has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.
About the Company
Constantine is a mineral exploration company led by an experienced and proven technical team with a focus on the Palmer Project being advanced as a joint venture between Constantine (51%) and Dowa Metals & Mining Co., Ltd. (49%), with Constantine as operator. The plan is to continue to expand and discover new resources while the project is being advanced towards feasibility.
With the successful spinout of the Company's gold assets into HighGold Mining Inc. last year, the Company has made a decision to evaluate new opportunities for gold in addition to its flagship massive sulphide base metal Palmer project. We have identified several key gold prospects on our 100% leased lands that we are currently exploring.
On Behalf of Constantine Metal Resources Ltd.
"Garfield MacVeigh"
President
For further information, please visit the Constantine Metal Resources website at www.constantinemetals.com, or contact:
Garfield MacVeigh, President
Email: info@constantinemetals.com
Phone: +1 604 629 2348
Notes:
The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, the Company's 2020 Palmer Project environmental and exploration plans,and statements regarding the Palmer Project. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Forward-looking information and statements are based on the then current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the Company's business and the industry and markets in which it operates.
Forward-looking information and statements are made based upon numerous assumptions, including among others, that the results of planned exploration activities are as anticipated, commodity prices, the cost of planned exploration activities, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms, that third party contractors, equipment, supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct the Company's planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner and that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward looking information or making forward looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate.
Forward-looking information and statements also involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performances and achievements of Constantine to differ materially from any projections of results, performances and achievements of Constantine expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or statements, including, among others, negative operating cash flow and dependence on third party financing, uncertainty of the availability of additional financing, imprecision of mineral resource estimates, aboriginal title and consultation issues, exploration risks, reliance upon key management and other personnel, deficiencies in the Company's title to its properties, uninsurable risks, failure to manage conflicts of interest, failure to obtain or maintain required permits and licenses, changes in laws, regulations and policy, competition for resources and financing and other factors discussed or referred to in the Company's most recent MD&A under "Risk Factors".
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or implied by forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or reissue forward-looking information as a result of new information or events except as required by applicable securities laws.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/63053
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 2, 2020 / AurCrest Gold Inc. (the "Company" or "AurCrest") (TSXV:AGO) is pleased to announce that the Company has signed a Data Acquisition Agreement with Windfall Geotek Inc. ("Windfall") (TSX-V: WIN) to acquire geological and technical data (the "Data") related to its Ranger Lake Gold Property, a set of 50 cell claims east of the Campbell Gold Mines mill complex in the world famous Red Lake mining district.
Windfall's computer-assisted resource discovery program ("CARDS") analysis assists in the identification of high priority gold targets by combining public and private data sets of interest to the mining community, in this case highlighting areas of interest that are geologically similar to other gold discoveries and deposits in the Red Lake mining district. AurCrest will be using this Data and the high priority targets generated as an exploration tool to support exploration activities in the fall of 2020 through winter 2021. The Company acknowledges that while the Windfall CARDS system employs data from nearby advanced exploration companies and producers, no direct comparison to these sites should be inferred. The Company also acknowledges that areas of mineralization hosted on nearby or adjacent properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the AurCrest Ranger Lake Gold Property.
AurCrest will pay CDN$15,000 and issue of 300,000 common shares of AurCrest to Windfall to acquire the rights to the Data and rights to the CARDS technology necessary to use the Data. A further CDN$25,000 will be paid and a further 400,000 common shares will be issued to Windfall if the Company drills one of the high priority targets identified by the Data within two years of the signing the Data Acquisition Agreement This transaction is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.
AurCrest Gold is a leader in the First Nations advancement into shared participation and inclusion in the regional mining opportunities and counts as its board of directors and management, past and present, many indigenous business and cultural leaders. AurCrest is proud to play a leading role in the gold exploration of Northwestern Ontario, especially in the Birch-Uchi Greenstone Belt and the Red Lake mining district, as it forges new business relationships between Canada's founding cultures.
About AurCrest Gold Inc.
AurCrest is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of gold properties. AurCrest has a portfolio of properties in Ontario, which include the Richardson Lake, Ranger Lake and Bridget Lake gold properties.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
AurCrest Gold Inc.
Christopher Angeconeb
President and C.E.O
(807) 737-5353
christopherangeconeb@gmail.com
Ian Brodie-Brown
Director of Business Development
(416) 844-9969
ianbrodiebrown@gmail.com
Forward Looking Statement:
Some of the statements contained herein may be forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and resources, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various risks. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements: changes in the world wide price of mineral commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in mineral exploration, risks associated with development, construction and mining operations, the uncertainty of future profitability and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events may differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. AurCrest undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking 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.
SOURCE: AurCrest Gold Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/604486/AurCrest-Gold-Signs-Data-Acquisition-Agreement-with-Windfall-Geotek-Inc-for-the-Ranger-Lake-Gold-Property
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Sept. 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD; MSE:ERDN) ("Erdene" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the filing on SEDAR of the independent Feasibility Study (Feasibility Study or FS) Technical Report (the Report) for its 100%-owned, high-grade, open-pit Bayan Khundii Gold Project (Bayan Khundii or BK) in southwest Mongolia. The Report, entitled Bayan Khundii Gold Project Feasibility Study, NI 43-101 Technical Report, dated August 31, 2020, with an effective date of July 20, 2020, was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) by a consortium of International and Mongolian firms, coordinated by Roma Oil and Mining Associates Limited (Roma). The Report is available under the Companys profile at www.sedar.com and on the Companys website at www.erdene.com .
Quotes from the Company:
"The Bayan Khundii feasibility study results confirm the robust returns of this project in its base case, and the significant upside from ongoing district-wide exploration and rising gold prices, said Peter Akerley, Erdenes President and CEO. As a low-capex, low-opex project within an emerging gold district, Bayan Khundii offers investors and stakeholders strong leverage to gold as we seek to grow the resource base and move towards the goal of first production in early 2022.
An 18,000 metre exploration program is underway, currently focused on upside in the Bayan Khundii area and initial drilling of the recently discovered Dark Horse prospect, continued Mr. Akerley. This program has the potential to add to Bayan Khundii reserves and to expand resources across the broader district.
On the development side, we have commenced the construction readiness, detailed design work and permitting processes required to move rapidly to construction, concluded Mr. Akerley. With the proceeds of the recently closed C$20 million private placement, led by a strategic investment from Eric Sprott, and the engagement of HCF International Advisers Limited ("HCF"), with a mandate to secure project debt financing, we have visibility to the required funding.
Story continues
NI 43-101 Feasibility Study Highlights (US$1,400/oz Gold Price, unless noted)
Base Case after-tax Net Present Value of US$100 million (NPV 5% ) and 42% Internal Rate of Return (IRR), increasing to US$274 million and 93% IRR, respectively, at a gold price of US$2,000/oz
Life of Mine Earnings Before Interest, Taxes and Depreciation of US$257 million, increasing to US$472M at a US$2,000/oz gold price
Total recovered gold over the initial phase of the Khundii Gold District development of 381,700 ounces
All-in sustaining cost (AISC) of US$733/ounce of gold recovered and upfront capital costs of US$59 million
BK Measured and Indicated Resources of 521,000 ounces gold at an average grade of 3.16 g/t gold and 103,000 ounces of Inferred resources at 3.68 g/t gold
BK Proven and Probable Reserves of 409,000 ounces gold at an average grade of 3.71 g/t gold
Average annual gold production of 63,500 ounces, including 77,600 ounces in Year 2
Eight-year project, comprising one-year pre-production, six-year operating life and one-year mine closure
Payback period of less than 2 years
Adjacent high-grade resources and recent discoveries provide high probability growth options
Significant benefits to Mongolia, including Life of Mine royalties and taxes of US$103 million and approximately 400 new direct jobs in Bayankhongor Province
Further details on the Feasibility Study can be found in the Companys press release, dated July 20, 2020 and the full Report is accessible on the Companys website.
About Erdene
Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious and base metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. Erdenes deposits are located in southwestern Mongolias Edren Terrane, within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, host to some of the worlds largest gold and copper-gold deposits. The Company has been the leader in exploration in the region over the past decade and is responsible for the discovery of the Khundii Gold District with interests in three mining licenses and two exploration licenses hosting multiple high-grade gold and gold/base metal prospects, two of which are being considered for development: the 100%-owned Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar gold deposits.
Erdene Resource Development Corp. is listed on the Toronto and the Mongolian stock exchanges. Further information is available at www.erdene.com . Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the ability to obtain required third party approvals, market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE
Erdene Contact Information
Peter C. Akerley, President and CEO, or
Robert Jenkins, CFO
Phone: (902) 423-6419 Email: info@erdene.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErdeneRes Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ErdeneResource LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/erdene-resource-development-corp-/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCILs5s9j3SLmya9vo2-KXoA
Internally displaced people in Nguetchewe, northern Cameroon. UNHCR/Moise Amedje
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, strongly condemns an attack which killed seven people and wounded 14 others at Koyape, a village hosting internally displaced people in Cameroons Far North Region on 1 September.
The suicide bomb attack took place near Kolofata, close to the border with Nigeria, where some 18,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) have sought safety over the past seven years. It comes just a month after 18 people died and 15 were injured in an attack by an armed group attack against the Nguetchewe IDP site on the second of August.
We are horrified by these senseless attacks on people who have been torn from their villages, fleeing violence perpetrated by armed gangs which rage in the region, only to be stripped of safety again after they just found refuge elsewhere, said Olivier Guillaume Beer, UNHCR Representative in Cameroon.
The killing of innocent civilians has to stop. This is contrary to international humanitarian law and human rights law. We call on armed groups to respect the rights and lives of civilians populations.
An estimated 7,000 Cameroonians from Kordo and Gueredou villages near the countrys border with Nigeria have fled their homes since 11 August, seeking safety in neighbouring areas.
The displaced population has been targeted in relentless attacks, forcing them to flee.
Recent attacks follow a significant rise in violent incidents in Cameroons Far North Region, including looting and kidnapping by Boko Haram and other armed groups active in the region. Brutal violence has plagued the Lake Chad Basin, killing more than 30,000 people and forcing over three million to flee. Some 2.7 million people are now displaced internally in Northeast Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Another 300,000 Nigerian refugees have fled into neighbouring countries.
For more information on this topic, please contact:
US President Donald Trump has extended his condolence over the demise of Pranab Mukherjee, saying, "saddened to learn of the passing of India's former President, Pranab Mukherjee".
I was saddened to learn of the passing of India's former President, Pranab Mukherjee. I send my condolences to his family and the people of India as they grieve the loss of a great leader. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2020 Several other prominent US leaders and organisations also condoled Mukherjee's death, saying he will go down in history among India's most distinguished statesmen and scholars. Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement, "Saddened to hear of the passing of former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, whose visionary leadership was instrumental in bringing the United States and India closer together. We extend our deepest condolences to people of India during this difficult time". Condoling Mukherjee's demise, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, tweeted, "President Shri Pranab Mukherjee was a devout public servant who believed deeply in the importance of our two nations tackling global challenges together. Jill and I are saddened to hear of his passing - our prayers go out to his loved ones and the Indian people". President Shri Pranab Mukherjee was a devout public servant who believed deeply in the importance of our two nations tackling global challenges together. Jill and I are saddened to hear of his passing our prayers go out to his loved ones and the Indian people. pic.twitter.com/SJfaDEKjGi Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 1, 2020
The US India Business Council said with Mukherjee's death, India lost an incredible statesman. He was a long-time supporter of the US-India partnership, it tweeted.
In a statement, the Indian Overseas Congress, USA, expressed deep sorrow and condolences on the demise of Mukherjee.
"He was a quintessential congressman, formidable leader and a great parliamentarian, said George Abraham, vice-chairman of the IOC, USA.
Pranab Mukherjee passed away on Monday at the Army Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi at the age of 84. The 13th President of India was cremated on Tuesday with full state honours at the Lodhi road electric crematorium. Pranab Mukherjee was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour, in August last year.
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Google has announced it is offloading the cost of digital services taxes from three European countries on to its advertisers.
From November, companies from the UK, Austria and Turkey which promote themselves on the tech giant's platforms, such as Google Ads and YouTube, will face increased fees.
The charge will be in line with levies ushered in by the individual national governments.
British advertising fees will rise by 2 per cent, while Austrian and Turkish advertisement fees will go up by 5 per cent.
Google's decision to make advertisers bear the cost of the levy follows in the footsteps of Amazon, which last month said it would stop absorbing the increased costs and instead pass it on to sellers.
But hiked fees have been met with dismay from advertisers, who claim it is another blow to the hard-hit sector.
Google has announced it is offloading the cost of a UK digital services tax on to its advertisers, which will face price rises of 2 per cent from November (London office in King's Cross pictured)
Defending the decision, a Google spokesperson said: 'Digital service taxes increase the cost of digital advertising.
'Typically, these kinds of cost increases are borne by customers and, like other companies affected by this tax, we will be adding a fee to our invoices from November.
'We will continue to pay all the taxes due in the UK, and to encourage governments globally to focus on international tax reform rather than implementing new, unilateral levies.'
Since the government introduced the tax in April, tech corporations have been grappling with how to plug the price gap.
Amazon initially footed the tax itself while it tried to broker a deal with ministers which would not see its sellers impacted.
But when talks ended in stalemate, it announced that it would be increasing fees for UK sellers by 2 per cent.
Search engines, social media and online marketplaces with global revenues of over 500million and UK revenues of 25million on digital services have all been slapped with the levy.
Google's decision to make advertisers bear the cost of the levy follows in the footsteps of Amazon (logo pictured), which last month said it would stop absorbing the increased costs and instead pass it on to sellers
The UK tax was announced by then-Chancellor Philip Hammond in the 2018 Budget, but only came into force this year and is only supposed to be temporary until an international standard is thrashed out.
The government claims it will clamp down on taxes on profits being paid in countries with lower rates.
But, as tech companies are increasingly moving to transfer the costs, advertisers have called on ministers to safeguard the industry.
Reacting to the announcement from Google, Phil Smith, director general of the trade body ISBA, said: 'While this is disappointing news for our members, it is the inevitable outcome of the UK's unilateral approach to digital taxation.
'We have been consistent in warning government of the potential consequences of this approach, including the risk of an increase in costs to advertisers in the UK market.
'With further headwinds from government hitting the advertising sector in the coming years, it's time government proved that they recognise the importance of the sector to the economic recovery.'
Google paid only 44million in corporation tax in the UK last year while its staff in Britain earned an average of 234,000 per person.
Its UK arm spent more than 1billion on pay and bonuses in the year to the end of June 2019, up by a quarter from the 829million figure in the previous year.
Google's UK operation is mainly used as the marketing and sales division of its European operation, which is headquartered in Dublin, where taxes are lower.
OTTAWA - New data from some of Canada's biggest police forces show major COVID-19 lockdowns across much of the country in the spring led to a sharp uptick in calls to police for domestic violence and people in a mental health crisis.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 1/9/2020 (506 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Police attend the scene of a multiple shooting in Calgary, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015. New data from some of Canada's biggest police forces show major COVID-19 lockdowns across much of the country in the spring led to a sharp uptick in calls to police for domestic violence and people in a mental health crisis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
OTTAWA - New data from some of Canada's biggest police forces show major COVID-19 lockdowns across much of the country in the spring led to a sharp uptick in calls to police for domestic violence and people in a mental health crisis.
At the same time, police say reports of many other crimes fell, including robbery, assault, sexual assault and impaired driving.
Statistics Canada released the data today using information provided by 17 police forces across Canada between March and June.
During those months, an estimated three million people lost their jobs as restaurants, retail outlets, gyms, movie theatres and tourism businesses were forced to close.
Public safety experts and mental health advocates worried the anxiety and pressure of the pandemic was going to wreak havoc on already stressed families, leading to more domestic violence, child abuse and mental health trauma.
The initial data reported by police appears to bear witness to that, with calls to police for domestic disturbances up 12 per cent, for people in a mental health crisis up 11 per cent and for child welfare checks up almost 19 per cent.
The 17 police forces responded to more than 38,000 calls for domestic disturbances and violence in those four months, an increase of more than 4,000 such calls during the same period in 2019.
At the same time, reports of assaults fell 12 per cent, reports of sexual assaults fell 25 per cent, robbery reports were down 20 per cent, car theft fell 15 per cent and drunk driving reports were down 14 per cent.
The 17 police forces serve almost two-thirds of the Canadian population, and include the RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police, and forces in almost a dozen major urban centres including Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg and Ottawa.
The statistics agency warns the data are incomplete at the moment and do not represent the full picture of police reported crime but do provide a glimpse of crime in some parts of Canada during the most strict period of lockdowns due to COVID-19.
Data on this will continue to be collected until the end of the year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 1, 2020.
THE chair of Offaly's vintners has called for new guidelines which will allow all pubs to reopen during the pandemic.
In the week when many more drink-only pubs around the county began offering food rather than remain closed, Cllr John Clendennen said bars should be given a chance to prove they can operate safely.
We really need to look at what is happening in Europe and right now Irish wet pubs are the only wet pubs in Europe that aren't open, said the Fine Gael councillor, who runs the Giltraps pub and glamping accommodation in Kinnitty.
He now believes the time has come to allow all pubs to reopen with limits on capacity and rules on social distancing.
The pub remains a crucial social outlet, especially in rural Ireland, he argues. We're trying to bring people together and keep people apart, he says.
The Government has given the gardai extra powers and these should be used when pubs breach guidelines.
If we are given that chance to operate in safe environment it won't be the gardai that determine if we open or close, it'll be the market.
It's becoming very, very clear that customers now want a safe environment, they want to go and have a socially distanced pint and not be in a crammed environment.
In Tullamore alone, about half a dozen 'wet' pubs have reopened in the couple of weeks.
Cllr Clendennen said ongoing State support for the sector into next year will be crucial.
This is all going to have to be monitored very closely by the Government and they need to try to work with businesses to ensure they are sustainable while providing a safe environment.
Under the existing regulations, pubs can only serve alcohol if the customer first orders a 'substantial meal' at a cost of at least 9.
The 9 figure dates from 2003 when the licensing and club registration legislation relating to the consumption of meals in certain public premises was amended.
From 1979, the minimum spend was 2 and prior to that it was 25 pence (or five shillings).
In the past these laws often enabled nightclubs to keep their bars open beyond the general closing times.
The 9 provision appears to have been used for the Covid-19 regulations because in law it is tied to the definition of a 'main midday or evening meal'.
Has any peacetime government faced so many forbidding challenges as this one? I doubt it.
There is looming economic mayhem resulting from closing down the economy because of Covid-19. Unemployment is certain to rise.
There is a growing possibility of a No Deal Brexit, which would lead in the short term to thousands of lorries queueing in Kent as the French imposed tariffs, and an extra dollop of economic pain.
And there is Scotland. Losing it, I mean.
Of the three threats, the loss of Scotland is the greatest. We'll recover from the Covid-19 depression, and either learn to live with the virus or kill it off with a vaccine. In five years' time, it will just be an unpleasant memory.
Has any peacetime government faced so many forbidding challenges as this one? I doubt it
Despite being a nasty shock, a No Deal Brexit would open up trading opportunities outside Europe, which in due course would create new wealth for this country.
But an independent Scotland would be an enduring disaster. A country which had mislaid a third of its land mass could scarcely be called the United Kingdom. How would we describe the surviving stump? Britain, maybe. You could drop the Great bit.
Except for myopic Little Englanders, divorce would be an existential crisis. Our country, and many shared institutions, would cease to exist. What was left would be fundamentally different.
Does Boris Johnson realise this? Of course. He knows that, as Lord North is remembered as the prime minister who lost America, his memorial could be that of the man who presided over the break-up of the Union. He'd have to resign immediately.
So what can be done to stop it? Can it be stopped? Mr Johnson says there won't be a second referendum on Scottish independence while he's in No 10, such a vote being in Westminster's gift. This is not a tenable position.
There is Scotland (pictured, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon). Losing it, I mean. Of the three threats, the loss of Scotland is the greatest
Scotland's First Minister and Scottish Nationalist leader, Nicola Sturgeon, has enjoyed a good pandemic, presenting herself as a competent national leader pursuing different policies to Mr Johnson.
On Tuesday, she confidently undertook to set out her demands for another referendum over the next six months. There is an election for the Scottish Parliament next May.
The SNP will probably increase its number of seats. Ms Sturgeon bossy, infuriating to many English eyes, but also very cunning will interpret an overwhelming victory as an endorsement of a referendum. It will be hard to gainsay her.
Mr Johnson will try to hold the line which is that the 2014 referendum was described by her predecessor Alex Salmond as a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity. Ms Sturgeon's response will be that a majority of Scots voted against Brexit in the 2016 European referendum, and the nation can't be tied to the Union against its will.
Sooner or later, the Prime Minister will have to give in. There's nothing some Scots like more than a grievance, and being denied another referendum ad infinitum would probably lead to a vast national sulk.
Recent polls suggest a narrow majority for independence. This would surely increase if Ms Sturgeon were able to portray the Scottish nation as being thwarted by English Tories.
I don't suggest Mr Johnson should put up the white flag at once. Better wait until it's clear that Brexit is not the economic catastrophe the SNP predicts, thereby undermining one of its core arguments.
But in the end it will be impossible for the Prime Minister or his successor to stand against what the First Minister will represent as a desire by Scots to have a democratic say in their future.
Many observers think that, next time, the pro-independence faction will win. It is undoubtedly going to be very hard to stop the Scot Nats.
This isn't the time to rake over old coals, but I can't resist a dig at the Scottish Labour hierarchy who championed devolution as the best way of finishing off the SNP. One of them, George Robertson, said that 'devolution will kill nationalism stone dead'. It has actually put a rocket under it.
This isn't the time to rake over old coals, but I can't resist a dig at the Scottish Labour hierarchy who championed devolution as the best way of finishing off the SNP. One of them, George Robertson (pictured), said that 'devolution will kill nationalism stone dead'. It has actually put a rocket under it
Labour's assumption that a PR system north of the border would ensure the three unionist parties would collectively always be able to outvote the SNP in the new Scottish Parliament turned out to be tragically mistaken.
If only Gordon Brown, Donald Dewar, Robin Cook and Co had paid more heed to the warnings of their Scottish Labour colleague, Tam Dalyell. He prophesied that 'devolution is a motorway, without exits, to independence'.
Well, let's not dwell too much on past mistakes. Can a Tory Prime Minister, whose act goes down less well in Scotland than in many parts of England, still save the Union?
Let me suggest four ways in which it might be done. One is to plead with Ruth Davidson to stay on as Tory leader in Scotland a role she is filling temporarily, having previously stood down while the new leader, Douglas Ross, gets himself elected to the Scottish Parliament.
No disrespect to Mr Ross, but Ms Davidson is the only Scottish politician who can match, and in some respects surpass, Nicola Sturgeon. Mr Johnson, with whom she doesn't get on, has bought her off with a peerage. She should put it on ice. She's only 41! Boris should beg.
The second way is for the Government to make the case that Scots are likely to remain much better off as part of the UK. Recent official figures, unchallenged by the SNP, show that people in Scotland receive 2,000 a head more in public subsidy than their counterparts in the rest of the country.
The argument should not just be about money though, and the certain drop in the standard of living that independence would entail. In a dangerous world, Scotland is more secure as part of a still substantial military power with international clout.
A third way of counteracting the SNP would be to embrace the idea of former Labour and Respect Party MP George Galloway, recently tacitly approved by Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove (a Scot), to give some 700,000 Scottish-born voters in England a vote in a referendum.
Why shouldn't they have a say in the future of their country? The SNP is terrified of the prospect, rightly believing that such people are more likely to vote against independence.
The same SNP tried to gerrymander the 2014 referendum by persuading David Cameron that 16-year-olds, liable to support independence, should be allowed to vote. The Government must fight for the right of all Scots to take part.
Finally, there is another argument, hard to define, which in a way goes deeper than all the others. It is about shared history and shared values. Gordon Brown used rightly to say that the Scots and the English are similar peoples.
For all the differences accentuated by devolution, we are bound together by generations of common experiences and myriad family connections stretching across the border. Scots and English are rooted in the same popular culture and, dare one say, the same BBC.
Take the fight to Nicola Sturgeon is my cry. Bring back Ruth Davidson. Proclaim the virtues of Britishness. My God, it's going to be a difficult battle for Boris Johnson to win, and at stake is something infinitely more precious than his political reputation: the future of our country.
Almost an year ago, a couple of bird strikes at the Ambala Airbase forced Indian Air Force to reach out to local authorities to stop breeding of pigeons at nearby houses. One of these birds crashed into the engine of an IAF Jaguar fighter jet and the pilot jettisoned fuel tanks of the aircraft.
Around 10 kg of practice bombs were attached to the aircraft, officials said. Lauding the quick reaction, the IAF released a 48-second video of the birds hit and drop of fuel tanks as soon as pilot took off from the airforce station.
An year later, the IAF has reached out to authorities again, this time complaining about the garbage lying near the IAF station. The garbage pile is attracting increased bird activity over the airbase putting both the pilots life and plane at the harms way and this has not gone well with the Director General Inspection and Safety, Indian Air Force.
#SavingLives: On the morning of 27 June19, an IAF Jaguar aircraft loaded with two additional fuel drop tanks & Carrier Bomb Light Stores(CBLS) pods took off from AFS Ambala for a trainingmission. Immediately after take off, the aircraft encountered a flock ofbirds. pic.twitter.com/Mb0otqadVe Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) June 28, 2019
As per a report, the DG I&S Air Marshal Manavendra Singh has written a letter to Keshni Anand Arora, Chief Secretary, Haryana, asking to resolve the garbage crisis near the IAF station where Rafale is stationed.
The letter reads that the safety and security of the Rafale aircraft inducted at Ambala on July 29 is the prime focus of the IAF.
The letter also states that the station has a high concentration of birds that may cause serious damage to the fighter jets, more particularly multi-million dollar Dassault made Rafale, which was recently inducted in IAF at the said airbase.
He also states that Air Officer Commanding Air Force Station Ambala met Joint Commissioner and Additional Municipal Commissioner of Ambala through Aerodrome Environment Management Committee meetings conducted on 24 Jan 2019, 10 July 2019 and 24 Jan 2020 to recommended measures and reduce the pile.
IAF has also recommended immediate implementation of Solid Waste Management (SWM) scheme that will reduce the activity of large birds like black kites in the aerodrome zone of 10 km around Ambala airfield.
Last year, IAF wrote a letter to local municipal body in regards to pigeon problem in the are. IAF have suggested that a few locals are breeding pigeons in their houses that are in close vicinity to the base. A complaint was filed highlighting that pigeons dont seem to be afraid of the loud noise of the aircraft.
The Zimbabwean government has announced that schools will be reopened in two weeks for students who will sit for examinations later in the year.
Those preparing to sit for Cambridge examinations will resume on 14 September.
Students preparing for Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) exams scheduled for 1 December, will return to school on 28 September.
The cabinet made the decision after consultations with education and health officials.
Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the two weeks were enough for measures to be put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Zimbabwe has 6,559 confirmed cases of Covid-19 according to the country's health ministry.
The World Health Organization and Unicef last month urged African nations to consider reopening schools safely to secure the future of children who were being affected by the long closure.
Source: BBC
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President Donald Trump floated an idea to supporters Wednesday that they vote twice - once by mail and once by person - to see if mail-in balloting is working.
'So let them send it in and let them go vote, and if their system's as good as they say it is, then obviously they won't be able to vote. If it isn't tabulated, they'll be able to vote,' Trump suggested to a crowd gathered at the airport in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he had traveled to pay tribute to the city's World War II history.
It would be considered voter fraud for people to knowingly vote twice in an election.
President Trump spent significant time greeting a crowd of hundreds at the Wilmington airport, going up and down the line and addressing them twice, floating that they should vote once by mail and once in person
President Trump spoke to a crowd of supporters on the tarmac in Wilmington, North Carolina, saying he expected to again win the state and South Carolina, Georgia and New Hampshire while he believed Michigan and also Minnesota were in reach
Trump's comments were the latest the president has made to sow confusion about the mail-in voting process, something he previously confessed could give Democrats an edge.
Democrats have been pushing for more mail-in voting options due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Trump arrived in Wilmington Wednesday and twice talked to hundreds of supporters who had awaited his arrival.
They packed in behind metal fences and very few wore masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Trump called the election the most important ever.
'Because we're running against people that have some big issues, 'he said. 'They've got some big, big problems. They're stone-cold crazy. As you know Joe Biden, he doesn't have a clue, we can't let it happen to our country,' the president said.
Out of earshot from the White House pool, Trump engaged with a local journalist who had informed him that 600,000 voters in North Carolina could vote absentee.
'I don't like that,' Trump said, according to NBC News.
'If it's as good as they say it is then obviously they won't be able to vote. If it isn't tabulated, they'll be able to vote. So that's the way it is. And that's what they should do,' Trump also told the crowd.
North Carolina is a key swing state that helped Trump win the White House over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
He predicted to the crowd that it would happen again.
So we're going to win North Carolina, we're going to win South Carolina, we're going to win Georgia, we're going to win New Hampshire,' Trump said.
He won all the southern states in 2016, but came up short in New Hampshire despite winning there in the GOP primary.
'We just got a great poll from Michigan,' Trump added.
Michigan, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, were the three states that Trump surprisingly won to win the White House.
'Minnesota looks like it's really good, it hasn't been won since 1972 by a Republican,' the president added.
Minnesota remained blue in the last election but has become a target for the Trump campaign especially in light of the unrest in Minneapolis following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd.
Trump has been campaigning hard against the riots caused when 'Black Lives Matter' protests have gotten out of control, basing his 2020 campaign around the theme of 'law and order.'
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been deluged with a flood of media requests about a conspiracy theory promulgated by QAnonan increasingly violent far-right group praised by President Donald Trump that is widely known for spreading disinformation.
As the agency attempted to manage the fallout of a controversial Health and Human Services announcement that it had revised testing guidelines to exclude individuals who do not exhibit symptoms, officials were sidetracked by a barrage of inquiries about whether the CDC had lied about the number of Americans who died as a result of the coronavirus. Over the weekend QAnon, a movement whose believers often push out falsities on a myriad of subjects, promoted a bogus theory that only 6 percent of people listed as having died from the coronavirus had actually died from COVID-19.
Officials at the CDC said they spent the last several days fielding questions or requests for comment from dozens of local and national outlets asking to clarify whether the agency had falsified its data. The wave of emails and calls about the conspiracy theory caught officials off-guard.
The amount of requests we had to deal with on this issue was insane, one senior official said. And these were from legitimate outlets. This is all easily debunked by just searching our website for the actual statistics.
The CDC effort to combat accusations from QAnon, a relatively new, increasingly unhinged movement thats making inroads into online health communities, shows the power that conspiracy theorists can have during the pandemicespecially when boosted by the president. It also shows just how permeable the barrier between conspiracy cranks and established media outlets can be.
In all my time working in the government Ive never had to deal with something this crazy. The level of disinformation spread by this group has grown in recent months and now were having to actively debunk it through the press.
Story continues
The six percent claim was embraced by conservatives, who have been eager for ways to downplay the virus American death toll and have claimed for months that the CDC and hospitals were overcounting COVID-19 deaths. To QAnon supporters, the claim purports to show that COVID-19 has killed only 9,000 people, with the vast majority of the roughly 183,000 COVID-19 casualties actually killed by another ailment.
But they were wrong. In one section of an older data set, which relied on information collected from death certificatesone of the two main ways the CDC analyzes mortality in the U.S.6 percent of people were listed as dying from COVID-19 alone. The death certificate algorithm scans for words such as COVID-19 and novel coronavirus when analyzing mortality. In 94 percent of deaths with COVID-19, other conditions were listed in addition to COVID-19, such as diabetes or hypertension. Those conditions are often listed in the part of the death certificate that includes events that lead to an individuals death.
Despite the QAnon calculation errors, the claim has been boosted by President Trump and his campaign. Trump himself retweeted a post promoting the false statistic before Twitter deleted it for violating company rules, while Trump campaign senior legal adviser Jenna Ellis posted a link to an article on fringe website The Gateway Pundit trumpeting the 6 percent figure.
The claim has also been promoted by high-profile QAnon conspiracy theorists, who believe that Trump is secretly engaged in a shadowy war against a global cabal of cannibal-pedophiles. The tweet Trump reposted, for example, came from a Twitter user and QAnon believer named Mel Q, a reference to QAnon.
This isnt the first time during the pandemic that QAnon believers have played a key role in promoting coronavirus disinformation. Social media networks of QAnon supporters have become powerful ways to disseminate bogus stories about COVID-19, with QAnon believers promoting the viral disinformation video Plandemic, among others.
The debacle over QAnons inaccurate read of the mortality statistics is just the latest example of how the CDC has in recent months tried to combat efforts by Trump and his supporters to downplay the death count.
Earlier this summer, Trump and members of his coronavirus task force pushed for the CDC to change the way it counted COVID-19 deaths. As The Daily Beast previously reported, The White House pressed the agency to work with states to change how they count coronavirus deaths and report them back to the federal government. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the task force, urged CDC officials to exclude from coronavirus death-count reporting some of those individuals who either do not have confirmed lab results and are presumed positive or who have the virus and may not have died as a direct result of it.
Officials inside the CDC pushed back, claiming the move would skew mortality statistics. Since then, the team inside the CDC in charge of counting deaths has worked overtime to ensure the data it publishes on the agencys website is accurate and as up-to-date as possible.
The running narrative within the team is that the U.S. has underestimated, not overcounted, the number of people who have died from the coronavirus. As of Sept. 1, the CDC has reported that 183,050 Americans have died since the start of the pandemic.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to stay at this stage streaming of Netflix movie 'Gunjan Saxena - The Kargil Girl', on the Centre's plea that it depicts the Indian Air Force (IAF) in bad light. Justice Rajiv Shakdher asked the Centre as to why it did not approach the court before release of the movie on Over The Top (OTT) platform, and said an injunction cannot be granted now as the film is already streaming.
Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, representing the Centre, said the movie has dented the image of the IAF as it showed that the force is gender biased, which is not correct. The high court sought response of Dharma Productions Private Limited, which produced the film, and Netflix on the Centre's plea to stop streaming of the movie.
The court said it was of the view that former Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena should also be made a party to the suit and issued notice to her, seeking her response. The movie was released on OTT platform on August 12.
Also read: Gunjan Saxena: Indian Air Force raises objection to negative portrayal in Janhvi Kapoor film
Also read: Gunjan Saxena: Here's how B-town supported Janhvi Kapoor-film amid criticism
A first trailer has been revealed for the upcoming Netflix film version of Boys in the Band
Directed by Joe Mantello, the new film will be released on 30 September on the streaming platform. It focusses on an uncomfortable birthday gathering amongst a group of gay friends on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Based on the Tony Award-winning revival, the cast includes Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto and Andrew Rannells.
You can watch the brand new trailer here:
The comedy, which first opened in 1968 and ran for over 1000 performances, was later adapted into a film in 1970, directed by William Friedkin. Mark Gatiss and Ian Hallard starred in a north London 2016 revival of the show, which transferred to the West End the following year.
Ryan Murphy has a series of stagey shows heading for Netflix, including The Prom big-screen adaptation and a new series based on A Chorus Line.
London's Heathrow Airport could axe up to 1,200 jobs, around a quarter of its frontline roles, as a result of a downturn in the industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been claimed this atfternoon.
The airport has informed union officials that it was triggering a 45-day consultation period about the proposed cuts, Sky News said, citing unidentified sources.
Insiders told Sky that a deal is still possible if unions could agree revised terms but that if an agreement wasn't reached, approximately one-fifth of Heathrow's total workforce of about 5,700 people could be put at risk, the insider said.
The airport's plan involves cutting around half of workers' salaries by up to 20 per cent. If no agreement is reached, then job cuts could be implemented.
Heathrow has seen passenger numbers drop dramatically during the last six months, with July's traffic reportedly down 95% year-on-year.
Heathrow is set to axe up a quarter of its frontline staff as the number of passengers travelling through Heathrow Airport last month fell by nearly 7 million compared to July 2019
Just 867,000 people travelling through the west London airport last month, compared with 7.7million in July 2019.
The airport is hoping to find a deal that would cut employee pay and change benefits.
It said in a statement: 'Covid-19 has decimated the aviation industry, which has led to an unprecedented drop in passenger numbers at Heathrow, costing the airport over 1billion since the start of March.
'Provisional traffic figures for August show passenger numbers remain 82% down on last year and we must urgently adapt to this new reality.
Last month Ryanair slashed flight capacity by a fifth over a drop in the number of passenger bookings, while Easyjet announced it was closing bases in Stansted, Southend and Newcastle, which currently have 670 members of staff
'Discussions with our unions have taken place over four months and our final offer is informed by feedback we have received from them.
'But with air travel showing little sign of recovery, these discussions cannot go on indefinitely and we must act now to prevent our situation from worsening.
'We have now started a period of formal consultation with our unions on our offer, which still guarantees a job at the airport for anyone who wishes to stay with our business.'
The drop in numbers prompted Heathrow's boss to call on the government to scrap its 14-day quarantine and instead focus on testing travellers from high risk countries last month.
A spokesman for the airport said in a statement: 'Covid-19 has decimated the aviation industry which has led to an unprecedented drop in passenger numbers at Heathrow, costing the airport over 1 billion since the start of March.
'Provisional traffic figures for August show passenger numbers remain 82% down on last year and we must urgently adapt to this new reality.
'Discussions with our Unions have taken place over four months and our final offer is informed by feedback we have received from them.
BA boss accuses the government of causing 'further chaos' Yesterday Willie Walsh, the CEO of BA owner International Airlines Group accused the government of causing 'further chaos and hardship' for travellers based on 'arbitrary' statistics. He wrote in The Times: 'Another U-turn by the Government, adding Portugal to the quarantine list, will cause further chaos and hardship for travellers. 'The Government is using arbitrary statistics to effectively ban 160 countries and in the process destroying the economy. The Government needs to introduce a testing regime to restore confidence.' He added that the 'ever-shifting list' of countries requiring two weeks of quarantine means 'the UK has officially hung up the 'Closed' sign'. Advertisement
'But with air travel showing little sign of recovery, these discussions cannot go on indefinitely and we must act now to prevent our situation from worsening.
'We have now started a period of formal consultation with our Unions on our offer, which still guarantees a job at the airport for anyone who wishes to stay with our business.'
Environment Secretary George Eustice said earlier this week that border controls were always kept under review, but warned that screening on arrival would not remove the risk of the disease being imported into the country.
It comes a week after Gatwick announced plans to axe up to 600 jobs in a 'signifcant restructure' after feeling the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on passenger and air traffic numbers.
The airport is operating at around 20 per cent of its capacity and has around 75 per cent of its staff on furlough.
Consultations have begun with staff over redundancies, as it prepares to cut up to 24 per cent of its workforce.
Passenger numbers across the UK were down 89 per cent last month compared to last July.
The number of passengers flying into UK airports surged to 1.3million people in July - compared to just 200,000 arriving in each month during April, May and June.
But figures from 12 months ago showed around 11.1million people flew into the UK's airports.
Pilots, cabin crew and other airline workers have all been struck with redundancies after the Covid-19 pandemic grounded the majority of flights six months ago.
Hopes that the summer would bring more passengers have been dashed by changing quarantine measures at some of Europe's most popular tourist destinations.
Yesterday Willie Walsh, the CEO of BA owner International Airlines Group accused the government of causing 'further chaos and hardship' for travellers based on 'arbitrary' statistics.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh has accused the government of causing 'further chaos,' amid claims Portugal is about to go back on the UK's quarantine list
He wrote in The Times: 'Another U-turn by the Government, adding Portugal to the quarantine list, will cause further chaos and hardship for travellers.
'The Government is using arbitrary statistics to effectively ban 160 countries and in the process destroying the economy. The Government needs to introduce a testing regime to restore confidence.'
He added that the 'ever-shifting list' of countries requiring two weeks of quarantine means 'the UK has officially hung up the 'Closed' sign'.
Countries on official quarantine list Spain France Croatia Malta UAE Jamaica Switzerland Belgium Czech Republic Austria Netherlands Bulgaria Canada Singapore Advertisement
British Airways, which grounded its Gatwick fleet in March following the outbreak of Covid-19, had said that all short-haul flights from Gatwick will be consolidated into Heathrow until at least September.
BA itself announced it would be forced to cut hundreds of jobs at Gatwick in a bid to stay afloat during the fallout of the coronavirus.
Last month budget airline easyJet annouced it was closing its bases in Stansted, Southend and Newcastle in a cost-cutting drive - as Ryanair reduced its flight capacity by a fifth.
Jet2 also announced it was making 102 pilots redundant.
Engineering companies supplying the aviation industry and have also been hit hard in recent months.
Airbus, Europe's biggest aircraft maker, last week announced plans to slash nearly 15,000 jobs across its global operations - including 1,700 in the UK.
Last week Rolls Royce reported a 5.4billion loss in the first half of 2020 as its CEO announced it had halved the number of aircraft engines it had built so far this year - after shedding 4,000 jobs.
Chief executive Warren East said: 'About 4,000 people so far this year have left the organisation, that's spread across the whole group, the UK Germany, Singapore, all around the world.
'It includes about 2,500 voluntary redundancies and early retirements in the UK and we expect to be at about 5,000 by the end of this year.
'We simply don't need the scale of manufacturing facilities that we have, what we're doing is consolidating things to achieve greater efficiency where we do make things.'
Dir: William Nicholson. Starring: Annette Bening, Bill Nighy, Josh OConnor, Aiysha Hart, Ryan McKen. 12A cert, 100 mins
Its painful to watch someone cling to a dead romance. Edward (Bill Nighy) is telling his wife Grace (Annette Bening) that he wants to leave. Hes met someone else. Gripping his mug of tea the most British of comfort blankets he struggles to make eye contact with the woman he knows hes betrayed. The camera timorously searches Graces features for a reaction. But no tears are shed. She remains strangely, disconcertingly cheery as she informs him that their marriage is far from over. All will be well with a little work. Youre not even trying! she adds.
Hope Gap, William Nicholsons second film as a director, is a world away from the projects hes usually known for, having co-written both Gladiator and Les Miserables. The emotional ground it covers is far more ordinary namely, the shock of someone youve spent your entire life with suddenly appearing to you as a stranger.
This isnt just the story of a husband and the wife hes left behind, but of their son (Josh OConnors Jamie), whom Edward invites home to serve as a buffer. He tries to soothe his mothers worries as best he can (OConnors gentle, subdued aura is well served here), while privately worrying that his own floundering relationship is proof hes turning into his father.
The films setting is as pleasant and unobtrusive as possible. Theyre a distinctly middle-class family living in picturesque Seaford, taking daily walks up to the cliffs to muse all captured in bright, crisp hues by cinematographer Anna Valdez-Hanks. Edward is a teacher, while Grace is putting together a poetry anthology entitled I Have Been Here Before, intended to remind readers that every feeling is a recycled one, experienced countless times throughout history.
Graces placid surroundings have a way of amplifying her own distress. Her cries of pain ricochet off the walls. Denial morphs into delusion, as she patiently sits on the stairs of her home each day, waiting for Edward to return. Benings British accent feels off, but its measured, dreamlike tones fit surprisingly well with Graces increasing detachment from reality. At times, it borders on the absurd. She acquires a puppy and names it after her husband, then compares herself to the widows and orphans of war. Bening makes her eccentricity believable.
Hope Gap is an adaptation of Nicholsons own Tony-nominated play The Retreat from Moscow, its title inspired by Napoleons failed invasion of 1812. Edward recounts the story to his pupils, so that the film can gracelessly offer it up as a metaphor for his failed marriage. But Nicholson doesnt stop there. Its all contactless now! Edward exclaims. Hes talking about card payments; were meant to think of human socialisation. Though the cast gamely delivers each idea, finding the musicality in the ebb and flow of Nicholsons words, Hope Gap never seems to grasp the crucial differences between theatre and film. A full buffet of metaphors isnt necessary when the camera itself can say so much about a characters state of mind. What is rich on stage can feel crowded and stiff on film.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 19:17:29|Editor: huaxia
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ULAN BATOR, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has brought back a total of 254 stranded nationals from the United States on a chartered flight under the government's evacuation plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The chartered flight from Seattle to Ulan Bator landed at the Buyant-Ukhaa International Airport here on Wednesday afternoon, Mongolia's State Emergency Commission said in a statement.
The repatriated people consisted of pregnant women, the elderly, children and disabled and sick people, and those with financial and other problems, the commission said, adding that they will be isolated at designated facilities for 21 days.
Following its suspension of international commercial flights, Mongolia has repatriated more than 19,000 nationals on chartered flights, buses or trains from different parts of the world, according to the commission.
The Asian country planned to operate at least 12 flights this month to bring back more stranded nationals from abroad.
As of Wednesday, the country has reported a total of 306 COVID-19 cases, all of which were imported.
No local transmissions or deaths have been reported in Mongolia so far. Enditem
Colombia and Albania would seem to have little in common. But they have been united since the Covid-19 outbreak in banning the export of a product that rarely finds its way into trade policy: toilet paper.
Thankfully, theyre the only two countries to have taken such action. But hundreds of other products have been ensnared by the protectionist impulse this year many, but not all, tied to Covid-19. For developing nations in particular, the dangers are great: A sweeping retreat into restricting exports and imposing high import tariffs could exacerbate the current global economic slowdown and stifle the economic growth that reduces poverty. The early signs are not encouraging.
Developing countries have been subjected to hundreds of protectionist measures this year. The U.S. Commerce Department, for example, announced in April that its slapping anti-dumping duties on a few companies in India and Turkey that export quartz surface products used for home furnishings. A few days earlier, Commerce announced an investigation of mattress producers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam for allegedly selling their products at less than fair value.
But much of the protectionist activity has been undertaken by developing countries themselves. In July, for example, India announced restrictions on the imports of televisions, power tillers, and cut flowers. Argentina has announced import duties on gluten free infant formulas and urinary catheters. Turkey has raised import duties on outdoor plants and corks, while Egypt has banned the import of white raw sugar. Sri Lanka has imposed a 15-fold increase in the tariffs on select onions. And the list goes on.
More than 70 percent of the new protectionist measures have been subsidies and export measures (such as restrictions on what can be shipped out of a country), according to Global Trade Alert. Other tactics include tariff hikes and quotas. The sectors most targeted for protectionism this year have been pharmaceuticals, textiles, and medical/surgical equipment.
But the next most common targets cereals, apparel, plastic products, and vegetables have a less direct connection to Covid-19. And therein lies the risk that countries habitually resort to protectionism during emergencies in a short-sighted bid for economic security.
There have already been health consequences associated with the restricted flow of goods. More than 70 countriesrestricted the export of medical materials, which meant that many African nations had limited access to diagnostic tests, according to John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
All of these actions come against the backdrop of the World Bank estimating that global growth will decline by 5-8 percent this year, pushing an additional 71-100 million people into extreme poverty. The latter figure would represent the first global increase in extreme poverty since 1998.
An expansion of protectionist policies, which are often adopted during economic downturns, would cause those numbers to rise. The trade war that broke out in the 1930s intensified that decades economic turmoil. And in just the past decade, the share of world trade impacted by policy-driven distortions such as export incentives, subsidies, and import tariffs, has risen from 40 percent to about 75 percent, according to United Nations data. In other words, the world economy is being splintered by the kind of mercantilist policies that depress economic efficiency and opportunity.
Add up all the protectionist measures throughout the world and the result will harm workers in exporting countries and depress economic growth nearly everywhere. We already know that global trade is projected to decline 18 percent this year, according to the World Trade Organization. And the United Nations projects that foreign direct investment flows will fall 30-40 percent. Those numbers could rise if the protectionist trend continues.
Why does this matter? Because the experience of the past four decades from China, India, and elsewhere demonstrates that expanding trade and foreign investment is essential to economic growth in developing nations. And economic growth is the most powerful and sustainable antidote to extreme poverty, helping more than one billion people to escape it over the past four decade the biggest and fastest rise in living standards in human history.
There is nonetheless going to be a temptation for policymakers to ramp up protectionist measures designed to help the poor. The risk is that these measures will take precedence over the trade liberalization that is going to help the poor the most.
The poverty reduction over the past four decades is a monumental achievement. But theres no guarantee the progress will continue. As the World Bank wrote recently, the pandemic could alter the very structures upon which the growth of recent decades was built.
The Covid-19 shock to the global economy is a test of whether policymakers have mastered the lessons from the past. Those lessons are crystal clear: Protectionism is a recipe for higher poverty, while market-based policies will help deliver the economic growth that fosters opportunity and prosperity.
Arthur had pushed for Saturdays race to be canceled unless it barred spectators. Some people reacted as if he had spoken blasphemy, he said, because the race is just such a sacred time for our city. But what they fail to realize is that it has never been sacred for us, for over 100 years now, because we havent been included in that celebration. We havent been included in that economic impact. We havent been included in Louisville.
In a nutshell: Samsung announced today that it's bringing a pair of ultra-short throw Premiere projectors to its high-end lineup of Lifestyle TVs. The 4K-capable 120" LSP7T and 130" LSP9T have been designed to offer the ultimate home cinema experience, with the latter model also being the world's first HDR+ certified projector. Samsung has not revealed their price but plans to launch them globally later this year.
Samsung has some pretty unique models in its Lifestyle TV lineup, ranging from the rather discreet QLED Serif and Frame TVs to the rotating 43-inch 4K Sero TV that's anything but. These displays have now been joined by Samsung's latest 4K ultra-short throw laser projector called The Premiere.
Set to transcend the display experience, without the display, The Premiere series consists of the 120" LSP7T and the 130" LSP9T 4K laser projectors. Samsung claims the latter model is the world's first projector to feature HDR+ certification and uses triple laser technology to deliver high contrast with up to 2,800 ANSI lumens of brightness.
The Premiere also features support for 'Filmmaker Mode,' which Samsung says is the first of its kind for a projector, enabling users to watch movies as the director intended. The setting, usually found on high-end TVs, disables post-processing like motion smoothing and preserves the original aspect ratio, color and frame rates for a true cinematic experience.
Built-in woofers and Acoustic Beam surround sound takes care of audio, while support for Samsungs Smart TV platform/Smart Hub ensures access to a variety of streaming apps and mobile connectivity features like Tap View and screen mirroring.
As with most consumer products these days, the projectors are wrapped in homely fabric (around the edges), allowing them to blend easily with the environment. Expect a premium price tag on The Premiere when Samsung launches it worldwide later this year, starting with the US, Europe and Korean markets.
People bow before the statues of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on the occasion of 67th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War armistice agreement in Pyongyang, July 27, 2020. The U.S. government has extended the travel ban on North Korea for another year. AFP
The U.S. State Department has extended the travel ban on North Korea for another year, citing what it called a "serious risk" of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. citizens by the communist state, a public notice showed Tuesday.
The one-year extension marks the third of its kind since Washington declared all U.S. passports invalid for visits to, in and through the North on Sept. 1, 2017.
The move followed the death of Otto Warmbier, who died six days after he returned home following his release from North Korea in June 2017. The then 22-year-old had been detained by North Korea since January 2016 on suspicions of trying to steal a propaganda poster from his hotel in Pyongyang.
"The Department of State has determined that there continues to be serious risk to United States citizens and nationals of arrest and long-term detention representing imminent danger to their physical safety," said the public notice, posted on the website of the U.S. Federal Register.
"Accordingly, all United States passports shall remain invalid for travel to, in, or through the DPRK unless specially validated for such travel," it added.
Separately, the State Department maintains the highest level-4 or "Do Not Travel" travel advisory on the North, partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to its own website.
"Do not travel to North Korea due to COVID-19 and the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. nationals," says the travel advisory, dated Aug. 6.
No massive outbreak of COVID-19 has been confirmed in the impoverished North, which has nearly closed off all its borders, including those shared with its largest communist ally China. (Yonhap)
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Or Unlearning.
Dont let your learning lead to knowledge. Let your learning lead to action, author Jim Rohn writes. But sometimes we must first unlearn what we once believed to be true before were able to learn and take action. One of my big questions is why arent environmental chemical exposure and bioaccumulation being discussed in initiatives to combat disease if there is so much known about the detrimental health effects of these toxicants? When no discussion is happening, self-education on the bodys environmental chemical burden has to happen. But Im getting ahead of myself. Lets first begin with a good understanding of the human body.
The Human Body.
A very simple training module on Anatomy & Physiology is available from the National Institutes of Health. Its a self-paced learning tool that can help you understand how the human body works. You can select a body system, such as the Endocrine Glands & Their Hormones, and outside links will be accessible throughout the module that will guide you to even further information and resources. Each module is also wonderfully illustrated to help with understanding the material more fully.
Maybe you have an issue with your thyroid gland or your cardiovascular system and want to know more about what that system looks like when its functioning at its optimal level, as well as what happens when that system goes awry. Its a great website to spend time with to educate yourself and others on their bodies.
Enter Toxicants.
The American Cancer Societys website lists environmental chemicals that have been linked to cancer and each category offers a way to download more information. For instance, under Known Human Carcinogens classified as Group 1 chemicals by the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer, one can download pdf files on the chemical in question. As you scroll down the website, youll see chemicals listed by the National Toxicology Program with an option to download their 14th report on carcinogens. But keep scrolling. The results are staggering.
The Bodys Chemical Burden.
There are 273 chemicals on the National Toxicology Programs website with information on how they affect our organs, tissues, and body systems. And those 273 chemicals just relate to cancer. Hundreds more chemicals are listed for other diseases affect every body system. On the NTP site you can search by animal or human, or both, and then click on the chemicals listed in the results to find out how one is being exposed. It also shows you whether the research evidence is strong or merely suggestive.
Pesticides And Autoimmune Disorders.
How might the environment be affecting 24 million people in the US with autoimmune disorders? Researchers have found that exposure to pesticides can be a factor, so can exposure to mercury. But autoimmune disorders are sometimes amplified by exposure to other environmental pollutants, as well. The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association lists over 100 disorders on their website with links to help you learn more about them, complete with Education Modules.
Toxic Free.
A non-profit organization, Toxic-Free Futures website hosts a wealth of information. One blog begins, What do sperm, kids, salmon, and orcas have in common besides that they all swim? All can be harmed by toxic chemicals put in consumer products! Spread the word about this organization that is not only helping to create more awareness of the problems we face today with environmental chemical exposure, but are also offering resources and tools to help us avoid future exposure as much as we can.
Pediatric Training Course.
In the early 1950s when I was born my mother didnt pass numerous environmental chemicals on to me through her placenta. Yet in just the last decade and a half, data showed that the average infant came into this world with an average of 287 toxicants in their umbilical cord blood. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has developed a wonderful resource the Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit Training Module. This free course will take approximately 90 minutes to complete and if you need continuing ed credits, simply complete the post test.
More CEs And Online Learning.
You can also catch up on CEs or just learn more from the National Environmental Health Association. Their website has endless information and theres a good chance that youll find a topic youre interested in. The Collaborative on Health and the Environment website has provided webinars and podcasts since 2002 on topics related to environmental health science. Even in the archived podcasts one can still listen to the recordings and download slides and resources. There are hundreds available, and theyre free. Find a topic that interests you and listen while you commute!
Elementary School Classroom Resources.
Are you an elementary or middle school educator and would like to share environmental science with your students? ToxTown, a division of the National Institutes of Healths National Library of Medicine, hosts a website where you can download lesson plans, games, and hands-on activities to teach kids about sources of exposure to environmental chemicals. There are also printable PDF files, videos, and links to other informational websites. Here is an example of a 2-minute video from ToxTown on nutrient pollution for kids.
There are several other websites with activities, games, and resources. One such website is the Sustainable Community Website from the Environmental Protection Agency. The National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences has an entire website devoted to the environment and kids health. It, too, has games, activities, songs, and lesson plans. Additionally, National Geographic offers lesson plans for Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, and Grades 6-12.
Screening For Chemicals.
Several years ago, I opted to undergo a pricey body burden screening test from Genova Diagnostics. Their Toxic Effects Profile tested for 45 of the most common chemicals found in humans, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chlorinated and organophosphate pesticides, PCBs, BPA, phthalates, and parabens. For someone who had been eating organic since the late 1970s and had used the safest personal care and cleaning products for almost four decades, it came as a complete surprise when the results showed I was in the 80th percentile for benzene and styrene, the 95th percentile for PCB153, and showed detectable levels of DDE, phthalates, pesticides, BPA, and parabens. Being in the 95th percentile means only 5% of other individuals that were tested exceeded the level found in my body.
Dont want to spend $1,000? Dr. Claudia S. Miller developed the most widely used screening instrument for chemical intolerance. A professor at the University of Texas School of Medicine in San Antonio, she researches the underlying environmental causes of disease. Take this questionnaire found on her website.
Detoxification.
Okay. So now you know we all have chemicals in our bodies. Are you looking for a formal detoxification plan? The University of Wisconsins Integrative Medicine website has a 12-page pdf file you can download. It includes what to eat, supplements that can assist the body, and more.
Youll notice tthis document mentions the use of milk thistle, dandelion and turmeric. Are you familiar with the American Botanical Council website? Take advantage of the all the information it has to offer on plant medicine and essential oils that you may be using in your detoxification program or elsewhere in matters related to your health.
The Unlearning Part.
Hopefully if youve gotten this far you recognize that many of the chemicals used today are not safe, even though were told that they are. There are plenty of problems with toxicants and their effects on the human body, so please continue to learn (and unlearn) by reading my other blogs. Then please help spread these resource-filled blogs on your social media!
The candidates kicked off the US general election campaign season this week, reflecting the presidential races urgency.
United States President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have ramped up their campaigns this week, with the former vice president returning to the campaign trail and both candidates holding their first duelling events since their partys conventions wrapped up.
The campaign blitz represents the urgency of the race for both candidates and comes before the Labor Day holiday on September 7, which historically marks the beginning of the most aggressive general election campaigning.
Amid a coronavirus pandemic that has, in terms of confirmed cases and deaths, hit the US harder than any country in the world, and continued racial unrest in cities across the US that has at times turned violent and deadly, both campaigns have been jockeying to control the narrative.
That began on Monday when Biden, returning to the trail for the first time after taking a removed approach to campaigning amid the pandemic, sought to rebut claims by Trump that radical left Democrats were allowing agitators and rioters to overrun cities and suburbs.
Instead he presented Trump as a leader whose ineptitude in handling the health crisis has posed a far more pressing security concern to Americans.
During an event in Wilmington, Delaware on Wednesday, in which Biden took questions from reporters for the first time since the Democratic convention, the candidate called safely re-opening schools during the pandemic a national emergency while charging Trump still doesnt have a real plan for the crisis.
He also said the police officers involved in the shootings of Breonna Taylor in Louisville Kentucky and Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin should be charged.
Biden is set to visit Kenosha, which is in the key battleground state of Wisconsin, on Thursday, just two days after Trump made a controversial trip to the city, despite pleas from local and state officials that he stay away for fear that his visit would agitate unrest.
Trump used the trip to highlight his law and order message that has become increasingly central to the campaign, decrying property damage and attacks on police during protests as domestic terror.
American warriors did not defeat fascism and oppression overseas only to watch our freedoms be trampled by violent mobs here at home, Trump said on Wednesday during a World War II memorial event in Wilmington, North Carolina in an address that appeared was rushed due to lightning.
With 61 days until the November 3 election, both candidates on Wednesday also announced plans to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where a hijacked plane crashed in a field, apparently as it was being diverted to Washington, DC.
It was not immediately clear whether their visits to the memorial in Shanksville will overlap, but the visits will likely be the closest that the candidates have been to one another in months.
A top French appeals court said Wednesday it would rule on September 30 whether Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga is to stand trial in France or face a UN tribunal in Tanzania.
Kabuga, who is 84 according to officals, but claims to be 87, was arrested in May at his home outside Paris after 25 years on the run.
He is accused of being a leading financier of the 1994 Rwanda genocide of some 800,000 people by Hutu extremists targeting rival Tutsis but also moderate Hutus.
A French court ruled in June that Kabuga should stand trial at the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) based in Arusha, Tanzania.
But his lawyers appealed, citing frail health and fears the UN tribunal in Africa would be biased against him.
During a hearing Wednesday at the Cour de Cassation, Frances supreme court for criminal cases, Kabugas lawyer Louis Bore also argued that his client could not be properly treated medically in Tanzania.
Kabuga has diabetes, high blood pressure and leukoaraiosis, an incurable illness that erodes physical and cognitive abilities, Bore said.
If Frances highest appeal court endorses his transfer, Kabuga would have one month to appear before the MICT, which took over the duties of the UNs International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda when it formally closed in 2015.
Kabuga, once one of Rwandas richest men, was indicted by the tribunal in 1997 on seven counts, including genocide. He denies all the charges.
He is alleged to have funnelled money to militia groups as chairman of the national defence fund.
Kabuga is also accused of setting up the Interahamwe militia that carried out massacres and the Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines, which incited people to murder.
The first presidential debate will be moderated by 'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace, who bored down on tough questions in a sit-down with President Trump about his boast of acing a cognitive test.
The bipartisan commission on presidential debates announced the moderators in a release Wednesday.
None of the moderators were on a list provided by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, although he had put forward a number of other Fox moderators and commentators as suggestions.
Instead, representatives from Fox , C-SPAN and NBC will moderate the upcoming debates between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
Wallace will host the first debate, to be held in Cleveland at Case Western Reserve University.
According to the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, the moderators will be:
-Chris Wallace of Fox News for the debate Sept. 29 in Cleveland.
-Steve Scully of C-SPAN for the "town meeting" debate Oct. 15 in Miami.
-NBCs Kristen Welker for the debate Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The commission also announced Wednesday that USA Todays Susan Page will moderate the vice presidential debate on Oct. 7 in Salt Lake City with Vice President Mike Pence and Democrat Kamala Harris.
President Donald Trump tours an emergency operations center and meets with law enforcement officers at Mary D. Bradford High School, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
There was no immediate reaction from either campaign to the selections.
Trump and Biden have said they will attend the scheduled debates, which are meant to offer voters to opportunity to see the contrast between the candidates on live television.
Trump's team has tried to pressure the commission to move up the debates, citing increased use of early and absentee voting because of the coronavirus.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden receives a briefing from education leaders and experts in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
We are grateful to these experienced journalists, who will help ensure that the general election presidential debates continue to serve their unique educational purpose of helping the public learn about the candidates. Each individual brings great professionalism to moderating and understands that the purpose of the 2020 debate formats is to facilitate in-depth discussion of major topics,' the commission said in a statement.
CHICAGO (AP) A familiar narrative emerged in the days that followed Jacob Blakes shooting by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, one seen many times after a Black man or woman is killed or grievously wounded by police: That somehow Blake's actions or his past can explain why an officer fired seven bullets into his back.
Despite shocking bystander video and impassioned pleas from community and family members, authorities have offered few details about the shooting or the white officer who carried it out, instead highlighting scant information about Blake without elaborating or explaining its relevance to the shooting.
So, the sexual assault charge levied against Blake in July in connection with domestic abuse allegations quickly became part of the story, though authorities have refused to discuss its bearing on the police use of force on Aug. 23.
This is what they do. They are trying to distract us from what we saw on the video, said Blake family attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and dozens of other victims of police brutality and vigilante violence.
They are trying to leave him with any kind of criminal history (so) its OK not to care about his life," said Crump, who called it a playbook" for when police maim or kill Black people.
That's the message Blake's family has hammered home as the 29-year-old remains in the hospital, where doctors have told them he may never walk again.
They shot my son seven times seven times, like he didnt matter, Blakes father, Jacob Blake Sr., said. But my son matters. Hes a human being and he matters.
Relatives have called Blake a devoted father who was attempting to break up a domestic dispute, trying to be a hero, as his cousin, Adria-Joi Watkins put it. The grandson of an Illinois minister who was active in the civil rights movement, Blake, his mother tearfully told reporters, would have been very unpleased by the eruption of unrest in Kenosha after the shooting.
Story continues
In the absence of investigative details, police unions have been particularly aggressive in putting as much responsibility for violent confrontations as possible on those killed or injured by officers.
In 2014, for example, a union spokesman rushed to the scene where a white Chicago officer fatally shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. He told reporters that, in the moments before the shooting, the teenager had lunged at the officer and his partner, leaving them no choice at that point but to defend themselves.
It was not until a year later, when dash-cam video of the shooting was finally made public, that the city saw that the teen was in fact walking away from police when he was shot 16 times. The video became the centerpiece of the trial in which the officer was convicted of second-degree murder.
This year, after video showed the waning minutes of Floyds life under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer after he allegedly passed a counterfeit bill at a store, the police union president complained about media coverage of the subsequent unrest and firing of the officers involved, falsely claiming that Floyds violent history wasnt being reported.
While state and local authorities issued vague statements about the investigation of Blake's shooting and refused to address most questions seeking clarity, the police union in Kenosha issued a statement combating what it called the purely fictional depiction of events from Blakes lawyers and others. Among the contentions were that Blake was holding a knife, had resisted arrest and even put one of the officers in a head lock none of which authorities investigating the shooting have been willing to comment on.
And because arrests and civil court proceedings are a matter of public record, details about people wounded or killed by police officers that have nothing to do with the encounter in question ranging from divorces to minor drug charges also enter the narrative. In contrast, service records of police officers are guarded and often only made public after lengthy legal battles.
As a result, the information authorities have provided thus far about the officer who shot Blake begins and ends with this: His name is Rusten Sheskey and hes been with the Kenosha police department for seven years.
As for the shooting itself, authorities, citing the need to protect the integrity of the investigation, have raised far more questions than they've answered.
In cellphone video recorded by a bystander, Blake is seen walking to the driver-side door of an SUV as officers follow him with guns drawn, shouting. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire. Three of Blakes children were in the vehicle. A shakier second bystander video taken from the other side shows officers appearing to try to grab Blake while he is on the ground before he stands up and walks toward the vehicle.
Blakes family has said that he initially went to the scene to break up a domestic dispute.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul would not address that contention at his only news conference about the shooting, saying only that police were dispatched to the scene after a woman reported her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises. On police audio from the day of the shooting, a dispatcher can be heard telling officers a complaintant says Jacob Blake isn't supposed to be there."
But Kaul refused to address whether Blake was indeed the boyfriend referred to in his statements or on what charge Blake was being arrested.
In discussing whether Blake was armed, Kaul said Blake admitted to police that he had a knife in his possession. But Kaul did not say when Blake said that or whether Blake was holding the knife. Instead, he said a knife was found after the shooting on the drivers side floorboard of the SUV.
For Crump and others, the shooting and all that followed has again revealed the existence of two criminal justice systems: one for Black defendants and the other for white defendants. They point to video footage showing police vehicles driving past Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha as the white teen carried an assault rifle moments after he allegedly fatally shot two protesters.
Do you think armed vehicles and Jeeps are going to ride right past a Black man? asked filmmaker Spike Lee during an interview on CNN last week.
To Crump, investigators' failure to release information is the first chapter in a story hes seen over and over.
They are trying to cover for this officer, they dont want him held accountable, the attorney said.
Ford Park doesnt need any more controversy, but it got some on Tuesday. Jefferson County commissioners had to reject a bid to buy the park because they hadnt met a basic legal requirement. State law requires that a minimum bid for property to be set upon its appraised value. The $22 million base bid the county set for Ford Park was established before the appraisal was presented to the commissioners, so they couldnt approve the offer they had received.
This is something that should not have happened. Ford Park is the most controversial project in the countys history. Taxpayers dont need another reason to resent it.
The county has a legal team that is supposed to address issues like this. Judge Jeff Branick is also an attorney, though that is not a requirement for holding that position. Commissioners should have known in advance what they had to do to sell the park legally and properly.
If the park is sold, taxpayers should have full confidence that the process was handled correctly and commissioners got the best price possible. Preventable problems like this dont further that goal.
To his credit, Precinct 2 Commissioner Brent Weaver had been saying this all along about waiting for the appraisal. His colleagues should have listened to him, especially since the gap is so large between Tuesdays base bid of $22 million and a preliminary value of the land and structures at $43.3 million. The first number was used because it represents the outstanding debt left on Ford Park.
Now the commissioners must determine if they can find a buyer at what could be a higher number. They dont have to set the base bid at the appraised value, but they must take that into consideration. They could still sell Ford Park for around $22 million if they determine thats in the taxpayers best interests. Overall, they still want to sell Ford Park, and so do the taxpayers they represent.
This process also assumes that the buyer has the resources and plans to operate the park. One potential buyer might have different vision for the future of the park than another, and commissioners should take that into account. They should want the best future for the park, one that helps ensure it stays open and operational, or of course expands to new attractions.
But thats down the road. First commissioners have to line up their ducks so the park can be sold. They should try to do that as soon as possible, and do it correctly if they get another opportunity.
Cabinet clears repeal of farm laws: Bill to be placed in Parliament
Cabinet approves infusion of Rs 1,500 crore in IREDA: Here are the Highlights
Union Cabinet approves Mission Karmayogi: What this step to reform bureaucracy is all about
India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
New Delhi, Sep 02: The Union Cabinet has approved Mission Karmayogi, the nation programme for civil services capacity building.
This programme will lay the foundation for capacity building for civil servants so that they remained entrenched in Indian culture, while they learn from best practices across the world.
Mission Karmayogi aims to prepare Indian civil servants for the future by making them more creative, constructive, imaginative, proactive, innovative, progressive, professional, energetic, transparent and technology enabled.
A council headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will help approve civil services capacity building plans under Mission Karmayogi. The mission would focus on individual civil servants and institutional capacity building.
At the top would be the Prime Minister's HR Council, comprising the national and International experts under the chairmanship of the PM.
The Karmayogi scheme will be the biggest Human Resource development programme of the government. A civil servant should be imaginative & innovative, proactive & polite, professional & progressive, energetic & enabling, transparent & tech-enabled, constructive & creative in order to meet the challenges of the society," secretary, C Chandramouli said.
ED arrests hawala dealer Naresh Jain
He also said that capacity building commission will be set up which will harmonise training standards, create shared faculty and resources and will have a supervisory role over all training institutions so that there is common understanding of India's aspirations and development goals, he also added.
He also said that Capacity Building Commission to harmonise training standards, create shared faculty, resources, and have a supervisory role over all central training institutions.
Further the Union Cabinet also approved three MoUs. These are one between the textile ministry and Japan for quality evaluation method.
The other one approved is between the mining ministry and Finland and the third between the ministry of new and renewable energy and Denmark, Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar informed the media after the Cabinet meeting.
Further the Cabinet also approved the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill 2020.
Kangana Ranaut took to Twitter to respond to filmmaker Anubhav Sinha's tweet regarding her allegations of drug abuse in the film industry. The Bollywood actor explained her stance while taking a dig at the filmmaker's skepticism, that she has 'no doubt that he has never been invited to Bollywood parties'. In her tweet, Kangana said that she was referring to the 'most high profile parties and inner circle of hugely successful stars' when she said the '99% people from the industry have been exposed to drugs'.
Kangana's response to Anubhav Sinha
In an exclusive interview with Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, Kangana said that most Bollywood actors consume drugs almost like water' and that nearly everyone has been exposed to hard drugs. In response to her statement, Anubhav Sinha took to Twitter on August 31 to take a dig at her and said, "Anyone who says 90% of any industry is on drugs is on drugs."
Read | Kangana Ranaut Speaks To Arnab Goswami, Claims '99 Per Cent Of Bollywood Consumes Drugs'
On September 2, Kangana Ranaut replied to the filmmaker on Twitter. The Tanu Weds Manu star said, "I have no doubt that people like you have never been invited to those parties cos these drugs are expensive." She also went on the say that she can guarantee that '99% superstars have been exposed to hard drugs'.
Read | Kangana Shares Screenshot Of Mumbai CP 'liking' Derogatory Tweet On Her; Cops Say 'never'
Anyone who says 90% of any industry is on drugs is on drugs. Even the drugs industry itself will have a much lower percentage.
Talking of low percentages...... ok let it be.... Anubhav Sinha (@anubhavsinha) August 31, 2020
Hey I specifically mentioned most high profile parties and inner circle of hugely successful stars, I have no doubt that people like you have never been invited to those parties cos these drugs are expensive, 99% superstars have been exposed to hard drugs and I guarantee this. Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 2, 2020
Kangana opens up about Bollywood-Drug link
After Rhea Chakraborty's chats referencing the purchase, use and purported 'spiking' of drugs in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput's death case went viral, Kangana Ranaut was the first and the only one to talk about Bollywood's link to drugs. She even agreed to speak to the Narcotics Control Bureau, provided she is given protection.
In her exclusive interview on Republic, she revealed shocking information about the drug abuse within the industry. Ranaut said that LSD, cocaine and ecstasy pills were the most commonly used drugs at the Bollywood parties. She went to say that the film industry has almost turned into a 'gutter' due to the consumption of drugs.
Read | Kangana Reveals Details Of B'wood Drug Parties, Claims, 'I've Seen How Vulgar It Becomes'
We have to set standards for our nation, about who are our role models. Our youth is involved in drugs in a very severe way. The film industry should be held responsible for this because they have made them role models," said Kangana Ranaut
"At some point, 99 percent of them. Some might have faced health conditions, or because of age, or after being admitted or having repercussions, they have quit now after doing it throughout their youth. Even if I count them, there are 99 percent people. Everybody without fail, at some point, is doing it, and if there is a party, everyone is indulging in it," she said.
Read | Kangana Ranaut Speaks To Arnab On Bollywood's Drug Reality, Says Was 'given Injections'
Read | Kangana Ranaut Speaks To Arnab, Claims, 'Bollywood Consumes Drugs Like Food'; Watch
China has strengthened and modernized its military capabilities in recent years to the point where its Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) is already ahead of the United States in some areas, the Pentagon said in a report to Congress published on Wednesday.
China now has the worlds largest navy, with an overall battle force of around 350 ships and submarines compared with the U.S.s 293 ships, the report said.
Its ruling Chinese Communist Party now commands more than 1,250 ground launched ballistic missiles (GLBMs) and ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCMs) with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, while the U.S.' arsenal contains GLBM with ranges of up to 300 kilometers and no GLCMs, it said.
China also boasts one of the worlds biggest advanced long range surface-to-air defense systems, the report found.
But it said recent improvements in the PLAs ability to conduct joint operations, its combat readiness, and its overseas reach were more striking than the PLAs staggering amounts of new military hardware.
China under Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping also looks set to embark on a further three decades of PLA modernization and reform, it said.
The report was in stark contrast to a similar report in 2000, which found Chinas armed forces to be a sizable but mostly archaic military that was poorly suited to [Beijings] long-term ambitions.
The report warned that Chinas foreign policy seeks to change the rules-based international order and mold it into something closer to its ideology, and that the PLA looks set to be an effective tool with which to achieve those aims.
It is likely that China will aim to develop a military by mid-century that is equal toor in some cases superior tothe U.S. military, or that of any other great power that China views as a threat to its sovereignty, security, and development interests, the report said.
It said the PLA is developing capabilities to provide options for China to dissuade, deter, or, if ordered, defeat third-party intervention during a large-scale, theater campaign such as a Taiwan contingency, the report said.
China has said Taiwan, a democratic island that has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party nor formed part of the Peoples Republic of China, must unify with China or face a potential invasion by the PLA.
"For the U.S. to come out with a report like this means that it is letting the rest of the East Asia region know that it is watching what the PLA does very closely and ... and that if they cooperate with the U.S., they will have nothing to worry about," Taiwan military analyst Lee Cheng-hsiu told RFA.
"They also want to send the message to China that the U.S. military stands ready [in the Asia Pacific region], and isn't going anywhere," he said.
A growing nuclear power
China is also a growing nuclear power, according to the report.
The number of warheads on ... land-based ICBMs capable of threatening the United States is expected to grow to roughly 200 in the next five years, the report said.
Chinas nuclear forces will significantly evolve over the next decade as it modernizes, diversifies, and increases the number of its land-, sea-, and air-based nuclear delivery platforms, it said.
A Chinese military commentator, who gave the pseudonym Li Feng, said the estimates likely stemmed from traceable, international transactions involving materials needed for the production of nuclear weapons.
"There are many clues, especially from the declaration, supervision, and verification mechanisms under the International Atomic Energy Agency," Li said. "China has participated in those processes, so it's possible to form a scientific estimate of the amount of weapons-grade nuclear material China can produce."
He said any significant expansion of the country's nuclear arsenal would also become apparent to the international community.
"There will be many clues to expansion that cannot be covered up," Li said.
Once China increases its nuclear weapons, it will become more isolated internationally
Surge in production
Li said a recent comment by Global Times editor Hu Xijin on social media to the effect that China should expand its nuclear arsenal to 1,000 warheads to curb U.S. strategic ambitions had likely made the job of Chinese negotiators at forthcoming strategic arms reduction talks with the U.S. far more difficult.
"The question is, what will the international community think of you if you suddenly produce 400 additional nuclear warheads, while claiming to want to get rid of nuclear weapons altogether?"
According to estimates by the Federation of American Scientists, Russia has around 4,300 warheads, followed by the United States with 3,800, and China with about 320.
Lee Cheng-hsiu said given that China has a no-first-strike nuclear weapons policy, any future conflict with the U.S. will likely be limited to conventional warfare.
"If a war breaks out in East Asia, the most important thing will still be comparative conventional capabilities," Lee said. "That's why the U.S. [report] made a point of mentioning China's more than 1,000 conventional ballistic missiles, because they are capable of hitting Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea."
"Japan and South Korea are in a military alliance with the U.S., while the U.S. military also regards Taiwan as being of great strategic importance."
The U.S. report said the PLA, which already has a major military base in Djibouti, is likely planning to expand its overseas network of bases and logistics facilities.
Future locations could include Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, and Tajikistan, it said.
A global PLA military logistics network could interfere with U.S. military operations and provide flexibility to support offensive operations against the United States, the report said.
'Civilian-Military Fusion'
Meanwhile, at home, the ruling Chinese Communist Party is pursuing increased militarization of the whole of Chinese society, and of the economy, under its civilian-military fusion policy that has previously been deployed in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where more than one million ethnic minority Muslims have been incarcerated in prisons and re-education camps, the report found.
The policy includes mixed military and civilian manufacturing facilities, technology resources and know-how, as well as building military requirements into civilian infrastructure and using it for military as well as civilian purposes.
[This] means there is not a clear line between [Chinas] civilian and military economies, raising due diligence costs for U.S. and global entities that do not desire to contribute to the PRCs military modernization, the report said.
China's defense ministry hit out at the report on Wednesday, calling it "utterly wrong" and a misinterpretation of Beijing's policy and military strategy.
The report "defamed China's military modernization, defense expenditure, nuclear policy and other issues", the ministry said in a statement.
Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Lau Siu-fung for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
China is seeking to set up more robust logistics in about a dozen countries, including three in India's neighbourhood, to allow its army to project and sustain its power at greater distances, a Pentagon report has said. In addition to the three Indian neighbours -- Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar -- the other countries where China is considering to base its military logistics and infrastructure are Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, and Tajikistan, the report said on Tuesday.
In its annual report Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China (PRC) 2020 that was submitted to the US Congress on Tuesday, the Pentagon said these potential Chinese military logistics facilities are in addition to the Chinese military base in Djibouti, which is aimed at supporting naval, air and ground forces projection.
A global PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) military logistics network could both interfere with US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the PRC's global military objectives evolve, the Pentagon said in the report. China has probably already made overtures to Namibia, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands, it said, adding the known focus areas of PLA planning are along the Seal Lines of Communication from China to the Strait of Hormuz, Africa, and the Pacific Islands.
Also read: LAC standoff: Indian Army thwarts 3rd military provocation attempt by China in 3 days
Similarly, the Pentagon said, Beijing uses One Belt One Road (OBOR) to support its strategy of national rejuvenation by seeking to expand global transportation and trade linkages to support its development and deepen its economic integration with nations along its periphery and beyond.
OBOR projects associated with pipelines and port construction in Pakistan intend to decrease China's reliance on transporting energy resources through strategic chokepoints, such as the Strait of Malacca, it said. China leverages OBOR to invest in projects along China's western and southern periphery to improve stability and diminish threats along its borders, the report said.
First announced in 2013, China's OBOR initiative is a signature foreign and economic policy advanced by President Xi Jinping. According to the Pentagon, a global PLA military logistics network could both interfere with the US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the Chinese global military objectives evolve.
Also read: Ladakh border clash: China can make India suffer more 'severe' military losses, says Global Times
"Host nations can perform an essential role in regulating the PRC's military operations as Chinese officials very likely recognise that a stable long-term relationship with the host nation is critical to the success of their military logistics facilities," it said. Chinese military academics assert that bases abroad can enable forward deployment of its forces and support military conflict, diplomatic signalling, political change, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and training.
They also suggest that a military logistic network could enable intelligence monitoring of the US military. In August 2017, China officially opened its first military base in Djibouti. Chinese Navy Marines are stationed at the base with wheeled armoured vehicles and artillery but are currently dependent on nearby commercial ports due to the lack of a pier on base, the report said.
Chinese personnel at the facility have interfered with US flights by lasing pilots and flying drones, and China has sought to restrict Djiboutian sovereign airspace over the base, the report said.
Also read: India-China border tension: Both sides position tanks within firing distance at Pangong Tso
The First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo yesterday commissioned a 16-bed Community Health-Based Planning Services (CHPS) compound to serve residents of Kwame Anum in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region and its environs.
The facility which was constructed with funding from the Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation is fitted with an out-patient department, a delivery room, labour ward, a reproductive and child health area, two consulting rooms and a pharmacy.
It also makes provision for a laboratory and administrative offices to serve the estimated 30,000 population within the Obom Domeabra constituency of the municipality.
In a brief speech to open the health centre, Mrs Akufo-Addo noted that the initial idea of Infanta Malaria Foundation was to rehabilitate the already existing CHPS compound but upon consultation with the community and health service leaders, it was decided that a new centre was constructed.
She indicated that the Kwame Anum Health Centre would provide lifesaving and essential services such as immunisation against the 13 childhood killer diseases, maternal, child health, nutrition and emergency services to improve the well-being of indigenes.
Health is a fundamental human right and the CHPS initiative is an important strategy to address the health needs particularly of women and children, she said.
Since its establishment in 2017, Mrs Akufo-Addo said, Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation has put up three CHPS compounds in Kobedi in the Sunyani West district of the Bono Region, Adenkrebi in the Ga East Municipality of the Greater Accra Region and Nyanshegu in the Sagnarigu District of the Northern Region.
She pledged commitment of the foundation of which she is co-founder, to support interventions for the prevention and treatment of malaria in the country.
Director of Public Health for the municipality, Dr Abena Okoh in a remark, expressed gratitude to the First Lady and the Infanta Malaria Foundation for the intervention.
She expressed confidence that the CHPS compound would complement efforts at achieving Universal Health Coverage by bringing health closer to the people.
Dr Okoh assured that the facility would be put to good use and properly maintained to serve the populace and help improve their health.
She seized the occasion to entreat parents to present their children, from zero to five years, to present their children for polio immunisation and an upcoming malaria survey by the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
Present to witness the commissioning of the facility were the MCE for Ga South Hon. Stephen Nyarni, MP of Obom Domeabra Constituency Hon. Parliamentary Candidate for the NPP Philip E.K Doe and the chief and leaders of Kwame Anum.
In a related development, the First Lady also cut sod for the construction of an ultramodern library at Amasaman in the Ga West municipality.
The project is expected to be completed within the next six months.
She also inaugurated the Amasaman New Patriotic Party (NPP) campaign team for the 2020 elections and held meetings with market women and traditional leaders within the municipality.
Source: The Ghanaian Times
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New Delhi: Filmmaker Boney Kapoor, who is presenting Telugu superstar Pawan Kalyan's forthcoming film 'Vakeel Saab', has announced financial aid to the families of three of the actor's fans who recently died in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district.
Three young fans of Pawan Kalyan were electrocuted to death while they were erecting an almost 40 feet high poster of the power star on the eve of his birthday, news agency ANI reports. Pawan Kalyan turned 49 today (September 2).
Pawan Kalyan, who is also the party chief of Jana Sena Party (JSP), condoled the untimely demise of his fans, and assured help to their families. Meanwhile, Boney Kapoor, on behalf of the entire team, released a statement announcing monetary help to the families of the deceased.
A total of seven people were putting up the poster, which touched a live 6.5 KV electric wire passing overhead. While three of them were killed, four others suffered injuries.
"With heavy hearts, we express our deepest condolences to the families of the three fans who unfortunately lost their lives. We, along with millions of others, express our solidarity to their families in this hour of grief. We come forward to announce financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased. We wish a speedy recovery to the injured. We also request all fans to value their lives and be safe," read the statement.
Meanwhile, on Pawan Kalyan's birthday, the motion poster of 'Vakeel Saab' was unveiled. It is the Telugu remake of Hindi film 'Pink'.
(With ANI inputs)
A woman who claims she was shot in the breast by a right-wing protester wielding a paintball gun on the streets of Portland is now suing him for $250,000.
Meg McLain filed suit against Alan Swinney, who identifies himself as a member of the far-right Proud Boys group, on Tuesday - saying he deliberately shot her during demonstrations in the city on August 22.
McLain, who says she was a curious bystander amid violence between right and left-wing demonstrators, is claiming a quarter of a million dollars for 'pain, discomfort, distress, and interference with daily life.'
Alan Swinney, a self-declared member of the far-right Proud Boys and a vocal Trump supporter, is being sued for $250,000 after firing paintballs at protesters in Portland
Swinney was pictured firing into the crowd with a paintball gun as violence flared between 300 pro-Trump demonstrators and counter-protesters
The lawsuit described Swinney as 'an irresponsible gun owner who travels to Oregon to organize.. purposefully violent rallies and events'.
It also includes a social media post from Swinney in which he appears to admit shooting members of the crowd, while claiming self-defense.
Multiple photographs and videos taken on the day in question show Swinney firing the paintball gun into the crowd, and being hit by paint in return.
At one point he also drew a handgun and pointed it into the crowd, but did not fire.
Michael Fuller, the attorney representing McLain, said the shooting was reported to police at the time, but they refused to arrest or issue a citation to Swinney.
Meg McLain claims she was shot in the right breast while observing events, and is now suing Swinney for 'pain and distress'
'Its just one of the many cases where police are seemingly showing favoritism to Trump supporters,' Fuller told The Oregonian.
Prosecutors are investigating the violence in Portland on August 22, but so far no charges have been filed against Swinney.
Around 300 pro-Trump demonstrators had gathered in the city that day for a rally, following weeks of marches by left-wing BLM and Antifa groups.
As the two sides faced off, paintballs began flying while clouds of mace filled the air.
Police largely stood by as the violence escalated, with police chief Chuck Lovell saying later that he was worried intervening would escalate things further.
Portland has been gripped by weeks of near-continuous protests that began in the wake of George Floyd's death and have now been ongoing for 96 days.
The violence ratcheted up at the weekend with the fatal shooting of Aaron 'Jay' Bishop, a member of the pro-Trump Patriot Prayer group, in the city.
The lawsuit also brands Swinney an 'irresponsible gun owner' after he was pictured pointing a handgun at protesters, though did not open fire
Swinney was involved in clashes between protesters and counter-protesters in Portland on August 22, with police criticized for not intervening in the clashes
Portland has been gripped by more than three months of demonstrations that began in the wake of George Floyd's death in May, and have continued since then
Police are thought to have identified Michael Forest Reinoehl, who describes himself online as 100% antifa, as a suspect.
Left-wing marchers have repeatedly targeted law enforcement buildings along with mayor Ted Wheeler's house during their nightly events.
Wheeler announced Monday that he will be moving home after his condo in an upmarket area of the city was repeatedly targeted by protests which have been ongoing for months.
Ted Wheeler sent an email to other people living in the Pearl District block where his two-bed, $840,000 condo is located after activists lit fires outside the building, set off fireworks and blared music to 'celebrate' his 58th birthday on Monday night.
Wheeler apologized for 'the fear that you are experiencing due to my position' before announcing his move, saying it is 'best for me and for everyone else's safety.'
He had been held after police responded to the home of Gabriel Tyson Sr., 66, and his 65-year-old wife, Carmella Tyson, for a well-being check. The grandson was in the home at the time.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- For all those who cite Intel Corp.s troubles as symbolic of the U.S. semiconductor industrys decline, here are two heartening words: Nvidia Corp.
On Tuesday, Nvidia a red-hot maker of chips for video games, artificial intelligence and cloud computing proved again that it is way ahead of its rivals in terms of innovation and performance. The Silicon Valley-based company announced a lineup of three new gaming graphics cards based on its latest Ampere chip architecture, saying they will deliver up to double the performance of its prior offerings in the greatest generational leap in its history. Prices for the new products range from $499 to $1,499, with two due to come out later this month and the third to be released in October. All in all, the news was enough to send Nividias shares up more than 3%.
Nvidia management has already signaled its confidence for its new gaming-card offerings. This may very well be one of the best gaming seasons ever, Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said during an investor conference call last month. The executive is right to be optimistic because demand for Nvidias lineup will benefit from a number of gaming industry developments. First, new titles such as Microsoft Corp.s recently released Flight Simulator 2020 require more graphics horsepower than current chips can provide. Further, the release of the next-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony Corp. later this fall will broaden the base of hardware that can run ray-traced enabled games a technology pioneered by Nvidia that offers stunning, much improved lighting effects. The company said Tuesday hundreds of games with ray-tracing are currently under development.
Even before Tuesdays launch, Nvidia had been thriving as its cloud-computing data center and current generation gaming products benefited from Covid-19 stay-at-home orders. The companys market value has more than doubled year to date to roughly $340 billion and it is now worth more than its two main rivals Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. combined.
Story continues
Nvidias run may be just getting started. In March, I wrote how investors shouldnt underestimate the potential of its next-generation Ampere architecture, predicting the increase in performance from the new chips may lead to a series of positive earnings surprises. Thats been the case already, with Nvidia posting a couple of better-than-expected quarters on the back of its new data-center products.
Tuesdays impressive launch likely means there are many more quarters of strong financial results ahead. Its going to be a good holiday for both PC gamers and Nvidia, Americas new chip leader.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Tae Kim is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. He previously covered technology for Barron's, following an earlier career as an equity analyst.
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion
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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Hyderabad, Sep 2 : Another 'fire' in underground hydroelectric station at Telangana's Srisailam created panic on Wednesday but a top official later clarified that it was a 'mock drill' to check the preparedness of the employees in the event of an accident.
Employees at the Telangana State Generation Corporation (TS Genco) plant at Srisailam left bank canal in Nagarkurnool district ran out in fear with 'fire' breaking in one of the units where repair works going on after last month's fire.
Coming close on the heels of the August 20 fire accident which claimed the lives of nine employees, the fire, accompanied by explosions, triggered chaos among the workers. All employees present at the scene came out safely.
They heaved a sigh of relief after it was announced that it was only a mock drill to check their preparedness. TS Genco and Telangana State Transmission Corporation (TS Transco) Chairman and Managing Director Prabhakar Rao said it was a mock drill.
The mock drill was kept a secret with only Prabhakar Rao and another senior official aware of it. They said it was conducted to check the emergency response system.
This was done in the wake of reports that nine employees were trapped in the August 20 fire as they were not properly guided about the exit from the tunnel in the event of a fire.
A short circuit is believed to have caused last month's fire in the underground power house. Of the 30 employees present at the scene, 15 could escape to safety while six were rescued.
Srisailam dam is located across Krishna river which serves as the border between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had already ordered a probe by the CID into the fire accident.
Additional Director General of Police, CID, Govind Singh is heading the probe.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the coronavirus disease COVID-19, can penetrate many different body cells. This has been shown in multiple research papers published in recent weeks. Thus, not only can the function of the respiratory tract and the lungs be severely disrupted, but also numerous other organs. The SARS-CoV-2 virus can also penetrate the so-called beta cells in the pancreas and damage them, as a research team involving the Cluster of Excellence "Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation" has now observed for the first time.
These cells are responsible for producing the insulin required for a healthy metabolism. A SARS-CoV-2 infection can apparently disrupt this function, which as a result leads to diabetes. The observations were published by Professor Matthias Laudes, Schleswig-Holstein Excellence-Chair for endocrinology, diabetology and clinical nutritional medicine at Kiel University and his research team of the Clinic of Internal Medicine I at the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), Campus Kiel, together with researchers from Munich and Dresden, in the renowned scientific journal Nature Metabolism.
The publication is an initial description of insulin deficiency diabetes after a COVID-19 illness, based on an observed case. "A 19-year-old patient came to us in the clinic with newly-developed severe diabetes with insulin deficiency. It could be shown that he apparently had experienced a SARS-CoV-2 infection a few weeks before," reported Laudes, who is also a member at the steering committee of the Cluster of Excellence "Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation" (PMI). "Such an insulin deficiency diabetes, i.e. type 1 diabetes, is usually triggered by an autoimmune response, in which the immune system incorrectly identifies the beta cells in the pancreas as foreign and attacks them. But this autoimmune response was not present in this patient. We assume that here, the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself attacked the beta cells."
This also fits with the fact that the beta cells possess a crucial receptor: the ACE2 receptor. The SARS-CoV-2 virus can specifically bind with this receptor. The receptor is also used by the virus as an entry point into the other body cells which it attacks.
The lead author of the publication is the medical doctor and early career researcher Dr. Tim Hollstein, who only joined the department of Professor Laudes at the beginning of this year, after a research stay at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the U.S. "I am delighted that Dr. Hollstein could make such an important observation as a young early career researcher. This newly-discovered metabolic disease demonstrates how important a detailed clinical and laboratory chemical characterization of COVID-19 can be for patients at a university endocrinological center," said Laudes.
Under the leadership of cluster spokesperson Professor Stefan Schreiber, the UKSH is also conducting a long-term follow-up study into COVID-19 patients under the name "COVIDOM," in which all persons reported as infected in Schleswig-Holstein will be invited to participate.
"This success of Professor Laudes and his team underlines the importance of accurate follow-up observation after COVID-19. We are certain that as a result of this disease, even more health-relevant metabolic problems can arise," said PMI spokesperson Professor Stefan Schreiber, head of "COVIDOM" and director at the Department of Internal Medicine I at the UKSH, Campus Kiel.
Explore further Coronavirus damages the endocrine system
More information: Tim Hollstein et al. Autoantibody-negative insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus after SARS-CoV-2 infection: a case report, Nature Metabolism (2020). Journal information: Nature Metabolism Tim Hollstein et al. Autoantibody-negative insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus after SARS-CoV-2 infection: a case report,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s42255-020-00281-8
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Planetary astronomer receives NASA grants for two new studies of main asteroid belt
The majority of asteroids in our solar system are found in the Main Asteroid Belt, which is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Although millions of objects populate the belt, most are relatively small, and astronomers have not actually studied many of them in detail.
Northern Arizona University assistant professor Cristina Thomas, whose research focuses on asteroids, recently received two grants from NASA to study two different types of asteroids in the Main Asteroid Belt. The results of her studies will add to the existing body of knowledge in this field, helping scientists better understand the origins of asteroids.
$100,000 grant to study 'space weathering' of small Koronis asteroids
Thomas, who was selected as a NASA Early Career Fellow in 2014, recently received $100,000 in funding through the fellowship program for a pilot study of small asteroids in the Koronis family, a large family of stony asteroids thought to have been formed at least two billion years ago in a catastrophic collision between two precursor asteroids. Thomas will obtain observations of small Koronis family members using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) to determine whether they have the same spectral characteristics as the largest family members.
"Past capabilities have limited our spectral observations to the largest objects in the Main Belt, so this is something that very few have done. Specifically," said Thomas, "I'm looking for signs of space weathering, which is the result of an object being exposed to the space environment over time. Space weathering is a long-standing question in asteroid science that affects spectroscopic interpretations of near-Earth and Main Belt asteroids."
"We haven't done a lot of work on small objects in the Main Belt and I have done some work on the Koronis family in the past, so it seemed like a good place to start. I'm excited it's been selected!"
In a previous study of the Koronis family of asteroids, Thomas examined changes in spectral slope within the family that are indicative of space weathering. Her findings implied that unweathered objects exist in the family.
$331,000 grant to understand Trojan-like asteroids
Thomas was also recently awarded a $331,000 grant by NASA for a three-year project to find asteroids with spectra similar to the Jupiter Trojans in the Main Asteroid Belt. Graduate student Oriel Humes is working on the project with Thomas.
"The Trojan asteroids have very specific spectral slopes in visible and near-infrared wavelengths," Thomas said. "I used results from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which observed a lot of objects but has very limited data, to identify these Trojan-like candidates in the Main Belt. The work will tell us about the delivery of material to the Main Belt from the outer solar system when the planets were migrating and the Trojan population was captured in their orbits near Jupiter."
###
About Northern Arizona University
Northern Arizona University is a higher-research institution providing exceptional educational opportunities in Arizona and beyond. NAU delivers a student-centered experience to its 31,000 students in Flagstaff, statewide and online through rigorous academic programs in a supportive, inclusive and diverse environment. Dedicated, world-renowned faculty help ensure students achieve academic excellence, experience personal growth, have meaningful research opportunities and are positioned for personal and professional success.
This story has been published on: 2020-09-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Massachusetts residents can now make their homes smell like the state they live in thanks to Homesick Candles.
For $29.95, Homesick Candles is selling a Massachusetts Candle. The websites description of the candle reads recall the smell of a crisp fall afternoon with apple cider, simmering coffee, and just-baked doughnuts. Sweet hints of tonka bean are balanced by spicy cinnamon and a touch of fragrant clove. The top note of the candle smells include coffee and apple cider, the middle consists of cinnamon, clove and donut, while the bottom takes on a vanilla and tonka bean odor.
The natural soy wax candle company didnt make that candle the only Massachusetts-related product, as there is also the Boston Candle. Selling for $29.95 as well, the candles smell is described as Spiced tea with nutmeg, cinnamon and clove; orange citrus and ginger with notes of vanilla sugar recollect memories of the City on a Hill. One reviewer said it Reminds me fall walking through the Commons on a brisk day, and another saying its Such a nice fall smell, yet I find myself lighting it up during the summer months. Truly exceptional.
If neither of these candles are appealing, there is a wide array of city candles and state candles to choose from, in addition to country candles.
When making your purchases, there are several promo codes available to cut down the final price. From Sept. 2-3, customers can use the code SUNSET to get 15% while you can use promo code LABORDAY from Sept. 2-8 to get 20% off orders of $100 or more, 25% off orders worth $500+ and 30% off orders worth $1500 or more.
New customers can sign up and receive 15% off their first order plus early access to new products, exclusive promotions and more.
US TV host Reid on Tuesday said Donald Trump radicalises his followers the way Muslims do.
Civil organisations in the United States are calling on MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid to apologise for comments they claim are Islamophobic.
In a segment on the Tuesday airing of her primetime show the ReidOut, Reid discussed US President Donald Trumps unwillingness to reprimand Kyle Rittenhouse, who authorities claim murdered three people with an assault rifle during Black Lives Matter protests.
Reid began her controversial comments: When leaders, lets say in the Muslim world, talk a lot of violent talk and encourage their supporters to be willing to commit violence including on their own bodies in order to win against whoever they decide is the enemy, we in the US media describe that as they are radicalising these people, particularly when theyre radicalising young people.
Thats how we talk about the way Muslims act, she added. When you see what Donald Trump is doing, is that any different from what we describe as radicalising people?
joy-ann reid just compared radicalized trump supporters to "the way muslims act" this is islamophobia, she should apologize immediately. pic.twitter.com/2geymhcBOr Bes (@besf0rt) September 1, 2020
While the comments initially did not receive much attention, they were heightened after it was widely shared on social media.
The comments have come under fire from advocacy groups and legislators alike.
Reid must apologize on air tonight for spreading the false, dangerous myth that Muslims are inherently radical and violent. MSNBC also needs to take action to ensure anti-Muslim bigotry has no place on its network, Muslim Advocates, a national civil rights organisation, said in a statement.
Words have great power. Joy Reid has an important platform and an essential voice in addressing civil rights, race relations, and other important national issues, Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy organisation, said in a statement emailed to Al Jazeera.
But, especially because we admire Reid, we call on her to recognize the impact of her comments and make an on-air apology for her words, which repeated painful anti-Muslim stereotypes. SPLC would be pleased to join other civil rights and Muslim leaders in a meeting with Reid and her producers to discuss how the impact of her words perpetuates harmful stereotypes.
Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, two of the first Muslim women elected to the US Congress, both called for an apology.
Words matter and these words feed into the harmful anti-Muslim rhetoric & actions that we continue to see in this country. It is even more painful to hear it from someone I admire. We deserve an apology. https://t.co/Ei1R4FojZJ Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) September 1, 2020
Tlaib said: These words feed into the harmful anti-Muslim rhetoric & actions that we continue to see in this country. It is even more painful to hear it from someone I admire, while quoting a tweet from Omar which called casual Islamophobia hurtful and dangerous.
Others, such as conservative writer and occasional MSNBC guest Jennifer Rubin, said Reid was only highlighting a double standard.
She was making the point about a double standard. She was not AGREEING with it, Rubin said on Twitter.
MSNBC was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday and has yet to issue a public statement on the matter.
Reid has previously faced criticism for remarks made on a blog which were considered derogatory towards Muslims and the LGBTQ community. Reid apologised for those remarks.
By Express News Service
HYDERABAD: Symptoms of Tonsillitis are mostly similar to Covid-19 and can cause worry among parents during this pandemic. As tonsillitis is common among most of the children especially during monsoon and winter, one may get confused with the disease with COVID and further compound their problems being created by pandemic. Sore throat leads to difficulty in swallowing, scratchy sounding voice, bad breath, fever, headache, stiff neck thus leading to poor appetite are the most common symptoms of this disease among children.
Depending upon the persistence of the symptoms, it needs to classify as normal, acute, chronic, says Dr. Syed Abdul Hakeem, Consultant ENT Surgeon at Apollo Spectra Hospital, Kondapur, Hyderabad. When the symptoms mentioned above are continuing for more than two to three days coupled with fever, pain then it is advised to contact the doctor. Depending upon the severity and history of the disease the doctor may advise the treatment. If it is turning into acute and i n t o a chronic disease, then the doctors will recommend the surgical procedure named Tonsillectomy through will infected Tonsils are removed from the body, says the doctor with over 19 years of experience in ENT.
As children are tend to play in playgrounds and on roads every day at school or at home, they expose themselves to variety of viruses and bacteria. As Tonsils are your first line of defense against these bacteria and viruses, they became vulnerable to infection easily. In order to reduce the chances of infecting Tonsils, it is advised to drink plenty of water, gargle with warm water every day, avoid polluting environment, clean hands regularly and maintain hygiene after playing or coming back from schools. With all the above measures, one can reduce the chances of getting infected thus safe guarding Tonsils thus saving our first line of defense against any infection that may cause several diseases that includes Covid-19, says Dr Hakeem.
Our lives, both independent of each other, and as a couple have allowed us to understand the power of the human spirit: of courage, resilience, and the need for connection, Meghan and Harry said in a statement. Through our work with diverse communities and their environments, to shining a light on people and causes around the world, our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope. As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us, as is powerful storytelling through a truthful and relatable lens. We are pleased to work with Ted and the team at Netflix whose unprecedented reach will help us share impactful content that unlocks action.
The global solid state transformer market shall witness a noteworthy growth in forecast period owing to rising adoption of electric vehicles and SST systems in renewable energy generation stations. Europe to dominate the global industry by 2027
NEW YORK, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Research Dive has added a new report to its offering titled, "Solid State Transformer (SST) Market, by Product (Distribution Solid State, Power Solid State, Traction Solid State), Application (Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, Power Grid, Traction Locomotives, Alternative Power Generation), Regional Analysis (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, LAMEA): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027"
The global solid state transformer market accounted for US$ 176.0 million in 2019 and is projected to reach up to US$ 1,246.4 million by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 26.0% from 2020 to 2027.
Download Sample Report [75 pages] of Solid State Transformer Market at https://www.researchdive.com/download-sample/350
Market Dynamics
The growing adoption of advanced SST systems in the renewable energy generation stations and electric vehicle is a significant factor expected to drive the growth of the global solid state transformer market over the forecast period. In addition, numerous benefits of SST systems such as higher load resonant capacity, most effective in power management, bi-directional electricity flow, etc. is another factor projected to bolster the market growth by 2027. Moreover, the growing trend towards adoption of electric vehicle (EV) and the favorable initiatives by government to support EV industry is likely to create lucrative growth opportunities in the SST market. However, high investment costs in the initial phase for the production of SSTs is expected to be a major threat for the market growth in the coming future.
COVID-19 Impact on the Industry
The COVID-19 crisis has adversely affected the global solid state transformer market due to the unavailability of raw materials in the pandemic for manufacturing of electrical equipment. Besides, transportation of finished equipment and products has been effected drastically, which is estimated to impact the solid state transformer market negatively. However, the significant players of the market are implementing several business growth strategies to sustain in the pandemic.
Download COVID-19 IMPACT ANALYSIS ON Solid State Transformer (SST) Market
Key segment findings of the market:
The global solid state transformer market is segmented on the basis of Product, Application, and Region.
Among product, the power solid state segment is estimated to hold a significant market size by 2027 owing to wide-ranging utilization of power SSTs for multiple transformer applications such as distribution systems, voltage transformation, etc.
Among application, the alternative power generation segment is projected to grow at a considerable rate during the forecast period owing to extensive usage of SST systems for alternative power generation application.
Regionally, Europe is predicted to play a dominant role in the global SST market by 2027 due to the increasing consumption of power in major European countries.
Top Key Players of the Solid Stat Transformer Industry
The major players operating in the global solid state transformer market include
Eaton Schneider Electric MASCHINENFABRIK REINHAUSEN GMBH Siemens Varentec, Inc. GRIDBRIDGE ABB General Electric Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.
These market players are adopting several growth strategies such as partnerships & collaboration, R&D activities and novel product service launches to strengthen their position in the global market.
The report summarizes various aspects such as financial performance, SWOT analysis, recent strategic moves & developments and product portfolio of all these key players functioning in the global market. Download Top Companies Development Strategies Summary Report [75 pages]
More about Solid State Transformer:
Solid-State Transformer: An Effective Alternative to Traditional Transformers
Global Solid State Transformer Market to Grow Enormously by 2027 Owing to Advanced Product Launches
Similar Reports:
Metal Air Battery Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027 - Download Sample Report Aluminum Air Battery Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026 - Download Sample Report
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ADRIAN, MI Adrian College intends to stay open for the rest of the fall semester despite more than 6% of students and staff recently testing positive for coronavirus, the colleges president said.
In a video message to students, faculty, staff and parents, Adrian College President Jeffrey Docking said a vast majority of the 139 cases on campus are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms. Some students went home, Docking said, and none have been hospitalized.
More than 6% of students, staff test positive for coronavirus in first week of Adrian College classes
Docking also gave professors the option to move their classes online for two weeks in an effort to flatten the curve.
Were doing this, obviously, because we plan to (return to) regular, in-class sessions as soon as possible, Docking said. But we really do want to bring down these numbers.
According to the Lenawee County Health Department, there have been 555 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county as of Sept. 1. Approximately 48% of those cases are active, which means those people are monitoring at home or hospitalized, health department officials said.
The health department noted that the jump in cases in people age 18 to 24 57 between Aug. 23-31 is associated with students returning to Adrian College and Siena Heights University, which only has two positive and active cases.
However, the health department notes that due to the timing of when results are referred to the Michigan Disease Surveillance System, not all Adrian College COVID-19 cases are reflected in the health departments count.
Along with allowing online classes, Docking said the college has enacted a few different safety measures, including an all-takeout food service and continuing to limit large gatherings, which is the colleges biggest concern.
We do intend to remain open for the rest of the semester, Docking said to students and staff. We want you to do all of the things that weve talked about social distancing, hand washing, face coverings, etc. and to really be responsible for your actions. Were all in this together, and this is a battle we all face, but we love Adrian College and we want our school to stay open and we want you to stay here on campus, but we all have to live according to these rules.
READ MORE:
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Coronavirus app doesnt track students locations all the time, Albion College president says
HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Evotec SE (EVTCY.PK, EVOTF.PK), a German drug discovery and development company, announced a partnership agreement with the University of Oxford regarding access to biospecimens from the biobank Quality in Organ Donation or QUOD. The company did not disclose any financial terms of the agreement.
QUOD is an initiative of The Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences or NDS at the University of Oxford in close collaboration with the National Health Service Blood and Transplant or NHSBT organisation in the UK.
The QUOD biobank, a joint programme by a consortium of UK academic transplant centres and NHSBT, is funded by NHSBT and the Medical Research Council. It provides blood, urine and tissue samples from heart, lung, liver and kidney from consented organ donors for researchers with anonymised integrated medical records.
Under the terms of the partnership, Evotec will investigate at first samples from 1,000 donors of the QUOD biobank using a comprehensive multi-omics analysis (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics). This data will complement Evotec's existing patient database, generating a greater understanding of disease mechanisms across indications, i.e. cardio-vascular, kidney, and liver diseases.
Investigation of diseased versus healthy human biomaterial using a multi-omics approach combined with clinical data will provide extensive knowledge, indispensable for advancement of organ transplantation, drug discovery as well as clinical and biomarker research.
QUOD biobank's samples have been collected over several years with QUOD's primary goal to identify biomarkers, explain mechanisms of injury and repair, and improve organ utilisation and transplantation.
Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec, said, 'We are proud to enter this collaboration with the QUOD programme, which expands our strategic partnership with the University of Oxford beyond LAB282, our first-of-its-kind academic BRIDGE partnership. Comprehensive molecular profiling of patient samples will re-define health and disease according to dysregulated molecular disease mechanisms. This will open new doors for intervention and corresponding patient stratification.'
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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For the past two years the Beers With(out) Beards festival has been a big hit in New York but due to the coronavirus pandemic, its gone virtual this year.
The festival, the largest celebration of women in the beer industry in the U.S., was designed to help change the conversation about who drinks and makes beer, Thrillist reported.
Picture the last beer you drank Now picture the person who brewed that beer, Grace Weitz told Thrillist. Nine times out of 10 people picture a big burly man, probably wearing flannel with some type of scraggly beard. Thats the stereotype that we want to change and evolve.
Now they are using the pandemic to hopefully to reach even more people.
In 2020, weve gone digital, giving us the ability to reach more people, feature more businesses, and connect with more beer drinkers than ever, the website states.
Those interested can tune in online for workshops and talks on Oct. 10. They are also offering boxes of beer delivered straight to your door.
The VIP box, which costs $60, includes 11 beers, a festival glass designed by Kailah Ogawa and access to all of the digital programming.
This box also includes a Massachusetts brewery, Lamplighter Brewing.
The brewery located in downtown Cambridge has reopen since closing earlier this year due to the pandemic. They have also been hosting local events.
The boxes, however, are only available for shipment in certain states, which doesnt include Massachusetts. But those in Massachusetts that are interested can still pick up beer from Lamplighter Brewing and participate in the online workshops.
Todays release is a tasty batch of Side Salad, brewed this time with fresh lemon verbena! If you havent had the... Posted by Lamplighter Brewing Co. on Thursday, August 27, 2020
Related Content:
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 14:09:42|Editor: huaxia
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KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Counter-Narcotic Police in crackdown on drug smugglers captured two persons and found 14 kg drug including 8 kg heroin from their possessions in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province on Wednesday, provincial police spokesman Hejratullah Akbari said.
Both the arrested men were attempting to take the contraband out of the provincial capital Kunduz city but captured during a search operation, the official said, adding investigation is underway to locate the ring supporting drug traffickers in the province.
A day earlier on Tuesday, two more drug smugglers along with 4 kg heroin were arrested by police in Ali Abad district, Kunduz province, police said. Enditem
Image: Twitter/@drkafeelkhan
Kafeel Khan, a doctor from Uttar Pradesh who was jailed for 212 days under the National Security Act (NSA) for an alleged speech against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, was released from Mathura jail late on September 1.
The Allahabad High Court earlier in the day quashed the detention of Khan under the NSA and ordered his immediate release. The bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Marhur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh allowed the writ petition filed by Khan's mother Nuzhat Parveen and said the order for his detention passed by the district magistrate is illegal.
Khan has been in jail since January after he allegedly delivered a provocative speech at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) during the anti-CAA protests in December last year.
The petition alleged that Khan was granted bail in February by a competent court and he was supposed to be released on bail. However, he was not released for four days and the NSA was subsequently invoked against him. Hence, his detention was illegal, the petition argued.
Under the NSA, people can be detained without a charge for up to 12 months if authorities are satisfied that they are a threat to national security or law and order.
The order issued by the court says, "A complete reading of the speech of Dr Kafeel Khan prima facie does not disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence. It also nowhere threatens peace and tranquillity of the city of Aligarh. The address gives a call for national integrity and unity among the citizens."
"It appears that the District Magistrate had selective reading and selective mention for few phrases from the speech ignoring its true intent." The court further said in the instant case, the "causal link is found to be missing or completely broken".
The paediatrician first came into limelight when 60 children lost their lives at the Gorakhpurs BRD Medical College Hospital due to shortage of oxygen in August 2017. He spent almost nine months in prison. After two years, he was absolved of charges of medical negligence and corruption in connection with the case.
A family from rural New South Wales have begged Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for a border exemption so their son can return home from boarding school in the school holidays.
Gravesend mother Kate Warby's son Hunter is attending boarding school in Brisbane, 500km northeast from his family home in northern NSW.
Both Hunter and his family want the 12-year-old to come home for the upcoming holidays in two weeks, but strict Queensland border controls have made his return nearly impossible.
'We can't get to him at the moment,' Ms Warby told 2GB.
'This is his first year away at boarding school and he would definitely be home to help his father and I and go and help his grandparents, aunties and uncles on the farm.
'He's a great help and we're going to miss him.'
Kate Warby (pictured) has pleaded for border exemptions for boarders so she can see her son Hunter in the upcoming school holidays
While Hunter is able to return home to Gravesend, a small country town 615km north of Sydney, he would be required to quarantine for two weeks on return to Queensland at great expense.
'Hunter is free to come home, we can get him home, yet to get him back we're going to be up for in excess of $7,000 to 8,000 for hotel quarantine and that's just not an option,' Ms Warby said.
'To hear it last night in his voice, he just desperately wants his father and I to be able to bring him home.'
Ms Warby said many Outback families in her district are struggling with not being able to see their children, despite having no cases or transmissions of coronavirus in the region.
She hoped political leaders could put themselves in her shoes and allow for travel exemptions for boarding students.
'We're holding onto hope that at the eleventh-hour compassion, empathy and just common sense will prevail at the end,' Ms Warby said.
'These kids need to come home and recharge. They need to see their families.
'They're coming out of a busy term, an uncertain year and they desperately need their families because there's no place like home.'
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) has refused to change her border rules despite several dramas
Traffic queues at the NSW-Queensland border check point in Coolangatta on August 7
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Tuesday revealed her state's border wouldn't open until at least October.
'We said we would review at the end of the each month and there has been no advice from the chief health officer to change what we are doing,' she said.
'I'll tell you what we're looking for - to keep Queenslanders safe, that's what we're looking for.'
Queensland's extreme border restrictions were highlighted last week after Ballina woman Kimberley Brown lost her unborn baby girl after she was forced to travel 750km for an urgent operation because she was unable to enter the state.
Despite problems with hospital admissions, Ms Palaszczuk said she would not be changing her border closure policy.
'Queensland will continue to have our borders closed to keep Queenslanders safe, I'm not going to be moved on this,' she said.
'Fundamentally the health of Queenslanders is my number one concern.
'We know that people wanted to open our borders earlier. We would have seen a situation that's happening in Victoria happening in Queensland.'
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been outspoken in his criticism of border closures and asked state premiers to commit to having their borders open by Christmas.
'Australia was not built to have internal borders. In fact the very point of federation was not to have them. That was the point of Australia,' he said.
'We must be one and indivisible as a nation. We must be Australians first and we must not allow this crisis to force us to retreat into provincialism. That's not the answer.'
New Delhi:
The CBI on Tuesday arrested Trinamool Congress parliamentary party leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay in connection with the alleged Rose Valley chit fund scam, the second of a party MP within a week.
Bandopadhyay, who arrived at the CBI office in Kolkata at around 11 am, was subjected to more than four hours of intensive interrogation by CBI, after which he was arrested.
The TMC MP had been summoned thrice earlier by the investigation agency.
His arrest in the alleged Rose Valley scam came close on the heels of the arrest of another Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal on Friday. Paul, an actor-turned politician, is now in the CBI custody in Bhubaneshwar.
Aslo read | Rose Valley chit fund scam: TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay faces CBI grilling
On reaching the CBI office on Tuesday, Bandopadhyay told waiting reporters that he had come to face interrogation and know what the charges were against him.
The TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee termed the arrest as 'vindictive politics'. Banerjee announced that she will stage a sit-in protest against Central Govt to oppose Bandyopadhyay's arrest. An emergency meeting of the party's parliamentary committee has been called as well.
Also read | Arrested TMC leader Tapas Pal undergoes medical tests after complaining of health problems
As it happened:
CRPF deployed outside BJP's Kolkata office pic.twitter.com/uCLszWIklz ANI (@ANI_news) January 3, 2017
#CBI isssues statement on TMC leader's arrest:
"The Central Bureau of Investigation has today (Tuesday) arrested a Member of Parliament in an on-going investigation of a Chit Fund case.
"The instant case was registered on June 5, 2014 under section 420/408/409/120-B/34of IPC and Sections 4, 5 and 6 of Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978, on the orders of the Honble Supreme Court dated May 9, 2014 passed in Writ Petition No 401 of2013 and 413 of 2013 against then Chairman of a private Group of Companies and others on the allegations that the said company had collected around Rs 17,000/- crore illegally from general public after enticing them with false promise of paying higher rate of interest.
"After investigation, chargesheet was filed on Jan 1, 2016 under section 420,409, 120B of IPC and 4 and 6 of Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978 against four persons including then Chairman; then Managing Director; then Director and Ex Director of said Group of Companies and three private companies of said Group. Further investigation is continuing as per provisions of Section 173(8) CrPC to examine the roles of other accused persons to find out aspects of larger conspiracy and money trail.
"The arrested accused will be produced before the Competent Court."
#WATCH TMC workers protest outside BJP's Kolkata office after TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay's arrest pic.twitter.com/WttBqJxz0H ANI (@ANI_news) January 3, 2017
#TMC MP Idris Ali denied any possibility of an attack on BJP office by party supporters, "I have no knowledge of any such attack, TMC can't do any such thing."
#Derek O'Brien says, "Wednesday at 2.30 we will protest in Delhi, we will be protesting at Parliament. We will not stop. Our leader Mamta Banerjee has said we will protest everywhere against this political vendetta," he added.
TMC workers protest, pelt stones and try to enter BJP's Kolkata office after TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay's arrest; pic.twitter.com/DiMB2VYnUT ANI (@ANI_news) January 3, 2017
#BJP office attacked again, stone pelting begins: Reports
#TMC MLAs & MPs including Saugat Roy, Dinesh Trivedi & Partha Chatterjee reach Kolkata's CBI Office to stage protest against Bandopadhyaya's arrest (Read full story here)
#Breaking: BJP office in Kolkata attacked by TMC students' wing after TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay's arrest
#Sudip Bandhopadhyay booked under IPC section 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 120b (criminal conspiracy)
#Tomorrow (Jan 4) will protest in Kolkata over arrest (of TMC MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay). On 9 Jan protest to start in 10 states on demonetisation: WB CM
#TMC MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay will be taken to Bhubaneswar (Odisha) by CBI on Tuesday night
#We strongly condemn the political vindictive attitude of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah: Mamata Banerjee
#For no reasons arrests have been made. Only reason is Note Bandi: Mamata Banerjee
#We will be with the people. This is not only financial emergency. This is full-fledged emergency: Mamata Banerjee
#Amit Shah, Narendra Modi should be arrested, PM Modi does not understand Indian politics: Mamata Banerjee, WB CM
#Many political parties are scared, but are not able to speak out. Emergency situation is going on: Mamata Banerjee, WB CM
#People should come out on roads against #DeMonetisation move, people will teach them a lesson: Mamata Banerjee, WB CM
#If they think that after the arrest (of TMC MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay) we won't protest, they are wrong: Mamata Banerjee, WB CM
#I challenge PM, he cannot do anything, can't suppress the voice of the people: Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal CM
#Will take the legal battle forward, will seek justice from the court: Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal CM on TMC MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay's arrest
#Will protest outside RBI Kolkata on 9th January, and on 10th and 11th January in Delhi: Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal CM
Rose Valley Chit Fund Scam
According to CBI, the West Bengal-based Rose Valley group cheated investors of Rs 17,000 crore, making the chit-fund scam seven times bigger than the Saradha scandal that generated a lot of political heat in the eastern state.
The hospitality-to-real estate group robbed millions of investors, most of them from low-income group, in at least 10 states, including West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, promising exaggerated returns, the reports said.
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Indian special forces member killed in China border showdown This picture in New Delhi includes portraits of Indian soldiers killed in a hand-to-hand fighting with Chinese soldiers on the borders high in the Himalayas
A Tibetan-origin soldier with India's special forces was killed in the latest border showdown with Chinese troops on their contested Himalayan border, a Tibetan representative said Tuesday.
The death is the first reported from two incidents in 48 hours on the border which has heightened tensions between the giant nations just two months after a battle that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead.
India and China, which fought a border war in 1962, have accused each other of seeking to cross their unofficial frontier in the Ladakh region in a bid to gain territory on Saturday night, and then again on Monday.
Neither side has announced any casualties but Namghyal Dolkar Lhagyari, a member of the Tibetan parliament in exile, told AFP that the Tibetan-origin soldier was "martyred during the clash" on Saturday night.
She said another member of the Special Frontier Force that reportedly includes many ethnic Tibetans who oppose China's claim to their home region was wounded in the operation.
- "Provocative military movements" -
The world's two most populous countries have sent tens of thousands of troops to the region since a brutal June 15 battle fought with wooden clubs and fists.
India has said 20 troops were killed. China acknowledged casualties but did not give figures.
The two sides blamed each other for the latest incidents.
India's defence ministry said Chinese troops "carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo" at the border on Saturday.
China's People's Liberation Army said that India was "seriously violating China's territorial sovereignty" with its operation staged Monday and demanded that Indian troops withdraw.
India's foreign ministry said Tuesday that China had caused the latest incident "even as ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation."
Indian media reports, quoting military sources, said PLA forces tried to take hilltops traditionally claimed by India around Pangong Tso, a lake at 4,200 metres (13,500 feet) altitude.
Story continues
India's defence ministry said its troops "undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on ground."
The Business Standard newspaper said that the SFF had been used to take heights that China considers its own. The Indian government does not comment on the special force's operations.
Amid calls for boycotts of Chinese goods, India has stepped up economic pressure on China since the June battle and repeatedly warned that relations would suffer unless its troops pull back.
India has banned at least 49 Chinese owned-apps, including the TikTok video platform, frozen Chinese firms out of contracts and held up Chinese goods at customs posts.
ash/tw/ch
WASHINGTON - The lawyer for Patrik Mathews is asking a U.S. court to throw out two of the four charges against the former Canadian Forces reservist and alleged neo-Nazi, and to allow his client to stand trial separately from his alleged co-conspirators.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 1/9/2020 (506 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
WASHINGTON - The lawyer for Patrik Mathews is asking a U.S. court to throw out two of the four charges against the former Canadian Forces reservist and alleged neo-Nazi, and to allow his client to stand trial separately from his alleged co-conspirators.
In a series of motions filed Monday in Maryland District Court, lawyer Joseph Balter is also urging the judge to quash a raft of wiretap, email and location evidence that he argues is prejudicial against Mathews and was obtained by way of warrants that violated his constitutional rights.
Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews, shown in this undated RCMP handout photo was reported missing to police on Monday. The lawyer for accused neo-Nazi and former Canadian Forces reservist Patrik Mathews has asked a U.S. court to drop weapons charges against his client and to allow him to stand trial separately from his alleged co-conspirators. In documents filed Monday in Maryland District Court, lawyer Joseph Balter also argues that much of the evidence in the case does not relate to the charges against Mathews and that the warrants used to obtain it violated his client's constitutional rights. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-RCMP
"The search warrants were issued in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, because the affidavits underlying the warrants did not establish probable cause to believe evidence of the crimes ... would be found," the documents argue.
A separate motion also seeks to suppress statements Mathews himself gave to investigators, whom the defence accuses of violating his right against self-incrimination, his constitutional right to counsel and his Miranda rights.
Mathews, a former combat engineer, vanished from Beausejour, Man., last year following media reports alleging he was a recruiter for a white-supremacist group known as The Base. He's been in custody since January along with two others, Brian Lemley Jr. and William Bilbrough, after the trio were arrested as part of a broader FBI investigation of the group.
All three have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors in Maryland allege the three men were part of an elaborate white-supremacist plot to touch off a U.S. race war. They accuse Mathews of advocating for killing people, poisoning water supplies and derailing trains to incite a civil war in the name of creating a white "ethno-state," and of planning to violently disrupt a pro-gun rally in Virginia.
Mathews is facing four charges, including two counts of being an alien in possession of a firearm and two counts of transporting a firearm across state lines with intent to commit a felony.
The latter two charges are "multiplicious," Balter argues the offence they describe is essentially the same as in the other two, meaning that Mathews is being charged twice for the same offence.
He has also moved for his client to be tried separately from the other two on the grounds that Mathews won't be able to get a fair trial as a co-accused.
"The presentation of evidence against the co-defendants in a single trial will be prejudicial to the rights of Mr. Mathews because the vast majority of discovery does not relate to Mr. Mathews' alleged offences," Balter writes.
Because Lemley and Bilbrough face a number of charges that Mathews does not, "the jury will be unable to compartmentalize the evidence as it relates to Mr. Mathews."
The motion also contemplates the likelihood that prosecutors will introduce evidence of statements made by either co-defendant that would implicate Mathews. "Should the co-defendants not testify at trial, Mr. Mathews would be denied his confrontation rights as provided by the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."
The flurry of filings is the first public movement in months on the case, which like countless others has been slowed and complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The court agreed twice to waive U.S. speedy-trial deadlines owing to the complex nature of the case, the sheer volume of evidence and the extenuating public-health circumstances.
Authorities in Georgia and Wisconsin also arrested four other men in January linked to The Base, a group that has been attracting more scrutiny from law enforcement in recent months.
Officials say it is part of a wider spread of white nationalism and extremist ideology throughout the U.S., following a model similar to that of al-Qaida, the Islamic State group and other violent organizations that rely on the internet and social media to mobilize independent cells or individuals who share their philosophies.
Other motions filed with the court this week make clear that the discovery process is not yet complete; both Lemley and Mathews are seeking the right to file additional motions after Monday's deadline "based upon ongoing investigation and discovery disclosures."
A pre-trial teleconference between prosecutors, defence counsel and District Judge Theodore Chuang has been scheduled for Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 1, 2020.
Follow James McCarten on Twitter @CdnPressStyle
Saudi king sacks top military officials in new 'graft' cases amid royal power struggle
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 01 September 2020 7:11 AM
The Saudi king has sacked several military officials, including two senior royals, over what is claimed to be graft charges, sparking speculation of a stepped-up push to consolidate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's hold on power.
In a royal decree on Tuesday, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud removed Prince Fahad bin Turki of his role as commander of joint forces in the Saudi-led coalition waging war against Yemen.
His son, Abdulaziz bin Fahad, was also relieved of his post as deputy governor of al-Jouf region.
According to the decree, the officials, along with four others, face an investigation into "suspicious financial dealings" at the defense ministry.
The decree said the crown prince who also serves as the defense minister designated Lieutenant Gen. Mutlaq bin Salem bin Mutlaq al-Azima to replace Prince Fahd.
The decree was based on bin Salman's missive to the so-called Anti-Corruption Committee.
Prince Fahd was commander of the Royal Saudi Ground Forces, paratrooper units and special forces before becoming commander of joint forces in the Saudi-led coalition, according to Saudi daily Arab News.
Since rising to power on the back of a palace coup in 2017, bin Salman, who is considered Saudi Arabia's de-facto ruler, has spearheaded a campaign against alleged corruption in the government.
The campaign, however, is widely believed to be aimed at getting rid of the obstacles to the prince's hold on power.
In the most high-profile purge later that year, scores of royals, ministers and businessmen were detained at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel under tight security.
The majority of those high-profile figures later agreed to monetary settlements in exchange for their freedom and paid colossal sums of money.
Earlier this year, three senior royals, including the king's younger brother Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz and bin Salman's predecessors, Mohammed bin Nayef, were arrested.
The controversial crown prince has been embroiled in a number of scandals, including the assassination in 2018 of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
More recently, bin Salman has been sued by former intelligence agent, Sa'ad al-Jabri, at a US court for a murder plot against the exiled figure.
The heir to the throne has also been under fire over the bloody war he has been leading against Yemen and the harsh treatment of activists at home.
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Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The testing for the coronavirus pandemic in Kenya has slowed substantially since the US ordered its companies manufacturing the chemicals used in the virus testing not to sell globally, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Health, Mutahi Kagwe, said on Wednesday
K-State research among first to analyze safety of industrial hemp as cattle feed
Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020
Kansas State University veterinary researchers Hans Coetzee, left, and Michael Kleinhenz are studying the safety of using industrial hemp in feed for cattle. | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN A pair of studies at Kansas State University is bringing new insight to farmers and producers seeking to incorporate industrial hemp in cattle feed.
After the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp production in the U.S., interest has grown in industrial hemp as an agricultural commodity, including as feed for animals. FDA approval, however, through the Association of American Feed Control Officials would be required before hemp could be fed to livestock or pets.
"Although hemp can be legally cultivated under license in Kansas, feeding hemp products to livestock remains prohibited because the potential for cannabinoid drug residues to accumulate in meat and milk has not been studied," said Hans Coetzee, professor and head of the anatomy and physiology department in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
A team of K-State researchers recently received a $200,000 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture to establish concentrations of cannabinoids in livestock after exposure to industrial hemp.
"Industrial hemp is typically grown to produce oil, seed, fiber and medicines," said Michael Kleinhenz, assistant professor of beef production medicine. "While varieties of hemp may be planted for a single or dual purpose, such as for seed and fiber, byproducts consisting of leaves, fodder and residual plant fibers remain after harvest. These byproducts could serve as potential feedstuffs for animals. Because these are predominantly cellulose-containing plant materials, the ideal species for utilizing these feeds are ruminant animals, specifically cattle."
While there is interest in the use of hemp for cattle feeds, there are questions about whether the feed can be used safely because of concerns about tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, intoxication and the presence of other bioactive cannabinoids. Kleinhenz noticed that most research was focused on humans, mice and swine, but not on cattle.
"This is surprising because cattle can readily utilize industrial hemp byproducts as they can digest cellulose plant materials in their rumens," Kleinhenz said.
Kleinhenz is part of a multidisciplinary research team consisting of pharmacologists, toxicologists, analytical chemists and horticulture experts. The hemp used in the studies was grown at K-State's John C. Pair Horticultural Center near Wichita. Other K-State researchers involved include Geraldine Magnin, Zhoumeng Lin, Steve Ensley, Jason Griffin, Katie E. Kleinhenz, Shawnee Montgomery, Andrew Curtis, Miriam Martin and Coetzee. The research team also included John Goeser and Eva Lynch, Rock River Laboratories.
"We observed that the acidic cannabinoids, such as CBDA and THCA, are more readily absorbed from the rumen than other nonacid cannabinoid forms, such as CBD and CBG," Kleinhenz said. "Now that we have found that some cannabinoids are readily absorbed from the rumen, the next steps are to study the tissue and milk residue depletion profiles of these compounds after animal feeding experiments. The effects of cannabinoids on cattle are also unknown."
Follow-up experiments will include pilot studies to examine the effect of feeding hemp on animal behavior and immune function.
"Our goal is to fill in the knowledge gaps," Kleinhenz said. "Until feedstuffs containing hemp are established as safe in animals, our data will assist producers in managing situations involving intentional or unintentional hemp exposures."
The two published studies are "Nutrient concentrations, digestibility, and cannabinoid concentrations of industrial hemp plant components," which can be found in the journal Applied Animal Science, and "Plasma concentrations of eleven cannabinoids in cattle following oral administration of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa)," which was published in Scientific Reports.
Telehealth is an American idea that seems to have been accepted by everyone during the coronavirus pandemic. It involves talking to a doctor on a computer or smartphone.
Medicare is Americas government-paid healthcare for older Americans and the disabled. It changed its rules to permit doctors to use telehealth to see patients. Now there is a push to make telemedicine available to everyone in the future.
Talking to a doctor on a computer or phone increased a lot when communities shut down in early spring because of the virus. Telehealth visits decreased as things slowly reopened, but they are still far more common than before.
Expanding telehealth will involve creating a balance between cost and quality. Some are worried about privacy or fraud.
I dont think it is ever going to replace in-person visits, because sometimes a doctor needs to put hands on a patient, said Seema Verma. She is the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and the Trump administrations leader in the movement for increased telehealth.
Its fair to say that telemedicineits come of age this year, said Murray Aitken of the data company IQVIA. It studies the use of telemedicine.
During of the coronavirus shutdown, telehealth made up more than 40 percent of basic care visits for patients with traditional Medicare. Before coronavirus, it was only 0.1 percent of care.
As the governments main health care program, Medicare covers more than 60 million people.
A recent poll of older Americans by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation found that more than 70 percent of people are interested in using telehealth for follow-ups with their doctor.
Privacy, however, was an issue, mostly for those who had not experienced telemedicine. The poll found 27 percent of older Americans who had not had a telemedicine visit were worried about privacy. Among those who had tried telemedicine, only 17 percent were worried about privacy.
Many others who tried telemedicine did have some worries. About 80 percent were concerned the doctor could not physically examine them, and 64 percent worried the quality was not as good.
For Medicare user Jean Grady of Westford, Vermont, telemedicine was very effective. She was required to see a doctor by Medicare to continue receiving insulin for her wearable pump. She worried about possible exposure to COVID-19 at a doctors office.
So, she talked to her doctors technology expert and downloaded the suggested teleconference software.
She said she would do some future visits by video, but not all because, for example, she will need blood tests that are done in the office.
Many private insurance plans offer some telemedicine coverage.
In the past, traditional Medicare had restricted telemedicine to those who live far out in the country and had to travel long distances to see a doctor.
When the coronavirus hit the U.S., officials changed the restrictions so Medicare users could use telemedicine. Making such changes permanent would require legislation from Congress.
Senator Lamar Alexander is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. He says he would like to see greater use of telemedicine while keeping costs down.
The goal, he said, should be better outcomes and better patient experiences, at a lower cost.
One of the big questions is: Should doctors be paid the same for a telemedicine meeting as they are for an in-person meeting with a patient?
While Congress wants to quickly pass new legislation, I think it is worth taking a little more time, said Juliette Cubanski. She is a Medicare expert with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. She, and others in the healthcare industry, are worried about fraud.
Andrew VanLandingham is a lawyer with the Department of Health and Human Services. He called telehealth experimental. He worries about the unknown risks.
But many see the opportunities, especially in the areas of mental health and the treatment of chronic conditions.
Im Susan Shand.
The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.
________________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
pandemicn. the fast spread of an infectious disease over a very wide geographic area
fraudn. the crime of using dishonest methods to take something valuable
datan. information used to study or plan something
polln. a study in which people are asked what their opinion is and is meant to find out what the public thinks about an issue
insulinn. a substance created by the body that helps turn sugar into energy
nonpartisanadj. not linked to any political party
chronicadj. something that happens again and a again over a long period of time
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 23:09:59|Editor: huaxia
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CAIRO, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday affirmed the necessity that Israeli should "refrain from taking any unilateral measures that would undermine the peace process, especially annexing any Palestinian lands," according to the Presidency Office statement.
In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sisi said that "avoiding such measures aims at opening more space for mobilizing regional and international efforts to break the current stalemate in the Palestinian issue," the spokesperson of the presidency Bassam Radi said.
It would also allow the resumption of negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides in order to reach a fair and comprehensive solution on the basis of a two-state solution and in accordance with international references for achieving security, peace and prosperity for the people in the region, Radi added.
The president also emphasized the importance of sticking to the Palestinian-Israeli truce on the Gaza Strip, in light of Egypt's ongoing endeavors to mitigate the tensions between the two sides.
"Egypt supports any steps that would bring regional peace in a way that maintains the rights of the Palestinians and security of Israel," Sisi said, praising the United States brokered the United Arab Emirates-Israeli deal as a step in this regard.
Sponsored by the U.S., Israel and the UAE reached an agreement on Aug. 13 to work towards a "full normalization of relations."
It's the first deal Israel signed with a Gulf country and the third Arab country after Egypt and Jordan that normalized relations with Israel in 1979 and 1994 respectively. Enditem
Donald Trump Jr has accused 'Biden voters' of rioting and looting after the Democrat blamed his father for violent unrest in cities across America.
Trump Jr said Biden sat in silence for ten days in 'tactic acceptance' of the unrest, and only decided to denounce it when polling showed it was hurting his campaign.
He also claimed that Obama escaped blame for riots in Ferguson and Orlando during his presidency, and accused Trump's critics of having a 'double-standard'.
Donald Trump Jr has accused 'Biden voters' of burning down cities across America as he hit out after the Democrat blamed his father for the unrest
Trump Jr spoke out after Biden used a speech in Pennsylvania to denounce 'rioting and looting', saying it is 'not protesting' and calling on it to end.
He also denounced violence 'from left and right' while calling on President Trump to do the same.
Shortly afterwards, the president defended Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who shot two protesters dead in Kenosha.
Asked to respond to Biden's comments, Trump Jr said: 'No-one said that about Obama when you had the Ferguson riots, or Orlando, or the numerous riots there.
'The reality is that Joe Biden said almost nothing about these things. He sat there.
'There must be tacit [sic] acceptance because these are Biden voters, these are Democrat voters, that are out there doing this.
'You don't see the conservatives burning down businesses, you don't see conservatives attacking others for wearing a MAGA hat.
Trump has made 'law and order' the centerpiece of his reelection campaign, blaming Democrats for violence and unrest across America (pictured visiting businesses destroyed by rioting in Kenosha, Wisconsin)
'Imagine wearing a MAGA hat in Portland? No. You could wear a Biden hat in any city in the country and no-one would do anything.
'That's the difference, that's the double standard. Joe Biden said himself the other day... well, he was going to stay in his basement bunker for another 10 days before addressing it, until the polling issue came out, and then all of a sudden he says "well I may have to leave the bunker 10 days early."
'Ten days to act, as a president, this guy wants to lead our country? This guy isn't fit to lead a kindergarten class.'
Trump Sr has moved to make 'law and order' the centerpiece of his reelection campaign, telling voters that the current unrest will get worse in 'Biden's America'.
In order to hammer home the message, Trump paid a visit to the city of Kenosha on Tuesday, which was partially-destroyed by riots sparked by the police shooting of unarmed black man Jacob Blake.
Biden used a speech on Monday to denounce rioting, looting and violence 'by left and right' while calling on Donald Trump to do the same
During scripted remarks, he called rioters 'domestic terrorists' while praising police, who he argued shouldn't be demonized for making snap-decisions on whether or not to open fire in tough situations.
'The vast and overwhelming majority of police officers are honorable, courageous and devoted public servants,' Trump said.
'They're incredible, yet many politicians ignore their sacrifice and ignore the African-American, Hispanic-American victims.
'And if they make a wrong decision one way or the other, they're either dead or they're in big trouble,' Trump continued.
'And people have to understand that. They choke sometimes. And it's a very tough situation.'
Trump did not mention Blake once by name during the speech, after a meeting with his family fell through because they insisted on having lawyers present.
The president said he felt that was 'inappropriate', while Blake's father Jacob Sr insisted he didn't want to 'play politics'.
Carlos Wizard Martins is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is considered one of the leading entrepreneurs of Brazil, the founder of the Wizard schools, the largest chain of language schools in the world. In 2012, Martins found himself on Forbes Magazine's Billionaires list, when he sold his company to the British Pearson Group for $750 million dollars. At present, Carlos W. Martins holds investments in several areas, such as food, retail, technology, logistics and real estate, among others. However, for the last two years he has dedicated 100% of his time to being a 'social entrepreneur'. After having spent almost 2 years assisting refugees in the Amazon region, this year he has dedicated his efforts to combating the Covid-19 pandemic. He organized a national movement involving over 10 thousand doctors who emphasize the early treatment of the disease.
In his book, Refugees, Martins tells of the period in which he dedicated his time to offering a new life to thousands of refugees who gave up their families, friends and cultural ties in search of survival, protection and the recovery of their very dignity. "I saw that each refugee fights an internal and silent psychological battle at every moment, with each dilemma-filled choice that is made. In spite of all the difficulties, they left their country, fleeing hunger, misery, misfortune and despair", his book relates.
For this author, being a refugee is not a choice, seeing that no one plans to go through such an ordeal, but it is thrust upon a person by the way things happen, contrary to what one might imagine. "However, what fills my soul is realizing that the painful path these people face to escape the quandary they are in is filled with hope and the willpower to overcome all obstacles. I perceived in each situation how hope makes it possible for the fight for survival to continue", the author affirms.
The objective of the book is, not only to tell of the love among people who unite to aid their fellow beings, but also to sound the alert of the importance for all of us to set our differences aside and come to the aid of hungry refugees. All proceedings from the book will be directed to support refugees worldwide.
One of the chapters of the book is dedicated to Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and CEO of Chobani, the number one brand of yogurt in the world. Both Carlos and Hamdi share a very similar life story. They were not born in the United States. They came from humble family origins and in their youth, they came to study English in America. Following their academic studies, each one opened a company. Carlos, in education and Hamdi in the food industry. Each of their companies became a world leader in its market niche. These two entrepreneurs sold their businesses and landed on the Forbes Magazine list of billionaires. Now, they share the same passion: to assist and support refugees on a global scale.
SOURCE Ink Comunicacao
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Two people have been arrested and charged in connection with a July murder on the North Side, according to Syracuse police.
Zachary Marshall, 16, of Syracuse, was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, police announced Wednesday in a news release.
Nautica Harp, 19, of Syracuse, was charged with one count of hindering the prosecution, police said.
Marshall is accused of killing 30-year-old Miguel Quintero on July 30 at 4:30 p.m., police said. Quintero was pronounced dead at the scene on Neutral Court, a one-block street runs parallel to Park Street, between Pond and Mary streets.
Marshall was arrested Aug. 12 by U.S. Marshals in Sumter, South Carolina, police said. Sumter is a city between Charlotte, N.C. and Charleston, S.C.
Two days later, Harp was arrested at Syracuse headquarters, according to police.
Harp graduated from the Public Service Leadership Academy at Fowler in 2019.
The arrests were not made public for more than two weeks because the department was working to extradite Marshall from South Carolina and also arranged to bring back some evidence, said Sgt. Matthew Malinowski, a Syracuse Police Department spokesman.
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A mass semi-insurrectionary uprising, popularly known as the hartal (a strike coupled with a general stoppage of work and small businesses), erupted in Sri Lanka 67 years ago on August 12, 1953. It shook the ruling class of the island to the core and marked a political turning point.
Lacking a genuine revolutionary leadership, that is a Marxist-Trotskyist party, the uprising was defeated by the right-wing United National Party (UNP) government. This bitter experience has powerful lessons today for the working class in preparing for its revolutionary struggles ahead.
Internationally, the year 1953 was tumultuous. Workers uprisings erupted in East Germany and Czechoslovakia in June against the Stalinist governments installed by the Soviet bureaucracy. Then in August came a near two week-long general strike of four million French workers against austerity measures.
Sri Lanka's governing UNP cabinet in 1952
Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) suffered an economic crisis. Rubber and tea exports fell sharply because of the end of a boom created by the three-year bloody Korean War begun in 1950 by the US imperialism.
The UNP government, which came to power just a year earlier with a convincing majority, took ruthless steps in July 1953. It removed the subsidy for rice, the countrys staple food, increasing the price three-fold. It also raised the prices of essential commodities such as sugar, withdrew the midday meal for school children and slashed expenditure on health and other social programs, while increasing charges on railway transport and postal, telephone and telegraphic services.
Finance Minister J. R. Jayewardene said the government had to remove the food subsidy because it could not find the money to finance the countrys development program. He cynically told the poor: Grow your own food. At the same time, he announced tax concessions and other handouts to the rich
The unbearable inroads into living conditions ignited discontent among workers and the rural poor, which had been simmering for years. In 1948, the ruling elite, long servile to British colonial rule, had supported formal independence in order to quell the struggles of the working people for improved social and living conditions.
Just after this independence, the UNP government abolished the citizenship of hundreds of thousands of Indian-origin plantation workers. It was a cynical step calculated to divide the working class along ethnic lines and thus prop up capitalist rule.
On July 23, 1953, as mass opposition brewed against the governments austerity measures, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), which commanded considerable support among workers and in rural areas, announced a one-day protest on August 12.
LSSP leader NM Perera addressing a mass protest in Colombo's Gall Face Green in opposition to a UNP budget
The Stalinist Communist Party (CP) and the Viplavakari Sama Samaja Party (VLSSP), a right-wing nationalist group that had split from the LSSP, joined the campaign.
Seeking to exploit the unrest, the opposition Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) condemned the governments repression but did not support the protest. The SLFP had been formed in 1951 in a split from the UNP led by S.W. R. D. Bandaranaike, in a bid to head off the rising disaffection. The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi, or Federal Party, of the Tamil capitalist elite expressed support for the protest but also did not participate.
On August 12, workers, peasants and youth took matters into their own hands. To counter the police, they built barricades to block each entrance to the capital Colombo. At one barricade across the road close to the Kirullapone Bridge, people battled against 80 police constables.
Wires were cut, blocking telegraph, telephone and other communication links between Colombo and other regions. In some places, wooden bridges were dismantled and other small bridges were blasted with dynamite. Transport and postal services were stopped. Some railway tracks were torn up for a mile or so and some trains were stopped and seized.
The terrified UNP cabinet met on board the British warship, the HMS Newfoundland, anchored in Colombos port. It declared an emergency, called out the military with orders to shoot at sight, sealed the offices and presses of working-class parties, imposed a curfew and introduced capital punishment for damaging property.
Police shot dead nine workers and youth in Colombo and the southern and western rural areas, and seriously wounded another 175 protesters.
Though the protest was called for one day, in some areas the demonstrations continued, especially in the Colombo suburbs and southern areas, despite the LSSPs call for a halt.
The LSSP organised no action nor did it call for the building of defence committees. Nevertheless, the protests erupted in areas where the Trotskyist movement had been active during the previous decade. At the time, the LSSP was the Sri Lankan section of the Fourth International, the world Trotskyist party, but had been increasingly orienting toward parliamentarianism and trade unionism around limited economic demands.
The Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India (BLPI) had been established in 1942 as a section of the Fourth International and fought for a Trotskyist program across the Indian sub-continent, including Ceylon. However, an opportunist faction led by N. M. Perera and Phillip Gunawardena broke from the BLPI and reverted to a nationalist program, under the banner of the LSSP, in the mid-1940s.
In 1950, the BLPI merged with the LSSP, sweeping aside the all-important political issues of the split. The BLPIs section in India had earlier merged with the nationalist Socialist Party of India. These mergers amounted to liquidating the BLPI. This was an adaptation to the post-World War II settlements between the imperialist powers and the Soviet regime to head off working-class uprisings that included British imperialisms grant of formal independence to Sri Lanka.
In the ensuing years, the LSSP further drifted away from Trotskyism, joining the revisionist tendency of Michael Pablo and Ernest Mandel that had emerged in the Fourth International. This tendency attributed a progressive role to the Stalinist Soviet bureaucracy and abandoned the Trotskyist program of building independent revolutionary parties. In the semi-colonial countries, they proposed fusing sections of the Fourth International with bourgeois nationalist movements.
The LSSP opposed the Open Letter issued by the American Trotskyist leader, James P. Cannon, in November 1953 calling for the rejection of this liquidationism, and refused to join the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) to fight Pabloism. Despite having criticised Pablo, it remained with the Pabloite International Secretariat.
The LSSPs nationalist drift was expressed in its role in the 1953 hartal. As The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) explains:
Dr. Colvin R. De Silva
Subsequent LSSP mythology has seized on the 1953 hartal to demonstrate the partys revolutionary character. In reality, the LSSP provided no leadership to the mass movement In a lengthy article, Colvin R. de Silva declared the hartal to be a new stage of the class struggle that bore the imprint of workers and peasants alliance. But he concluded that the fight was now to compel the UNP government to hold a fresh general election. The LSSP all along viewed the hartal as nothing more than an adjunct to its parliamentary manoeuvring. [page 58]
While the LSSP proposed parliamentary activities, the intensity of the struggle shocked significant sections of the ruling elite. They threw their support behind Bandaranaikes SLFP, as an alternative capitalist party to the UNP. Bandaranaikes Sinhala Only policy proposed Sinhala as the official language, fomenting anti-Tamil communalism to divide the working class that has been expressed in the class unity during the hartal.
The LSSPs betrayal of the mass struggle paved the way for the SLFP to take office in the 1956 parliamentary election. Far from drawing a revolutionary lesson from the hartal or self-critically analysing the event, the LSSP was rapidly backsliding politically.
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
In fact, the LSSP entered a no-contest pact with the SLFP during the 1956 election and adopted a stance of responsive co-operation toward the SLFP government, voting for its throne speech in parliament in 1956 and 1957. The leader of the VLSSP, Philip Gunawardana, entered the SLFP government as a cabinet minister.
Internationally, the Pabloites covered up the LSSPs backsliding, creating the conditions for the great betrayal of 1964, when the LSSP, faced by another working-class upsurge, entered Sirima Bandaranaikes SLFP-led coalition government. By that act, the LSSP finally completely abandoned international socialist principles, accepting ministerial posts in a capitalist government to help suppress the struggles of the working class.
The horrific conditions faced by workers and the rural poor ever since, including decades of anti-Tamil communalism and civil war, are a consequence of this historic betrayal.
The working class needs to draw the lessons from the 1953 hartal in the context of the unfolding crisis of global capitalism today and its sharp expression in Sri Lanka. The COVID-19 pandemic has given a new impetus to the worldwide class struggle, in which the assimilation of the lessons of the past will be crucial.
First and foremost, the hartal showed that whatever the courage, fearlessness and militancy of workers, that alone is not adequate for the working class to take power. It needs a revolutionary party based on the program of international socialism and a thorough assimilation of all of the historic experiences of the working class internationally, including in Sri Lanka, of the LSSPs degeneration and betrayal.
Leon Trotskys Theory of Permanent Revolution provides the essential basis for the impending revolutionary struggles. It established that in countries with a belated capitalist development, only the working class can address the democratic tasks and social questions by taking the leadership of the rural poor and oppressed to carry through a socialist revolution. That means building the ICFI and its sections, the Socialist Equality Parties.
Mayor Jim Kenney, Councilmember Helen Gym and Councilmember Derek Green stand outside of Lowell Elementary in the Olney section of Philadelphia during a news conference and demanded more funding for schools floundering under the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic. Wednesday is the first day of virtual school for 125,000 Philadelphia School District students. Read more
Despite its being the first day of school, there were no students inside Lowell Elementary on Wednesday, and without significant federal help, it will be difficult to safely bring them back this year, local, state and national leaders said outside the redbrick building.
Officials including Mayor Jim Kenney and American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten took aim at President Donald Trump and Senate leaders who have failed to pass the Heroes Act, a COVID-19 relief package that would send billions to cities and school systems like Philadelphias, which opened, fully virtual, Wednesday.
READ MORE: On back-to-school eve for 125,000 Philly students, a level of excitement, but concerns about finances
This is clearly not a typical first day of school for anyone, Kenney said. Under normal circumstances, wed be in school buildings, greeting students and teachers, wed be celebrating all the promise a new school year brings. Had the White House led a competent national pandemic response under the direction of medical experts, we might very well be in a different position today. But here we are.
As classes began for 125,000 kids across the district Wednesday, teachers, students and parents reported some first-day glitches, but enthusiasm at the beginning of the 2020-21 term.
The school systems server encountered technical difficulties early on, creating barriers to learning for some; district officials said students who lack equipment or internet access Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. estimated this week that 18,000 students remained unconnected would be marked as having an excused absence.
Philadelphia schools will remain virtual through mid-November; Hite has said he hopes children can begin returning to buildings, at least part-time, after the first marking period concludes.
The costs of the coronavirus have proven steep for schools: Philadelphia School District officials have said they will spend at least $60 million on COVID-19-related purchases, from masks and desk partitions to extra cleaning staff and hand sanitizer. It is money they cannot afford.
And those costs do not touch the billions it will take for Philadelphia to fix conditions that existed inside city schools prior to the pandemic.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Phila.) recalled touring Lowell, at Fifth and Nedro Streets, where he attended elementary school. He was struck by the poor shape the building was in last year: In midwinter, it was so hot on upper floors of the building that teachers and students had to crack open windows to breathe properly, but in the hallways, people were bundled up in coats against the cold. There was mold and parts of the ceiling showed leaks.
That scares the hell out of me, said Boyle, the husband of a teacher and father of a first grader. How on earth in the richest country in the world, in the history of humanity, can we allow this to happen?
Weingarten, president of the national teachers union, underscored the need for federal funds to get children in Philadelphia and elsewhere back to school.
How are we going to afford all these things when we cant even get a window open in Lowell Elementary School? Weingarten said. When we dont even have soap in bathrooms?
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan hailed his members, who he said were currently working harder than ever and doing so under an expired contract. The PFTs pact expired Monday; 13,000 teachers, counselors, nurses, secretaries and other school workers authorized him to negotiate for two more weeks before considering other options.
The district has tied any raise for teachers to the PFTs agreeing to a reopening plan, which Jordan said created a false dichotomy that defies logic and devalues educators.
Nevertheless, negotiations were productive Tuesday, Jordan said, and both sides would continue to talk Wednesday.
As the dignitaries spoke Wednesday, 5-year-old Zahkir Satchell played on the steps of his new school. Zahkir is a new kindergartner, and his mom, Lexus Rowe, came to Lowell to pick up books for him. Rowe said she had to stay home from work as a certified nursing assistant to take care of Zahkir and his sister, a fifth grader at Grover Washington Middle School.
She was worried about Zahkirs starting such a crucial year of schooling without ever having set foot in his classroom or met his teacher face-to-face, but was resolved to figure it out.
And as for the little guy?
I wish I was in school, Zahkir said.
By the end of the day, teacher Ashante Carr was more exhausted than usual after the first-day crush at Waring Elementary in Spring Garden. Her day was marked by tech hiccups broken links, Zoom fails, lost Google slides but full of kids overjoyed to get back to school, even if it wasnt in person.
There were lots of hellos and I missed yous in the chat, said Carr. They were so happy, and their excitement carried me through.
Lopez Obrador emphasised his major achievements: the fight against corruption and his governments austerity.
For a president with a plunging economy and the worlds fourth-highest number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths, Mexicos Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is not doing so badly.
In his second state-of-the-union address on Tuesday, Lopez Obrador emphasised what he considers his major achievements: the fight against corruption and his governments austerity.
This government will not be remembered for being corrupt; our principal legacy will be cleaning up Mexicos public life, he said.
The president also noted the challenges facing his administration, including the coronavirus pandemic and the struggling economy, but gave his positive take. Mexico will emerge from the pandemic with a better public health system, and his economic strategy relying on direct support to those most in need is beginning to bear fruit, he said.
Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador no longer has the near-sky-high approval ratings he once had [File: Mexicos Presidency/Handout via Reuters]
He still gets 52 percent support for a coronavirus policy that amounts to little more than damage control with as little testing as possible and almost no contact tracing or mandatory lockdowns. It focuses instead on expanding the number of hospital beds.
The honeymoon for Mexicos Teflon president is clearly over and he no longer has the near-sky-high approval ratings he once had.
According to a Reforma newspaper poll published Monday, Lopez Obrador still has a 56 percent approval rating; that is down from a peak of 78 percent in March 2019. The poll had a margin of error of four percentage points.
Nor has Lopez Obradors anti-crime strategy been working; murders are stuck at around 3,000 per month in the nation of almost 130 million inhabitants, about the same level as seen during the last two years.
Drug cartels continue their bloody turf battles, and cocaine flights and fentanyl pill exports continue.
Despite the fact that people are seeing the problems we have and that the results are quite meager, they nevertheless give the president quite a high rating, said Jose Antonio Crespo, a political analyst at Mexicos Center for Economic Research and Training.
People demanding the resignation of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, commonly referred to by his initials AMLO, in a protest organised by the Frente Nacional anti-AMLO or National Front Against AMLO, at the Plaza de la Republica in Mexico City, on August 30, 2020 [AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo]
Lopez Obrador hopes his main legacy will be going after corrupt politicians who stole hundreds of millions of dollars in past administrations.
A lurid series of leaked videos and testimony in recent weeks has reinforced what most Mexicans have long thought that former administrations were full of crooks but they provide little legally admissible evidence. Most of the accusations, including videos of politicians handling suitcases full of cash, were made by a former state oil company director who himself hopes to avoid prison.
In fact, 58 percent of those surveyed in the Reforma poll did not think the corruption cases would lead to any concrete results, while only 28 percent thought suspects would go to jail.
But with nothing to brag about on the economic front gross domestic product dropped 18.7 percent in the second quarter the anti-graft campaign may be a key part of Lopez Obradors strategy for the 2021 midterm elections, in which he hopes to hold on to his bare majority in congress and win more governorships for his Morena party.
02.09.2020 LISTEN
The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) of Ghana has appointed Keskine Owusu Poku as the new Public Relations Coordinator.
Keskine, who is currently studying for his PhD in African Studies at the University of Edinburgh, UK, is a very active social commentator and strong youth advocate.
He had his high school education at Prempeh College and later went to University of Ghana, Legon where he read Political Science.
Keskine holds a Masters degree in Public Policy and Global Affairs from the University of British Columbia in Canada.
As an ardent social media user, Keskine is very popular among his peers and actively use social media to engage the youth of Ghana.
When news of his appointment went public, many social media users particularly on Facebook congratulated him, with Nana Kwadwo Boakye, a member of the NPP Communications Team in Ashanti Region, describing Keskine as a selfless youth-centered and results-oriented personality.
Extensive criminal histories are, apparently, no barrier to running a stock exchange in the United States.
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens of Wall Street on Parade.
Members Exchange (MEMX), a brand new stock exchange, has announced that it will begin live trading of select stocks for the first time on September 21 with a full phase-in on September 29.
Criminal histories are, apparently, no barrier to running a stock exchange in the United States to the deeply conflicted way of thinking of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which issued its approval to operate the exchange on May 5.
Investors in the new stock exchange are some of the most serially-charged Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and UBS, along with the hedge fund, Citadel Securities. BlackRock, which is up to its neck in the Federal Reserves deeply conflicted bailout programs, is also an investor, as is the high-frequency trading firm, Virtu Financial, and others.
JPMorgan Chase has been criminally investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice at least four times in the past seven years. A criminal probe in 2013 looked at how the bank had used bank depositors savings to gamble in exotic derivatives in London, eventually losing $6.2 billion. That case was known as the London Whale and ended in the bank paying $900 million in fines. No criminal charges were brought against the bank.
In 2014, JPMorgan Chase was charged with two criminal felony counts for how it mishandled the business account of Ponzi mastermind, Bernie Madoff. JPMorgans compliance staff looked the other way at screaming red flags of money laundering in the Madoff account for decades. Bank employees told authorities in the U.K. that it thought Madoff might be running a Ponzi scheme. It filed no such concerns with U.S. regulators. The bank pleaded guilty to both felony counts.
In 2015, the Justice Department brought another criminal felony count against the bank, this time for engaging with other banks in rigging foreign exchange markets. The bank again pleaded guilty. In both the 2014 and 2015 cases, JPMorgan Chase was given a deferred prosecution agreement by the Justice Department.
On September 16 of last year, the Justice Department indicted two current and one former precious metal traders at JPMorgan Chase on criminal RICO charges, a charge typically leveled at organized crime members. The traders were charged with running a racketeering enterprise out of the precious metals trading desk at JPMorgan Chase. The bank has indicated in an SEC filing that the bank itself remains under a criminal probe in the matter.
In July of this year, Goldman Sachs settled a criminal indictment against it in Malaysia for $3.9 billion over its involvement in a bribery and kickback scandal known as 1MDB. According to a Bloomberg report in December, the U.S. Department of Justice also has an ongoing criminal investigation of the firm related to the same matter.
According to the 10-K (Annual Report) that Goldman filed with the SEC on February 21, it is cooperating with the Department of Justice in the 1MDB case but the resolution could result in the imposition of significant fines, penalties and other sanctions against the firm, including restrictions on the firms activities. Lets hope that not being allowed to own a stock exchange is one of those restrictions
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On September 1, Facebook threatened to block Australians from sharing new stories on the social media platform if the new proposal will force them to pay for it.
Paying the publishers
The threat is the company's response to an Australian law that would force Facebook and Google to negotiate fees with the news companies whose stories appear on their respective platforms. The fines will be millions of dollars if the companies fail to comply.
However, Facebook said that it would stop allowing publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram if the government proposal becomes law, as reported by The DailyMail.
According to an expert, Facebook wanted to kill off Australia's initiative to stop the law from spreading to other countries where the financial impact would be more severe.
The social media giant says that it faces unlimited costs if the move becomes law in Australia. The company is now fighting a battle to stop the proposal from becoming law.
Also Read: Fact Check: Were the 39 Rescued Children in Georgia Found in a Trailer?
Meanwhile, the Australian government dismissed Facebook's threat and vowed that it would not respond to coercion.
Google has also expressed their dismay against the new law with pop-ups saying that the way Australians use Google is at risk, but has not threatened to cut off their services like Facebook, as reported by The Guardian.
Australia's proposal is targeting stories that appear in Google searches and the news feed on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, without any profit going to the businesses that produce the news.
Australia says that what they are doing is a fundamental bargaining power imbalance, which means that news websites are unfairly deprived of advertising revenue siphoned off by Facebook and Google.
In 2019, local advertisers paid Facebook Australia $674 million or 370 million. According to regulators, Facebook and Google benefit financially from showing the news stories.
Both companies also boost their status as news providers in Australia and collect user data, which is used to improve their services.
Facebook also profits from the "like" and "share" buttons on other websites, which allow its servers to track the activities of its users and send them tailored ads.
Aside from paying the content, the measures would also force transparency around the closely guarded algorithms that tech firms use to rank content.
The code will require Facebook and Google to give publishers 28 days notice of any algorithm changes that are likely to have a significant impact on their traffic.
The initiative is being watched around the globe as media companies worldwide face financial struggles, made worse by the current coronavirus pandemic.
Facebook's threat
In a statement, Facebook's Australia and New Zealand managing director Will Easton said that the proposed overhaul misunderstand the dynamics of the internet, as reported by BBC.
Easton said that the proposed law would force Facebook to pay news organizations for content that the publishers voluntarily place on platforms and at a price that ignores the financial value that platforms bring publishers.
The managing director also said that assuming that the draft code becomes a law, they will reluctantly stop allowing publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram.
Related Article: 17-Year-Old Accused of Being Mastermind in Devastating Twitter Hack
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Ukraine is protesting against human rights abuses and persecution of its citizens in Russian-occupied Crimea and is working to release all political prisoners of the Kremlin, the President's Office has reported.
"Ukraine strongly protests against human rights violations and persecution of its citizens living in the temporarily occupied Crimea," she said.
The President's Office said that these days a court in Rostov-on-Don is considering the case of Crimean Tatar activists, public journalists and human rights activists, who face between 15 and 21 years of prison.
According to the report, Marlen Asanov, Memet Belyalov, Tymur Ibrahimov, Ernes Ametov, Server Zekiryaev, Seyran Saliyev, Server Mustafayev and Edem Smailov are accused of organizing and participating in a terrorist organization, although they only gathered in a mosque and had religious literature in their homes.
"In fact, the indigenous people of Crimea are deprived of the right to practice their religion in their homeland," the President's Office said.
According to the report, Ukraine works every day for the release of all political prisoners and captives held in the temporarily occupied territories and in the Russian Federation.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-01 21:14:18|Editor: huaxia
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An international trade fair to be held later this week in Beijing will contribute to the development of Russia-China cooperation and technology transfer, said a Russian expert.
Cardinal Jean Pierre Kutwa of Abidjan calls for reconciliation, respect for the law, and dialogue as necessary conditions for peace, in preparation for the Ivory Coast's presidential elections in October.
By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ
In certain circumstances, silence can be likened to cowardice and complicity with iniquity.
With these words, Cardinal Jean Pierre Kutwa began his letter on Monday to Ivorian citizens, expressing concern about the developments on the countrys political front in the buildup leading to the presidential elections, scheduled for October 2020.
The socio-political life of our country is taking a dangerous turn, the Cardinal noted. As the presidential elections approach, we are forced to notice the radicalization of positions on both sides. These positions, he pointed out, have become more pronounced since the declaration of the candidacy of the president of the Republic on 6 August 2020.
Alassane Ouattara, 78, Ivory Coasts incumbent president filed his candidacy for re-election after initially saying that he would not run again after being president for two five-year terms from 2010 2020. Ouattara said that he changed his mind after the death of prime minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly of a heart attack in July.
Protests, unrest
Ouattaras candidacy bid for the October elections has generated fresh tensions in the country. In August, several violent clashes stemming from Ouattaras bid left several dead and more than 100 injured.
The Ivorian Constitution limits presidents to two terms but Ouattaras supporters argue that a 2016 amendment to the Constitutions reset the clock, permitting him to seek a third term. However, opposition and civil society groups hold that Ouattaras candidacy is unconstitutional and therefore should not be permitted.
Cardinal Kutwa, speaking against the violence, said it was unacceptable that citizens of the same country, armed with clubs, stones, machetes and firearms would go about killing, injuring each other and causing material damage.
He mourned the deaths of the victims of the clashes, praying that the dead may rest in peace and for consolation for their families.
Presidential election candidates
Posing major threats to the incumbent presidents third-term bid for the presidency are several candidates.
Pascal Affi NGuessan of the Ivorian Popular Front party (FPI) presented his candidacy on Thursday. NGuessan, a former prime minister, is running against Ouattara for a second time after losing to him in the 2015 presidential elections.
Another candidate is former president, Henri Konan Bedie of the Ivory Coast Democratic party (PDCI). 86-year-old Bedie led the country from 1993 to 1996.
Supporters of Ivorian ex-president Laurent Gbagbo have also submitted his documents to the electoral commission to get him registered as a candidate in the October elections. Gbagbo, 75, who was tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) was freed conditionally in 2019 after he was cleared of crimes against humanity linked to the violence that erupted after the 2010 elections. He has been adopted as the presidential candidate of the EDS (Ensemble pour la Democratie et Souverainete).
Appeal for peace, dialogue and reconciliation
Invoking his responsibilities as a pastor, Cardinal Kutwa called for non-violence, dialogue, and respect for the law, all things without which, one cannot build a modern and peaceful state, he pointed out.
He also stressed the importance of forgiveness, pointing out that there is no peace without justice and there is no justice without forgiveness. Forgiveness, therefore, is the path to reconciliation without which social cohesion is impossible. Reconciliation also allows antagonists to unite and start again.
Appealing to the individual and collective conscience of the nation, the Cardinal urged everyone to search for solutions for the crisis pointing out that the current situation of unrest does not bode well for the organization of elections.
Ivory Coast, our country, is a country of dialogue by tradition, he stated. Let us remember this! Let us not put dialogue under the snuffles to take paths that do not honor our beloved country.
Respect for laws
Cardinal Kutwa pointed out that the fundamental laws of the country which allow for the recognition of the rights and freedoms of the citizens, is a good place to start to help everyone to live in justice, reconciliation and peace in preparation for the organization of peaceful elections.
Stating that the force of law is and always will be to be preferred to the law of force, he called for a common interpretation of the constitution that respects the former - which is a path to peace with respect for rights, as opposed to the latter which leads to disorder.
Addressing the countrys president, whose candidacy the Cardinal considers to be unnecessary, he reminded him of his duty as guarantor of the Constitution and national unity, which calls for his courageous involvement with a view of restoring calm in the country.
Concluding, the Cardinal prayed that everyone, in the exercise of their duties, will have the wisdom to accomplish them in accordance with the law, especially with respect to right to life, saying that only justice that recognizes each persons rights and duties will bring us peace.
A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to a man accused in a north-east Delhi riots case, while stating that there is no electronic evidence against him. The court also said while in the charge sheet the complainant has said that he was shot in the left leg , the FIR had said that he was shot in the right leg.
Additional sessions judge Vinod Yadav granted bail to Imran, who was accused of rioting and attempt to murder on a complaint by one constable Deepak, on a bail bond of 20,000, while observing that the accused was not named in the FIR.
The judge also said there is no CCTV footage of the incident available, wherein the accused could have been seen to be a part of the riotous mob.
Imran was arrested on March 18 in connection with the rioting that took place in Bhajanpura area. Later, on the basis of his disclosure statement, he was arrested for shooting constable Deepak in his leg.
The court said the investigating agency has failed to provide the call detail records (CDR) location of the accused, placing him at the scene of the crime on the date of incident. It said that even thetest identification parade (TIP) of the accused was not conducted by the police.
The judge said the complainant was discharged on the same day from the hospital and the injuries suffered by him were stated to be simple in nature.
A perusal of the examination report (charge sheet) of complainant constable Deepak reveals that he was medically treated for the gunshot injuries sustained in his left leg, whereas in the FIR, he had stated that he suffered gunshot injuries in his right leg, the court said in its order of September 1.
The judge noted that the accused was not arrested from the scene of crime; instead, he has been picked up merely on the basis of his disclosure statement made in another FIR. The judge said that besides this disclosure statement, prima facie there is no direct evidence to connect him with the incident.
.there is no electronic evidence on record against the applicant. The investigation in the matter is complete. There is no public witness cited in the case, whom the applicant can threaten or intimidate, the judge said while granting bail.
A record number of migrants reached Britain by illegally crossing the Channel last month, it has been confirmed.
More than 1,450 arrived by small boats in August, bringing the total since the start of the year to more than 5,000. Just 1,850 migrants made the journey in 2019.
The massive rise comes despite a vow from Home Secretary Priti Patel last autumn to have made the crossings an infrequent phenomenon by this point.
The Home Office has sought to blame French authorities and activist lawyers for the increase and for difficulties removing asylum seekers once they arrive in Britain.
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought into Dover, Kent, by Border Force officers following a small boat incident in the Channel
About 100 migrants were seen arriving in the port of Dover yesterday, with at least 15 small boats reaching British shores.
The daily total included women and children, as well as three men on an inflatable kayak.
One woman in her 20s was seen being brought ashore by Border Force officers in a wheelchair.
Others were brought into Dover aboard the UK Border Force patrol boat Hunter.
They were seen being ushered out of the cabin on to the stern of the vessel where they were given life jackets.
Immigration officials then helped them ashore one by one and escorted them up the gangway.
More than 1,450 arrived by small boats in August, bringing the total since the start of the year to more than 5,000. Just 1,850 migrants made the journey in 2019
A dinghy believed to have been used to cross the Channel was seen being towed into the harbour shortly afterwards.
Later, more arrivals believed to be migrants were seen coming into the port, sitting on the front of an RNLI lifeboat.
About a dozen in life jackets were helped ashore, where they were met by border officials.
The previous monthly record for migrant arrivals was 1,075, set in July. Augusts arrivals saw 235 reach Britain on just one day which was also a record.
Miss Patel is seeking a deal with French authorities that would allow migrant boats to be turned back in the Channel. No agreement has yet been reached.
Yesterday, the Mail revealed the taxpayer was hit with a 1billion bill for the asylum system last year.
The United States hopes for a peaceful resolution to the border dispute between India and China, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday.
More missile tests were done in China last year than all western nations combined. If youre going to be serious, youve to use those in a way that is consistent with how nations undertake obligation under nuclear proliferation treaties, Pompeo said while addressing a press conference at the State Department.
The US Secretary of State further said that China had a patter of bullying its neighbours and this pattern was evident in the developments happening in the South China Sea.
From the Taiwan Strait to the Himalayas and beyond, the Chinese Communist Party is engaged in a clear and intensifying pattern of bullying its neighbours. It is also evident in the South China Sea, Pompeo said.
Pompeo also said that Washington was calling on China to engage in talks with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibethan Buddhism.
The French satirical magazine attacked by Islamist gunmen in 2015 is republishing controversial caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to mark the start of the trial of alleged accomplices in the attack.
Among the cartoons to be published in Charlie Hebdo is a drawing of Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a lit fuse.
We will never lie down. We will never give up, editor Laurent Riss Sourisseau wrote in a article which accompany the front cover when it is published in print on Wednesday.
Twelve people were killed when Said and Cherif Kouachi stormed the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo and raked the building with automatic gunfire.
The Kouachi brothers and a third gunman who killed five people in the 48 hours following the Charlie Hebdo massacre were shot dead by police, but 14 of their alleged accomplices will go on trial on Wednesday.
The caricatures were first printed in 2006 by the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten, and set off sometimes violent protests by Muslims, who believe any depiction of Muhammad is blasphemy.
In 2007, a French court rejected accusations by Islamic groups that Charlie Hebdo incited hatred against Muslims.
The freedom to caricature and the freedom to dislike them are enshrined and nothing justifies violence, the French Council of the Muslim Faith wrote on Twitter in response.
Frances president, Emmanuel Macron, said it was not his place to pass judgement on the magazines decision, saying France has freedom of expression.
Speaking on a visit to Lebanon, Mr Macron said it was incumbent on French citizens to show civility and respect for each other and avoid a dialogue of hate.
Its never the place of a president of the Republic to pass judgment on the editorial choice of a journalist or newsroom, never. Because we have freedom of the press, Mr Macron said.
Additional reporting by agencies
A hunter from Oregon was gored to death by an elk he wounded with an arrow the night before, police said.
Oregon State Police said Mark David, 66, was archery hunting on private property in the Tillamook area on Saturday when he shot a bull elk.
Mr David was unable to track down the wounded animal before dark and so he planned to return the next morning to find the bull with the landowner.
The 66-year-old hunter, of Hillsboro, managed to find the wounded bull at around 9.15am on Sunday.
"The elk charged David and gored him in the neck with its antlers," said Oregon State Police.
"The landowner attempted to help David but he sustained fatal injuries and died".
Police added that the elk was killed and its meat was donated to the Tillamook County Jail following the investigation.
According to the National Geographic, a male bull elk's can reach up to four feet above it's head so that the animal stands at nine feet tall.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators have gathered in the capital of Belarus, beginning the fourth week of daily protests over the poll (AP)
Thousands of students boycotted the start of the school year in Belarus yesterday and signs of a possible rift appeared in an opposition alliance that has led weeks of protests against veteran President Alexander Lukashenko.
Mr Lukashenko faces the biggest challenge of his 26-year rule since claiming victory in an election last month that opponents say was rigged. Mr Lukashenko denies electoral fraud and shows no sign of backing down.
In a rare public reproach, his main challenger, Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, issued a statement criticising the strategy of another opposition group with which she formed an alliance during the election campaign.
Ms Tikhanouskaya fled into exile two days after the August 9 election. From her new base in Lithuania, she declared herself the rightful winner and launched an opposition council with the aim of ensuring a peaceful transfer of power.
Ms Tikhanouskaya said the council "should not be dominated by any political party", after opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova and the team of jailed presidential candidate Viktor Babariko announced the creation of a party called 'Together'. She also said the declared aim of Mr Babariko and Ms Kolesnikova's camp to enact constitutional reform was a distraction from the goal of removing Mr Lukashenko and holding new elections.
Ms Kolesnikova's camp said it did not wish to disrupt the work of the council, and that it backed Ms Tikhanouskaya's call for new elections.
"Not a single Belarusian doubts Svetlana Tikhanouskaya's victory, and that her victory was stolen," it said.
Answering a call from Ms Tikhanouskaya, students waving opposition flags staged marches and collected signatures outside several colleges in Minsk, calling for Mr Lukashenko to step down.
Video footage showed students being dragged away from a crowd and detained by masked security forces.
There were also new protests yesterday at two high-profile industrial plants and a business park just outside Minsk.
Mr Lukashenko sought to draw a line under the demonstrations against his rule as he visited a training college in southwestern Belarus.
"The president emphasised that the eventful summer is over," the official Belta news agency said.
The European Union has been working on a list of individuals to target with sanctions but is expected to exclude Mr Lukashenko.
Western countries are wary of provoking an intervention by Russia.
About 85% of all cities have nominally nonpartisan elections, in which candidates party affiliations never appear on the ballot (researchers, however, have ways of sussing out partisanship nonetheless). And in some cities that do have partisan elections, the leading candidates may all be Democrats, making their partisan identities unimportant. Party is less relevant, anyway, to local races that may turn on who can clear the snow fastest, or negotiate with the teachers union effectively, or build the most affordable housing.
"It appears at least from the Australian end that Australia is sort of trying to take a significant directive role rather than a follower role," said Stuart Orr, professor of management at Deakin University in Australia.
Those four countries belong to a group dubbed the Quad, which formed in 2007 to discuss security issues in Asia, including Chinas activities. Specialists predict more from the Quad, this time galvanized by Australia, even though the United States normally leads.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison suggested in a speech Wednesday that his country would work more closely with India, Japan and the United States -- an ally already so close that a Chinese newspaper in May quoted a netizen calling Canberra a "dog" of Washington.
Canberra broke its neutral stance toward China with harsh pledges and comments in May, June and July due to a series of problems with the communist government, despite brisk trade ties. In particular, Australia openly backed the United States last month by sending the United Nations a letter that described Beijing's sovereignty claims in the contested South China Sea as illegal.
Australia's recent shift to a more combative stance against China will tighten political and military coordination among U.S.-allied nations that want to check Beijing's maritime expansion, analysts said this week.
'Concrete Action'
On Wednesday, Morrison, addressing an Indo-Pacific security forum, noted the June Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with India. The partnership calls for meetings at least once every two years between defense ministers. Morrison added Wednesday that Australia reached a memorandum of cooperation in July to work with Japan on space cooperation and said Australia planned to take "concrete action to support our Pacific and Southeast Asian friends and family." Japan and India have their own bitter territorial issues with China.
The U.S. and Australian governments have cooperated for decades on resisting foreign governments that Washington dislikes. Now the U.S. side is embroiled in a trade dispute with China. Both Western countries resent China for suspected technology-related crimes and want the Asian country investigated as the source of the coronavirus. Australia proposed in May a formal inquiry into the Chinese origins of the pandemic and a month later Morrison said his country had been the target of a "state-based" cyber-attack. Beijing called the June remark a smear.
Compared to other countries worried about Beijing, "I think Washington and Canberra are on the same page of the book about the problems with China," said Stephen Nagy, a senior associate professor of politics and international studies at International Christian University in Tokyo. "I think that they have a much stronger sense of unity about confronting China in a smart way," he said. None of the Quad countries claims the South China Sea, but all of them see it as a pivot point for Chinese expansion past its land borders and recall Beijing as a Cold War foe.
Fish, Energy Reserves, Shipping Lanes
China vies for sovereignty over the contested sea with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. All five rival claimants have weaker militaries and less infrastructure on the sea's hundreds of tiny islets than does China. Claimants prize the 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea for fish, energy reserves and shipping lanes.
Officials in Beijing cite historical usage records to defend their claim over about 90 percent of the sea. "China would at least have to be wary and at the same time it would have to be more concerned about Australia and the U.S. leading or sort of spearheading what they would likely see as rather unwelcome prospects of greater external interest and perceived meddling in the South China Sea," said Collin Koh, a maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
India may hope to build up the Quad amid its military standoff with China near a disputed land border, London media organization India Inc. suggested in a commentary after Morrison met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Australia's leadership role in the Quad could mean more joint naval exercises that anger China, scholars believe. Japan and Australia joined the USS Ronald Reagan and a strike group last month for joint exercises southeast of China.
U.S.-Australia military exercises will gain speed, especially if they involve Japan, India, and traditional pro-U.S. European allies such as France and the United Kingdom, said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.
'Moral Standpoint'
Southeast Asian states, despite overlapping South China Sea claims with Beijing, have shown less enthusiasm than have Quad countries toward Australias new assertiveness. Some, such as Brunei and the Philippines, receive aid and investment from China. Their negotiating bloc, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, hopes for an eventual maritime code of conduct with Beijing.
However, they welcome the Quad's activities from a "moral standpoint," Koh said. Australia and Vietnam, the most outspoken maritime claimant, issued a joint statement last year to express "serious concerns about developments in the South China Sea, including land reclamation and militarization of disputed features," a likely reference to Chinese activity. Expect Australia eventually to step up engagement with Vietnam, Thayer said.
Dover Street Market Paris an alternative, indie version of a luxury group has brought buzzy New York-based label Vaquera into the fold, along with a budding Paris talent named Victor Weinsanto, a protege of Jean Paul Gaultier.
Its necessary to be flexible and open to all ways of helping people, said Adrian Joffe, chief executive officer of Dover Street Market and president of Comme des Garcons International, disclosing the developments exclusively to WWD. A lot of people wish to join the family and Im looking worldwide.
The five emerging brands already under the DSMP umbrella Paccbet, Youths in Balaclava, Liberal Youth Ministry, ERL Eli Russell Linnetz and Honey F-king Dijon come from all corners of the globe and enjoy varying degrees of help across brand development, production, representation and distribution.
Joffe, who discovered Weinsanto at the tail end of Paris Fashion Week last March, is initially offering only showroom space at 6 Place Vendome during the next round of shows in the French capital, giving the young Frenchman access to all of DSMPs customers.
What does DSMP get? In Joffes view, his personality and his energy makes the showroom more interesting. In the future, if we can help him with production, we will.
For Vaquera, DSMP will produce and distribute about half of the brands spring 2021 collection and distribute the couture pieces it produces itself. Joffe had already let Vaquera designed by Patric DiCaprio, Claire Sullivan and Bryn Taubensee use Dover Street Market New York for a last-minute catwalk event for its fall 2020 collection in February, foreshadowing the new collaboration.
Joffe describes DSMP as a platform to change the system and be open to all different ways of working.
What I like is the organic nature of it everyone at their own pace, he explained in an interview at his Paris office. Its very free. I dont want to own people.
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DSMP is wholly owned by Comme des Garcons, but it doesnt own the brands under its umbrella. Rather it helps nurture original products, and has at its disposal a range of factories in France, Portugal and Turkey that it uses for some of its Comme des Garcons lines.
Creativity is becoming even more important, Joffe said. I want to work with great people with a lot of talent.
Come January 2021, Joffe plans to turn over its Trading Museum a retail space in the same courtyard as the Comme des Garcons flagship on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore to these seven young and quirky labels. It will dub the space Dover Street Trading Market, making it the second Paris outpost of Dover Street Market after a perfume shop that made its debut last year.
Well do events, signings and things as soon as we can travel, Joffe noted.
Weinsanto, 26, trained at Atelier Chardon Savard Paris and has worked at Y/Project, Maxime Simoens and Chloe. After two years working with Gaultier, which he describes as his formative experience in the industry, he launched his Weinsanto label earlier this year and sold his first designs to private clients. He described the invitation to show in the DSMP showroom as an honor.
It will be a great platform for me to show my work to many professionals I wouldnt have otherwise had the chance to meet, he said.
Trained as a ballet dancer as a child, Weinsanto describes his style as between retro-futuristic and cabaret. What I wish to represent is something fun and joyful, he said.
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SEZs account for just about a third of India's merchandise exports (and roughly the same proportion of services exports).
Yet, the notion of creating global manufacturing centres of the kind that propelled China to superpowerdom retains a durable appeal within the Indian policy-making establishment, notes Kanika Datta.
IMAGE: The HCL Tech Noida SEZ campus. Image used for representation purpose only. Photograph: Mohit Agarwal/Wikimedia Commons
In the melee caused by the abrupt national lockdown on March 24, the sun set unnoticed on a key income tax break for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) on March 31.
The post-lockdown economic tumult has distracted from the several calls over December and January to extend the 100 per cent income tax holiday on export income from SEZs in the interests of attracting foreign investment for the prime minister's signature Make in India programme.
The fascination with SEZs endures, though they represent one of the most consistent failures of economic policy since 1965, when Kandla, Asia's first such zone, was set up.
Even after a high-profile new policy was announced in 2005, SEZs account for just about a third of India's merchandise exports (and roughly the same proportion of services exports).
Yet, the notion of creating global manufacturing centres of the kind that propelled China to superpowerdom retains a durable appeal within the Indian policy-making establishment.
A good part of the SEZ appeal lies in the promise of insulating manufacturers and service providers from the chaotic realities of doing business in India.
Unlike China, which modelled its SEZs on the Shannon free trade zone in Ireland to offer global manufacturers the advantages of giant integrated efficiencies and economies of scale, the principal impulse for India's SEZs was to offer businesses shelter from troublesome rules and regulations and tax laws.
But the United Progressive Alliance's well-meaning 2005 efforts to revive the SEZ concept ended ignominiously; just about a third of those that received approval went into operation and several operators, who had gambled on SEZs as a real estate play, were forced to deregister land when their projects were non-starters.
On paper, the 2005 SEZ Act certainly offered a systemic approach -- duty free imports of raw materials, income tax breaks and exemption from domestic sales tax and excise (these were the pre-GST days).
A special purpose Board of Approval, chaired by the commerce secretary, would scan proposals and each zone would have a single window authority to provide administrative, infrastructure and other facilities.
In short, India was to be transformed into an agglomeration of streamlined futuristic enclaves with First World physical and social infrastructure.
But if this updated Utopian (or at least Chinese) vision foundered it was because SEZ policies were completely unaligned with other policies, principally those related to land and labour, the permanent Achilles' Heels of investment in India.
After much fierce debate, efforts to give SEZs relief from inflexible labour laws and labour inspections and so on were turned down (this was when the Left parties still had some influence in Parliament).
So labour law compliances applicable to any industrial unit in India were applicable to SEZs.
If onerous compliance -- there are 674 compliances at the central level and 26,484 at the state level, according to Teamlease Services -- removed one element of the attraction for SEZs, the sheer difficulty of acquiring large tracts of land became the other.
Soon enough, SEZs were among the several industrial projects unwittingly caught up in the toxic politics that came to characterise land acquisition by business and industry, led by the redoubtable Mamata Banerjee and her successful campaign to destroy Tata Motors' car plant in Singur.
The upshot of this was a law stipulating compensation levels that made land acquisition prohibitively expensive even as the Narendra Modi government's early attempts to alter this by way of an ordinance foundered.
And then, of course, came the reckoning on revenue foregone.
Modi's quest for a streamlined tax system sans exemptions and loopholes resulted in then finance minister Arun Jaitley decreeing a sunset clause for SEZ tax breaks as March 31, 2020, in 2016, which the latest Budget reiterated.
Politicians are well aware of the impediments to investment in India but the absence of a viable social safety net makes it politically difficult to formally campaign for easier hire-and-fire laws or lower compensation for land losers.
The China model of creating Township and Village Enterprises to support rural labour who lost their livelihoods from the giant land acquisitions for SEZ seems not to have occurred to any Indian leader.
Nor has the possibility of mobilising the vast land banks available to the government via Port Trusts and public sector units.
Falling global demand since 2008, the confusions of the GST after 2017 and the successive rise of protectionist tariffs from 2019 have been triple whammies for exporters, including those from SEZs.
And yet, in mid-2019, the Modi government pushed through a controversial amendment to the 2005 Act, which first appeared as an ordinance, to widen the definition of businesses permitted to set up shop in SEZs to include "trusts and any other entities the government may permit from time to time".
Why trusts or "any government entities" need to be operating in an SEZ no minister could explain adequately.
But clearly, a policy that has failed again and again mysteriously retains its attractions for the political class.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
New Delhi: Naveen Patnaik-led Odisha government on Wednesday (September 2) requested the University Grants Commission (UGC) to extend the deadline of September 30 for completion of all Under Graduate and Post-Graduate final semester/year examinations, till October 10.
"This will ensure scheduling of exams with at least one day gap so that exam centers can be sanitized properly," the state Higher Education Department told ANI.
Earlier on Monday, the Odisha government has decided to complete all the final semester examinations of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in varsities by September 30, and announce results before October 31 as per the UGC guideline. The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of vice-chancellors and principals through video conference.
The meeting reportedly decided to conduct a special examination in December 2020 for those students who cannot take the exams in September due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the back paper exams of final semester students whose results would be declared by October 31.
According to PTI, Odisha's Higher Education Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo, who has tested positive for COVID-19 is and in-home isolation said the examinations can be held offline/online/blended/multiple-choice/open book/OMR mode according to the UGC guidelines.
Sahoo reportedly said that the universities and autonomous colleges will take their decisions on when to hold examinations.
NEW YORK, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- This study evaluates the trajectories of global economic recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic and elucidates the medium-term impact of muted demand and supply on aftermarket revenues for 2020. Taking the long-term view, the study also underscores growth opportunities and evolving business models that, if leveraged on, will aid the aftermarket's resurgence when the global economy is restored to pre-pandemic levels.According to the analysis, aftermarket revenue expanded by 4.1% in 2019. This was largely driven by a 3.2% growth in vehicles in operation, with the contraction in global gross domestic product (GDP) growth stifling consumer expenditure on new vehicle purchases. Slowdown in new vehicle sales also meant increased focus on the aftermarket from all stakeholders, more so from the OES channel, to sustain business at the dealer level by offering new vehicle services. This translated into the development of newer partnerships and evolution of newer channels to the market. For 2020, the analyst had initially forecast a 4.0% growth in aftermarket revenues, with India and China leading the growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has put paid to these hopes, and the global automotive aftermarket will have to pull through headwinds that will result in the industry posting a de-growth, ranging between 4.9% and 11.6%, depending on the nature of the ensuing economic recovery across regions.
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The products export from West Azerbaijan Province (northwestern Iran) decreased by 33 percent in terms of volume and by 15 percent in terms of value during the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 20-July 21, 2020), compared to the same period last Iranian year, Supervisor of West Azerbaijan Customs Administration Tohid Azarbod told IRNA, Trend reports.
According to the official, 367,900 tons of non-oil products worth $533 million were exported from the West Azerbaijan Province during the reporting period.
Azarbod added that including watermelon, apple and rubber industry products were mainly exported from the province during the reporting period.
Democratic U.S. presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden discusses his plan to safely reopen schools amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic during a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, September 2, 2020.
In recent weeks, the presidential contenders have clashed over who bears the blame for violence that has broken out at protests against police brutality and systemic racism in cities across the country.
Those results come amid redoubled efforts by the Trump and Biden campaigns to pummel each other over a series of crises that have roiled the U.S. political landscape for much of the year and continue to weigh heavily on Americans' minds.
As of Wednesday, the polling averages show some movement toward the president:
A shift in the wake of the nominating conventions is hardly unprecedented, and most national polls indicate no dramatic bump for Trump since the start of the Republican National Convention. But some recent surveys still indicate an uptick in approval for the incumbent, and some swing-state polls show a larger change in Trump's favor.
Joe Biden is still beating President Donald Trump in most general election polls but averages of recent surveys show signs that the Democratic nominee's lead is narrowing slightly following the parties' national conventions.
Trump has sought to frame himself as the "law and order" candidate, repeatedly blaming Democrats for the unrest caused by "radical-left anarchists" and groups such as Antifa. The RNC made the tumultuous protests a key feature of its programming, though the president this week declined to condemn pro-Trump demonstrators when given the opportunity.
While the Democratic National Convention did not focus on the unrest, Biden since accepting the nomination has condemned the violence and ripped Trump for failing to keep the peace. "The simple truth is Donald Trump failed to protect America. So now, he's trying to scare America," Biden said in Pittsburgh on Monday.
Biden has also continued to assail Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed at least 184,600 people in the U.S. and threatens the livelihoods of millions of others. A large majority of registered voters remain concerned about the pandemic, and nearly 60% say Trump is at least partly responsible for the high number of Covid-19 cases in the U.S., according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday.
Trump has pushed state leaders to relax their social distancing restrictions, which were put in place to slow the spread of Covid-19 but have wrought havoc on the economy.
Polls on average show more Americans approve than disapprove of Trump's job on the economy though that gap has narrowed significantly from earlier in the year, according to RealClearPolitics.
Overall, Reuters' online poll of 1,335 American adults, conducted Monday and Tuesday, found Biden's 7-point lead over Trump 47% to 40% to be largely unchanged since before the late-August conventions. The poll has a credibility interval of 3 to 5 percentage points.
Another poll out Wednesday from Grinnell College and Selzer & Co. gave Biden a 49%-41% advantage over Trump. That poll, conducted last Wednesday through Sunday, is based on phone interviews with 827 likely voters and has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
But at least one other national poll released Wednesday found Trump cutting into Biden's lead.
USA Today/Suffolk University's latest gave Biden a 7-point gap over Trump at 50%-43%, respectively. That's down from the pollster's June survey, which gave the Democratic challenger a 12-point advantage over the president. The survey of 1,000 registered voters, conducted by phone from Friday through Monday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Biden continues to fend off Trump in the all-important battleground states but that gap is narrowing, polls show.
RealClearPolitics gives Biden an overall spread of 2.5 points over the president in an average of state-specific polls in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona. That gap shrunk from 3.8 points at the start of the RNC.
One poll released Wednesday also showed a significant shift toward the incumbent in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state that Trump won in 2016 over then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The latest survey from Monmouth University gives Biden a 4-point lead over Trump among all registered voters in Pennsylvania, 49%-45%. That's within the survey's margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, and significantly tighter than the university's prior poll in July, which had Biden up 13 points in the Keystone State. The new poll of 400 Pennsylvania registered voters was conducted by phone between Friday and Monday.
Democrats are anxious to avoid a repeat of the defeat in 2016, when Clinton won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College to Trump in a series of upsets in key swing states.
"This is really a game of inches. The Trump campaign is looking to peel off a little bit of Biden support here and a little bit there," said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, in a press release. "It may be working, despite the fact that Pennsylvania voters personally like the Democrat more, although this gap has narrowed."
Shocking new footage has emerged online that allegedly shows Kenosha gunman Kyle Rittenhouse punching a young girl several times in the midst of an argument.
The footage, which first began circulating on Twitter earlier this week, was captured on July 1 just weeks before the 17-year-old shot dead two Black Lives Matter protesters and seriously injure a third with an AR-15 amid on-going riots in the city.
The melee occurred in Downtown Kenosha, according to the two men who filmed the clip, Reese Granville and CJ Wakefield, who also identified the teen depicted as Rittenhouse to the Journal Times.
The teen boy in the footage is also seen wearing the same American Flag Crocs that Rittenhouse was seen wearing in a widely shared photo of the shooter from his Facebook page.
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Shocking new footage has emerged online that allegedly shows Kenosha gunman Kyle Rittenhouse punching a young girl several times in the midst of an argument
The teen boy in the footage is also seen wearing the same American Flag Crocs that Rittenhouse was seen wearing in a widely shared photo of the shooter from his Facebook page
The video begins with two females arguing in a parking lot in Downtown Kenosha.
In the first clip, the teen identified to be Rittenhouse and several other young males are seen watching on as the confrontation between the two girls unfolds. One of the females, who is wearing a white tank top, accuses the other of touching her.
Moments later, the argument escalates and the teen believed to be Rittenhouse and another male begin exchanging words with the accused female, dressed in grey sweatpants. A third female enters the fold and begins fighting the girl in sweatpants.
The teen believed to be Rittenhouse then joins in with the assault, appearing to land at least four punches on the girl, including on the back of her head and abdomen, while another male attempts to hold him back to no avail.
Granville and Wakefield are then seen both hopping out from the car, as two other men from a vehicle in front do the same.
In a second video captured by a passenger of the other vehicle, a man in seen jumping out of a burgundy SUV and to confront the teen believed to be Rittenhouse.
Do not put your hands on a female [expletive], he says.
In total, four men approach the teen. One of the men begins grappling with him, striking him several times and forcing him the ground.
In the first clip, the teen identified to be Rittenhouse and several other young males are seen watching on as the confrontation between the two girls unfolds. One of the females, who is wearing a white tank top, accuses the other of touching he
The teen believed to be Rittenhouse then joins in with the assault, appearing to land at least four punches on the girl
The teen believed to be Rittenhouse strikes her at least four times, including in the head and the abdomen, drawing the attention of passers-by
As the teen scrambles on the ground in an attempt to escape, a number of the men begin kicking him as female voices are heard urging them to stop.
The teen believed to be Rittenhouse, dressed in red, white, and blue shorts, is eventually able to stand and is seen hobbling away from the parking lot. The four men who stopped to confront him also run back to their cars.
It is unclear if authorities were called to the scene. Rittenhouse has not officially been identified as the teen involved by any law enforcement.
Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the shooting death of two Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha last week, during unrest spurred by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back.
Investigators say the teen, who is being detained in his home state of Illinois while he awaits extradition, shot and killed 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum while with an armed militia group who claimed they were seeking to protect businesses from looters.
Rittenhouse then ran from the scene of the shooting but was chased by a group of demonstrators and stumbled. In a video from the night, a second protester, 26-year-old Anthony Huber is seen swinging a skateboard at the teen, before Rittenhouse fatally shoots him in the chest.
A third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, approached the teen and was shot in the arm. Images show that Grosskreutz was holding a handgun when he was shot.
In total, four men approach the teen believed to be Rittenhouse. One of the men begins grappling with him, striking him several times and forcing him the ground.
The teen believed to be Rittenhouse, dressed in red, white, and blue shorts, is eventually able to stand and is seen hobbling away from the parking lot. The four men who stopped to confront him also run back to their cars
According to his defense attorneys, Rittenhouse says he was acting in self-defense. One of his lawyers, John Pierce has praised the teenager for his actions and argued that he was only defending himself against a relentless mob trying to disarm and hurt him.
'This is 100 percent self defense,' Pierce told Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight.
'The only individuals Kyle shot were the three individuals attacking him and putting him at risk. This is a 17-year-old kid, this is amazing what he did.'
It echoes comments made by President Donald Trump on Monday night who sided with the teenager, saying he was trying to get away and would have been killed by the protesters if he had not opened fire.
In addition to his AR-15-style rifle, Rittenhouse's lawyer said the teenager also had had a first aid kit with him to help treat injured protesters.
Pierce said the incident escalated when a shot was fired as Rittenhouse tried to retreat from a group of protesters who, he claims, became enraged that the teen was trying to put out fires.
Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the shooting death of two Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha last week, and for wounding a third man
In a video from the night, a second protester, 26-year-old Anthony Huber is seen swinging a skateboard at the teen, before Rittenhouse fatally shoots him in the chest
'They began screaming that Kyle needed to be killed and they were going to kill him. They started relentlessly hunting him as prey as he ran down the street attempting to retreat,' Pierce said.
'Mr Rosenbaum, who was leading the attack on him, set upon him immediately... began to assault him from behind, attempted to take his weapon, take his firearm, and Kyle, when he turned, he instantaneously had no choice but to defend himself by firing because he was in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death.'
Pierce also denied that Rittenhouse brought the AR-15 across state lines from Illinois to Wisconsin. He says the teen acquired it from a friend in the state.
'That firearm never crossed state lines. It is a legal firearm in Wisconsin,' Pierce said, adding they would be arguing it is within his second amendment rights.
Witness accounts and cellphone video show that the shootings took place in two stages: Rittenhouse first shot Rosenbaum, then jogged away, stumbled and fell in the street, and opened fire again on Huber and Grosskreutz as members of the crowd closed in him.
After the gunfire, with his AR-15-style rifle over his shoulder and his hands in the air, Rittenhouse walked toward police vehicles that kept going past him, even as a witness shouted, 'He just shot them!'
Police Chief Daniel Miskinis has explained the response as officers dealing with a chaotic scene.
Rittenhouse, a sometime lifeguard, later turned himself in, his lawyers said, and is now jailed on homicide charges.
Australians will have 25 million extra little reminders to donate to charity with the roll-out of a special one dollar coin.
The Royal Australian Mint has coined the 'Donation Dollar', a green-centred version of the currency, in time for International Day of Charity on September 5.
The mint plans to produce 25 million coins, one for each Australian resident, in the next few years with three million in circulation from Wednesday.
Australians will have 25 million extra little reminders to donate to charity with the roll-out of a special one dollar coin
The Community Council for Australia says one-in-five people are predicting they or their family will need charitable support in the next 12 months and the new coin is a little reminder to give.
'Every one of these coins is a chance to spark new conversations about generosity,' CCA chair Tim Costello said.
'It might be a small coin, but it will circulate as a constant reminder to give, and that can make a big difference.
'We are hoping people will ask questions like who are you giving your donation dollar to, which charities do you already support, is it time to give a little more?'
A recent survey found three-in-five people would be likely to give a Donation Dollar to charity if they received one in their change.
More than 80 per cent of Australians have donated something in the past year, but 70 per cent admitted they often forgot or lacked time to do so.
The twin shocks of coronavirus pandemic on the heels of a catastrophic bushfire season triggered an upswell of generosity peaking in December.
However, a report by JBWere estimates donations will fall 18 per cent over the next two years due to the economic fallout of COVID-19.
Australia has about 57,000 charities and not-for-profits all vying for attention.
It is hoped that the Donation Dollar will prompt people to change their behaviour and donate smaller amounts more often, not just in times of crisis.
CCA chair Tim Costello said the Donation Dollar arrives at a time when many Australians needed a helping hand.
'There's no doubt in my mind this is a gift that will benefit those who are most vulnerable in our nation,' he said.
A businessman who was to be a crucial Crown witness at the criminal trial of former mining ministers Ian Macdonald and Eddie Obeid has been un-cooperative and has remained outside the jurisdiction, the NSW Supreme Court has heard.
Alan Fang, a Chinese citizen, told a corruption inquiry in early 2013 that his friend Ian Macdonald took him to Mr Obeids parliamentary office in June 2008.
Businessman Alan Fang (inset), who was to be a crucial Crown witness at the criminal trial of former mining ministers Ian Macdonald and Eddie Obeid, has been un-cooperative and has remained outside the jurisdiction, the NSW Supreme Court has heard. Credit:Rhett Wyman
Mr Fang said there was a discussion with Mr Obeid about possibly purchasing the Obeids farm Cherrydale Park as there were very good resources underneath the farm.
His evidence before the Independent Commission Against Corruption contradicted both politicians claims that Mr Macdonald was not aware of the Obeids' coal plans.
As bankruptcy courts attempt to ensure companies survival, the dynamics of a fast-paced process designed to prioritize secured lenders which in the case of many large apparel retailers include banks and hedge funds pose considerable challenges to the interests of rank and file store employees.
Often, store associates, and even store managers, dont learn of their companys bankruptcy filing until just before it happens, and even then, how theyll fare in the proceedings can largely remain unclear. That uncertainty has been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in the furloughs of tens of thousands of apparel retail employees, and kept non-essential stores closed for months.
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The dynamic overall has left workers unsure of whether their company will be successfully sold, or reorganized, or simply wind up liquidating, and if theyll still have a job on the other side, said Michael Duff, professor at the University of Wyoming College of Law, who teaches labor law and bankruptcy.
In theory, theres supposed to be equal treatment outside of the domain of secured creditors, he said. [But] not enough questions are asked about how the system operates after that because the folks who are harmed, lets be perfectly clear, dont have a seat at the table when discussions are being held regarding bankruptcy policy.
When a court is asked to weigh the competing interests in a retail bankruptcy, it often reminds its supplicants that its ultimate concern is the fate of the companys employees.
In the ongoing J.C. Penney bankruptcy, for instance, where more than 70,000 employees jobs depend on the retailers ability to execute a complex restructuring sale in the next month or so, the Texas bankruptcy judge presiding over the case put it this way: Im trying to balance the concerns of everyone involved, U.S. bankruptcy Judge David Jones said at a hearing Monday. I have 70,000 people who need a job, I have stores in small towns that dont have alternatives, I have shareholders who believe that theyre entitled to value.
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Bankruptcy for the employee
In a corporate bankruptcy, employees are generally considered unsecured creditors, lower in the bankruptcy codes priority scheme for who gets repaid first.
In that category, employees are technically more or less on equal footing as vendors, landlords and others. But unless they have a union representing them, store staff dont necessarily get a formal role on bankruptcy creditors committees that help direct the process, which usually include other large unsecured creditor groups. In 2019, just 6.2 percent of private sector employees belonged to a union, according to data released in January by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For employees losing their jobs as a result of bankruptcy, labor experts say it can also be challenging to navigate questions about features like severance and payment for unused benefits. While those questions are typically governed by federal and state workplace laws, such protections may be suspended during a bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy law changes a lot of the law that exists, and that governs employees and others outside of bankruptcy, said Richard Seltzer, partner at Cohen Weiss and Simon LLP, who has represented the Workers United union in the bankruptcies of Barneys New York last fall, and Brooks Brothers this year. And its sometimes a very hard adjustment to realize that what you depended on normally doesnt necessarily exist.
But employees may have some leverage during high profile bankruptcy proceedings that draw public scrutiny, particularly when they are staying on to do things like conduct store closing sales.
As retailers use the Chapter 11 process to re-evaluate leases, close less profitable stores and renegotiate rent on those they plan to keep open, such sales are a valuable source of revenue and a way to offload excess inventory. But they are time-sensitive, even during a pandemic, as they must take place within tight deadlines dictated by the terms of the retailers debtor-in-possession loans and any restructuring agreement with lenders.
J.C. Penney, which has reopened hundreds of stores around the country during the pandemic in order to facilitate its quick exit from bankruptcy, has made an acknowledgement of employees work in conducting going-out-of-business sales. The retailer, which had paid out roughly $10 million to a group of top executives including a $4.5 million cash incentive to chief executive officer Jill Soltau before its bankruptcy filing in May, has since obtained a Texas bankruptcy courts approval for additional payments to other employees in its 70,000-strong staff.
In June, Penneys outlined payments for associates at its closing stores in the form of retention, severance and incentive bonus programs, at a time when those employees were still furloughed after pandemic-related lockdowns in March and April.
The company sought a total of up to $14.5 million in severance for some 2,200 employees, including some hourly associates and all salaried associates including general managers, supervisors, designers and others. It also sought up to $2.5 million in retention bonuses for roughly 9,100 employees including certain groups of managers or hourly associates, and an additional store-closing bonus program to provide a total of up to $250,000 to a group of eligible employees. Penneys also sought to pay up to $4.3 million for unused paid time off for more than 4,800 eligible employees, according to court filings.
It is necessary to do so because today those stores are closed and those employees today are on furlough, said James Mesterharm, managing director at AlixPartners LLP, a financial adviser for J.C. Penney, told the court at a bankruptcy hearing in June. In order for us to reopen those stores for the going-out-of-business processes and to have store employees help us with that process, to maximize the value of inventory, sales, it is important for us to have an engaged workforce and one that is assisting the company through that process in a productive manner.
Penneys, which entered its bankruptcy with some 846 physical stores, has indicated in its Texas bankruptcy court filings this summer that it plans to close more than 240 locations. In June, as soon as some states began to lift lockdowns on non-essential businesses, the retailer began the process of closing some 154 stores, estimating that each store closing sale would take roughly 10 to 16 weeks to complete in order to maximize the value of the inventory, as its advisors have told the court.
Life after liquidation
In the case of a liquidation, and particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, retail employees face conditions that can be grueling and often unsafe.
Two former sales employees at the now shuttered Art Van furniture chain described to WWD how, during the stores bankruptcy sales, they had faced throngs of irate customers crowding stores beyond capacity and demanding to know why they wouldnt receive their orders. The employees also said they were concerned about having to face large numbers of angry customers in close proximity inside their stores during the COVID-19 outbreak, and losing their health insurance during Art Vans bankruptcy in March.
You had people in your face, and they were yelling at you, calling out your name, and youre trying to explain, You know, Im sorry, at this point, all I can tell you is to either try and pick something else or well give you something else for the money, said Shirley Smith, a former sales manager at Art Vans Taylor, Mich., location, who had worked at the company for 23 years.
And when people are angry, spit flies, and theyre in your face, she added. We were very much at risk, and didnt know it.
Laura Virgo, a former Art Van store manager at another Michigan location, described daylong efforts at crowd control, even fielding threats from customers.
I hadnt even had a sip of water or used the bathroom all day, Virgo said of her first day handling a store closing sale in March. I mean, just like, it didnt stop. It was overrun, unsafe, there was no regard about our health or safety and putting us in that position.
The timing of it, where the liquidation takes place just as the pandemic is coming through, it really diluted the accountability that they should have, to what they did, Virgo said.
A representative for Thomas H. Lee Partners, an investment company that had acquired Art Vans assets in 2017, declined to comment.
In June, Democratic lawmakers including Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois introduced The Protecting Employees and Retirees in Business Bankruptcies Act, targeted at some of the inequalities built into the process. The bill sought to prioritize paying employees severance, and restricting the kind of bonus payments that bankrupt retailers often seek for their top leadership, according to a statement by Sen. Durbin at the time.
Neiman Marcus, whose bankruptcy is ongoing since May, had paid out some $4 million in bonuses to its chief executive officer Geoffroy van Raemdonck in February, in what the companys advisers have told the court were performance related bonuses. In addition, the company had also paid out pre-bankruptcy retention bonuses to other executives within a month before it filed for Chapter 11, at a time when it had furloughed the vast majority of its roughly 13,200 employees.
In July, the retailer also won the Texas bankruptcy courts approval for a Key Employee Incentive Plan that would provide up to $10 million in bonuses to a group of executives. And its proposed reorganization plan, which is subject to a confirmation hearing scheduled for this week, also includes a management incentive plan, one of its advisers said in court.
Neiman Marcus has brought back most of its furloughed employees at this point, and has currently opened 43 Neiman Marcus stores, two Bergdorf Goodman stores, and five Last Call stores. But most of its Last Call locations will be shuttered as part of the bankruptcy, and full-time associates of those closed stores were offered severance and access to job placement services, a company representative said.
While the Democrats bill isnt expected to gain traction in a Republican-controlled Senate, and is generally viewed as more of a symbolic gesture, it still plays a role in articulating the inequities of the bankruptcy process, said Duff, the University of Wyoming law professor.
I almost dont care whether its political theater or not, he said, of the bill. The fact that somebody took the time to craft an alternative vision of what bankruptcy could look like, I think is important.
Violinist Mia Cooper, leader of the RTE Concert Orchestra, at a photocall in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham Dublin to launch the 2020 Top Security Frank Maher Classical Music Awards for sixth year students, with a 5,000 prize for the winner. Photo by Peter Houlihan.
There's good news for Kerry's classical teens as the Top Security Frank Maher Classical Music Awards for sixth years is going ahead this year, with a 5,000 prize for the winner.
Violinist Mia Cooper, leader of the RTE Concert Orchestra, helped officially launch the search for entries for the largest such competition for secondary schools in Ireland.
Kerry schools have produced two finalists for the high-calibre competition since it went nationwide in 2012.
The Awards were created in 2001 by Emmet O'Rafferty, chairman of the Top Security Group to honour the memory of his late teacher, Fr Frank Maher, a pioneer in the nurturing of musical talent in secondary schools.
"Life must go on and we believe it is important to keep supporting young musical talent, now more than ever. From feedback we've received, the Frank Maher Awards are not only a vital financial boost to the winner, but also securing a place in the finals itself is an important achievement to have when applying to music colleges and institutions," said Emmet.
"It's for these reasons that we decided to go ahead in 2020. There will be changes to the competition night format to comply with all prevailing Covid-19 protocols and ensure a safe environment for our finalists," he continued.
Past winners have received national and international recognition for their achievements and used their prize money as a springboard towards a professional career by funding their studies at some of the world's most renowned music colleges and institutions, including the Juilliard School, Barenboim-Said Akademie, Royal College of Music, Conservatoire Nationale Superieur de Musique et de Danse, Kronberg Academy and the Meadows School of the Arts to name a few.
The Awards are open to sixth year secondary school students of string, woodwind, brass and piano.
The 5,000 top prize will be used by the winner to attend a recognised place of tuition, a course of study in Ireland or abroad or on a purchase necessary for the development of their talent. The finalists will each receive a 300 bursary.
The closing date for this year's entries is Friday 11th September 2020. A maximum of seven finalists will be selected by an independent board of adjudicators.
Rutherford Institute Defends Right of Firearms Training Facility to Re-Open, Warns Against Attempts to Use Pandemic to Curtail Gun Rights
NEWS PROVIDED BY
The Rutherford Institute
Sept. 2, 2020
TONOPAH, Nev. Sept. 2, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of a Nevada firearms training facility threatened with fines because of its plans for reopening.
In a letter to officials with Nye County, Nevada, on behalf of Front Sight Firearms Training Institute, Rutherford Institute attorneys warned local officials against abusing government authority during the pandemic to curtail Second Amendment rights. Pushing back against claims by Nye County officials that Front Sight faces fines and other penalties due to its plan to allow more than 50 persons in its training facility, Institute attorneys point out that firearms training, designated as "essential infrastructure," is exempt from the governor's emergency restrictions. Moreover, attorneys assert that Front Sight Firearms Training Institute is exempt from gathering restrictions and mask requirements imposed by Nevada's governor because state law forbids the use of emergency powers to prohibit activities at the core of the constitutional right to bear arms, including training in the safe use of firearms.
"As the courts have recognized, the constitutional right to possess firearms for protection wouldn't mean much without the training and practice that makes it effective," said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People. "While the government is struggling to formulate an appropriate response to COVID-19, it cannot use this pandemic as a justification for curtailing fundamental rights. The Constitution still applies."
MAKE THE GOVERNMENT PLAY BY THE RULES OF THE CONSTITUTION: SUPPORT THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM
Front Sight Firearms Training Institute is one of the world's premier gun training facilities, with nearly a million citizens completing courses taught by seasoned military and law enforcement professionals on the safe and effective use of firearms. Front Sight is located in a remote area of Nye County near the southern border with California. Citizens travel from around the country to attend courses at Front Sight, often in large groups. After shutting down in March 2020 due to restrictions on the number of persons who could gather at the training facility and mask requirements imposed by Nevada Gov. Steve Sislolak, Front Sight announced in August that it would be reopening and operating its facility to accommodate the large number of persons from across the nation seeking the training it provides. When it learned of Front Sight's plans, Nye County officials contacted Front Sight and warned that its plans violated the Governor's emergency orders. The County asserted that Front Sight would be subject to citation by the state's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which has imposed fines of nearly $230,000 upon businesses for asserted violations of the Governor's emergency orders.
In response to the governmental threat against Front Sight, The Rutherford Institute sent a letter to Nye County challenging the legality of any attempt to fine or restrict Front Sight's training activities under the Governor's emergency orders. Institute attorneys point to a Nevada statute that enforces the Second Amendment right to bear arms by forbidding the Governor from using his emergency powers to impose additional restrictions on the possession, carrying display or "use" of firearms. The letter cites court decisions recognizing that firearms training is a core aspect of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Additionally, Institute attorneys point out that "shooting ranges" have been designated as "essential critical infrastructure" that are not subject to the Governor's emergency orders. The letter also argues that the mask mandate creates a safety hazard in connection with firearms training, and does not apply to Front Sight.
The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties organization, defends individuals whose constitutional rights have been violated and educates the public about threats to their freedoms. The Institute is representing Front Sight in collaboration with Leslie Mark Stovall of Stovall & Associates, Pahrump, Nev.
The Rutherford Institute's letter to Nye County is available at www.rutherford.org.
SOURCE The Rutherford Institute
CONTACT: Nisha Whitehead, 434-978-3888 ext 604, nisha@rutherford.org
'Huge potential' in nation for global spirit firms
From:ChinaDaily | 2020-09-02 09:23
International spirit companies have huge growth potential in China as global brands have yet to fully penetrate the world's largest alcoholic spirits market, according to a report by RIES Positioning Strategy & Consulting.
While spending on spirits in China reached 600 billion yuan ($87.96 billion) last year, accounting for over one-fifth of the global total, just four percent were contributed by global mainstream spirit firms, the study said.
The lion's share was occupied by China's baijiu, represented by the likes of Kweichow Moutai and Wuliangye, whose consumption by mostly Chinese customers reached 5.2 billion liters last year.
"Local customers lack full knowledge of the brand categories of whiskey, brandy, and vodka, but have partial recognition of specific brands (such as Louis XIII, Martell, and Jack Daniels)," said RIES China Senior Consultant Xiao Yao in offering advice to international spirits companies.
In 2019, the market for brandy was worth roughly 18.5 billion yuan, making it the top category of foreign spirits in China. However, the market is weighed down by sluggish growth rates.
"Foreign liquor makers should prioritize category promotion rather than brand promotion so that they can 'implant' whiskey, brandy, and other similar brand categories in the minds of consumers," Xiao said.
China's whiskey market, which is worth roughly 3.65 billion yuan in 2019, has exhibited a relatively stable outlook.
Impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the net profit for baijiu in 2020 is projected to slide for the first time in seven years, although high-end baijiu have been better at withstanding the blow of the disease.
For instance, Moutai reported its net income jumped 13 percent in the first half as the recovering local economy boosted demand for its ultra-premium line of baijiu.
While revenue growth remained solid in the last quarter, slower volume growth suggests a more difficult recovery in demand, Bernstein analysts led by Euan McLeish said in a research note in July.
Xiao noted baijiu is also in a position to penetrate overseas markets, but as opposed to strategies for international spirits producers, baijiu makers should prioritize brands rather than the product category.
"A retrospect on the history of whisky and brandy giants shows that their development are closely linked with a country's strength," said Xiao. "With China's rising status, baijiu should seize the precious opportunity for global expansion."
To attract young Chinese consumers, the report said liquor makers should roll out low alcohol content offerings and multiple flavors such as juice mixtures.
"During our research, we find that spirits consumption happens naturally, such as when people reach a certain age," Xiao said. "These innovations are set to cultivate people's alcohol consumption habits from a relatively younger age."
Wang Shuyu in Shanghai contributed to this story.
Market valuation to reach about USD 4.8 billion by 2027 from about USD 2.6 billion in 2018
Rapidly ageing population and introduction of new drugs is driving the market forward
North America and Europe will hold a massive share of the global viscosupplementation market over the forecast period
ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the forecast period of 2019 to 2027, the global viscosupplementation market will grow at a rate of about 7%, pulling up the market worth from about USD 2.6 billion in the year 2018 to about USD 4.8 billion by the end of the stated period.
Transparency Market Research notes, "Interplay of several growth factors is witnessed, keeping the market buoyant. Some of the notable trends and drivers include increasing prevalence of osteoarthritis, introduction of new drugs, rapidly ageing population, and growing preference for minimally invasive surgeries."
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Key Findings of Global Viscosupplementation Market Study:
Retail pharmacies segment under the distribution channel category is set to account for a notable share of the market over the forecast period
Animal segment under the source category of the report is anticipated to dominate the market and the non-animal segment is expected to chart high growth
Under the category of type, knee osteoarthritis segment is set to be a promising segment, contributing notably to growth in the market
Three injections segment will dominate growth in the product category over the forecast period
For a detailed analysis of global viscosupplementation market by product type, application, source, distribution channel and region, visit TOC https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/10232
Key Drivers of Growth in Global Viscosupplementation Market:
There is a notable growth in number of knee osteoarthritis cases, creating a pressing need for development of novel and more effective drugs for management of pain
Growing geriatric population is a prominent contributing factors in the growth of global viscosupplementation market over the forecast period
There is a notable surge in demand for minimally invasive surgeries world over and this is fuelling growth in the market
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Regional Analysis of Global Viscosupplementation Market:
In 2018, North America held a prominent market share and the trend is anticipated to continue into the forecast period
held a prominent market share and the trend is anticipated to continue into the forecast period Surge in demand for minimally invasive surgery, introduction of new drugs in the market, and growing incidence of osteoarthritis is leading to growth in the region
High CAGR is set to be recorded by the Asia Pacific (APAC) region from 2019 to 2027 owing to high prevalence of osteoarthritis
Analyze global viscosupplementation market growth in 30+ countries including US, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Russia, Poland, Benelux, Nordic, China, Japan, India, and South Korea. Request a sample of the study https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample.php
Competitive Landscape of Global Viscosupplementation Market:
Transparency Market Research has covered top companies in its report on global viscosupplementation market. These companies include Sanofi, Anika Therapeutics, Inc., Seikagaku Corporation, Zimmer Biomet, Ferring B.V., LG Chem, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, and Bioventus, Inc. The report also carries information on product portfolio, recent developments, financials, business strategies, and business segments.
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It is quite pertinent to note here that in the vendor landscape of global viscosupplementation market, players that hold a majority share are Zimmer Biomet, Sanofi, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, and Anika Therapeutics Inc. These players are active and aggressive in terms of growth and use a host of measures to achieve the goal. These include increasing research and development activities, entering partnerships and collaborations, merging with or acquiring other companies. These do not come as a surprise as most players are focusing upon new product development and expanding reach to carve off a higher market share.
Browse More Press Release - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/press-releases.htm
Global Viscosupplementation Market: Segmentation
Viscosupplementation Market, by Product Type
Single Injection
Three Injections
Five Injections
Viscosupplementation Market, by Application
Knee Osteoarthritis
Hip Osteoarthritis
Hand Osteoarthritis
Viscosupplementation Market, by Source
Animal
Non-animal
Viscosupplementation Market, by Distribution Channel
Retail Pharmacies
Hospital Pharmacies
Online Pharmacies
Viscosupplementation Market, by Region
North America
U.S.
Canada
Europe
Germany
U.K.
France
Italy
Spain
Rest of Europe
Asia Pacific
China
India
Japan
Australia & New Zealand
&
Rest of Asia Pacific
Latin America
Brazil
Mexico
Rest of Latin America
Middle East & Africa
&
GCC Countries
South Africa
Israel
Rest of Middle East & Africa
Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Healthcare Industry:
Osteoarthritis Drugs Market: Rise in R&D expenditure, increased prevalence of osteoarthritis across the globe, increased geriatric population, rise in awareness regarding degenerative bone diseases in developing countries, and rich pipeline of innovative treatment options are some factors that are expected to boost the global osteoarthritis drugs market during the forecast period.
Hip Replacement Implants Market: The global hip replacement implants market is estimated to be driven by rise in geriatric population and augmented demand for hip arthroplasty/replacement surgical procedures. In addition, high incidences of lower extremity conditions like various hip ailments, osteoporosis, and Osteoarthritis (OA) are further likely to bolster the growth of the global hip replacement implants market.
Orthopedic Biomaterials Market: The global orthopedic biomaterials market is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR of ~7% during the forecast period. The market growth can be largely attributed to the ascending demand for orthopedic implants, surge in the number of sports-related injuries, noteworthy advancements in technology, and growth in the number of research and development activities.
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Industry Update
Appointment
2 September 2020
Amber Lancaster
Appointed Executive Chef
At The MC Hotel in Montclair - NJ, USA
Amber Lancaster joins Aparium Hotel Group as Executive Chef for The MC Hotel, a boutique property located in the heart of Montclair, New Jersey. Lancaster will oversee menus for ALTO and Allegory as well as the event spaces at The MC Hotel. Lancaster brings over 10 years of experience in the food and beverage industry working at renowned establishments across Paris and Chicago. Named by Zagat as "9 Chefs to Know in Chicago," Lancaster has held positions at numerous Michelin star restaurants including Restaurant Guy Savoy in Paris and Alinea in Chicago, as well as the historic Hotel de Crillon in Paris. A native of Tucson, Arizona, Lancaster creates Contemporary American small plates inspired by her travels. Lancaster attended the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Paris, following in the footsteps of her culinary icon Julia Child earning her Le Grande Diplome.
Aparium Hotel Group Aparium Hotel Group is a company founded and controlled by experienced professionals in hotel development, management, and marketing who hold the belief that great hotels are a destination sought out by travelers and a favorite place for locals - a philosophy Aparium calls Translocal Hospitality. more information
Recent Appointments at Aparium Hotel Group Harper Counts - Corporate Director of Sales 10 September 2021 Harper Counts joins the team as Corporate Director of Sales overseeing the sales teams both within the organization and across Aparium's portfolio of properties. Prior to joining Aparium, Counts was the Director of Sales and Marketing for The Gwen, A Luxury Collection Hotel, and will lend her expertise in the luxury market to boost growth at Aparium's award-winning luxury properties. read more
Max Wastler - Vice President of Brand 8 September 2021 Max Wastler joins Aparium as Vice President of Brand overseeing the image and experience of the Aparium brand as a whole and each individual brand within the portfolio of hotels and restaurants. Wastler brings nearly two decades of branding and marketing experience to Aparium having previously consulted on strategy and storytelling for companies such as J. read more
David Blaine has successfully performed a new stunt that saw him floating above Arizona holding onto balloons.
The magician and performer went more than 24,000 feet high during the stunt on Wednesday, before disengaging from the balloons and landing thanks to a parachute.
Blaine began the stunt, deemed Ascension, on Wednesday morning. After liftoff, he put on a parachute when he reached an altitude of around 8,000 feet.
He then continued his climb, at one point going up 500 feet a minute.
Throughout the stunt, Blaine communicated with a team via audio link to help ensure his safety. He praised them for making him feel secure during the performance.
Blaine monitored his blood oxygen saturation levels during the stunt.
He needed to avoid hypoxia, which happens when the bodys oxygen levels are too low. The condition can occur at high altitudes.
Around 15,000 of altitude, Blaine stopped ascending for a moment and spoke to his daughter, who provided encouragements.
He reached an altitude of 24,900 feet before jumping into the air and opening his parachute.
Blaine landed safely on the ground shortly afterwards.
The stunt was live-streamed on YouTube.
Blaine was originally supposed to perform it between New Jersey and New York, but had to move to Arizona due to logistics.
The number of students with disabilities in the public education system is predicted to grow by 50 per cent in the decade to 2027, and they will need twice as many specialist teachers and thousands more support classrooms.
Modelling predicts a 50 per cent increase in the number of students with disabilities in NSW schools. Credit:Quentin Jones
Six new special needs schools will also have to be built every year if diagnosis and enrolment rates continue and policy settings do not change, modelling by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for the NSW Department of Education found.
The confidential report, obtained under freedom of information laws, prompted mental health experts to call for a major investment in disability support staff, training and resources for schools, saying teachers are not equipped to respond.
But a spokesman for the department said the BCG analysis was a working document rather than a final report, and had been commissioned to inform the 2018 disability strategy. Some of its data definitions did not align with the department's.
Older movies fall under the Retro category, and will have the same admission costs that the drive-in has charged since opening. Tickets are $3 for Midwest Theater members and $5 for non-members.
Unlike new releases, the car load pricing will remain in effect for retro flicks. Movie goers who are members will be charged a maximum of $10 per car, while non-members will pay a maximum of $15.
Admission for retro double features will be announced with the shows.
The gates will open at 6:45 p.m. starting Friday, with the film starting approximately 30 minutes after sundown. This week, that is approximately 7:50 p.m.
Starting Sept. 18, all films will start at 7:30 p.m. for the remainder of the season unless otherwise noted.
High Five Club
Concessions are available with an option for carside delivery in addition to drive-up service. Among the selection are staples like popcorn and candy, as well as hot foods like pizza, nachos, brats and pretzels.
At the Midwest Theaters Broadway venue, outside food or drink is not allowed. At the Skyview drive-in, it is strongly discouraged.
KYODO NEWS - Sep 2, 2020 - 16:50 | All, Japan, Coronavirus
The Japanese government is considering offering COVID-19 vaccinations for free to all residents to limit the number of deaths and people developing severe symptoms in the country, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.
The government aims to have as many people as possible receive the vaccine since the virus is characterized as being very contagious and having a high risk of causing severe symptoms to people infected with it, the sources said.
Last week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government wants to secure vaccines for all citizens by the first half of 2021 as part of a set of measures against the virus, which causes the COVID-19 respiratory illness.
Under a plan that is currently being discussed, the government is considering prioritizing medical workers, the elderly and people who have underlying illnesses. Municipalities will be in charge of offering the vaccinations, the sources said.
Vaccines against the virus have been under development in many countries, with some now in the clinical trial stage.
Since there are no data from the trials showing the effectiveness or the degree of side effects depending on the age or health conditions of those vaccinated, some government officials have been opposed to differentiating the financial burden among people.
The government is considering having the vaccine purchases be financed by reserve funds from the budget for the current fiscal year to March 2021.
Health minister Katsunobu Kato said Wednesday the government has been discussing how to create a necessary system to administer the vaccines.
"We will draw a conclusion about the financial support depending on our discussions and the nature of the vaccines," he added.
Kato said Tuesday that Japan will join an international framework, co-led by the World Health Organization, which aims to guarantee equitable global access to potential vaccines.
A government panel of health experts, however, has indicated the difficulty of developing an effective vaccine, saying, "There is no guarantee that an ideal vaccine will be created in terms of both safety and effectiveness."
The government is also expected to decide how to cover the cost of compensation that vaccine manufacturers may face if health issues occur before the shots will be offered to people.
Related coverage:
Q&A: Japan's coronavirus-related travel restrictions
Japan to join int'l framework to procure coronavirus vaccine
Japan to secure COVID-19 vaccines by 1st half of 2021: Abe
Laying off thousands wont eliminate federal deficit
Re: Tough times ahead: what is Trudeau prepared to cut? Aug. 29
Predictably, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is raising alarm bells about the federal deficit. To believe Aaron Wudrick, only huge cuts in public spending can help Ottawa avoid falling into a persistent structural deficit now that were on our way out of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
But what do Mr. Wudricks proposals amount to and what do they ignore? For one, his call to save taxpayers $14 billion a year by axing the federal civil service is, in effect, a $14-billion wage cut to Canadian workers.
Taxpayers may very well pay the public sectors salaries, but those salaries are re-circulated into the economy in the form of consumer spending at local businesses. Laying off thousands of workers in a time of mass unemployment is hardly a recipe for a sustainable economic recovery.
Mr. Wudricks pleas to the contrary, there are alternatives to wage cuts.
A fairer tax system is the most obvious and pressing. Last year, studies by the Parliamentary Budget Office and the Canada Revenue Agency found corporate tax avoidance and tax evasion schemes cost the federal treasury $51 billion a year.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only underscored the urgent need for tax fairness. In the two months from March 16 to May 16, the five richest billionaires in Canada saw their net wealth explode by more than US$5 billion, rising to over US$64 billion, while millions of regular Canadians were thrown out of work.
If we really want to tackle the deficit, lets start by taxing corporations and billionaires.
Matt Corbeil, PhDSt. Catharines
Saddened by death of longtime councillor
Re: Former NOTL councillor Dennis Dick dies of lymphoma, Aug. 25
I was saddened by news of Dennis Dicks passing, all the more so because yesterday I was calling Dennis phone number, unaware he was ill.
He had my vote for council in every election he contested.
When I, as a new resident to Niagara-on-the-Lake 14 years ago, was given his name to call for help, I did so. Dennis was there to help. He did so often. He helped as a neighbourly way of living.
I offer my condolences to his family and friends.
Kaspar PoldNiagara-on-the-Lake
Penner was a greater danger to himself
Re: Police cleared in New Years Eve shooting death of St. Catharines Fred Penner, Aug. 20
Last Dec. 31, 56-year old Fred Penner from St. Catharines was shot and killed by police because he was walking around with a large kitchen knife. He was threatening to the public, and police felt they, too, were in danger.
The Special Investigations Unit cleared the officers of wrongdoing because the force used by police was justifiable.
Police at times do have to make split decisions. However, Im wondering if Penner would be alive today if police had taken a different approach. At close range, couldnt the police have aimed and shot at Penners arm, shoulder or leg.
Oh well, Penner never got that second chance; police felt justified pumping nine bullets into a person in mental crisis.
I believe Penner was more of a danger to himself because it cost him his life, and the health system failed him.
Lou CesarSt. Catharines
Endicott needs traffic lights, too
Re: New traffic lights installed at busy Welland intersection, Aug. 25
Interesting, this expenditure was warranted but lights at Endicott Terrace are not, with no explanation.
Endicott is still a speedway that has yet to be addressed by Mayor Frank Campion and the two ward councillors.
Why are you ignoring the safety of local taxpayers?
Don SmithWelland
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The Justice Department has launched a criminal inquiry into the leadership and financing of protests against police abuse that have roiled American cities as the protest movement has become a political flashpoint in the contentious presidential campaign.
Federal authorities asserted Tuesday that they are not targeting free speech rights, but rather "coordinated, criminal activity ... and violence related to riots, destruction of federal property and violence against law enforcement officers."
Justice spokeswoman Kerri Kupec declined to elaborate on the specific targets of the inquiry.
The acknowledgement by the Justice Department followed remarks by Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, who late Monday first disclosed the inquiry as "targeting" leaders of organizations and those who may be funding their movement "across the country."
"What we know ... is that we have seen groups and individuals move from Portland to other parts of the country," Wolf said in an interview on Fox News.
Portland police take control of the streets after making arrests on the scene of the nightly protests at a Portland police precinct on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020 in Portland, Ore.
Asked why leaders of Antifa, a loosely organized extreme far-left ideology, and Black Lives Matter, formed in part to call attention to violence against Black communities, had not been arrested, Wolf said: "This is something I talk to the AG (Barr) personally about. And I know that they are working on it."
Portland has has seen almost daily demonstrations since George Floyd died under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer May 25.
President Donald Trump has since seized on the unrest to promote a "law and order" campaign theme in the homestretch of the 2020 campaign. Trump is taking that campaign to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, where the community has been reeling from separate demonstrations related to the last month's shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot seven times in the back in an encounter with local police.
Ahead of his Wisconsin trip, the president has stoked controversy by refusing to condemn the actions of a 17-year-old accused in the fatal shootings of two Kenosha protesters in the days after Blake was wounded.
Story continues
Trump on Monday appeared to publicly embrace a defense attorney's account that the suspect, Kyle Rittenhouse, acted in self-defense.
Referring to cellphone video of the incident, Trump told reporters that Rittenhouse, armed with a rifle, was "trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like" and said that protesters "violently attacked him." Trump repeatedly noted the shooting remained under investigation but also appeared to lean into Rittenhouse's self-defense argument.
Rittenhouse has been charged with five felonies and a misdemeanor after shooting three people Tuesday, two of them fatally. Rittenhouse was acting as security against rioting and considered himself a militia member, his attorney said.
"The cause of all this," Wolf said, "is local officials and state officials not taking this seriously enough from Day One."
In a scathing letter Monday to Portland, Ore., Mayor Ted Wheeler, Wolf said the city's "inaction has fostered an environment that has fueled senseless violence and destruction night after night."
"For more than three months, Portland has become the epicenter of crime and chaos, with rioters attacking government buildings with the intention of burning them to the ground," Wolf said.
Wolf's comments were prompted by Wheeler's Aug. 28 letter to Trump rejecting federal assistance.
"On behalf of the city of Portland: No thanks," Wheeler wrote.
"We dont need your politics of division and demagoguery. Portlanders are onto you. We have already seen your reckless disregard for human life in your bumbling response to the COVID pandemic," the mayor said. "And we know youve reached the conclusion that images of violence or vandalism are your only ticket to reelection."
Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian had urged Trump on Monday to pick another time to allow the city to heal.
"The timing on this was not good," the mayor said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Justice Department investigating protest leaders, funding
The makers of web-connected devices including smart TVs, watches and fridges will be told to make their systems more secure from hackers under a new industry code.
The new code of practice will be released on Thursday, and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton will tell manufacturers to start developing the devices with in-built security, warning the poor cyber security features were exposing their customers to hacks.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says the security features of many internet-connected devices are not up to scratch. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Cyber attackers are increasingly targeting "internet of things" (IoT) devices, with cases of hackers getting into home security cameras and paedophiles hacking into baby monitors.
Automatic security updates, a point of contact for declaring and fixing vulnerabilities, and a ban on weak passwords are among the measures put forward in the code of practice.
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Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market: Global Industry Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030
A recent market study published by FMI on the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market includes the global industry analysis of 2015-2019 & opportunity assessment for 2020-2030, and delivers a comprehensive assessment of the most important market dynamics. Our analysts have conducted thorough research on the historical as well as current growth parameters of the market to obtain growth prospects with maximum precision.
Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market: Segmentation
Product Type Electrophysiology Medical Devices Laboratory Devices
3D-Mapping Systems
Electrophysiology Medical Devices Recording Systems
Radiofrequency (RF) Ablation Systems
Intracardiac Echoradiography (ICE) Ultrasound Imaging Systems
Electrophysiology Medical Devices X-Ray Systems
Others Electrophysiology Medical Devices Ablation Catheters
Cryoablation Electrophysiology Medical Devices Catheters
Radiofrequency (RF) Ablation Catheters
Microwave Ablation (MWA) Systems
Laser Ablation Systems Electrophysiology Medical Devices Diagnostic Catheters
Conventional Electrophysiology Medical Devices Diagnostic Catheters
Advanced Electrophysiology Medical Devices Diagnostic Catheters
Ultrasound Electrophysiology Medical Devices Diagnostic Catheters Indication Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial Flutter
Atrioventricular Nodal Re-entry Tachycardia (AVNT)
Wolff-Parkinson White Syndrome
Bradycardia
Others End-user Hospitals
Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories
Ambulatory Surgery Centers Region North America
Latin America
Europe
East Asia
South Asia
Oceania
Middle East & Africa
For more insights into the Market, request a sample of this report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-12402
Report Chapters
Chapter 01- Executive Summary
The report gives a brief with the executive summary of the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market, which includes a summary of the key findings and statistics of the market. It also includes the demand & supply-side trends and the technological roadmap pertaining to the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market.
Chapter 02 Market Overview
In this chapter, readers can find the definition and a detailed taxonomy of the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market, which will help them understand the basic information about the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market. Along with this, comprehensive information about Electrophysiology Medical Devices is provided in this section. This section also highlights the inclusions and exclusions, which help readers understand the scope of the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market report.
Chapter 03 Key Market Trends
This section includes key trends impacting the market as well as the major development trends associated with product innovation and development.
Chapter 04- Market Background
This section includes the prominent dynamics (drivers, restraints & opportunities) which are responsible for shaping the markets growth trajectory during the upcoming decades forecast. The chapter also sheds light on the relevance and impact of the prominent forecast factors along with macro-economic trends such as the global GDP and healthcare outlook.
Chapter 05- COVID-19 Crisis Analysis
This chapter of the report sheds exclusive light on the present as well as projected future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market. It incorporates the current economic outlook and comparison with the 2008 financial crisis as well as quarter-wise forecast for the remainder of the current year. The chapter concludes by providing a probable recovery scenario across the short-term, medium-term and long-term forecast periods respectively.
Chapter 06- Market Context
This chapter elucidates on the overall market scenario, taking into account the key products unique selling proposition (USP), disease epidemiology, regulatory scenario, key promotional strategies, product adoption analysis and value chain analysis among other aspects.
Chapter 07- Global Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Volume Analysis 2015-2019 & Forecast 2020-2030
This section explains the global market volume analysis and forecast for the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market for the forecast period of 2020-2030, in value terms. This chapter includes a detailed analysis of the historical projections of the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market, providing historical, current and future projections in 000 units. The projections are given on a year-on-year basis.
Chapter 08- Global Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market- Pricing Analysis
In this section, the report incorporates a detailed pricing analysis at the regional as well as global levels, along with a detailed break-up demarcating the levels of manufacturing and distributor pricing.
Chapter 09- Global Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Value (US$ Mn) Analysis 2015-2019 and Forecast, 2020-2030
In this chapter, the report includes a year-on-year growth trend and opportunity analysis for the upcoming decade (2020-2030). It provides historical, current and future market value projections in US$ Mn.
Chapter 10- Global Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 and Forecast 2020-2030, by Type
This chapter provides details about the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market based on type and has been classified into laboratory devices, ablation catheters and diagnostic catheters.
Chapter 11 Global Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030 by Indication
This chapter provides details about the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market based on application and has been classified into atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, atrioventricular nodal re-entry tachycardia (AVNT), Wolff-Parkinson White Syndrome, Bradycardia and others.
Chapter 12- Global Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030 by End-User
This chapter provides details about the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market based on end-user and has been classified into hospitals, cardiac catheterization laboratories and ambulatory surgery centers.
Chapter 13- Global Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030 by Region
This chapter provides details about the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market based on region and has been classified into North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East & Africa (MEA), East Asia, South Asia and Oceania.
Chapter 14- North America Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030
This chapter provides details about the growth of the North America Electrophysiology Medical Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes the U.S and Canada. Readers can also find the pricing analysis, regional trends, and market growth based on material and countries in North America.
Chapter 15- Latin America Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030
This chapter provides details about the growth of the Latin America Electrophysiology Medical Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Rest of Latin America.
Chapter 16- Europe Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030
This chapter provides details about the growth of the European Electrophysiology Medical Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes Germany, Italy, France, the U.K, Spain, BENELUX, Russia and Rest of Europe.
Chapter 17- South Asia Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030
This chapter provides details about the growth of the South Asian Electrophysiology Medical Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Rest of South Asia.
Chapter 18- East Asia Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030
This chapter provides details about the growth of the East Asian Electrophysiology Medical Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes China, Japan and South Korea.
Chapter 19- Oceania Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030
This chapter provides details about the growth of the Oceania Electrophysiology Medical Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes Australia and New Zealand.
Chapter 20- Middle East & Africa Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030
This chapter provides details about the growth of the Middle East & Africa Electrophysiology Medical Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes GCC countries, Turkey, South Africa and rest of MEA.
Chapter 21- Key Countries Electrophysiology Medical Devices Market Analysis 20152019 and Forecast 20202030
This chapter provides the growth scenario of the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market of 22 key countries by type, and form. Additionally, COVID-19 impact in the said market in all respective countries has been included.
Chapter 22- Market Structure Analysis
In this chapter, readers can find detailed information about the tier analysis and market concentration of key players in the physiology equipment market, along with their market presence analysis by region and product portfolio.
For Information On The Research Approach Used In The Report, Request Methodology@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-12402
Chapter 23- Competition Analysis
In this chapter, readers can find a comprehensive list of all the prominent stakeholders in the Electrophysiology Medical Devices market, along with detailed information about each company, which includes company overview, revenue shares, strategic overview, and recent company developments. Some of the market players featured in the report are Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic Plc, Koninklijke Philips N.V, Boston Scientific Corporation, Japan Lifeline, Stereotaxis, Microport Scientific Corporation, Biotronik, Acutus Medical, Baylis Medical, EP Solutions SA, APN Health LLC, Teleflex and Merit Medical Systems.
Chapter 24- Assumptions & Acronyms Used
This chapter includes a list of acronyms and assumptions that provides a base to the information and statistics included in the physiotherapy equipment market report.
Chapter 25- Research Methodology
This chapter help readers understand the research methodology followed to obtain various conclusions as well as important qualitative and quantitative information about the physiotherapy equipment market
NASA-NOAAs Suomi NPP satellite passed the Atlantic Ocean during the early morning hours of Sept. 1 and obtained an infrared view of Tropical Depression 15. TD15 is located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Carolina. Credit: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a nighttime view of the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season's latest tropical cyclone off the coast of North Carolina. Ocean swells from the depression are affecting coastal North Carolina today, Sept. 1.
Tropical Depression 15 formed by 5 p.m. EDT off the coast of North Carolina and showed organized convection (rising air that forms the thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone). The storm has been battling vertical wind shear since its formation, which has kept it from intensifying into a tropical storm.
NASA's Night-Time View
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP provided a nighttime image of 15 during the early morning hours of Sept 1 when it flew over the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. Infrared data showed the most powerful thunderstorms east of center where cloud top temperatures were as cold as or colder than minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Deep convection remains displaced to the east and southeast of the depression's low-level center due to increasing west-northwesterly wind shear.
The image was created using the NASA Worldview application at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
TD15's Status
At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported the center of Tropical Depression 15 (TD 15) was located near latitude 34.7 degrees north and longitude 73.1 degrees west. TD 15 is centered about 140 miles (225 km) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The depression is moving toward the east-northeast near 14 mph (22 kph). This general motion is forecast today, followed by a turn toward the east by Thursday. On the forecast track, the center of the depression will continue to move away from the North Carolina coast today.
Maximum sustained winds remain near 35 mph (55 kph) with higher gusts. The depression could become a tropical storm later today or tonight. Gradual weakening is anticipated by late Wednesday. The system is forecast to become a remnant low on Thursday.
TD15's Effects Along the U.S. Coast
Although the depression is off the coast of North Carolina it is generating ocean swells that are affecting the U.S. coast. NHC said, "Swells generated by the depression will continue to affect portions of the Outer Banks of North Carolina through this evening, causing life-threatening surf and rip current conditions." There are no other watches or warnings in effect and the storm is forecast to move away from the coast.
About NASA's EOSDIS Worldview
NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks "right now."
NASA Researches Earth from Space
For more than five decades, NASA has used the vantage point of space to understand and explore our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA brings together technology, science, and unique global Earth observations to provide societal benefits and strengthen our nation. Advancing knowledge of our home planet contributes directly to America's leadership in space and scientific exploration.
For updated forecasts, visit: www.nhc.noaa.gov
Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
An American backpacker who moved to New South Wales one year ago has revealed the unique Australian habits that make her swoon - from 'cute' slang to the way people text.
Katie Payne, 22, left Iowa in the Midwestern United States in August 2019 for a four-month stint in Newcastle, 163 kilometres north of Sydney, but enjoyed her time so much that she returned in January 2020.
The Northern Iowa University graduate has been living in the east coast city since then and appears to have fallen in love with the 'Aussie' way of life, if a recent video on her TikTok account is anything to go by.
On Sunday, Ms Payne posted a clip fawning over Australians for their 'obsession' with KFC and electronic music, slang terms and penchant for signing off messages to people they like with a line of 'kisses'.
Scroll down for video
American backpacker Katie Payne (pictured at the Sydney Opera House) who says she 'dies' when her Australian friends leave kisses at the end of text messages
She said it 'makes me die' when her Australian friends leave 'x's at the end of texts and had a similar reaction to use of the term 'lollies', which is the Australian word for candy or sweets.
'If you text me with an 'x' at the end of the message, I'm a die (sic). I can feel your kiss through the phone,' she says in the video.
She adds: 'And your love for KFC... You know we forget about that in the US. It's kind of like 'oh, KFC' but you guys f*****g love it, and that's cute.'
Ms Payne (pictured) said she loves when people say 'lollies', which is the Australian term for candy or sweets
Standing testament to Ms Payne's self-professed love affair with everything Australian is her Instagram feed, which is filled with gushing tributes to the Land Down Under
Standing testament to Ms Payne's self-professed love affair with everything Australian is her Instagram feed, which is filled with gushing tributes to the Land Down Under.
Photos show her beaming as she soaks up the very best of Australia, posing in front of the Sydney Opera House at Circular Quay and gazing out over the Victorian coastline from the Great Ocean Road.
Her TikTok video, which has been viewed 317,000 times since it was posted on Sunday, has drawn hundreds of comments from Australians discussing their preference for food, music and writing style.
Ms Payne's favourite Aussie habits The nationwide obsession with KFC Love for electronic music Saying 'lollies' instead of candy or sweets Signing off text messages with 'x's to loved ones and love interests Advertisement
Photos show Ms Payne beaming as she soaks up the very best of Australia's east coast beaches (pictured)
'All of us Australians are confused how the rest of the world doesn't sign off texts with 'x' and 'xx' when it's someone you really love,' one woman replied.
'Okay but Aussie KFC is unbelievably superior to any other KFC,' said a second.
Another KFC enthusiast added: 'That's because we have like three fast food options and Wicked Wings and Zinger burgers just happen to be superior.'
Others said the Australian obsession with KFC is 'probably because there's only Red Rooster as the other option for chicken'.
President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for efforts to promote deeper-level reform and pursue higher-level opening-up to provide strong impetus for establishing a new development pattern. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while presiding over the 15th meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform. Xi stressed that accelerating the establishment of a new development pattern featuring dual circulation, which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while letting domestic and foreign markets boost each other, is a strategic decision made in accordance with changes in China's development stage, environment and conditions, and a systematic deep-level reform concerning the overall situation of the country. Efforts should be made to give full play to reform, remain firm in strategic determination, uphold and improve the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and modernize China's governance system and capacity, he said. Li Keqiang, Wang Huning and Han Zheng, all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy heads of the central committee for deepening overall reform, attended the meeting. To build a new development pattern, both short-term responses and medium and long-run growth should be considered as a whole, and the country needs to accelerate reforms that help increase the efficiency of resource allocation, and reforms that help improve growth quality and efficiency, Xi said. It is necessary to link up the construction of a new development pattern with the implementation of the strategy for coordinated regional development and the construction of pilot free trade zones, and explore building a new development pattern and creating a new highland of reforms and opening-up in regions where conditions permit, he said. He stressed the importance of the forward-looking study of reforms, active and effective handling of unstable and uncertain factors, expanding policy space, and enhancing institutional resilience. The meeting reviewed and approved a series of guidelines on innovative development of foreign trade, vitalizing higher education in the country's central and western regions, standardizing private schools for compulsory education, standardizing medical practices and pushing ahead with garbage sorting. It also heard reports on the progress of rural reforms since the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee. The meeting called for efforts to enhance the quality of foreign trade, stabilize the industrial and supply chains, foster new growth drivers, further promote trade facilitation and optimize the environment for foreign trade development. The meeting stressed upholding and strengthening the Party's overall leadership over universities and colleges to further develop higher education in the central and western regions. It called for focusing on local features and pooling education resources to stimulate the endogenous driving force of higher education in the regions. The meeting noted that privately-run schools offering compulsory education should be kept well-regulated in a bid to fully implement the Party's education policy and uphold overall Party leadership over compulsory education. Highlighting the vital contributions made by the country's medical and health care system in fighting COVID-19, the meeting stressed technological innovation as well as further regulation and more supervision on medical institutions and workers. The meeting urged faster construction of facilities and better supporting policies to speed up the forming of a long-term waste-sorting mechanism. Giving prominence to ensuring food security, the meeting stressed keeping the public ownership of land unchanged, not breaking the red line of cultivated land, and not damaging the interests of farmers. Efforts should be made to improve the rural property rights system and the market-oriented allocation of factors, boost the allocation efficiency of various factors such as rural land, capital, talent, and technology, and stimulate the inherent vitality of rural areas, according to the meeting. More accurate, targeted, and effective policies should be implemented to guide agricultural development transforming from production-oriented to quality-oriented, the meeting noted. The country should vigorously implement the strategy of rural vitalization and set up sound institutions, mechanisms, and policy systems for integrated urban-rural development, said the meeting. More work should be done to strengthen the resolve and confidence of all parties in deepening reform and accumulate strength for embarking on a new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, it said. Enditem
HMD Global's upcoming range of smartphones includes the Nokia 3.4 and Nokia 2.4, both of which will belong to the budget range. The details of the Nokia 3.4 were leaked recently and it is time for the Nokia 2.4 now. Renowned tipster Evan Blass has managed to obtain some renders of the Nokia 2.4 ahead of its expected debut at this week's IFA in Berlin.
Blass has posted these renders on Patreon and Gizmochina has seemingly access to them. In a report by Gizmochina, the Nokia 2.4 shows up in renders, looking very similar to the Nokia 2.2. There is a waterdrop-style notch at the top and the rear panel is made of polycarbonate. I see two cameras on the back located at the dead centre with the LED flash right below them. Below that camera island is the fingerprint sensor that should be reachable easily.
Also discernible from the renders are the volume rocker and the power button on the right side of Nokia 2.4 while the left edge has the Google Assistant button. I am not sure whether the Google Assistant will be reprogrammable this time but it is there for people who frequently summon the voice assistant. The Nokia 2.4 can be seen in a cyan-like shade with some blackish gradient towards the bottom on the rear panel. I am expecting at least two more colour models for the Nokia 2.4, much like there are for other Nokia smartphones. Rumours say these could be grey and purple colourways.
Blass has not shared the specifications of the Nokia 2.4 along with the renders but we have them from before. Rumours are rife the Nokia 2.4, codenamed Wolverine, will pack a 6.5-inch 720p display and run Android 10 out of the box. A recently spotted listing on Geekbench for the model showed a MediaTek Helio P22 chipset, which belongs to the entry-level. The listing also revealed there could be two memory variants: 2GB RAM and 32GB, 3GB and 64GB. There could be a 4500mAh battery on Nokia 2.4.
HMD Global is expected to launch the Nokia 2.4, Nokia 3.4, Nokia 6.3, and Nokia 7.3 at its IFA event but it would not be a surprise if the company chooses to finally unveil the Nokia 9.3 PureView flagship that has overstayed in the rumour mill.
Last Friday, 58 pupils were sent home following the discovery of 5 coronavirus cases at the International School of Luxembourg.
Although many schools in the country have yet to reopen for the autumn term, the International School of Luxembourg has already seen around 60 pupils placed in quarantine within mere days of returning to school. The reason for the quarantine was the discovery of 5 positive asymptomatic cases at the school. All five are said to be doing well.
The ISL confirmed that two classes were affected, and parents and the Health Directorate had been informed of the situation. The school stated that the pupils in quarantine would be allowed to return to class once they had tested negative for the virus. Tests are carried out five days after contact with the infected person. According to RTL sources, the pupils concerned are aged between 12 and 18 years old.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. Armenias foreign ministry condemns Turkeys recent action which denied airspace to German military plane flying to Yerevan, Armenian foreign ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said during a press conference today.
Its condemnable that Turkey is already obstructing the operations of peacekeepers within the NATO and the UN frameworks, simply because of its anti-Armenian positions. We have also raised this issue among our international partners through diplomatic channels, she said.
Turkey denied airspace to German military plane flying to Armenia.
The plane was on its route to Armenia to pick up Armenian peacekeepers serving under the German command in Afghanistan.
A Turkish air traffic controller spontaneously and without any explanation refused to grant a flight permit to the German military aircraft. Germany had to send the plane to Armenia on a longer route, using Russias airspace, managing to transport the Armenian peacekeepers already in mid-August.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
B russels' chief Brexit negotiator has said 'it is the UK's responsibility' to find a compromise and avoid crashing out of the EU.
Michel Barnier said on Wednesday that he is worried and disappointed after his counterpart, David Frost, made no concessions to end the impasse during informal talks.
The pair met in London on Tuesday ahead of the eighth round of formal negotiations next week.
The EU negotiator has reiterated that a deal must be brokered by the strict deadline of the end of next month ahead of the transition period on December 31.
The pair met in London on Tuesday ahead of the eighth round of formal negotiations next week / AP
We need a breakthrough, we need to move, Mr Barnier said after a speech hosted by Dublins Institute of International and European Affairs think-tank.
If the UK wants a deal with us and a fair agreement for a zero-tariff, zero-quota access for British access to our market of 450 million consumers then they will have to move and it is their choice, it is their responsibility.
We are ready to make fair and constructive compromise but not at the detriment of the EU.
Number 10 acknowledged it is clear that it will not be easy to achieve a deal / AFP via Getty Images
Number 10 acknowledged it is clear that it will not be easy to achieve a deal.
The Prime Ministers official spokesman said David Frost and Michel Barnier had a useful review of the whole agenda before our talks during informal Brexit discussions on Tuesday.
But as I said, major difficulties remain and the EUs instance on progress on state aid and fisheries is an obstacle to making progress overall but we remain in close contact with the EU side and we will look forward to the next round of talks next week in London.
Mr Barnier said: We did not see any change in the position of the UK. This is why I express publicly that I am worried and I am disappointed because, frankly speaking, we have moved.
Ive shown clearly openness to find compromise.
If they dont move on the issues which are the key issues of the EU, the level playing field, fisheries and governance, the UK will take itself the risk of a no-deal.
Mr Barnier said the EU will not accept the livelihoods of fishermen and women being used as a bargaining chip in these negotiations.
And he said good luck, good luck to those who say leaving without a trade deal has opportunities.
Frankly speaking, there is no reason to under-estimate the consequences for many people, many sectors, of a no-deal it will be a huge difference between a deal and a no-deal, he added.
Mr Barnier also warmly thanked Phil Hogan, the Irish politician who resigned as EU trade commissioner after intense scrutiny over whether he broke coronavirus regulations.
He said: I will miss Phil Hogan, on whom I could always count to relay any Irish concerns to me very directly over the last four years.
Michel Barnier was disappointed with the UK's attitude in the latest round of negotiations, he said. - Bloomberg
Michel Barnier has wished Britain good luck with surviving a no deal Brexit after accusing the UK of holding European Union fishermen hostage in the deadlocked trade talks.
The EUs chief negotiator said Britain had shown no willingness to compromise over fishing rights and warned that unless the UK caved there would be no trade deal with the EU.
Obviously the UK will recover the full sovereignty of their waters. No doubt. No question. But it is another thing, another story, speaking about the fish which are inside those waters, he said before next weeks round of negotiations in London.
Mr Barnier hit back after the Prime Ministers spokesman blamed Brussels for the lack of progress in last weeks round of negotiations on Wednesday.
Where the EU has shown openness to possible solutions, the UK has shunned our offers, Mr Barnier said and insisted the deal had to be ready by the end of October.
He demanded credible guarantees from Britain on state aid such as subsidies and that the UK agree to level playing field guarantees in tax, labour rights and the environment.
He said the Government was trying to gain an unfair competitive advantage over EU businesses in sectors such as cars, road haulage, agriculture, manufacturing by undercutting the blocs standards.
A UK source said, "Barniers speech is a deliberate and misleading caricature of our proposals aimed at deflecting scrutiny from the EUs own positions which are wholly unrealistic and unprecedented.
"We have been consistently clear that we are seeking a relationship that respects our sovereignty and which has a free trade agreement at its core, similar to those the EU has already agreed with likeminded countries.
Mr Barnier warned there would be a huge difference between striking a trade deal and a no deal exit at the end of the transition period on December 31.
"Sometimes I listen to the UK speaking on the chance of no deal, the reporting of no deal. Good luck. Good luck. But frankly speaking there is no reason to underestimate the consequences for many people, he said.
Story continues
No deal would be Britains fault because the government had refused to extend the transition period, he said.
Britain's chief negotiator David Frost (L) and EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels last month. - Yves Herman/Shutterstock
Mr Barnier said, Since the start of these negotiations, the UK has not shown any willingness to seek compromises on fisheries. The UK government's position has not evolved in the past months.
The French official said that the UK had not tabled any new legal texts on fishing rights. Media reports that he had blocked any discussion on UK room papers were ridiculous and contrary to the truth, he said.
Mr Barnier has signalled that the EU could drop its demand for continued access to UK waters under the same terms as it enjoys under the blocs Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
The UK wants a Norway style fishing deal with annual negotiations over fishing opportunities based on the zonal attachment method rather than the CFPs historic catch patterns, which disadvantage British fishermen.
The UK government's position would lock out Ireland's fishermen and women from waters they fished in long before Ireland or the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973. And of course, the fishermen and women of many other EU countries, Mr Barnier said.
That is just not acceptable. We will not accept that the work and the livelihoods of these men and women be used as a bargaining chip in these negotiations," he told the Dublin-based Institute of International and European Affairs.
Mr Barnier called on Britain to back down in the next round of negotiations in London after Brussels said it could accept zonal attachment as one of the factors in dividing fishing opportunities after Brexit.
Mr Barnier, who met David Frost, the UKs negotiator, on Wednesday, said he still hoped to agree the deal "even if it is very difficult because of the British politicians.
He said that despite the current tensions, he still hoped a deal could be done in time.
"The EU has repeatedly shown flexibility and creativity to work with the UK's red lines - on the role of the European Court of Justice, on preserving the UK's legislative autonomy and on fisheries. It is time for the UK to reciprocate on those issues that are fundamental for the EU," Mr Barnier said.
He added, "I continue to think that Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants an agreement with the EU."
The Prime Minister's spokesman said, "Major difficulties remain. The EU's insistence on progress on state aid and fisheries is an obstacle to making progress overall.
"While an agreement is still possible and is still our goal, it is clear that is not going to be easy to achieve."
Road sign advising social distancing to stop the spread of COVID-19. (PA)
The rising number of coronavirus cases in the UK is down to more tests being carried out and does not point to a second wave, an expert on medicine has said.
Medical experts have previously predicted that the UK will see a second wave of the virus in winter, a forecast echoed by World Health Organization (WHO) Europe director Hans Kluge last week.
However, Professor Carl Heneghan of the University of Oxford believes that while a comprehensive system of national test and trace has led to an uptick of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the UK, that does not mean the disease is on the rise.
Instead, Heneghan said new mild cases are not infectious, and are simply being picked up by sensitive tests, providing positive results.
A driver wearing PPE hands a swab test to soldiers helping at a pop-up COVID-19 drive-through testing centre in Dalston, Hackney. (PA)
These virus particles already been dealt with efficiently by immune systems of those who have contracted COVID-19, Heneghan said.
He told MailOnline: There is currently no second wave. What we are seeing is a sharp rise in the number of healthy people who are carrying the virus, but exhibiting no symptoms.
Almost all of them are young. They are being spotted because finally a comprehensive system of national test and trace is in place.
He added: The government urgently needs to send out a clear, concise message that the risk from COVID-19 is currently low.
Heneghan said the fear that people with coronavirus but no symptoms are spreading it to others is not borne out by the experiences of the past six months.
Newly released data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that weekly death registrations involving COVID-19 in England and Wales fell to 138 in the week ending 21 August their lowest level since before lockdown.
However, an increase of cases has seen the government halt its planned easing of local lockdowns in Bolton and Trafford.
But, writing in The Spectator, Heneghan said that in the UK we appear to have the reality of viral circulation, which is probably waning fast.
Story continues
He highlighted how deaths in both the UK and Italy the two European nations worst hit by COVID-19 remained low and stable, despite weeks of rising cases.
He added that the sensitivity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for testing meant that the smallest fragments of the virus in a sample are amplified millions of times providing a positive result even when someone is not infected by the whole virus.
These fragments do not make the whole virus, he wrote, and therefore cannot infect other people.
Heneghan added: Evidence is mounting that a good proportion of 'new' mild cases and people re-testing positives after quarantine or discharge from hospital are not infectious, but are simply clearing harmless virus particles which their immune system has efficiently dealt with.
Health secretary Matt Hancock has warned that the UK faces a possible second wave of coronavirus in winter. (Getty)
Those whose immunity is more active are exactly in the age group of observed 'positives' and least likely to end with severe disease.
On Wednesday health secretary Matt Hancock warned that a rise in infections in healthy people could result in a second wave of coronavirus.
He told MPs in the Commons: I said in July that a second wave was rolling across Europe and sadly were now seeing an exponential rise in the number of cases in France and Spain. And the number of hospitalisations is sadly rising there too.
We must do everything in our power to protect against a second wave here in the UK.
Coronavirus: what happened today
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The Navi Mumbai crime branch unit 2 and Panvel police jointly arrested three more accused on Wednesday involved in rice black-marketing racket from Khalapur and Bhiwandi. Police had arrested three persons the first week of August and had seized 380 metric tonnes of rice.
The three arrested accused are identified as Navnath Rathod, 25, Sattar Sayyed, 25 and Krushna Pawar, 45. Rathod and Sayyed are from Karnataka, while Pawar is from Vijapur. Three more persons were detained earlier in the racket, though they have not been arrested yet.
The accused illegally collected ration grain from Maharashtra, Karnataka and black marketed it to Africa. The grains were sold through e-auction conducted under the Food Corporation of Indias (FCI) Open Market Sales scheme. Till now around 32,827 metric tons of ration rice have been exported during the lockdown period.
On August 1, the Navi Mumbai Police busted the rice black marketing racket where three persons illegally bought 110 tonnes (1.10 lakh kg) rice meant for the poor in the ration shops in Solapur. The accused had been exporting the rice to Dhaka, Qatar and Madagascar selling it at three times the price.
Senior police inspector, Ajaykumar Landge, said, After we detained the first three accused, they led us to two more companies situated in Khalapur and Bhiwandi involved in the racket. Our teams conducted raids and we seized 270 metric tons of grain worth 1.20 crore.
Three persons were arrested from here and we have found that through E-auction system they have already sold almost 32,000 metric tons of grain to Africa. There are 18 more accused involved in the case.
The Houston Chronicles Live Updates blog documents the latest events in the coronavirus outbreak in the Houston area, the state of Texas and across the U.S. with a focus on health and economic impacts.
The Houston Chronicles ongoing coverage is available to subscribers. Subscribe now for full access and to support our work.
Total coronavirus cases:
642,649 cases in Texas, including 13,091 deaths.
155,928 in the Houston region, including 2,954 deaths.
More than 6.1 million in the U.S., including 185,674 deaths. Click here to see a U.S. map with state-by-state death tolls and the latest coronavirus case counts.
More than 25.9 million in the world, with over 860,883 deaths. More than 17.2 million people have recovered. You can view the worldwide totals here.
Resources on COVID-19 and Texas' reopening: Use our interactive page to track the spread of cases through Harris County and the rest of Texas. For a detailed look at our state, check out the Chronicle's Texas Coronavirus Map. To get regular updates on our coverage, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter.
Latest updates from today:
8:20 p.m. Texas' positive test rate on Wednesday dropped below 10 percent for the first time since June 22, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of state data.
The test rate dropped from 10.13 percent to 9.64 percent. The rate on June 22 was 9.76 percent.
The statewide case total went from 638,607 to 642,649 -- an increase of 4,042 cases. Another 172 newly reported deaths brings that total to 13,091.
The state's seven-day rolling average for new cases is now at 4,335.7, down from Tuesday.
The Houston region's count is 155,928, up 971 from Tuesday. Harris County added 595 new cases Wednesday, and is now at 108,085 cases total. There have been 2,954 deaths in the Houston region, up 41 from Tuesday.
The rolling average of viral tests dropped from 44,142 to 43,460.
Statewide, there were 4,149 patients hospitalized for lab-confirmed COVID-19. There are 55,717 total staffed hospital beds, 11,752 beds available and 1,137 ICU beds available. There are 7,252 ventilators available.
- Matt Dempsey
6:30 p.m. Furlough notices went out Wednesday to 16,370 United Airlines employees, company executives said, pointing to the pandemics devastating effects on travel demand, reports Amanda Drane.
The furloughs, affecting 1,349 workers in Houston, are to start Oct. 1. United said it planned to recall employees once travel demand rebounds.
The announcement comes as national leaders battle over what to include in a second round of coronavirus relief packages.
4:42 p.m. The COVID-19 crisis is the ideal time for Texas legislators to expand Medicaid, the federal insurance program for low-income residents, advocacy groups say. The Texas Medical Association, along with 32 other organizations representing physicians, dentists and child welfare groups, said widening the safety net would help many cover the costs of COVID-19 care if they get sick.
4:30 p.m. State and local health officials are investigating a COVID-19 outbreak at Heritage Park of Katy Nursing and Rehabilitation facility.
There have been 14 deaths so far at the facility -- four related to COVID and ten pending further review, according to Harris County Public Health. Another five residents and staff members are actively being monitored by the agency for COVID-19.
HCHP started investigating the facility May 24 after three people tested positive. The Texas Department of Health and Human Services is also examining the outbreak.
Heritage Park issued a statement about the investigation:
"Heritage Park of Katy operates in a legally compliant manner, consistent with CDC, CMS, and State and Federal guidelines. Unfortunately, we serve a population that is inherently susceptible to COVID-19. We will cooperate with appropriate public health agencies to ensure our facility continues to operate safely for both our residents and our staff. Out of respect for the confidentiality of our residents and staff, we have no additional comment at this time."
3:15 p.m. Driven by demand for curbside and delivery services during the pandemic, H-E-B's updated grocery app for iOS has been cited as an example by Apple of how its App Store creates jobs. The context: Apple has been besieged by local and federal officials, as well as high-profile competitors, for what some say are heavy-handed strategies in the App Store.
3 p.m. Some 1,300 defendants are awaiting resolution on murder or capital murder charges in Harris County District Courts. The cases have piled up more and more rapidly over the past three years, starting with Hurricane Harveys closure of the courthouse and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving families and defendants waiting in emotional and legal limbo. On today's Coronavirus Chronicles, Ferrill Gibbs talks with courts reporter Samantha Ketterer about the situation.
2:45 p.m. Reports of new cases have fallen significantly around the country since July; they are now flat in 26 states and falling in 15 others. But in nine states, cases are still growing, and in some, setting records especially in the Midwest. Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota all added more cases in a recent seven-day stretch than in any previous week of the pandemic. Together, they reported 19,133 new cases in the week ending Sunday, according to a New York Times database 6.4 percent of the national total, though the five states are home to only 4 percent of the population. In each, some of the biggest surges in new case numbers have come in college towns.
2:15 p.m. Like many of Houstons charitable organizations, the Memorial Hermann Foundations annual fundraiser had to be rescheduled from its original date in May due to the coronavirus pandemic. The good news is that last weekends virtual event benefiting the health care systems adult and pediatric heart and vascular services flexed creative muscle. The better news is that organizers got a chance to celebrate more than $2.6 million raised by supporters over the past year.
-- Amber Elliott
12:55 p.m. Dallas County officials on Wednesday for the first time since May lowered the color-coded coronavirus threat level to orange after a sharp and sustained decrease in new COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations, the Dallas Morning News reported. The nonbinding guide written by public health, epidemiology and infectious disease experts was first published in May as the state began to reopen the economy. Until Wednesday, the county has never lowered the perceived risk from its highest zone, red.
12:30 p.m. The weekend after the Republican National Convention, President Donald Trump shared two tweets claiming U.S. coronavirus deaths have been vastly overstated. But is it true? Check the PolitiFact ruling here.
11:40: Victoria Arriazola is graduating from Texas A&M University in December. But she doesnt know if shell get to actually walk across the stage. Arriazola, 21, is one of many college students dealing with the struggles the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to young professionals. The unknowns of the virus have led to hiring freezes and remote work for many industries, and Arriazola became acquainted with that firsthand in March.
-- Jordan R. Miller
11:05 a.m. United Airlines announced plans to furlough 16,370 employees due to the pandemic's devastating effects on travel demand, including 1,349 in Houston. The furlough notices will take effect Oct. 1, and United plans to recall employees once travel demand rebounds.
-- Amanda Drane
10:55 a.m. An immigrant from Honduras has died of COVID-19 while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a Conroe detention facility, the agency said Wednesday. Fernando Sabonger-Garcia was pronounced dead at 11 a.m. Friday at the Conroe Regional Medical Center . ICE reported that Sabonger-Garcia was transferred to the hospital on July 26 from Joe Corley Processing Center. The center in Conroe is one of five detention facilities under the agencys Houston office reporting COVID-19 cases.
-- Olivia Tallet
9:50 a.m. Two Alvin ISD staff members tested positive for COVID-19 last week, leading to a 14-day shutdown of their classrooms, district spokeswoman Renae Rives said. One of those cases was at Alvin Elementary School in Alvin and the other was at McNair Junior High School in Pearland. Both cases were in self-contained classrooms, according to Rives. Self-contained classrooms often consist of special education students and their teachers.
-- Ted Dunnam
9:10 a.m. Labor Day offers no respite to the coronavirus-driven crisis in the travel industry. Only 16 percent of Americans say they will travel this long weekend, and only 14 percent of hotel rooms are booked, the American Hotel & Lodging Association found.
The shockwaves reverberate along supply chains, writes Chris Tomlinson, with more than 14 million people receiving unemployment benefits.
So when Congress returns next week, lets see if the president and lawmakers will negotiate more economic aid. If they dont, Americans can and should take action.
9:06 a.m. Long lines and delays in receiving test results plagued city and county-run COVID-19 test sites earlier this summer, causing a lot of frustration for people looking to see whether theyd gotten the virus.
Thats something that private labs around the country, including the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, are hoping to change. The universitys doctors group, UT Physicians, now offers COVID-19 testing for employers, Chronicle reporter Gwendolyn Wu writes.
At its limit, the group can process up to 1,000 swabs a day. Companies said its a relief to get their employees in and out of a test site quickly, and get the results within 48 hours.
8:40 a.m.: Ever since March, more people have started to dread the first of each month.
Its the day rent is usually due. Sometimes, its the date that car notes are due too, and maybe utilities. Renters who have lost their old sources of income wonder how they can scrape together enough money to stay housed. And theres always the next month to worry about.
The economic fallout of the novel coronavirus pandemic has pushed people already struggling even further back and put people who never had problems paying bills in an uncertain position theyve never experienced before. Businesses are trying to stay alive by cutting hours or cutting positions altogether.
The eviction moratorium announced Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control will ease the situation for renters who meet the requirements of the new measure, although they still will owe rent and wont be out from under other bills. Houston and Harris County have both offered another round of rental assistance. It wont be able to serve everyone who needs help.
Here, Houstonians facing housing instability share their stories with Sarah Smith.
7:50 a.m. Demand for jet fuel in the United States has been on a steady rise since May, when public health fears of the coronavirus brought the airline industry nearly to a standstill.
While still far below normal levels, in mid-August U.S. jet fuel demand reached more than 40 percent of the amount consumed a year earlier, up from around 20 percent in May, according to Energy Department data.
7 a.m. The number of coronavirus cases in Texas is at 638,607, an increase of 5,598 cases since yesterday. The state also reported 143 deaths for a total of 12,919, according to the Chronicle's Matt Dempsey.
In the Houston region, the number of coronavirus cases increased by 1,088, bringing the total to 154,957. The region also recorded 22 more deaths, bringing the total here to 2,913.
Funding will help Inari enhance its toolbox of seed technologies to reduce the worlds agricultural footprint and increase crop and food production for people around the world.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Inari Agriculture, a biotechnology company developing next-generation seeds, has secured $145 million since its founding less than four years ago and is expanding its operations at its Purdue Research Park-based Seed Foundry.
There are several goals we are working toward at the Seed Foundry, including reducing the time and cost to develop new seeds, and improving water and land use for crops like corn, wheat and soybeans, said Ponsi Trivisvavet, Inari Agriculture CEO. With the funding, we can support additional team members and increase our staff in West Lafayette to accelerate our seed research at an even faster pace.
Trivisvavet added that the research advancements would help Inari expand its extensive toolbox of proprietary and exclusively licensed technologies to create new products and added production value for farmers around the globe.
Right now, we are focusing on corn, wheat and soybeans because these are common food sources around the world and common crops in the U.S., Trivisvavet said.
The funding will help support plans to introduce gene-edited hybrid corn and soybean varieties with improved yield results and reduce water and fertilizer requirements.
The company opened the Seed Foundry in West Lafayette, Indiana, in 2018. The company also has locations in Ghent, Belgium, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
We conduct crop genetics research in Cambridge and Belgium, but we wanted a location in the Midwest where our customers are and where a majority of corn, wheat and soybeans are grown, Trivisvavet said. We visited several locations and felt that being close to Purdue University would provide a number of important benefits, including a pipeline of talent from Purdue and easy travel around the Midwest. An important added benefit is that the people in the Midwest have grown up around agriculture, and they understand it and connect well as a team.
Team members at Inaris West Lafayette site include Purdue graduates.
We all know that we need to change the way we produce food in order to meet the growing global needs for food security, and Purdue and Inari share this critical goal, said Karen Plaut, Purdues Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture. The funding that Inari has secured in such a short amount of time demonstrates that Inari is fast becoming a world leader in seed research.
Purdue has had three World Food Prize laureates, its College of Agriculture was rated in the top 20 in the world and No. 7 in the U.S. by Qualacquarelli Symonds, and its Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering was ranked as the top program in the country in the 2019 U.S. News & World Report. The College of Agriculture's International Programs in Agriculture (IPIA) collaborates with educational institutions, agencies and organizations throughout the world.
About Inari
Inari uses genetic technologies and data science to develop next-generation seeds that reduce the natural resources required to grow food, while providing farmers with more choice, performance and value. Inari, founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2016, is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with additional sites in West Lafayette, Indiana, and Ghent, Belgium. The company was honored as a 2019 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. To learn more, visit www.inari.com or follow us on TwitterC and LinkedIn.
About Purdue Research Park
The Purdue Research Park is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation and is the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country. The Purdue Research Park manages the Purdue Technology Centers in five sites across the state of Indiana with locations in West Lafayette, Indianapolis, Merrillville and New Albany. The nearly 240 companies located in the park network employ about 6,000 people. The Purdue Research Park is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information about leasing space in the Purdue Research Park, contact 765-588-3470 or click Purdue Research Park.
Writer: Cynthia Sequin, Purdue Research Foundation, casequin@prf.org
Inari: Julie Borlaug, 214-597-1009, Julie@inari.com
Sources: Ponsi Trivisvavet, ponsi@inari.com
Karen Plaut, 765-494-8362, kplaut@purdue.edu
PARIS: Fourteen suspected accomplices of the French Islamist militants behind the 2015 attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket in Paris go on trial on Wednesday.
The perpetrators of the attacks and alleged accomplices include:
CHERIF AND SAID KOUACHI
Cherif Kouachi and his brother Said were in their thirties when they stormed the office of Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7, 2015. Armed with automatic rifles, they killed 12 people, including some of Frances best-known cartoonists.
A two-day manhunt ensured. The brothers were killed when police stormed their hideout in a print works northeast of Paris.
Before becoming radicalised, Cherif was delivering pizzas and dreaming of rapping. His religious beliefs hardened after meeting Farid Benyettou, a salafist who ran a cell known as the Buttes-Chaumont group that sent a dozen youths to Iraq.
Police arrested Cherif as he prepared to fly to Syria en route to Iraq in 2005. He spent 18 months in jail.
AMEDY COULIBALY
Amedy Coulibaly shot dead a policewoman 24 hours after the Charlie Hebdo attack. A day later, Jan. 9, security forces killed the 32-year-old during a siege at a Jewish supermarket which claimed the lives of four hostages.
In a video later released online, Coulibaly said he had acted in the name of Islamic State. He said he had jointly planned the attacks with the Kouachi brothers.
The assaults were justified by French military interventions overseas, he said.
HAYAT BOUMEDIENNE
Hayat Boumedienne, Coulibalys partner at the time of attack, is one of three of the 14 suspected accomplices who will be tried in absentia. It is not known if she is dead or alive.
She fled to Syria via Spain and Turkey days before the attacks with two other defendants, Mohamed and Mehdi Belhoucine. Investigators say she joined Islamic State in the Iraq-Syria region.
Boumedienne is charged with membership of a terrorist organisation and financing terrorism. The charges carry a maximum of 20 years in jail.
MOHAMED BELHOUCINE
Mohamed Belhoucine faces the most serious charge against any of the 14 defendants of complicity in terror and a maximum sentence of life in jail.
Investigators allege he helped Coulibaly prepare his attack, including by supplying the e-mail addresses of militant contacts, as well as the video in which he pledges allegiance to Islamic State.
ALI RIZA POLAT
Investigators allege that Ali Riza Polat, a 35-year-old Frenchman of Turkish origin, was aware of the attackers intentions and helped the three men amass their arsenal of weapons and munitions.
Polat is also accused of participating in a terrorist network and complicity in the crimes committed by Coulibaly and the Kouachi brothers. He faces life in jail if convicted.
PETER CHERIF
Peter Cherif, also known as Abou Hamza, is suspected by investigators of ordering the Charlie Hebdo attack, according to security and judicial sources.
Cherif will be called to testify in the case over the role of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the shootings.
Cherif fought with al Qaeda in Falluja, Iraq, and was detained in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison and then in Mosul, where he escaped, according to a French investigation into the Buttes-Chaumont cell.
In the 2010s he spent time in Yemen until his arrest in Djibouti by French and U.S. agents in 2018.
He was transferred to France where he remains in prison awaiting trial on charges of belonging to a terrorist organisation.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Social media giant faces scrutiny after media reports revealed it ignored anti-Muslim hate speech by BJP leaders.
An Indian parliamentary committee has grilled a top Facebook executive after the social media giant was accused of bias and not acting against anti-Muslim posts on its platform.
The closed-door hearing on Wednesday followed accusations in newspaper reports that the social media giant was allowing hate speech on its platform and that its top policy official in India had shown favouritism towards Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
After the hearing, which lasted three and a half hours, the 30-member committee agreed to resume discussions later, including with representatives of Facebook, chairman Shashi Tharoor said in a tweet. Tharoor, an opposition Congress party lawmaker, did not give any details about the hearing.
Facebook came under scrutiny after a series of reports by the US-based Wall Street Journal (WSJ) showed the company ignored anti-Muslim hate speech by BJP politicians while Facebooks public-policy chief in India, Ankhi Das, made decisions favouring Modis party.
On Tuesday, New Delhi-based English daily the Indian Express reported that following a request from the party, Facebook had removed pages critical of the BJP months before the 2019 general elections.
In email exchanges reported by the Express, the BJP had told Facebook the pages were in violation of expected standards, with posts that were not in line with facts.
Al Jazeeras requests for comment from Facebook went unanswered.
India is Facebooks biggest market, with more than 300 million users, while the companys messaging app, WhatsApp, boasts 400 million users in the worlds second-most populous nation.
The BJP spends more than any political party in India on Facebook advertisements.
Politicians within Modis Hindu nationalist party have come under scrutiny for running online campaigns laced with false claims and attacks on the minority Muslim population.
Dozens of Muslims have been lynched in the past six years by vigilantes, with many of the incidents triggered by fake news regarding cow slaughter or smuggling shared on WhatsApp.
The WSJ had reported last month that Das refused to apply the companys hate speech policies a BJP politician and at least three other Hindu nationalist individuals and groups.
Facebook allowed the posts on its platform and did not punish violations by BJP members to avoid damaging the companys business prospects in the country, the WSJ said. Time Magazine made similar allegations last week.
In light of these revelations, T Raja Singh, a BJP politician at the centre of the controversy, was banned by the social media group.
Das last month apologised to Muslim staff for sharing a post that dubbed Muslims in India a degenerate community, according to a report by US media outlet BuzzFeed News.
It is unethical corporate practice to allow the director of Indias public policy team to also have lobbying responsibilities with the Indian government, Subbu Vincent, Director of Journalism and Media Ethics at the Marrkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University, told Al Jazeera.
This is a copout at the highest decision-making level for Facebook in any country, he added.
Opposition attacks Facebook
The Facebook deposition was originally slated for Tuesday but was deferred following the death of former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.
The opposition Congress party said in a statement on Tuesday that there was a blasphemous nexus between the BJP and Facebook.
The aim of the BJP is divide and rule and the social media giant Facebook is helping them achieve this, it said in the statement. Last month, the party wrote two letters to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking him to specify steps being taken to investigate allegations against its operations in India.
Regional leaders are also planning to question the worlds largest social media company about its policies regarding hate speech and fake news.
The Delhi government, led by the Aam Aadmi Party, said it would call Facebook executives to appear before its own assembly panel for posts it alleges incited violent religious riots in the city in February. At least 53 people were killed in that violence.
Opposition parliamentarian Derek O Brien, in a letter sent to the Facebook CEO on Tuesday, also said there was enough material in the public domain, including memos of senior Facebook management (in India) to show bias favouring the BJP.
Trinamool Rajya Sabha leader @derekobrienmp letter to #Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, alleging a Facebook-BJP nexus in Bengal ahead of next year's Assembly polls. pic.twitter.com/FSjJiefPFj Anita Joshua (@anitajoshua) September 2, 2020
Modis party and its members have repeatedly denied the allegations and instead accuse Facebook of censoring pro-India content.
On Tuesday, technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and said the platform was censoring content posted by people supportive of the right-of-centre ideology.
Prasad also alleged in the letter that recent press reports were the result of selective leaks to portray an alternate reality.
This interference in Indias political process through gossip, whispers and innuendo is condemnable, Prasad said.
The social media giant has denied any bias towards the Hindu nationalist party and said it was open, transparent and nonpartisan.
We take allegations of bias incredibly seriously, and want to make it clear that we denounce hate and bigotry in any form, Facebook India chief Ajit Mohan said in a statement soon after the controversy broke last month. But the company also admitted it had to do better on tackling hate speech.
The social media company created an oversight board this year, which will consist of 40 members once fully staffed, to handle free speech issues like those raised by the WSJ, Santa Claras Vincent said.
If the India policy team is doubtful about its own appearance of partisanship, even when for clearly anti-Muslim bigotry and incitement of violence, Ms Das could have easily reposed faith in this board by escalating the cases to it. It has not.
Vincent said this indicated that Facebooks US leadership has taken a political position on India, and undermined its own oversight board.
Right-wing bias?
Facebooks alleged favouritism towards Indias Hindu nationalists is not the first time the social media giant has been accused of tacitly supporting right-wing groups.
Last year, campaign group Avaaz said the tech giant was failing to rein in a tsunami of hate posts inflaming ethnic tensions in Indias northeast state of Assam.
Avaaz said the dehumanising language often targeting Indias Bengali Muslims was similar to that used on Facebook about Myanmars mainly Muslim Rohingya before an army crackdown and ethnic violence forced 700,000 Rohingya to flee in 2017 to Bangladesh.
A 2019 analysis by Equality Labs, a South Asia research organisation, showed that groups sharing anti-Muslim content on Facebook included supporters of Modis party or were linked to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer organisation and the ideological parent of the BJP. It found that 93 percent of the hate speech reported to Facebook was not removed.
Thenmozhi Soundararajan, executive director of Equality Labs, said Facebook lacks the capacity to remove widespread hate speech on its own and has been disingenuous and slow to act.
They have no interest in removing violent users because it is against their business interests, Soundararajan told the Associated Press.
She said Facebook India must ensure diversity in its content moderation team and consumer oversight of hate content.
The platform has also come under fire in Myanmar over hate speech directed at Rohingya over the past decade.
Investigators from the United Nations said Facebook played a key role in spreading hate speech that fuelled the violence.
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The company admitted two years ago that it had been too slow to address the problem.
Also last month in the US, a Facebook engineer was reportedly fired for internal posts revealing that right-leaning groups and individuals in the US were given preferential treatment by preventing their posts from being removed, despite violating content rules.
Far-right news website Breitbart, non-profit group PragerU and Trump supporters Diamond and Silk, were some of the organisations and personalities favoured by Facebook, according to internal posts seen by Buzzfeed.
Additional reporting by Usaid Siddiqui
Credit: Cancer Research UK.
When a child is diagnosed with cancer, treatment will typically involve a combination of chemotherapy drugs, surgery and for many, radiotherapy. And if the cancer comes back after these treatments, the options become even more limited.
For some children, there may be a clinical trial that could help. But many are testing combinations of chemotherapy drugs or radiotherapy techniques already in use.
It's something researchers are keen to change, spending years trying to test a newer, more targeted approach to treating children and young people's cancers.
And with the help of two studies that we're part fundingthe Stratified Medicine Paediatrics platform and the innovative ESMART trialthis ambition is becoming a reality.
We spoke to Professor Lou Chesler, a children's cancer expert at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Dr. Lynley Marshall, a children and young people's cancer consultant and drug development expert at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, about the changing landscape of paediatric cancer treatment.
The first of its kind
Stratified Medicine Paediatrics is the first prospective study of its kind in the country. And according to Chesler, it was sorely needed.
"The thinking these days is moving more and more towards being specific with cancer treatments," says Chesler. "And that means finding a feature of the tumour that we can target."
Hunting for those hidden genetic clues requires detailed genome sequencing technologies. Technologies that, before the Stratified Medicine Paediatrics, were not generally used for most children's cancers.
"We really never had a platform in the UK for studying our patients systematically and in detail," Chesler explains. "It took us a good five years to set up the infrastructure to do this in the UK. And I think that in itself was really important because we were behind other large-scale international efforts in the US, Germany and France in this regard."
But now, thanks to Stratified Medicine Paediatrics, the team are routinely sequencing children's tumours once their cancer has relapsed. Each child's tumour is analysed in unprecedented detail, using more than one approach, in the hope of uncovering a feature of the tumour that could be targeted by an existing treatment.
And it's important to Chesler that as much information as possible is gathered. "We need to maximise the amount of information gathering we can do with this biopsy sample," says Chesler. "This data will be an excellent guide that will enable us to make better decisions about what targeted drugs we could use to treat our patients."
To make a difference, Stratified Medicine Paediatrics, which we part fund thanks to a donation from Children with Cancer UK, doesn't just have to be detailed, it also has to be rapid and efficient.
"We need the information delivered within three weeks for clinicians to use it effectively. We have achieved that, and ideally we now aim for two weeks," says Chesler.
The pipeline
The conversation about Stratified Medicines Paediatrics begins when a child or young adult with cancer relapses. If the family are happy to take part, a sample (biopsy) of the tumour is then taken.
The sample first goes to Great Ormond Street Hospital and then on to the Centre for Molecular Pathology at The Institute for Cancer Research, where the tumour is scrutinised and a molecular report is produced.
An expert panel of clinicians and scientists can then discuss the findings, combining this with information about the child's cancer to recommend potential treatment options based on the specific genetic faults identified in the tumour.
In many cases, this will mean enrolling the child in a clinical trial like ESMART.
A unique clinical trial
"ESMART is one of the first trials where biopsies are mandatory. It's very innovative," says Chesler.
Smart by name, smart by nature, the clever design of ESMART means that it's testing the benefits of not one, but multiple new treatments, including immunotherapy drugs, and often in novel combinations, all at the same time.
ESMART was designed collaboratively within the Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer (ITCC) European paediatric early phase clinical trial consortium, which UK centres and investigators play a key role in. The trial started in France in the summer of 2017, with the first UK arm opening in December 2019, with Dr. Lynley Marshall at the helm.
"It's now grown into a 15-arm study. Some arms have already met their recruitment criteria and closed, while others have expanded to include additional patients because of good activity," says Marshall. "Then, as the science develops and a new compound or new combinations become available, we have the ability to test them as a part of ESMART."
The Royal Marsden was the first to open as an ESMART centre in the UK, Manchester Children's Hospital has recently opened, and a further three centres will be opening up across the country imminently.
And while ESMART and Stratified Medicine Paediatrics were developed separately, they are intimately linked, with clinicians from each of the UK ESMART sites dialling into the Stratified Medicine Paediatrics' expert tumour boards.
Accessing targeted agents, faster
Marshall comments that while there is still an important place for traditional treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, access to new, more targeted agents offers real possibility of benefit for children who have relapsed.
And the design of the ESMART trial means there are a large range of options, some of which are highly specific, thanks to a real drive to offer drugs of significant interest for childhood cancers that aren't available in other trials.
"The unmet need was there because there weren't already trials of those agents open, and we really felt that was a good way to get those into a very efficient study design," says Marshall. "The key thing is that the clinical trials are a means to offer these targeted therapies to our young patients safely in a controlled, regulated way and at a much earlier stage than they would otherwise be able to access them."
This offers tangible hope for children who have exhausted other options.
"Hearing the term 'clinical trial' when you've got a child who has cancer, I can imagine it may sound frightening at first, but actually, good trials offer real hope. And for families that have lived through multiple relapses, it's just knowing that there's something else that they can try with the real possibility of benefitit just makes all the difference."
There's more in store
Through studies like ESMART and Stratified Medicine Paediatrics, researchers are working more closely than ever to offer new treatments to children with cancer.
"What we're really proud of in this programme is the collaboration between research communities and the innovative design of the Stratified Medicines Paediatrics. It's delivering across borders and between scientists and clinicians, investigators and pharma companies, all for the benefit of patients. And that is very multidisciplinary and positive."
And with such a strong grounding in the research community, Stratified Medicine Paediatrics has got off to a remarkable start. In its first year of operation, the team sequenced the tumours of over 150 patients. "It's kind of like a Ferrari. When you first get in, you don't have a clue how to drive it, it's got all these buttons. I think our programme was like that in the first six months," says Chesler. "But it now operates super smoothly and very reliably. I'm so proud of that".
And, according to Chesler, it's only just the beginning. The team hope that the samples taken through Stratified Medicine Paediatrics will help improve the diagnosis and monitoring of children's cancers.
"The next main goal is to one day remove the need for tissue biopsies, by extracting the same information from blood." This would prevent the need for an intrusive operation.
For ESMART it's a matter of ongoing recruitment into the trial, continuing to adapt as some arms of the trial expand and others finish, while adding all the information they gain about childhood cancers to an extensive international database.
"The knowledge we're building up about paediatric cancers will help to drive future treatments and future trials. It's really exciting and could make a huge difference for patients," says Marshall.
Explore further Precision trial highlights need for new approach to treating genomically complex cancers
Capri Holdings Limited (NYSE:CPRI), a global fashion luxury group, today announced the appointment of Hannah Colman as Chief Executive Officer, Jimmy Choo, reporting to John D. Idol, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Capri Holdings.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200902005655/en/
VERSACE (Photo: Business Wire)
Ms. Colman has an unrivalled knowledge and understanding of the Jimmy Choo brand as one of company's earliest employees joining 24 years ago as Store Manager in the first boutique on Motcomb Street, London. From there she went on to serve in a number of roles including most recently President EMEA and Global E-commerce. Currently she has been serving as Interim CEO.
John D. Idol, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Hannah has been instrumental in Jimmy Choo's growth with her instinctive vision for the brand. She has done an outstanding job leading the business during a highly challenging and unprecedented time. I have every faith that she will continue to lead Jimmy Choo to even greater heights. Our company has an excellent team in place and I am confident that under Hannah's leadership the brand will continue to go from strength to strength."
Sandra Choi, Founder and Creative Director of Jimmy Choo, said, "Hannah and I have worked together since the start of our fashion luxury house. I couldn't be happier that she will now lead our company as we continue to grow Jimmy Choo as one of the most important British luxury brands in the world. We share the same vision for the future of this brand that we both love."
Hannah Colman, Chief Executive Officer of Jimmy Choo, said, "Having been part of the Jimmy Choo team since 1996 I am thrilled to be leading such an iconic British luxury house. Working alongside Sandra over the last few months as Interim CEO has been a great experience and it's a privilege to lead such a talented team who have done an incredible job of steering the brand through the events of this year. I take the responsibility of writing the next chapter of this remarkable luxury house incredibly seriously and couldn't be more excited by the opportunity."
About Capri Holdings Limited
Capri Holdings Limited is a global fashion luxury group, consisting of iconic brands that are industry leaders in design, style and craftsmanship. Its brands cover the full spectrum of fashion luxury categories including women's and men's accessories, footwear and ready-to-wear as well as wearable technology, watches, jewelry, eyewear and a full line of fragrance products. The Company's goal is to continue to extend the global reach of its brands while ensuring that they maintain their independence and exclusive DNA. Capri Holdings Limited is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CPRI.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200902005655/en/
Contacts:
Investor Relations:
Jennifer Davis
(201) 514-8234
Jennifer.Davis@CapriHoldings.com
Media:
Emma Woolley
+44 207 368 5025
Emma.Woolley@JimmyChoo.com
WASHINGTON - Representatives from Fox News, C-SPAN and NBC will moderate the upcoming debates between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
According to the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, the moderators will be:
Chris Wallace of Fox News for the debate Sept. 29 in Cleveland.
Steve Scully of C-SPAN for the town meeting debate Oct. 15 in Miami.
NBCs Kristen Welker for the debate Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The commission also announced Wednesday that USA Todays Susan Page will moderate the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 7 in Salt Lake City with Vice-President Mike Pence and Democrat Kamala Harris.
Trump and Biden have said they will attend the scheduled debates, which are meant to offer voters to opportunity to see the contrast between the candidates on live television.
Im looking forward to debating the president and Im going to lay out as clearly as I can my vision for the county, Biden said
There was no immediate comment from the Trump campaign.
Trumps team has tried to pressure the commission to move up the debates, citing increased use of early and absentee voting because of the coronavirus.
AP writer Will Weissert contributed from Wilmington, Delaware.
Actress-veejay Shibani Dandekar has called out media personnel for misbehaving with Rhea Chakraborty, who is accused of abetment to suicide in the death of her late boyfriend, Sushant Singh Rajput.
Shibani posted a lengthy Instagram note in the support of Rhea, whom she has known for a long time.
"I have known Rhea Chakraborty since she was 16 years old. Vibrant, strong, vivacious... such a bright spark.. so full of life! I have witnessed such a stark contrast to this side of her personality over the last few months as her and her family (some of the warmest best people you will ever meet) have experienced the most unimaginable trauma. We have watched the media behave like complete vultures on a witch-hunt, vilifying and torturing an innocent family to breaking point," Shibani wrote.
She also shared the current situation has affected Rhea's family a lot.
"Her basic human right taken away as the media play judge jury and executioner! We have seen the death of journalism and a frightening side of humanity! What was her crime ? She loved a boy, looked after him through his darkest days,put her life on hold to be there for him and when he took his own life she was crucified.
"What have we become? I have seen her first hand what this has done to her mother's health , how it has affected her father who gave his life to serve this country for 20 years, how quickly her brother has had to grow up and how strong he has had to be," Shibani added.
She even promised Rhea to be with her always, demanding justice for the latter.
"My Rhea, you are a pillar of strength, so resilient. I have so much love and respect for you, for the human being you are and for fighting this till the end knowing that you have the truth on your side... I am sorry you had to go through this.. I am sorry that we weren't better. I am sorry that so many people let you down, doubted you, weren't there for you when you needed the most.
"I am sorry that the best thing you ever did in your life ( looking after Sushant) led you to the worst experience of your life. I am so sorry. I am with you always. Justice for Rhea," Shibani concluded.
Many celebs agreed with Shibani.
"I an crying, my heart hurts to know what they are doing to our little rabit. She is our baby sister forever," Anusha Dandekar commented.
Dancer-actress Lauren Gottlieb thanked Shibani for writing the post.
Sushant was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14. Currently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing his death.
It seems like something always affects Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's plans.
Five months after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle officially left the monarchy, the royal prince is expected to have already adapted in his environment. Since his wife is an American citizen, it should be easier for him to embrace his new world away from the royal family.
However, the royal prince is about to turn into a resident alien, as he has not done anything about a possible U.S. citizenship.
According to Express, the cutoff to be considered as a resident is 183 days. The process is also known as the substantial presence test.
To pass this, a person should be physically present in the U.S. "for 31 days during the current year and 183 in the last three years."
In Prince Harry's case, it has been 159 days since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex left Canada and relocated in California. It means that he is nearing the cutoff point, and he could be liable to pay taxes once it happens.
Meghan could sponsor Prince Harry. However, immigration and tax expert David Lesperance told the news outlet that Prince Harry is unlikely to be in the U.S. on a green card since this would make him a U.S. citizen for tax purposes.
However, this process can be refuted since Prince Harry is also a resident in another country.
With that said, if the Duke of Sussex were to stay in the U.S. past that threshold, what Lesperance fears would definitely happen.
If he refuses to have a visa instead of a green card, then he could choose to be a U.S. taxpayer this year and a U.K. taxpayer next year.
The set-up is called the O-visa, and Lesperance believes that this could give Prince Harry the maximum flexibility he wants.
"In another world, [Harry] could say, 'we're having another baby, I want to be home changing diapers, our activity for shooting a movie will be in the U.S. so this year I will be a U.S. person for tax purposes, next year I may not be'," he explained. "Whereas, if you have a green card, you are a U.S. person for tax purposes until you give up that green card."
It is highly likely that the royal prince would avail a visa called the O-1 non-immigrant visa. This allows individuals with remarkable achievement in their field to stay in a country without shouldering taxes.
The tax expert added that Prince Harry could use his background as the founder and organizer of the Invictus Games to qualify for this visa.
Although he has a lot of choices to choose from, an insider revealed earlier this year that Prince Harry is not considering getting a green card.
An insider told E! News that Prince Harry has a valid reason why he refuses to apply or does not consider U.S. citizenship.
"Harry is not applying for a Green Card or dual citizenship anytime soon, which will come as a surprise to many because that is what most people assumed he'd do on moving to the U.S.," the insider said.
READ MORE: Princess Diana's Death: 3 Times the Royal Family Disappointed, Hurt the Princess of Wales
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 2, 2020) - Red Light Holland Corp. (CSE: TRIP) (FSE: 4YX) ("Red Light Holland" or the "Company"), an Ontario-based corporation positioning itself to engage in the production, growth and sale of its brand of magic truffles to the legal, recreational market within the Netherlands, is pleased to announce that it has solidified its arrangement with McSmart (as defined by the listing statement) for the launch of its previously announced Microdosing Packs through three Smart Shops operated by McSmart. The Microdosing Packs are anticipated to become available for purchase to consumers in the Netherlands before the end of September 2020, at the following Smart Shop locations: (i) two Tatanka locations, and (ii) the Headshop. In addition, the Microdosing Packs are also expected to become available for purchase in the Netherlands on Tatanka's website at www.tatanka.nl.
"All of us at Red Light Holland are very excited as our Microdosing Packs are so close to being on shelves and available for online purchases. We are still anticipating our premiere product launch, with our newly coined phrase "iMicrodose," happening later this month, and working so closely with McSmart is something we are truly appreciative of," said Todd Shapiro, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company.
Magic truffles, which are sold in their natural, raw and unprocessed form, need to be refrigerated. As such, two of the Smart Shops are also expected to feature Red Light Holland-branded fridges to house the magic truffles and display their iMicrodose packs in a clever and unique way. The Microdosing Packs have a shelf-life of approximately 3 months.
Red Light Holland Microdosing Packs
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About Red Light Holland Corp.
The Company is an Ontario-based corporation positioning itself to engage in the production, growth and sale of its brand of magic truffles to the legal, recreational market within the Netherlands, in accordance with the highest standards, in compliance with all applicable laws. The Company's brand of magic truffles are expected to be sold in the Netherlands through existing Smart Shops as well as its e-commerce platform, and are expected to be initially made available in the form of its previously announced Microdosing Packs.
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For additional information on the Company:
Todd Shapiro
Chief Executive Officer and Director
Tel: 647-204-7129
Email: todd@redlighttruffles.com
Website: https://redlighttruffles.com
Forward-Looking Statements
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 release.
Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Readers are further cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such forward-looking statements (including, but not limited to, the assumption that (i) the Company will be able to execute on its business plan, and will receive one or multiple licenses, permits, and authorizations from time to time necessary to execute on its business plan, (ii) the Company's financial condition and development plans do not change as a result of unforeseen events, (iii) there will continue to be a demand, and market opportunity, for the Company's product offerings, (iv) the Company will be able to establish, preserve and develop its brand, and attract and retain required personnel, (v) the Company will be successful in offering for sale the Microdosing Packs as contemplated herein, on the terms and within the timelines anticipated by the Company, (vi) current and future economic conditions will neither affect the business and operations of the Company nor the Company's ability to capitalize on anticipated business opportunities, and (vii) the magic truffles currently being grown by the Company will be ready for harvest and distribution within the timelines anticipated by the Company, and in particular, will pass the testing criteria established by the Company), although considered reasonable by management of the Company at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and result in actual results differing materially from those anticipated, and as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this 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 laws. Forward-looking statements, forward-looking financial information and other metrics presented herein are not intended as guidance or projections for the periods referenced herein or any future periods, and in particular, past performance is not an indicator of future results and the results of the Company in this news release may not be indicative of, and are not an estimate, forecast or projection of the Company's future results. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/62997
According to the Pew Research Center, half of Hispanics said they worry daily or nearly every day about financial issues like paying their bills, the amount of debt they carry and the cost of health care, and more 1 . The increased financial strain caused by the pandemic has also created uncertainty as parents and students work to fund and continue higher education. As a result, McDonald's created the "HACER More Scholarship" to help more students pursue college degrees despite the pandemic. So, in 2020, 100 additional scholarships will be awarded, bringing the total to 130, versus 30 in 2019. The additional scholarship recipients will be selected from the 2019 HACER National Scholarship pool of applicants that meet the existing criteria for the scholarship and will be enrolled in school for spring of 2021. "HACER More Scholarship" recipients will be selected this October, allowing them to use the funds for the current academic year.
"Despite the difficulty of this time, students are showing their resiliency by continuing their education," said Santiago Negre, HACER scholarship committee judge and head of McDonald's National Hispanic Consumer Market Committee. "McDonald's and our owner/operators are committed to our communities and customers, so we are honored to contribute to the educational pursuits of Hispanic students through the HACER National Scholarship program, having done so for the last 35 years."
The McDonald's HACER National Scholarship is one of the largest programs committed to college scholarships. Since 1985, it has awarded $31.5 million to Hispanic college students pursuing their higher education dreams. This year, in addition to receiving scholarships, the 30 winners of the 2020 HACER National Scholarship received a "tech backpack" that included a laptop, wireless mouse, and headphonessome of the tools needed to succeed in a virtual learning environment.
"It's a huge relief to know even with the difficulties we're all facing this year, like adapting to a new way of learning, keeping ourselves and our families safe, and more, that I no longer have to worry about the burden of tuition costs thanks to McDonald's," said Vladimir Rosales, one of the 2020 HACER National Scholarship winners, awarded $100,000 to attend San Jose State University in California. "I'm thankful that this year McDonald's is not only supporting me in achieving my higher education goals but is also giving another 100 Hispanic students the same opportunity."
The McDonald's HACER National Scholarship is just one of many company initiatives created to educate the next generation of youth. This includes the Black & Positively Golden Scholarships for students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the McDonald's/APIA Scholarship program for Asian and Pacific-Islander American students. The Archways to Opportunity program for crew gives eligible employees at participating U.S. restaurants the ability to earn a high school diploma, receive upfront college tuition assistance, access free education/career advising services and learn English as a second language.
Hispanic college-bound high school seniors and their parents are encouraged to visit mcdonalds.com/hacer for additional college resources in English and Spanish and for details on how to apply for the McDonald's HACER National Scholarship. The scholarship application period for the next academic year opens on October 5, 2020 and runs through February 3, 2021.
1. "Coronavirus Economic Downturn Has Hit Latinos Especially Hard." Pew Research Center, Washington D.C. (August 4, 2020) https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/08/04/coronavirus-economic-downturn-has-hit-latinos-especially-hard/
ABOUT McDONALD'S
McDonald's USA, LLC, serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to nearly 25 million customers every day. Ninety-five percent of McDonald's 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 .
Contact
Nathaly Renderos
[email protected]
630-408-8250
SOURCE McDonald's USA
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The Indian Army has captured all positions and posts in the Ridge area on the southern bank of the Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh, government sources told News18 on Wednesday amid escalating tensions on the border with China.
We havent entered their (Chinese) location, but dominated our posts. We are in dominating position at this point, a source said.
India is committed to border security under PM Narendra Modi and we hope China will come for a peaceful border solution now, the source added.
Both countries had held Brigade Commander-level talks on Tuesday in Chushul on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) following the latest confrontation which was triggered by the Chinese militarys provocative movements on the southern bank of Pangong lake. Chinas attempt to change the status quo on the intervening night of August 29 and 30 was thwarted by Indian troops.
China has denied that it started the latest flare-up, with an embassy spokeswoman in New Delhi accusing Indian troops of trespassing across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) - the de facto border - and conducting flagrant provocations".
India and China were earlier engaged in a confrontation on the northern bank of Pangong lake but it was for the first time that such an incident occurred on its southern bank.
This is the first major incident in the area after the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15 in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed. China also suffered casualties but is yet to make the details public. According to an American intelligence report it was 35.
Both sides then agreed to pull back with military chiefs in the region holding five rounds of talks.
Zero Hash, a Chicago, IL-based provider of an infrastructure to settle digital assets in an automated and regulated way, closed its Series C funding round of undisclosed amount.
The round was led by tastytrade, a Chicago-based holding company that owns major broker dealers including tastyworks and Dough, as well The Small Exchange, with participation from existing investors Bain Capital TradeStation, CMT Digital and Monday Capital.
The company intends to use the funds to enrich its feature base around its automated lending infrastructure as well as expand its product offering to include ACH processing.
Led by Edward Woodford, co-founder and CEO, Zero Hash provides the infrastructure to settle digital assets in a completely automated and regulated way. Key features include:
Identity: Verify users identities, with KYC/AML requirements under the BSA.
Balance: Verify real-time account balances and deposits across all assets, with ownership validation.
Lock: Lock and unlock the withdrawals of assets in real time for committed and exited transactions.
Transfer: Transfer the ownership of assets with Zero Hash providing the regulatory framework to serve 97%+ of the US population. All transfers can be automated with a full screening of assets to ensure compliance.
Transactions: Access detailed transaction history with real time transaction updates across 1000+ transaction pairs.
Loans: Submit and manage digital asset loans with complete customization and automation of margin payments, collateral management and more.
Zero Hash is a FinCen-registered Money Service Business as well as a regulated Money Transmitter that can operate in more than 45 states. It also holds a virtual currency license from NYDFS.
The client base, that it has publicly announced, includes payment service providers including Moonpay and Banxa, established broker dealers including TradeStation as well as some of the largest OTC groups globally.
FinSMEs
02/09/2020
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 2) - President Rodrigo Duterte called on his fellow world leaders to build a new order in combatting terrorism during a teleconferencing in the anti-terrorism initiative called the Aqaba Process hosted by Jordanian King Abdullah II.
Build new order: one that is more secure, just, and humane where there is no room for the barbarity of terrorists and extremist forces," said Duterte, as quoted in a statement released by the Office of the President.
"And one that is fair, equal, and sustainable- where progress and prosperity, he added.
The Aqaba Process is a series of international meetings among heads of state launched in 2015 to address violent extremist threats and strengthen counterterrorism effort.
In the two-hour meeting, Duterte called for more openness, deeper solidarity, and stronger cooperation among nations in countering terrorism and violent extremism and even facilitating economic recovery.
We will not let up in our fight against terrorism," he said. "And we will not allow COVID-19 to bring our people to their knees.
Duterte also said the government will continue to work on narrowing deep-seated inequalities as part of the whole-of-nation approach against terrorism.
The Philippines has been battling for years terrorists who have carried out deadly attacks, the latest of which were last week's twin suicide bombings in Jolo, Sulu that left 15 people dead and 75 injured. The Abu Sayyaf -- a group notorious for bombings, kidnappings and beheadings is believed to be behind the blasts.
Aside from addressing terrorism, the Philippines will also intensify its economic cooperation with other Southeast Asian countries as economies are affected by the pandemic, according to Duterte.
The key to shared prosperity is the free movement of goods, capital, and services, complemented with appropriate social safety nets, said Duterte. This is why we in ASEAN are drawing up a comprehensive recovery plan anchored on strengthening economic cooperation and supply chain connectivity.
Joining Duterte in the meeting as part of the countrys delegation were Senator Bong Go, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr., Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Leslie Baja, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr., Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez, Jr., and Presidential Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Chief of Presidential Protocol Robert Borje.
B oris Johnson has demanded Russia explain itself after the "outrageous" Novichok poisoning of prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
The Prime Minister pledged to work with international partners to ensure justice is done.
The German government said toxicology tests at a military laboratory showed "unequivocal proof" that the military-grade nerve agent was deployed.
Mr Navalny, a thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, collapsed on a plane on August 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.
The anti-corruption activist was transferred to Berlins Charite hospital, where he remains in a coma, after Russian doctors repeatedly ruled out poisoning.
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny (file photo) / REUTERS
The Kremlin has denied any involvement. It comes as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called on Russia to tell the truth about the incident, saying he was deeply concerned.
Novichok was used by suspected Russian spies to target former agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in March 2018.
Mr Raab said: It is absolutely unacceptable that this banned chemical weapon has been used again, and once more we see violence directed against a leading Russian opposition figure.
The Russian government has a clear case to answer. It must tell the truth about what happened to Mr Navalny.
We will work closely with Germany, our allies and international partners to demonstrate that there are consequences for using banned chemical weapons anywhere in the world.
Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement that testing by a special German military laboratory had now shown proof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group.
It is a dismaying event that Alexei Navalny was the victim of an attack with a chemical nerve agent in Russia, Mr Seibert said.
The German government condemns this attack in the strongest terms.
Ms Merkel said Mr Navalny was the victim of an attempted murder by poisoning and the aim was to silence him.
She said there are very serious questions that only the Russian government can answer and must answer.
A file photo of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is under fire over the poisoning / AP
Germanys foreign minister Heiko Maas said the Russian ambassador has been summoned and told that Berlin expects a full and transparent investigation.
The revelation by Germany risks further souring relations between Moscow and the West. The White House branded the apparent poisoning "completely reprehensible" and vowed to hold Russia accountable.
Allies of Mr Navalny, who heads one of Russias most prolific opposition movements - Russia of the Future - say he was poisoned on orders of Mr Putin, a claim the Kremlin denies.
Last week, Russia's Prosecutor General's Office insisted a preliminary inquiry had found no evidence "deliberate criminal acts committed against" Mr Navalny.
Novichok is a cholinesterase inhibitor, part of the class of substances that doctors at the Charite initially identified in Mr Navalny and a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War.
Russian opposition figures have a history of falling victim to assassination attempts by suspected Kremlin agents, some of which have been successful, such as in the case of Alexander Litvinenko who drank tea laced with Pulonium-210 in a London hotel in 2006.
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Following the Salisbury poisonings, Britain charged two Russians alleged to be agents of the Russian military intelligence service GRU in absentia with the 2018 attack, which left the Skripals in a critical condition and killed a local woman. Russia has refused to extradite the men to the UK.
(Newser) The German government left no room for interpretation on Wednesday, saying toxicology tests returned "unequivocal proof" that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent from the Novichok group. Russia has denied that the opposition politician, who has been in a coma since falling ill in August on a flight from Siberia to Moscow, was poisoned at the direction of Vladimir Putin, but the BBC reports the German government isn't swallowing that.
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CNN reports a German government rep called it "startling" that Navalny "was the victim of an attack with a chemical nerve agent in Russia." Germany asked Russia to explain what happened and said it "will discuss an appropriate joint response with the partners [meaning the EU and NATO] in the light of the Russian response." A Novichok nerve agent was also used on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018. (Read more Alexei Navalny stories.)
Saudi Arabia is rolling back its famous chequebook diplomacy, a long-standing policy of injecting petrodollars in exchange for an influence that observers say has not produced tangible results, AFP reported.
For decades, the wealthy kingdom has channeled billions of dollars to help its allies and the enemies of its enemies in an effort to bond its position as an Arab power and leader of the Muslim world.
But as the sharp drop in demand has led to shrinking oil revenues, the kingdom is rethinking old alliances that Saudi observers say were swallowing money with little to offer in return, while Riyadh's quest for regional supremacy increasingly clashes with rivals Iran, Turkey, and Qatar.
A swathe of regional countries, from Jordan and Lebanon to Egypt, Palestine and Pakistan, have been the top recipients of Saudi aid over the past decade, said Middle East expert Yasmine Farouk, said Middle East expert Yasmin Farouk.
"The dual economic impact of the coronavirus and low oil prices, however, may lead Saudi Arabia to restructure and rationalise its aid," said Farouk, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"The country is already seeking to end the perception of being 'an ATM'."
The kingdom has invested billions in rebuilding Lebanon after the civil war, but has expressed frustration over its failure to curb Hezbollah.
"Saudi Arabia will not continue to pay Hezbollah's bills, and the Lebanese have to shoulder their responsibilities towards their country," Saudi columnist Khalid al-Sulaiman wrote recently for the pro-government Okaz newspaper.
"It is no longer possible for Saudi Arabia to continue paying billions to Lebanon in the morning and receive insults at night.
"This situation is no longer compatible with the new Saudi foreign policy, as Saudi money does not fall from the sky or grow in the desert."
Saudi Arabia is also disenchanted with Pakistan as the latter is pushing Riyadh to take a firm stance on the disputed Kashmir region and threats to raise the issue in other Muslim forums. Such a threat is especially unpleasant for Saudi Arabia, which is home to the most sacred sites of Islam and considers itself the leader of the Muslim world.
A diplomatic source told AFP that the kingdom recently withdrew $ 1 billion from a $ 3 billion loan from cash-strapped Pakistan, and an expired multi-billion dollar oil loan to Islamabad has not been renewed.
"Pakistani elites have a bad habit of taking Saudi support for granted, given what Saudi has done for Pakistan over the decades," tweeted Ali Shihabi, a Saudi author and analyst.
"Well the party is over, and Pakistan needs to deliver value to this relationship. It's no longer a free lunch or a one-way street."
Riyadh's ties with Pakistan have historically been very warm, but the relationship has been one-sided, Saudi Arabia's Prince Talal bin Mohammad al-Faisal said.
"It (has) only benefited one side in 'real world' terms," he tweeted.
"That side is Pakistan."
Pakistan and Egypt, another billionaire ally, have rejected calls for troops to support the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.
Further fueling the confusion in Riyadh, a leaked 2015 audio recording showed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi making fun of the Gulf powers, including Saudi Arabia, saying they ride on money like cheese in butter.
This view was echoed in 2018 by US President Donald Trump when he received Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office and showed a chart listing billions of dollars in military hardware sales to Riyadh.
"Take their money," Trump told NBC News the following year, justifying his support for the kingdom's rulers after the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi caused a worldwide outcry.
Observers say Riyadh is struggling to win respect, and its once leading role in the Muslim world is increasingly questioned by its rivals.
Farouk said the Saudis are increasingly unhappy with their ungrateful allies.
States that have traditionally received lavish infusions from Saudi Arabia, including Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine, have "already seen instances in which aid was frozen, decreased or cut off", she added.
Mick Fanning split from his ex-wife Karissa Dalton in early 2016, after seven years of marriage.
And life has certainly changed for Karissa in the years since parting ways with the 39-year-old surfing champion.
The 33-year-old founder of bridal website The Lane officially moved on from her marriage in 2018 when she found love with Ryan Bienefelt, a carpenter from Sydney's northern beaches.
Life after love: Inside the life of surfing champion Mick Fanning's ex wife Karissa Dalton, following their split in 2016. Pictured together in happier times
The pair went public with their romance in August 2018 while on a ski trip to Queenstown, New Zealand.
During that holiday, they posted loved-up photos of each other on their respective Instagram accounts
Before dating Karissa, Ryan had been in a relationship with pop star Natalie Imbruglia from 2016 to 2017.
In September 2018, Ryan announced that Karissa was pregnant by uploading a photo of her to Instagram in which she cradled her baby bump in a black slip dress.
New man: The 33-year-old founder of bridal website The Lane officially moved on from her marriage in 2018 when she found love with Ryan Bienefelt (right), a carpenter from Sydney's northern beaches who previously dated pop star Natalie Imbruglia from 2016 to 2017
Karissa gave birth to a baby girl on January 5, 2019, naming her Veia Valentina.
Shortly after her arrival, Karissa shared a gorgeous black and white photo of the child sleeping peacefully at the couple's Byron Bay home.
She added a quote by Australian artist and writer, Tess Guinery, which read: 'Sometimes we get given the opportunity to make a brave choice. A choice, to surrender the things that have been great, in exchange for greater.
Going public: The pair went public with their romance in August 2018 while on a ski trip to Queenstown, New Zealand. During that holiday, they posted loved-up photos of each other on their respective Instagram accounts
Baby on board! In September 2018, Ryan announced that Karissa was pregnant by uploading a photo of her (left) to Instagram in which she cradled her baby bump in a black slip dress
Baby bump: During her pregnancy, Karissa posted several pictures to Instagram of herself with her bump on display
'It's here a soulful, lively, heart out of chest, tears on cheeks, I'm alive kind of passion lives - it lives just around the corner, from surrender's bend.'
In the months following the child's birth, Karissa and Ryan shared several baby pictures of Veia.
On Mother's Day this year, Ryan shared a sweet tribute to his partner on Instagram.
Baby joy! Karissa gave birth to a baby girl on January 5 this year, naming her Veia Valentina
'Thank you for bringing us the most precious gift of all. We love you. Happy Mother's Day ,' he wrote.
Karissa has also been kicking goals in her professional life in the four years since her split from Mick.
As the founder and creative director of bridal website The Lane, Karissa spends her days travelling around the globe for glamorous photo shoots.
'Thank you for bringing us the most precious gift of all': On Mother's Day this year, Ryan shared a sweet tribute to his partner on Instagram
Glamorous: Karissa looked effortlessly chic in this photo of herself holding Veia on August 10
Last year, she travelled to Italy and stayed inside the ancient caves of Matera while working on a glossy editorial shoot for The Lane.
Karissa, who was six months pregnant at the time, had to drive around loose cliff edges while travelling to the location.
'A shoot I won't forget... didn't quite realise shooting here would mean driving around loose cliff edges, reversing right to the very edges to get a run up for the next corner!' she wrote on Instagram.
Italian adventure: Karissa was six months pregnant when she travelled to Italy to direct a photo shoot for The Lane
High flyer: In July 2018, she travelled to New Mexico with her friend Pia Miller (left), who posed in the sand dunes for another bridal photo shoot
In July 2018, she travelled to New Mexico with her friend Pia Miller, who posed in the sand dunes for another bridal photo shoot.
She also visited the Maldives in September 2018, before jetting to Yucatan, Mexico, in January the following year.
Mick and his new fiancee, Breeana Randal, welcomed their son, Xander Dean Fanning, three weeks ago.
Proud: Mick and his new fiancee, Breeana Randal, welcomed their son, Xander Dean Fanning, three weeks ago. The couple are pictured with Breeana's midwife
Mick announced his engagement and baby news with Breeana in February.
'This beautiful woman has stolen my heart and I'm so excited to create a beautiful family with her. Bub is due in August,' he told his Instagram followers at the time.
Karissa and Mick met in 2004 and married in 2008, before calling it quits in early 2016.
Case of the ex: Karissa and Mick (pictured in happier times) met in 2004 and married in 2008, before calling it quits in early 2016
Mick's marriage split followed a tough six months for the three-time world champion, in which he fought off a shark while competing in South Africa, followed shortly afterwards by the sudden death of his brother Peter in late 2015.
It was the second death he'd experienced in his immediate family, after his older brother Sean died in a car accident in 1998.
'That was the one that just floored me. I was like, "What else? What else can be taken in a year?" At the end of 2015, I just hit rock bottom,' he told 60 Minutes last month.
BOSTON - After the 1963 assassination of U.S. president John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy famously compared his 1,000-day presidency to Camelot, a popular Broadway musical about the legend of King Arthur crafting a wistful shorthand for the Kennedy tenure, and by extension the entire Kennedy dynasty.
Now, 60 years after JFKs election as president, some are wondering if the days of Camelot are over after U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy llls failed attempt to oust incumbent U.S. Sen. Edward Markey in Tuesdays state Democratic primary.
The loss marks the first time a member of the political dynasty has come up short in a race for Congress in Massachusetts.
The 39-year-old Kennedy, even as he conceded the election, seemed to leave open the possibility of a future chapter in his familys long political saga.
No matter the results tonight, I would do this again with all of you again in a heartbeat, Kennedy told supporters. We may have lost the final vote count tonight, but we built a coalition that will endure because this coalition, our coalition, is the future of a Democratic party.
In reality, a successful revival for Kennedy is going to be tough given the states changing political landscape, said Jeffrey Berry, a professor of American politics and political behaviour at Tufts University.
Its going to be difficult for him to come back and do elected politics here in Massachusetts because the Democratic side is very crowded with a lot of very capable people, Berry said, pointing to potential rivals including U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
Berry said Kennedy was in a difficult position because it was hard for him to run to the left of Markey, given New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs endorsement of Markey.
Kennedy instead won the endorsement of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
That left him as the establishment candidate, which was not a good position to be in, Berry said.
The Kennedy legacy hung over the race, especially in the closing weeks, when Kennedy more explicitly invoked his pedigree including JFK; former U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, his grandfather; and former U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, who held a Senate seat in Massachusetts for nearly half a century until his death in 2009.
Kennedys father, Joe Kennedy ll, also held a Massachusetts seat in Congress from 1987 to 1999.
For his part, the 74-year-old Markey was able to flip the Kennedy script, highlighting his blue-collar roots growing up as the son of a driver for the Hood Milk Co. in working-class Malden, a Boston suburb.
In one campaign ad, Markey also offered an updated take on a famous JFK quote, saying: We asked what we could do for our country. We went out, we did it. With all due respect, its time to start asking what your country can do for you.
One loss doesnt necessarily mean the end of the Kennedy mystique, said Erin OBrien, a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts-Boston.
Is Camelot over? No, she said.
OBrien pointed out that early on, polls were giving Kennedy the edge, in large part because of the political cachet of his last name.
But as the race wore on, Kennedy struggled to answer the fundamental question of why he was running a question that helped trip up Edward Kennedys 1980 campaign for president, which was also against an incumbent, Democratic president Jimmy Carter.
He was trying to make a change argument, but became a corporate moderate, and Ed Markey became the second coming of Bernie Sanders, OBrien said. He became the embodiment of privilege or inherited wealth, and those are two things that Democrats are not looking for in elected officials.
In the end, she said, Kennedy couldnt reveal his real reason for challenging Markey to avoid a crowded Democratic field in a future race for an open Senate seat that could include popular Democrats like Pressley, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton and Attorney General Maura Healey.
Joe Kennedy gambled and he lost, she said.
Kennedys defeat is also a loss for the national Democratic partys bank account.
The scion of one of the countrys most famous political dynasties was popular among high-dollar donors well beyond Massachusetts. Kennedy helped raise millions of dollars for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats campaign arm, during the 2018 midterm elections. He also stumped for more than a dozen other candidates.
Massachusetts voters may have rejected him, but few remaining House Democrats carry the same national fundraising appeal as Kennedy.
Lost in the talk of the Kennedy legacy is Markeys own long history of winning elections. First elected to the House in a special election in 1976, Markey has never lost a subsequent race in the House or Senate.
Other members of the extended Kennedy clan have lost congressional contests outside Massachusetts. In 1986, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend lost a U.S. House race in Maryland, and in 2002, Mark Kennedy Shriver also lost a congressional primary in Maryland.
In his concession speech, Kennedy gave a nod to the extended Kennedy clan.
To my mom, my dad, my twin brother and the rest of a rowdy bunch of crazy cousins, you all are my heroes, he said. You are my example of what public service should be and can be when it is done with courage and grit.
And while there may be no other members of the family waiting in the political wings, you cant count the family out completely, Berry said.
He has two adorable children, and maybe 40 years from now, theyll run, he said.
The ongoing Sandalwood drug abuse controversy has been hogging the news headlines for the past few days. Its being alleged that a number of folks from Kannada film industry have been involved and according to director Indrajit Lankesh, these actors and technicians were in touch with dealers. The filmmaker had already given CCB police all the details and evidence he had with him with regards to the high-profile case.
In the meantime, actor and activist Chetan Kumar had taken to his social media account to share his views on the explosive case. The actor shaded a few of his fellow artists for advertising tobacco-based products and other online games like rummy for money.
Without taking any actors name, Chetan had tweeted, While the current focus is on exposing film personnel/actors who use #drugs privately Isn't it hypocritical to not point fingers at film 'stars' who for money OPENLY advertise for alcohol (as soda), gutka/pan masala, gambling (rummy), etc? Aren't they 'ambassadors' of social evils? (sic). Check out the tweet below:
While current focus is on exposing film personnel/actors who use #drugs privately...
Isnt it hypocritical to not point fingers at film 'stars' who for money OPENLY advertise for alcohol (as soda), gutka/pan masala, gambling (rummy), etc? Arent they 'ambassadors' of social evils? Chetan Kumar / (@ChetanAhimsa) September 1, 2020
And now, Kiccha Sudeep who was talking to the media during his visit to the Siddaganga Mutt was quizzed about Chetan Kumars jibe towards actors who endorse pan masala and rummy games. The actor was quoted by Vijay Karnataka as saying, He is unable to directly state names and is struggling to name me directly. Those who speak out should always speak directly. We have also done a lot of service. They should give attention to that and listen carefully. A small little sound may come out of it.
ALSO READ: Kiccha Sudeep Condemns People Who Connected Chiranjeevi Sarjas Name To The Drug Abuse Controversy
ALSO READ: Kiccha Sudeep Birthday: Kotigobba 3 Star Says 'There Wont Be Any Celebration
Stocks to watch today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus in Wednesday's trading session based on latest developments. Investors are also awaiting April-June quarter earnings that are scheduled to be released today. Companies set to announce their earnings are Coal India, Arvind Fashions, Bannari Amman Sugars, Dish TV India, Infibeam Avenues, Jubilant FoodWorks, Kernex Microsystems, Navkar Corporation, Sadbhav Engineering, Sandur Manganese, Satin Creditcare Network.
Yes Bank: The private lender cut lending rates by 10-35 bps across tenures.
Infosys: The IT major said it will hire 12,000 American workers over the next two years,
TVS Motors: Company's total sales declined by 1.1% at 2.87 lakh units vs 2.90 lakh units in August.
Vodafone Idea: The board will consider raising funds in a board meeting on September 4.
Indian Oil: Compnay said its board has approved an investment of Rs 1,268 crore for setting up a needle coker unit at its Paradip refinery in Odisha.
Max Health: The company's board approved raising up to Rs 1,200 crore via QIP and Rs 550 crore via NCDs
Adani Green: The company got ranked as the largest power generation owner in the world after the company secured 8 gigawatt solar energy contract from the government in June.
ONGC: reported 85% YoY fall in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June to Rs 1,090 crore, while its revenue declined 43% to Rs 62,496 crore. The company's board also approved raising up to Rs 35,000 crore via debt.
Shriram City Union: The company's board will consider raising Rs 150 crore via NCDs on a private placement basis.
Earnings Today: Coal India, Arvind Fashions, Bannari Amman Sugars, Dish TV India, Infibeam Avenues, Jubilant FoodWorks, Kernex Microsystems, Navkar Corporation, Sadbhav Engineering, Sandur Manganese, Satin Creditcare Network among others will report Q1 results today.
Herring also asked for an emergency hearing because localities are under extreme time pressure to print and mail absentee ballots, which must be sent by Sept. 19.
West announced his presidential bid on the 4th of July. On his campaign website he calls for creating a culture of life, restoring prayer in the classroom, working to reduce household debt and student debt and reforming the approach to policing in a manner that treats all Americans the same.
West, who wore a Make America Great Again hat at the White House in 2018, denied in a recent podcast with Nick Cannon that he is a GOP plant meant to siphon off Democratic votes for Joe Biden.
Cant nobody pay me, West said. I got more money than Trump.
The suit says that on Aug. 11 Wilson was approached by a representative of the West campaign while he was riding his bike and was asked to be an elector for the state. The suit says Kanye Wests name was never mentioned.
MMS look for explosive reconnection events as it flies through the magnetopause the boundary region where Earth's magnetic butts up against the solar wind that flows throughout the solar system. Credit: NASA Goddard/Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith; NASA Goddards Conceptual Image Lab/Josh Masters/Joy Ng
An alert pops up in your email: The latest spacecraft observations are ready. You now have 24 hours to scour 84 hours-worth of data, selecting the most promising split-second moments you can find. The data points you choose, depending on how you rank them, will download from the spacecraft in the highest possible resolution; researchers may spend months analyzing them. Everything else will be overwritten like it was never collected at all.
These are the stakes facing the Scientist in the Loop, one of the most important roles on the Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission team. Seventy-three volunteers share the responsibility, working weeklong shifts at a time to ensure the very best data makes it to the ground. It takes a keen and meticulous eye, which is why it's always been left to a carefully-trained humanat least until now.
A paper published today describes the first artificial intelligence algorithm to lend the Scientist in the Loop a (virtual) hand.
"MMS is the first big NASA mission implementing machine learning into its mission operations," said Matthew Argall, space physicist at the University of New Hampshire and lead author of the paper.
The algorithm performs a single task: detecting when the spacecraft crossed from Earth's magnetic field to the sun's, or vice versa. But it's just the first of many special-purpose algorithms that could change how MMS science is done.
Bursting Earth's Bubble
An invisible force field surrounds our planet, a giant bubble ballooning more than 40,000 miles into space. This is our magnetic field, and it serves us in several ways. It keeps things out, deflecting harmful cosmic rays that would otherwise strike Earth's surface, endangering life. But it also keeps things in, setting traffic patterns for the particles buzzing through near-Earth space. Electrons, tiny and light, turn tight pirouettes around Earth's magnetic field lines; heavier ions plod along in slower, wider loops.
But Earth's magnetic field is nothing compared to the sun's. Particles blown away from the sun, known as the solar wind, carry our star's magnetic field far past the orbit of Neptune. The particles within it trace out the sun's magnetic field lines, colliding with Earth's magnetic bubble along the way. The collision sites form an invisible boundary that scientists call the magnetopause.
By and large, the magnetopause holds strongbut not always. When conditions are right and magnetic fields align, the solar wind can puncture our magnetic bubble. The site of the breach is known as an electron diffusion region, or EDR, and finding them is the MMS mission's primary goal.
Within an EDR, the sun's and Earth's magnetic field lines fuse, cancel each other, and vanish. Electrons, energized and unbound, zip to and fro in a chaotic pandemonium.
"It's like they lost their lane lines while somebody stomped on their accelerators," said Barbara Giles, senior project scientist for MMS.
These particle bursts trigger a chain reaction that sparks the northern and southern lightsthey can even endanger astronauts and spacecraft in their way. EDRs erupt throughout the universe, from the middle of solar flares to the rims of black holes. MMS searches for them closer to home, at the edge of Earth's magnetic field.
But catching one in the act is exceedingly difficult. EDRs appear without notice, extend as little as two miles across (within a 14 billion mile-wide search space), and last only tenths of a second. In five years of continuous search, MMS has measured just over 50. But each time it crosses the magnetopause, where our magnetic field meets the sun's, it has another chance to see one.
Animation showing the four MMS spacecraft in space. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab/Walt Feimer/Genna Duberstein
Hunting for Magnetopause Crossings
So the Scientist in the Loop sifts through each orbit's data, hunting for magnetopause crossings. But they don't necessarily stand out in the dataidentifying them is more like pinpointing when a drizzle turns to rain. A single orbit's data may contain as few as two or as many as 100 magnetopause crossings, with false alarm look-a-likes peppered in between. To find them, the Scientist in the Loop simply has to put in the time.
"In the earliest days, it was basically a full-time job," said Rick Wilder, space physicist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado. Since then, Wilder has helped optimize the Scientist in the Loop's workflow and trained new recruits into seasoned experts. Today, an experienced Scientist in the Loop only needs a few hours a week. But it's still a strain on researchers who volunteer on top of busy schedules. "Fatigue is always in the back of our mind," Wilder said.
They had always planned to automate parts of the Scientist in the Loop's role, but finding an algorithm to match human performance was a challenge. Scientists can see larger trends in data, something most algorithms struggle to do. "Part of what a scientist does is look at the progression in time of the data," said Argall. "For instance, being able to identify that you're in the magnetosphere at one point, and using that to influence how [you see] the data evolving."
Argall and his collaborators built an algorithm that tries to emulate how humans read data. It takes the form of a neural network, a data-processing technique inspired by the brain. Unlike traditional algorithms, neural networks program themselves through trial and error. Argall showed the network examples of magnetopause crossings, then tested it on new cases. If it answered wronga non-crossing was chosen, or a true crossing was missedhe sent an error signal, triggering a cascade of adjustments before the next test. Like human Scientists in the Loop, the network learned to identify magnetopause crossings from experience.
But most neural networks process data in isolated snapshots, whereas scientists see measurements unfolding in time. The team approximated the scientist's ability by using gates to store the data the network just saw as well as the data coming up next. As the network decides if it's looking at magnetopause crossing or not, it can access surrounding data points to help. "The algorithm adds input data from the past and future to provide context for the decision it's making at the present time," Argall said.
It's the first algorithm of what may be many. The team imagines building several special-purpose detectors to work together in a hierarchy. (An assemblage of specialists, others have found, outperforms one jack-of-all trades algorithm.) At the lowest level, "region classifiers" look at the data to figure out where the spacecraft is in space. They pass their output to region-specific "event classifiers," which look for the phenomena researchers want to find. With success over the next few years, MMS could automatically detect far more than magnetopause crossings.
"We could take requests, say for a certain signature in the data, and bring it down in real time," Giles said. "It becomes a system observatory in that sensea community resource."
That's still a ways off. The new algorithm currently matches human judgments about 70% of the time. (Even scientists don't agree with each other 100% of the time.) Since October 2019, each week's Scientist in the Loop has treated it like an assistant, double-checking their work and catching any mistakes.
"But I'm sure within a few more years, with these techniques that he's developing, he's going to make the Scientist in the Loop redundant," Giles said. "We will know when that day comes, because all they will do is go in, check a box, and move on."
With a trusty algorithmic assistant by their side, scientists could focus on those wiggles in the data they don't yet know how to label. We may be glimpsing a future where algorithms are less tools than collaborators, working alongside scientists as both learn from new data together.
Explore further TRACERS heliophysics mission enters Phase B
More information: Matthew R. Argall et al. MMS SITL Ground Loop: Automating the Burst Data Selection Process, Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences (2020). Matthew R. Argall et al. MMS SITL Ground Loop: Automating the Burst Data Selection Process,(2020). DOI: 10.3389/fspas.2020.00054
Aerial photo taken on Aug. 3, 2019 shows a road along the Pangong Tso lake in Ngari, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)
The Chinese embassy in New Delhi says:
- Indian troops illegally trespassed the Line of Actual Control again at the southern bank of the Pangong Tso Lake.
- China has urged the Indian side to restrain its frontline troops.
NEW DELHI, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday urged India to immediately withdraw its troops illegally trespassing the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and immediately halt any move that would escalate tensions.
In response to a media query on the China-India border situation, Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India Counselor Ji Rong said China has urged the Indian side to restrain its frontline troops and immediately end all provocative actions.
"On Aug. 31, Indian troops violated the consensus reached in previous multi-level engagements and negotiations between China and India, illegally trespassed the Line of Actual Control again at the southern bank of the Pangong Tso Lake and near the Reqin Pass in the western sector of China-India border, and conducted flagrant provocations, which again stirred tension in the border areas," Ji said.
Indian and Chinese national flags flutter side by side at the Raisina hills in New Delhi, India, on Sept. 16, 2014. (Xinhua/Partha Sarkar)
"India's move has grossly violated China's territorial sovereignty, seriously violated relevant agreements, protocols and important consensus reached between the two countries, and severely damaged peace and tranquility along the China-India border areas," said the spokesperson.
"What India has done runs counter to the efforts made by both sides for a period of time to ease and cool down the situation on the ground, and China is resolutely opposed to this," she added.
Dear Editor:
Heres a peace plan for the Middle East:
A land called New State is established between Israel and Jordan, maintaining the current borders of the West Bank. The settlements populations become the citizens of New State. The current settlers will own the land where they live and be governed equally by the laws and constitution of New State.
Jews there will be as Jews in the U.S. and United Kingdom, etc. with love for Israel while paying taxes and supporting the new country. This will help New State in many ways. New State cannot be free of Jews as Israel is not free of Arabs.
Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas retires, and Fatah becomes one of many parties in the parliament of New State. Then take money from the Kushner plan and give every Palestinian of voting age $100,000. This creates an immediate middle class.
Gaza is not involved with New State; the U.S. Embassy in Israel returns to Tel Aviv; and the capital of New State is a brand-new, world-class port city on the Red Sea, created with the help of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. And an Arab corridor to the sea is formed.
Now is the time, while Prince Mohammed bin Salman is still there, to build the next Dubai. And New State becomes the most industrious country in the Arab world.
Jeff Gold
West Hurley, N.Y.
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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday alleged that incidents of persecution and killing of Dalits were taking place in Uttar Pradesh, and demanded that the Yogi Adityanath government should stop "ignoring" them and take action. The Congress has been alleging that the law and order situation is deteriorating in Uttar Pradesh under the BJP rule, a charge denied by the state dispensation.
"Incidents of persecution and killing of Dalits are happening in UP. Mahoba, Agra, Gorakhpur, Rae Bareli, Hardoi," she alleged, listing the places from where such incidents have been reported. Will the BJP government bother to explain why the incidents of persecution of Dalits are not stopping in the state, the Congress general secretary asked.
"The state government should stop ignoring these incidents, take action and answer," she said in a tweet in Hindi.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a press conference on August 28, 2020 (Image: Pool Photo via AP)
After becoming Japans longest serving Prime Minister last year, Shinzo Abe decided to call it a day on August 28 because of his worsening health. Apologising to the people of Japan for leaving my post with one year left in my term of office, and amid the Coronavirus woes, while various policies are still in the process of being implemented, Abe bowed out of public life which saw him winning six electoral contests.
After resigning from his first stint as Prime Minister in 2007, he got a rare second term in December 2012 and was re-elected in 2014 and 2017 which enabled him to give stability to a nation desperately seeking it.
He leaves behind a nation which has been transformed, both domestically and in foreign policy, despite his not being able to achieve some of his most-cherished objectives, such as negotiating with North Korea the return of Japanese citizens abducted decades ago, resolving a territorial dispute with Russia, and most ambitious of all, revising the post-war constitution to give more power to the military.
In a nation known for preferring incremental changes, Abe was keen to shake up the status quo from the very beginning.
On the economic front, his signature strategy of Abenomics, which relied on a mix of bold quantitative easing, fiscal spending and structural reforms, did manage to ignite growth in a stagnant economic landscape at least initially. Japan witnessed its longest economic expansionist streak under Abe before the impact of COVID-19 grinding it to a halt.
Abe tried to do something which the Japanese conservative leadership hadnt dared to touch before him. He tried to address the issue of Japans shrinking labour force by revising migration and gender policies. In an attempt to help women get into the workforce, Abes womenics pushed companies to increase their hiring of women with the help of specially tailored government policies such as preferential government contracting to reward companies that hired women and government funded day-care centres. It may not have completely changed the employment landscape for women in Japan, but it forced Japanese corporate sector to confront its deeply-entrenched biases.
Abes imprint on Japans security policy is going to be equally significant. He managed to normalise Japanese approach to its national security, gradually, but surely. Shaped by his conviction that Japan should assert its strategic role regionally and globally, he increased defence spending, and was unapologetic about the need for Japan to enhance its power projection capabilities. His government reinterpreted the constitution to allow Japanese troops to fight abroad for the first time since World War II, as well as revoked a ban on exercising the right to defend a friendly country under attack.
This domestic shift allowed Abes Japan to have a more robust regional and global engagement. Despite facing challenges from the Trump administrations transactional approach towards its allies, Abe managed to keep the US-Japan ties on an even keel. Japans role in the global security architecture has evolved to a point where discussions are underway about it potentially joining the Five Eyes intelligence partnership between the United Kingdom, the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
At the regional level, he was the first one to articulate the Indo-Pacific vision back in 2007 when he delivered his speech outlining the Confluence of the Two Seas to the Indian Parliament. It was this strategic vision that he shaped his foreign policy outreach during his stint in office, which saw him nurturing ties with major regional powers such as India and Australia and defence partnership with Southeast Asia.
For India, Abe will remain a very special Japanese leader. His fondness for India and his vision for India-Japan ties has been central to his vision of the Indo-Pacific. After visiting India during his first term, he gave bilateral ties a new momentum by becoming the first Japanese Prime Minister to visit India thrice.
His relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and their convergent worldviews allowed India-Japan ties to touch new heights in recent years. It was under Abes leadership that one of the last irritants in this bilateral relationship, Japans resistance to recognising India as a nuclear power, could be tackled when the two nations finally decided to sign the civil nuclear pact in 2016.
Growing concerns about Chinese aggression has resulted in Tokyo and New Delhi reconfiguring bilateral ties to make them more ambitious from undertaking joint projects in Indias Northeast and wider South Asia to the revival of Quad in 2017, and joint connectivity projects such as the Asia Africa Growth Corridor. As India expanded its footprint in East and Southeast Asia, it has found support from Japan which has also been steadfast in its support for New Delhis position on its border disputes with China. It was Abes leadership which allowed Tokyo to expand the ambit of its ties with New Delhi.
So as Abe departs, he leaves behind a consequential legacy of a rare breed of Japanese statesmen who shaped not only Japanese domestic milieu, but also managed to have a significant imprint on global strategy. For a self-confessed conservative, this is a truly remarkable achievement.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday rejected Pakistans efforts to get two Indian nationals designated as terrorists under the 1267 sanctions committee process after Islamabad failed to produce evidence to back up its allegations.
The move by Pakistan was widely perceived as retaliation for Indias success last year in getting Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar listed as a global terrorist by the 1267 committee, which focuses on the designation of terrorists linked to al-Qaeda, Taliban and their affiliates.
Pakistan had launched an initiative to designate a total of four Indians as terrorists in 2019, telling the UN Security Council that they were allegedly involved in state-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan further alleged the men were part of an Afghanistan-based group that helped organise terror attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.
The efforts to designate two of the Indians identified by Pakistan as Venumadhav Dongara and Ajoy Mistry were rejected by the Security Council in June and July, largely because of efforts by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity.
The effort to designate two other Indians identified by Islamabad as Gobinda Patnaik and Angara Appaji were initially blocked through a technical hold by the US, the UK, Germany, France and Belgium as they wanted Pakistan to provide evidence to back its allegations, the people said.
During consultations behind closed doors on Wednesday, when the term of the hold ended, Pakistans effort to designate the remaining two Indians was rejected by the Security Council as it failed to furnish any proof, the people added.
Indias permanent representative to the UN, TS Tirumurti, tweeted: Pakistans blatant attempt to politicise 1267 special procedure on terrorism by giving it a religious colour, has been thwarted by UN Security Council. We thank all those Council members who have blocked Pakistans designs.
Pakistan has repeatedly sought to rake up what it claims is Indias alleged role in fomenting terrorism on its soil at various UN bodies in recent months, but without any takers for its allegations. It even made a false claim that its envoy to the UN had delivered a statement at a UN Security Council meet on terrorism but this was later proved to be false.
Some of the Indians that Pakistan had sought to designate as terrorists had been working in Afghanistan in the past.
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Linkedin Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, September 2, 2020 17:38 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c4241e52 1 City COVID-19,Bogor-Agricultural-University,Depok Free
Experts have expressed skepticism about whether the curfews imposed in Bogor and Depok in West Java will be effective in curbing the rapid transmission of COVID-19 in the two cities.
The Bogor and Depok administrations began imposing curfews last week, requiring places like supermarkets, restaurants and malls to close at 6 p.m. and prohibiting outdoor activities after 8 p.m.
Both cities have begun to see spikes in COVID-19 cases, with 61 new confirmed cases recorded in Depok city and around 60 recorded in Bogor regency and Bogor city on Tuesday. Bogor and Depok cities are currently categorized as high-risk, or red zones, with high rates of transmission, while Bogor regency is categorized as a medium-risk or orange zone.
Berry Juliandi, secretary-general of the Indonesian Young Academy of Science (ALMI) and IPB University biologist, expressed doubt about the effectiveness of the curfews in slowing the increase in COVID-19 cases, saying transmission could also occur during the daytime.
Maybe this kind of restriction can suppress the increase in COVID-19 cases, but the result wont be significant, Berry told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Read also: Chaotic: Epidemiologists concerned about healthcare crisis after recent surge in COVID-19 cases
Syahrizal Syarif, an epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia, worried the curfew would negatively impact businesses that operate at night, saying opening hours of businesses should last until 10 p.m.
While he believed that imposing lockdown measures was the best way to reduce transmission, as has been proven in countries like Australia, he also said closing down the economy might not be the right strategy for Indonesia, which has experienced at least six months of economic slowdown during the implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB).
The most important thing is that people wear masks, maintain physical distance and wash their hands regularly, he told the Post. This is because [respiratory] droplets have been the main cause of transmission [...]. Therefore, masks and physical distance are non-negotiable.
He advised the administrations to stage public information campaigns on the importance of following health protocols and to begin imposing heavier sanctions against those found not wearing masks.
Berry suggested that regions with high rates of transmission should be allowed to enforce lockdowns, with the government providing basic necessities and social assistance for residents.
Amid the rise in cases, West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil has extended the PSBB measures in Bogor, Depok and Bekasi until Sep. 29.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved Mission Karmayogi, a nation skill building programme for civil servants. Announcing the decision at a media briefing, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar termed the initiative as the "biggest human resource development reform in the government". The officers and government employees will get an opportunity to improve their performance under the mission, he said.
"Today the Union Cabinet under Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to bring this very big, post-recruitment reform, where an opportunity will be given to officers and employees to improve their own performance," Javadekar said.
A council, headed by the Prime Minister and having chief ministers as members, will approve the civil services capacity building plans under the scheme, he said.
"Mission Karmayogi aims to prepare the Indian civil servant for the future by making him more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology-enabled. Empowered with specific role-competencies, the civil servant will be able to ensure efficient service delivery of the highest quality standards," a government statement read.
The government will set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with a total outlay of Rs 510 crore over a period of five years for the operation of an online platform and facilitate digital learning. The programme will be delivered by setting up an Integrated Government Online Training - iGOTKarmayogiplatform.
The skill development programme for the civil servants was announced a week after the Union Cabinet approved the setting up of the National Recruitment Agency (NRA), which will conduct computer-based common eligibility test (CET) for central government jobs. This is considered to be a post-recruitment reform for the government servants.
Among others, the Cabinet also approved for signing of memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with Japan for cooperation in the field of textile and geology & mineral resources. Textiles Committee of India has inked pact with Japan's Nissenken Quality Evaluation Centre for improving quality and testing of Indian textiles and Clothing for the Japanese market.
Besides, India and Finland has signed agreement for cooperation in the field of geology and mineral resources.
Also Read: Delhi Metro to resume with staggered hours, cashless transactions from September 7
Also Read: Chidambaram digs up PM Modi's 2013 tweet to attack govt on failing economy
Joe Biden condemned President Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday, saying that if Mr. Trump and his administration had "done their jobs," more schools would be able to reopen to in-person learning this fall.
"If President Trump and his administration had done their jobs early on in this crisis, American schools would be open. And they'd be open safely," Biden said in a speech in Wilmington, Delaware. "Donald Trump and [Education Secretary Betsy] DeVos have not stepped up."
Biden accused Mr. Trump of "starving schools of the needed funding, funding they need now." He slammed the president and Republicans for being unwilling to consider a Democratic proposal passed in the House in May that would have provided additional financial help for schools.
"Mr. President, where are you? Where are you? Why aren't you working on this?" Biden said, making a personal entreaty to the president. He urged Mr. Trump to "get off Twitter" and invite congressional leaders to the Oval Office.
"You always talk about your ability to negotiate. Negotiate a deal a deal for somebody other than yourself," Biden said.
Biden said there should be "universal guidance" for reopening schools and daycare centers, and added that the federal government should provide assistance to parents whose children are forced to undergo remote learning.
Biden said that he believed that it is impossible to get the economy back on track unless the coronavirus is mitigated.
"The idea that you're able to get the economy back on track without getting COVID under control, it's completely counterintuitive," Biden said. "There's going to be no need in my view to be able to shut down the whole economy."
He also said he would pressure governors and local officials to impose a mask mandate, saying there's a "question under the Constitution" about whether a president can institute a national mandate. Biden has previously said he supports making wearing a mask a national requirement for three months.
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"Why do you wear a mask? To protect your neighbor? To keep someone else from getting sick and maybe dying. I call that patriotic. This is the United States of America. Every generation has made sacrifices to help others in moments of crisis," Biden said.
Biden also took questions from reporters, his first time doing so since he formally accepted the Democratic nomination for president last month.
Biden's campaign also announced on Wednesday that he would be traveling to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Thursday. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump visited the city, which has been roiled by protests since the police shooting of a Black man and the deaths of two people by a suspected vigilante shooter at a subsequent demonstration. Biden said that local leaders and members of Congress had asked him to come to Kenosha.
"There have been overwhelming requests that I do come," he told reporters. "What we want to do is we've got to heal, we've got to put things together, bring people together. My purpose in going is to do just that, to be a positive influence."
He also said he would be meeting with local community and business leaders and law enforcement.
The Democratic presidential nominee drew a contrast between himself and Mr. Trump, whom he has accused of fanning the flames of dissension. Earlier this week, the president declined to denounce suspected vigilante shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who has been charged with killing two people during protests in Wisconsin.
"I wouldn't incite violence. I would condemn it when it occurred," Biden said, adding that he supported law enforcement and believes that the majority of law enforcement officers are good people. "What I'd be doing is I'd be bringing people together in the White House right now," he said.
Mr. Trump did not meet with the family of Jacob Blake, the seven times in the back by a police officer. His family has been vocal in denouncing violent protests since Jacob Blake was shot on August 23. The 29-year-old father of six remains hospitalized and is paralyzed from his injuries, his family lawyers have said.
It is unclear whether Biden will meet with the Blake family while in Kenosha.
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Trump says Pence was never on standby, denies "mini-strokes amid speculation over his health
Biden slams Trump's coronavirus response and school reopening failures
Sneak peek: Dead Ringer
From the fall of 1939 to the summer of 1945, the world was swept into the vast and deadly conflict we now call World War II. Stacker looks at 20 of the defining moments of that epochal conflict, and how each turned the tide of war.
Protesters attempt to escape from tear gas while trying to leave the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) during clashes with police in Hong Kong, China, on Nov. 18, 2019. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)
27 Hongkongers Re-arrested Over University Clashes Last Year
Hong Kong police on Sept. 2 re-arrested 27 protesters who gathered near Polytechnic University last year in support of students trapped inside as police tried to storm the campus.
The 27 protesters, aged between 16 and 37, include 15 students, one teacher, and office workers. Two are underage, according to police. They all face the charge of illegal assembly, with one person also accused of possessing an offensive weapon: a laser pointer.
Twenty-five of them had previously refused bail after they were arrested from the scene last year.
The police siege on the Hong Kong college campus in November 2019, which lasted for about two weeks, was one of the most violent episodes during the anti-extradition bill movement that started in June last year. Hundreds were at one time trapped inside as police bombarded the school with tear gas, water cannons, and projectiles.
Protesters clash with police outside Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in Hong Kong, on Nov. 17, 2019. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)
Protesters had occupied the university, using it as a base to block the citys central cross-harbor road tunnel, in an effort to pressure the Hong Kong government into fulfilling their pro-democracy demands.
On Nov. 18, as large numbers gathered outside the campus to support those entrapped, police deployed force to disperse them and later arrested 135, senior police commander Ho Chan-tong told reporters at a Wednesday press briefing. Most of these people have rejected police bail, which he said was an attempt to shed responsibility.
Protesters react as police fire tear gas while they attempt to march towards Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hung Hom district of Hong Kong on Nov. 18, 2019. (Dale de la Rey/AFP via Getty Images)
At the press conference, police played clips of molotov cocktails being thrown and of arrows and bows found on school grounds. Ho characterized the PolyU protesters as rioters who caused serious damage.
There were also an unidentified number of people police planned to arrest on Wednesday but could not find, Ho said, as he warned arrestees against fleeing Hong Kong.
The accusations, the offenses, they wont go awaybecause there are many indictable offenses, he said, noting that there is no time limit for prosecution.
If you abscond, you destroy your future, your lifenot only your life, but the lives of your family members and loved ones, he warned.
The arrestees are due to appear in court next Wednesday.
The police are also hunting for eight activistssome who already fledwho face accusations linked to last Julys storming of the citys legislature building and a protest on Aug. 31 last year, according to South China Morning Post, citing an anonymous police insider.
At least dozens of pro-democracy activists have been arrested since Beijings national security law for Hong Kong came into effect in July. The laws sweeping terms criminalize acts that Beijing deems as secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with possible life imprisonment. Some have fled the city, fearing a Beijing crackdown.
Mainland Chinese police on Aug. 23 intercepted a boat and detained 12 Hongkongers between 16 and 30 years old who were reportedly headed to Taiwan for political asylum. The arrestees, except for one person charged with violating the national security law, all faced charges related to their previous participation in pro-democracy protests, according to Hong Kong media reports. They are currently being held in Shenzhen citys Yantian Detention Center, according to reports.
China Times, a Taiwan-based media known for its pro-Beijing slant, cited anonymous sources saying that Taiwan authorities have arrested another five Hong Kong protesters who tried to escape to Taiwan. They were sent to the southern city of Kaohsiung, according to the report. Taiwan authorities have not confirmed the information.
MONTVALE, N.J., Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ESM Ferolie, a company that offers tailored brand-building solutions to consumer-packaged goods manufacturers on a super-regional scale announces the integration of LBM Sales, LLC into its' Sales and Marketing Agency.
LBM Sales, LLC was founded in 1972 to represent Confection, Snack, Beverage and Grocery Manufacturers to Supermarkets, Convenience Stores, Drug Stores and Distributors in the Upstate New York Market. Kevin Weiner and Paul Weiler have led LBM's Ownership Team since 2004.
"Kevin and Paul have an immense amount of industry, agency and leadership experience, working with prominent branded and private label consumer products clients. We're greatly looking forward to having them on our team," said Tony Ferolie, President and CEO of ESM Ferolie.
In their new roles, Weiner and Weiler will be responsible for sales and marketing strategies as well as providing growth plans for Confection, Snack and Beverage Clients in the market. They will also assist Tony Lubrano, EVP of Confection, GM and HBC as he continues to build the agency's corporate portfolio in these categories.
"I'm thrilled to be joining the ESM Ferolie team and am more than ready to utilize my skillset at a company that is at the forefront of regional excellence in our industry," said Weiner.
"Coming together with ESM Ferolie will allow us to focus on clients and customers while Business Insights, Merchandising and Strategic Development is handled by a team of seasoned veterans with a very clear vision of how to develop winning solutions for our clients and customers," said Weiler.
ESM Ferolie
ESM Ferolie, is a fourth generation family owned and operated super regional sales and marketing agency. The firm has led client growth and satisfaction with customized sales and marketing solutions since 1948. Staffed with over 550 experienced and talented associates from Maine to Florida and West to Ohio, ESM Ferolie provides the customer reach and resources of larger, national companies and the personal touch and market know-how of local market experts. Building on a tradition of service excellence the agency consistently exceeds clients' expectations and delivers solutions from strategy development to product placement on the retailer shelf.
Media Contact:
Jill Natzke
[email protected]
847.778.9282
SOURCE ESM Ferolie
The People's Liberation Army opposes the United States' Pentagon releasing a report hyping up the so-called "Chinese military threat". It also promises to take further action in accordance with the development of the situation, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Pentagon published its annual assessment of the Chinese military on Tuesday, titled "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2020".
The report claimed China is seeking to build overseas military facilities in over a dozen countries, double the size of its nuclear arsenal and develop a military by mid-century that is equal to -- or in some cases superior to -- the US.
The ministry said the report is chock-full of Cold War and zero-sum game mentalities to hype the so-called "Chinese military threat". The report also has "misunderstood China's defense policy and military strategy, and smeared the PLA's modernization effort, defense spending, nuclear policies and other issues".
The ministry accuses the US report of driving a wedge between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, thus stirring up tension in the region.
"These actions are extremely erroneous, and China resolutely opposes them," the ministry said, adding it will take further action in accordance with the development of the situation.
According to BIC, the list recognizes investment program managers located in banks and credit unions based on several qualifying criteria, including the number of advisors they oversee, team assets under management*, percentage growth in team production, and production per advisor.
"We want our members to receive personalized, professional guidance on the path to retirement," says Nathan Anderson, chief operating officer and executive vice president at Mountain America Credit Union. "Being named a top program manager at Mountain America Investment Services attests to the hard work and high quality of service the wealth management team provides to members pursuing their financial dreams."
"On behalf of LPL, I congratulate Chad Waddoups on being recognized for his leadership and management of the investment program located at Mountain America Credit Union," said Arthur Osman, LPL Financial executive vice president, Institution Services. "It takes vision, support from the institution and partners, and commitment from a talented team to be able to lead a program to these heights. We applaud Chad Waddoups and the team for the work they do and we look forward to supporting their continued success."
The investment program at Mountain America Credit Union is supported by LPL Financial, a leading retail investment advisory firm and independent broker/dealer. LPL Financial is the nation's leading provider of third-party investment services to financial institutions, offering insurance and investment services to more than 800 banks and credit unions nationwide**. The Institution Services offering provides consulting, back-office support, access to technology and resources delivering integrated capabilities, and solutions to address the evolving needs of bank and credit union investment programs.
About Mountain America Investment Services
Mountain America Investment Services provides comprehensive, long-term wealth planning services to help credit union members work toward their goals. We specialize in offering support for personal investments, tax strategies, retirement, and estate planning. We provide investment services through LPL Financial at locations across the Intermountain West. Our team of experienced advisors is here to guide you along your journey. To learn more or set up a virtual meeting or in-person meeting at any Mountain America Credit Union branch, visit macu.com/investments.
About LPL Financial
LPL Financial (https://www.lpl.com) is a leader in the retail financial advice market and the nation's largest independent broker-dealer***. We serve independent financial professionals and financial institutions, providing them with the technology, research, clearing and compliance services, and practice management programs they need to create and grow thriving practices. LPL enables them to provide objective guidance to millions of American families seeking wealth management, retirement planning, financial planning and asset management solutions.
Securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker-dealer (member FINRA/SIPC). Insurance products are offered through LPL or its licensed affiliates. Mountain America Credit Union and Mountain America Investment Services are not registered as a broker-dealer or investment advisor. Registered representatives of LPL offer products and services using Mountain America Investment Services, and may also be employees of Mountain America Credit Union. These products and services are being offered through LPL or its affiliates, which are separate entities from, and not affiliates of, Mountain America Credit Union or Mountain America Investment Services. Securities and insurance offered through LPL or its affiliates are:
Not Insured by NCUA or Any Other Government Agency Not Credit Union Guaranteed Not Credit Union Deposits or Obligations May Lose Value
*The team assets under management numbers reported by BIC include advisory and brokerage assets serviced by the advisor team. Asset numbers reported were as of 01/1/2020.
**Source: 2018/2019 Kehrer Bielan TPM Survey. Based on Financial Institution Market Share.
***Based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine June 1996-2019
LPL Financial, Mountain America Credit Union, and Bank Investment Consultant are not affiliated entities.
SOURCE Mountain America Credit Union
Related Links
http://www.macu.com
Democratic candidate and former vice president Joe Biden said he would like an onscreen fact check ticker to counter Donald Trumps lies during the upcoming debates.
Speaking at a campaign event to lay out his plan for reopening schools in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Biden said he is preparing for the debates by going over everything the president has said and the multiple lies hes told.
He then went on to say that it would be great to have a fact check ticker at the bottom of the screen.
It would make a great debate if everything we said was instantly fact-checked by an agreed to group of people, he said, before conceding that it probably wouldnt be possible.
He added: Im looking forward to debating the president, and Im going to lay out as clearly as I can what I think we have to do to bring this country back and build it back better, and Im looking forward to the debates.
Cable news shows have in the past live fact-checked presidential speeches, but a debate format might prove more challenging.
The debate schedule was finalised some time ago, but the moderators for the three presidential debates and the one vice presidential debate were announced on Wednesday.
The first debate on 29 September at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, will be moderated by Chris Wallace, anchor of Fox News Sunday.
On 7 October Kamala Harris and vice president Mike Pence will debate each other at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City, with Susan Page, Washington bureau chief of USA Today acting as moderator.
The second presidential debate on 15 October will be held at the Adrienne Arsht Centre for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, and will be formatted as a town hall-style event, moderated by Steve Scully, senior executive producer and political editor of C-SPAN.
Finally, the third presidential debate on 22 October at Belmost University in Nashville, Tennessee, will be moderated by Kristen Welker, co-anchor of Weekend Today and White House correspondent for NBC News.
The non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates selects the dates, locations, formats and moderators for each of the debates.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched a fresh purge after sacking the country's top military commander in Yemen and his son for 'suspicious financial dealings'.
Lt Gen Fahad bin Turki bin Abdulaziz and his son, Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahad bin Turki, along with other officials, form part of an anti-corruption investigation, the kingdom said early on Tuesday.
The announcement attributed the actions to a referral by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 35-year-old son of King Salman who earlier carried out mass arrests as part of a similar anti-corruption drive that also targeted potential rivals to his rule.
Lt Gen Fahad bin Turki bin Abdulaziz, commander of Saudi forces in Yemen, and his son Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahad bin Turki, have been sacked due following 'suspicious financial dealings,' according to state media
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been behind several campaigns targeting focused on clamping down on corruption
A statement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency referred to 'suspicious financial dealings monitored at the Ministry of Defence,' without elaborating.
As a result, the statement said the kingdom fired Lt Gen Fahad bin Turki bin Abdulaziz, a prince in Saudi Arabia's large ruling family in charge of allied forces in the Saudi-led war in Yemen against Iranian-allied Houthi rebels.
Authorities also removed his son, Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahad bin Turki, from his position as the deputy governor of Saudi Arabia's al-Jouf region in the kingdom's northwest.
In 2017 the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the Saudi capital of Riyadh was turned into a luxury prison following the mass arrest of businessmen, royals and others
The kingdom is investigating four other officials as well, all on the orders of 84-year-old King Salman, the statement said.
It was not immediately clear if those accused had been detained.
Anti-corruption officials 'shall complete the investigation procedures with all relevant military and civil officials, take the necessary legal measures against them and submit the outcomes,' the statement said.
After coming to power, Crown Prince Mohammed has been behind several anti-corruption campaigns, including turning Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel into a luxury prison in late 2017 as part of a mass arrest of businessmen, royals and others.
To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.
While President Trump has insisted that schools physically reopen, the private school his son Barron is attending is sticking with remote learning.
Yes, that feels like a double standard, but its more complicated than that. Barron will have a computer and internet access at home. Hell have adults making sure he does his work, and hell be able to eat his fill without free school lunches.
In short, affluent children will mostly be fine even without in-person classes. But one study found that almost 17 million American children live in homes without high-speed internet, and more than seven million dont have a computer at home. For disadvantaged kids, online learning is an oxymoron.
Prolonged school closures will worsen dropout rates across the nation, for missing just 10 percent of class days is associated with a sevenfold increased risk of dropping out. Even in normal times, only 53 percent of children attending Bureau of Indian Education schools finish high school. Closures after Hurricane Katrina led many students to leave school for good.
A COVID-19 vaccine could be available earlier than expected if ongoing clinical trials produce overwhelmingly positive results, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease official, in an interview Tuesday with KHN.
Although two ongoing clinical trials of 30,000 volunteers are expected to conclude by the end of the year, Fauci said an independent board has the authority to end the trials weeks early if interim results are overwhelmingly positive or negative.
The Data and Safety Monitoring Board could say, "'The data is so good right now that you can say it's safe and effective,'" Fauci said. In that case, researchers would have "a moral obligation" to end the trial early and make the active vaccine available to everyone in the study, including those who had been given placebos and accelerate the process to give the vaccine to millions.
Fauci's comments come at a time of growing concern about whether political pressure from the Trump administration could influence federal regulators and scientists overseeing the nation's response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and erode shaky public confidence in vaccines. Prominent vaccine experts have said they fear Trump is pushing for an early vaccine approval to help win reelection.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he trusts the independent members of the DSMB who are not government employees to hold vaccines to high standards without being politically influenced. Members of the board are typically experts in vaccine science and biostatistics who teach at major medical schools.
"If you are making a decision about the vaccine, you'd better be sure you have very good evidence that it is both safe and effective," Fauci said. "I'm not concerned about political pressure."
The safety board periodically looks at data from a clinical trial to determine if it's ethical to continue enrolling volunteers, who are randomly assigned to receive either an experimental vaccine or a placebo shot. Neither the volunteers nor the health workers who vaccinate them know which shot they're receiving.
Manufacturers are now testing three COVID vaccines in large-scale U.S. trials. The first two studies one led by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health and the other led by Pfizer and BioNTech began in late July. Each study was designed to enroll 30,000 participants. Company officials have said both trials have enrolled about half that total. AstraZeneca , which has been running large-scale clinical trials in Great Britain, Brazil and South Africa, launched another large-scale vaccine study this week in the U.S., involving 30,000 volunteers. Additional vaccine trials are expected to begin this month.
In trials of this size, researchers will know if a vaccine is effective after as few as 150 to 175 infections, said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a call with reporters Friday.
"It may be surprising, but the number of events that need to occur is relatively small," Redfield said.
Right now, only the safety board has access to the trial data, said Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the Department of Health and Human Services. As for when trial results will be available, "we cannot determine if it will be the middle of October or December."
Safety boards set "stopping rules" at the beginning of a study, making their criteria for ending a trial very clear, said Dr. Eric Topol, executive vice president for research at Scripps Research in San Diego and an expert on the use of data in medical research.
Although the safety board can recommend stopping a trial, the ultimate decision to halt a study is made by the scientists running the trial, Topol said.
A vaccine manufacturer could then apply to the Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorization, which can be granted quickly, or continue through the regular drug approval process, which requires more time and evidence.
Safety monitors also can stop a trial because of safety concerns, "if it looks like it's actually harming people in the vaccine arm, due to a lot of adverse events," Fauci said.
Fauci said people can trust the process, because all the data that outside monitors used to make their decisions would be made public.
"All of that has to be transparent," Fauci said. "The only time you get concerned is if there is any pressure to terminate the trial before you have enough data on safety and efficacy."
Topol and other scientists have sharply criticized the FDA in recent weeks, accusing Commissioner Stephen Hahn of bowing to political pressure from the Trump administration, which has pushed the agency to approve COVID treatments faster.
Stopping trials early poses a number of risks, such as making a vaccine look more effective than it really is, Topol said.
"If you stop something early, you can get an exaggerated benefit that isn't real," because less positive evidence only emerges later, Topol said.
Stopping the studies early also could prevent researchers from recruiting more minority volunteers. So far, only about 1 in 5 trial participants is Black or Hispanic. Given that Blacks and Hispanics have been hit harder than other groups by the pandemic, Topol said, it's important that they make up a larger part of vaccine trials.
Ending vaccine trials early also carries safety risks, said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine developer who serves on an NIH advisory panel on COVID vaccines and treatments.
A smaller, shorter trial could fail to detect important vaccine side effects, which could become apparent only after millions of people have been immunized, said Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.
Researchers will continue to follow vaccinated volunteers for a full year to look for long-term side effects, Redfield said.
And Fauci acknowledged that cutting a trial short could undermine public confidence in COVID vaccines. One in three Americans is unwilling to get a COVID vaccine, according to a recent Gallup Poll.
Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday announced that Maryland is ready to reopen movie theaters, begin holding concerts and expand the size of religious gatherings as he granted permission for a modified third phase of coronavirus recovery to begin at 5 p.m. Friday.
Citing improving infection rates, the declining use of intensive care beds and expanded testing availability, Hogan said it is safe to lift more of the social restrictions that have been in place since March.
"We have crushed the curve and saved lives," Hogan, a Republican, said at a news conference, adding that not all activities have permission to resume. "We're just slowly entering Phase 3, and we're going to see how that goes."
Hogan reiterated that local governments have the power to decide how much to reopen and can move at a slower pace than the state. It was not immediately clear which jurisdictions would proceed with the loosened restrictions.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, a Democrat, said in a statement Tuesday evening that Hogan's announcement "has again taken us by surprise." Elrich said the county will review Hogan's order "to determine the best way to move forward for our residents and businesses while protecting the public health."
Montgomery, which has the state's second-highest number of cases after Prince George's County, typically has lagged the state in lifting pandemic restrictions. Representatives for Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.
Hogan previously had said the state would only enter Phase 3 when a vaccine for the novel coronavirus was available. He said that his plan has evolved since it was released in April and that the state's improving metrics suggest Maryland can move forward from the second phase, where it has stayed for more than two months.
Under Hogan's plan, movie theaters and concert venues may open at 50% capacity, or with 100 people indoors, whichever is less. Outdoor events are capped at 50% capacity or 250 people. Retail establishments and houses of worship can operate at 75% capacity, up from 50%.
Maryland's test positivity rate has stayed below 5% for 68 consecutive days, Hogan said, down from 26% at the peak of the pandemic in April. Hospitalizations, deaths and the case count have also consistently declined.
As the state battles the virus, Hogan said, "it is also important that we continue to fight to protect and fight for the health of our economy, the health of our small-business community and our struggling Maryland families by continuing to push to safely reopen our economy."
Hogan also criticized eight Maryland counties, including Montgomery and Prince George's, for submitting reopening plans that did not include options for any students to return to school in person this fall.
While Hogan announced the lifting of restrictions, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, said earlier in the day that he will leave tighter social and economic restrictions in place in eastern Virginia through Monday, Labor Day. He said loosened restrictions ahead of holiday activities could worsen the spread of the virus.
"I know a lot of folks want to get things back open on Labor Day," Northam said during a news conference. But he noted that the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays both led to case increases, particularly in the beach communities of Hampton Roads.
"We don't want to repeat that as the summer draws to a close," Northam said.
If infection rates hold steady through the weekend, Northam said he will consider lifting some of the tighter restrictions in that part of the state.
While the rest of Virginia is in a third phase of coronavirus restrictions, Northam tightened policies in Hampton Roads at the end of July because of a spike in infections. He reduced indoor dining in restaurants to 50% of capacity, imposed a 10 p.m. cutoff for alcohol and banned gatherings of more than 50%.
The percentage of positive test results in that region has declined, but, at nearly 9%, is still higher than the statewide average of about 7%.
Northam said he is concerned about a rise in cases in rural southwestern Virginia, where the average of 220 new cases a day rivals numbers in far more populous northern Virginia.
"This is especially concerning for a region where there are fewer hospitals," he said.
He also noted recent reports of outbreaks on college and university campuses in the state as students return for the fall.
"We're watching this very closely," he said, noting that he speaks with college and university presidents almost daily. As long as institutions follow their approved reopening plans and work with local health departments, he said, they can move ahead with plans to resume classes.
Northam criticized President Donald Trump for reclassifying teachers as critical workers who must stay on the job even if they have been exposed to covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.
"That's the wrong thing to do," he said. "If you are a teacher and there's a high chance you've been exposed to covid-19, you should be tested and stay home until you get the results."
Northam said the virus is likely to be active through the fall and winter. He emphasized that residents should not let down their guard.
The state's infection rates are "at a more acceptable range, but we're still not close to where we need to be to ease these restrictions," he said.
The greater Washington region reported 1,692 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, as well as 38 additional fatalities. The District of Columbia reported 57 cases and no deaths; Maryland had 614 cases and six deaths; Virginia had 1,021 cases and 32 deaths.
The daily death toll was the region's highest number of fatalities in a single day since Aug. 6. The number of deaths in Virginia was the highest since Aug. 1.
The rolling seven-day average of new infections in D.C., Maryland and Virginia was 1,595 on Tuesday, a number that has mostly held steady for more than a week.
He continued: There are people that are on the streets. There are people that are controlling the streets. We had somebody get on a plane from a certain city this weekend, and in the plane, it was almost completely loaded with thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms with gear and this and that. Theyre on a plane. But they came from a certain city, and this person was coming to the Republican National Convention.
Israel has struck Syria again, this time hitting southern Syrian and reportedly killing 11 people in process writes Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Israel launched another round of airstrikes on southern Syria Monday evening, with at least 11 people killed, according to media reports.
The strikes targeted Iranian positions close to Damascus with Syrian air defences activated, according to regime media.
Seven Iranian militia fighters, three Syrian soldiers, and a civilian were killed in the strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syrian regime media reported two dead and that a woman civilian was among those killed.
Video footage from the area showed Syrian air defences firing into the air with regime media claiming serveral Israeli missiles were downed.
Israel, which does not usually acknowledge attacks in Syria, referred only to military operations in its northern sector.
The IDF is working to secure strategic objectives with a series of operations, especially in the northern sector, Israeli military spokesperson Hadi Zilberman told KAN Reshet Bet radio on Tuesday, according to Israeli media.
Israel has been alarmed by the growing presence of Iranian militias in Syria, particularly in the south of the country, and has launched hundreds of strikes on militias linked to Tehran.
Israels military also believes that as much as one-third of Syrias air defences have been destroyed in strikes.
It has also targeted the alleged transfer of missiles and militants to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Strikes on Hezbollah fighters in Syria have been a more sensitive issue, with the movements leader, Hassan Nasrallah, threatening retaliation against Israel in such targeted killings continue.
Iran has sent thousands of fighters particularly from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to help prop up the Syrian regime.
Tehran has been accused of building a permanent military presence in Syria, particularly in the countrys resource-rich east where a number of bases have been established.
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.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 2) The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will never support any call for a revolutionary government, its chief of staff told a plenary hearing of the Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday.
"The Armed Forces of the Philippines does not support this movement in calling for a revolutionary government, precisely because of the reason that it is unconstitutional and we find it politically motivated," Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay told the CA's Committee on National Defense which later confirmed his nomination as AFP chief.
Gapay said that while he recognizes that all military personnel are entitled to their individual opinions, backing a revolutionary government "will cause more harm than good at this point in time in our country."
"Our actions are being guided by our sworn duty to uphold and protect our Constitution and serve our people," he said firmly.
Last week, the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee launched an event to express support for a Duterte-led revolutionary government which the group said will help fast-track the establishment of federalism before the Presidents term ends in 2022.
President Rodrigo Duterte initially distanced himself from the issue, but on Monday said he wanted a public discussion on a proposal to establish a revolutionary government in the country.
As I said, the revolutionary government should not be discussed in sub rosa (in secrecy). It should be discussed publicly, said Duterte during his weekly address.
The President also said discussions on the proposed revolutionary government in the country should include the military.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued refunds of over 98,625 crore to more than 26.2 lakh taxpayers between April 1 to September 1, 2020, said the Income Tax (I-T) Department in a statement on Wednesday.
The I-T refunds of 29,997 crore were issued in 24,50,041 cases and corporate tax refunds of 68,628 crore have been issued in 1,68,421 cases, the statement said.
In wake of COVID-19 pandemic, CBDT has extended the due date for filing of Income Tax Returns for FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) from July 31 to September 30, 2020.
The CBDT earlier said the income tax authorities can share information with scheduled commercial banks, a move that would ease the lenders hassle of deciding TDS deductibility on various payments to their customers.
In a notification dated August 31, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) included scheduled commercial banks, listed in the second schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, under Section 138 of Income Tax Act for sharing of information.
CBDT is the apex tax body on personal income tax and corporate tax. Section 138 of the Income Tax Act empowers income tax authorities to share information/ details of its taxpayers with other agencies.
The move will especially help in cases such as TDS under Section 194N, which requires multiple income tax related information and declaration from customers making withdrawal, analyst said.
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Chancellor Angela Merkel, who over the years has taken pains to preserve Germanys diplomatic relations with the Kremlin, took the unusual step on Wednesday of publicly calling Russia out.
Mr. Navalny has been the victim of a crime, Ms. Merkel in a statement. It raises very serious questions that only the Russian government can and must answer.
Russia is unlikely to provide such answers.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin said it had not been informed of Germanys findings before they were announced, the Russian state news outlet Tass reported.
No, such information was not conveyed to us, said the presidential spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov. He added that Russian doctors had found no evidence of any poisonous substances in Mr. Navalnys system before he was moved to Germany.
German officials said the Russian ambassador had been briefed at around the same time the findings were made public.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said on Wednesday that American officials found the German conclusion about the use of Novichok very credible and deeply concerning. He said Washington was discussing a response with Germany and other allies.
It is unclear what Western governments can do to curtail such behavior. Despite years of escalating sanctions, expulsions of diplomats and international isolation, the Kremlin, according to Western intelligence agencies, continues to act concertedly to undermine American and European institutions and violate international norms.
Despite Changing Plans and Safety Concerns, Conoco Survey Finds That Americans Continue Taking To The Road Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Great Road Trips and Super Drives
"The road trip has long been an important part of American culture and it's reassuring to see that some things don't change even in times of uncertainty," said Sarah Bolding, senior brand director at Conoco. "At Conoco, we're committed to helping our consumers find their sense of adventure in the safest way possible."
Safety is now a top concern when roadtripping with 49% of respondents saying they're concerned about putting themselves at risk of contracting the virus and 44% worried about being around too many people. With these concerns, the amount of road trip planning people are doing has also increased. Prior to the pandemic, 38% of people said they planned a road trip just a few days to a week in advance. Sixty-six percent now say that they anticipate needing more time to plan. Additionally, 77% of Americans are planning to limit their stops to only the essentialsfor gas, the bathroom and foodand will avoid going into shops or lingering in crowds.
Americans' main reason for roadtripping continues to be spending time with friends and family (48% pre-pandemic and 42% mid-pandemic). Weekend trips are still the most common, with the average length of a road trip 2-3 days before the pandemic, which has remained consistent. A new kind of road trip has also come about as a result of the number of people who can now work wherever there is a strong wi-fi connection. For those with the ability to work from home, the new idea of "working from anywhere" is appealing 81% who had the option would consider a road trip to work from a new location.
Where are today's road trippers headed? In general, most Americans are planning a trip 3-5 hours from home (41% of respondents). In the Rocky Mountain region, destinations known for their outdoor activities were top of the list, with many respondents planning trips to Colorado, Montana, California, Wyoming and Utah. The average Rocky Mountain resident was more likely to be planning a trip 8+ hours away from home, with 38% vs. 28% of the national average. In the Rocky Mountains, people were most comfortable driving to national and state parks (57%), followed by lakes and beaches (47%) and small/mid-sized towns (47%). They were least likely to be comfortable traveling to cities, with only 38% of respondents in the region comfortable with the idea.
Travelers can stay safe at the pump with mobile pay in the My Conoco mobile app to limit contact with surfaces outside and in store. For more information, visit https://www.conoco.com/mobile-apps.
About the Conoco Road Trip Survey
The Conoco Road Trip Survey was conducted on behalf of Conoco by Toluna Group to explore consumer attitudes and behaviors toward road tripping shortly before and after COVID-19.
Fieldwork was conducted from March 7-18 and July 7-29, 2020 among a national sample of 2,000 adults aged 16-39, living in either the Rocky Mountain, West Coast or Midwestern/Heartland regions, have a valid driver's license, have bought gas in the last 30 days, and have taken a road trip in the last 6 months.
About U.S. Marketing at Phillips 66, 76 and Conoco
Phillips 66 is a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company. With a portfolio of Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties businesses, the company processes, transports, stores and markets fuels and products globally. Headquartered in Houston, the company has 14,500 employees committed to safety and operating excellence. Using a network of branded marketers and dealers operating approximately 7,000 outlets, its U.S. Marketing business supplies TOP TIER Detergent Gasolines under the Phillips 66, 76 and Conoco brands. For more information, visit http://www.phillips66.com/ or follow us on Twitter @Phillips66Co.
WILMINGTON, N.C. - As thunderstorms threatened, President Donald Trump sped through a V-J Day speech on Wednesday, trumpeting American strength and managing to squeeze in a swipe at Democratic rival Joe Biden.
Trump stood before an iconic World War II-era battleship to declare the port city of Wilmington, North Carolina, a World War II Heritage City. He pointed to a bolt of lightning and said it was God saluting the event.
He honoured war veterans, including 97-year-old Hershel Woody Williams, the sole surviving Marine from the war to receive the Medal of Honor. The West Virginia native fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima in the Pacific.
Hes 100 per cent sharp, Trump said of Williams, who travelled to the key battleground state with the president aboard Air Force One.
I know a 78-year-old whos not so sharp, Trump added, a clear allusion to Biden.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany had insisted earlier this week that there was no political purpose to Trumps visit to North Carolina. But when the president landed in Wilmington, Trump lost no time in criticizing Biden.
This is the most important election in the history of our country. I really believe that, because were running against people that have got some big issues, he told supporters on the airport tarmac. They have got some big, big problems. Theyre stone cold crazy.
Trump also encouraged those who cast votes by mail to cast two ballots in Novembers election, one by mail and another in person as a check to see if the mailed vote was counted.
Theyll go out and theyll vote and theyre going to have to go and check their vote by going to the poll and voting that way because if it tabulates then they wont be able to do that. So, let them send it in and let them go vote, Trump said in an interview with WECT-TV at the Wilmington airport. And if their systems as good as they say it is, then obviously they wont be able to vote. If it isnt tabulated, theyll be able to vote. So thats the way it is, and thats what they should do.
Trump made a similar appeal in remarks to supporters at the airport. You cant let them take your vote away; these people are playing dirty politics dirty politics. So if you have an absentee ballot or, as I call it, a solicited ballot ... you send it in, but I would check it, in any event, I would go and follow it and go vote, he said.
Trump won North Carolina by 3.6 percentage points in 2016, but polls are showing an extremely close race taking shape in a state that generates 15 electoral votes for its winner.
The presidents visit to North Carolina comes as county boards start sending absentee ballots to voters on Friday. Vice-President Mike Pence will follow the president by visiting Raleigh on Thursday.
Through Sept. 1, more than 591,000 ballot requests had been received, compared with approximately 36,500 through the same period in 2016, the state elections board said Wednesday.
More than half of the absentee ballots, or approximately 313,000, have been requested by Democrats. Republicans have requested more than 93,000 and registered unaffiliated voters account for approximately 183,000 ballot requests.
Biden released a statement in advance of the trip saying that Trump has not provided North Carolina with the roadmap and resources needed to protect businesses, schools and families from the coronavirus.
Instead of honouring the sacrifice of our front-line heroes, President Trump has repeatedly ignored public health guidance for political purposes, Biden said.
Wilmington has been home to the Battleship North Carolina since 1962. The ship is now a floating museum. On Sept. 2, 1945, Japans formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay.
Congress passed a bill earlier this year that included a provision requiring the secretary of the interior to annually designate one city in the United States as an American World War II Heritage City. Wilmington is the first city to get that designation.
___
Associated Press writers Jonathan Drew in Durham, N.C., and Deb Riechmann in Washington contributed to this report.
PHOENIX, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - 4Front Ventures Corp. (CSE: FFNT) (OTCQX: FFNTF) ("4Front" or the "Company") announced that the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission ("CCC") has granted 4Front's Mission Dispensary and cultivation/processing facilities in Worcester, Massachusetts, authorization to commence adult-use retail and production operations. The soft launch of adult-use sales will start this Friday, September 4, with a Grand Opening on Wednesday, September 9, 2020.
Entry into the adult-use market significantly expands 4Front's total addressable market and is expected to drive both top-line and bottom-line growth at the Company in the second half of 2020 and into 2021. Massachusetts is a core growth market for 4Front, with the Company also executing its fully funded expansion plans that are underway at its Georgetown, Massachusetts production facility, which are expected to significantly increase its output from this location to meet market demand.
"Receiving adult-use licensure in Worcester is another significant milestone for the Company and follows adult-use licensure at our Georgetown facility in August. We would like to thank the CCC for their support during the licensing process," said Leo Gontmakher, CEO, 4Front Ventures. "Consistent with our Company's culture of setting operational goals and executing upon them, it's great to see the continuing momentum as we announce another of what I expect to be many achievements in the back half of this year. I am proud of the hard work from each of our employees in making this happen. We expect this to augment the recent accelerated growth we're experiencing in Massachusetts as we continue to benefit from replicating our tried and true production capabilities, now fully supported by our retail stores."
Interested consumers can visit the Mission dispensary at:
640 Lincoln Street
Worcester, MA
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About 4Front Ventures Corp.
4Front (CSE: FFNT) (OTCQX: FFNTF) is a national multi-state cannabis operator and retailer, with a market advantage in mass-produced, low-cost quality branded cannabis products. 4Front manufactures and distributes a portfolio of over 25 cannabis brands including Marmas, Crystal Clear, Funky Monkey, Pebbles, and the Pure Ratios wellness collection, distributed through retail outlets and their chain of strategically positioned Mission branded dispensaries.
Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, 4Front has operations in Illinois, Massachusetts, California, Michigan and Washington state. From plant genetics to the cannabis retail experience, 4Front's team applies expertise across the entire cannabis value chain. For more information, visit 4Front's website www.4frontventures.com.
This news release was prepared by management of 4Front Ventures, which takes full responsibility for its contents. The Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in 4Front Ventures' periodic filings with securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements related to future developments and the business and operations of 4Front Ventures, developments with respect to legislative developments in the United States, expectations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, future revenue or Adjusted EBITDA expectations, statements regarding when or if any contemplated or in-progress transactions will close or if/when required regulatory approvals are attained, and other statements regarding future developments of the business. The closing of the transactions described in this news release, including the divesture of Pennsylvania and Maryland assets and the sale of convertible debt, is subject to customary conditions and there can be no guarantee that such transactions will close.
Although 4Front Ventures has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are engaged in activities currently considered illegal under U.S. federal laws; change in laws; limited operating history; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and adult-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change.
There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. 4Front Ventures disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and 4Front Ventures does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein.
SOURCE 4Front
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A Nova Scotia tidal energy company has won the competition to fill the vacant berth at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy site in Parrsboro, N.S.
As part of the agreement, Big Moon Power must remove the failed Cape Sharp tidal turbine that is still sitting on the ocean floor in the Bay of Fundy.
"Big Moon is extremely pleased to have won this procurement from the province of Nova Scotia and to continue our efforts to advance the tidal industry in Canada," stated Big Moon chair Lynn Blodgett in a news release.
Big Moon Power has provided a security deposit of $4.5 million related to its commitment to retrieve the tidal turbine. The 1,300-tonne turbine has been stranded on the bottom of the Minas Passage since 2018 when a parent company of Cape Sharp Tidal Venture, OpenHydro Group Ltd., filed for liquidation.
"Obviously, we were looking for parties that were well qualified and have adequate technical capabilities," said John Dalton, the president of Power Advisory LLC, the company that oversaw the call for proposals. "[Big Moon] satisfied all those requirements as well as provided the desired financial security."
Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press
Big Moon Power is no stranger to tidal power research in the Bay of Fundy. It has experimented with prototypes in Scots Bay. Big Moon's technology, called a Kinetic Keel, allows it to harness tidal power without installing anything on the ocean floor.
With authority from Energy Minister Derek Mombourquette, Big Moon Power has been granted a marine renewable-electricity licence, which includes the design, construction and operation of eight 500 kilowatt in-stream tidal energy generators. No generation is allowed until an environmental monitoring plan is submitted.
The removal of the Cape Sharp turbine may not happen anytime soon. Big Moon Power must submit and have a retrieval plan approved by the province and has a deadline of Dec. 31, 2024, to raise the turbine.
In an interview with CBC News last year, Mombourquette said he hoped the turbine would be out of the water by October 2020.
MORE TOP STORIES
The logic of proud nationalism dictates that maps may become larger, but they certainly cannot be allowed to shrink. This requirement to defend the map at any cost is part of the essential character of the nation-state.
Joining the Dots is a weekly column by author and journalist Samrat in which he connects events to ideas, often through analysis, but occasionally through satire
***
There are reports of fresh tensions between the Indian and Chinese militaries in Ladakh from around Pangong Tso. The situation there has smouldered since the bloody clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Galwan Valley area in June in which 20 Indian and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers died in hand-to-hand fighting.
The Chinese, according to a report in The Hindu, are currently occupying around 1,000 sq km of territory in Ladakh that was not in their possession before this year. This is in addition to the whole of Aksai Chin, the barren high-altitude desert between Ladakh and Tibet that appears on Indian maps as a part of India, although it has never been in the physical occupation of any government of independent India. India on its part rules Arunachal Pradesh, which appears in Chinese maps as their territory. The latest reports indicate that Indian forces also pre-emptively occupied the heights on the southern banks of Pangong Tso in Ladakh, thus pushing into areas where they were not formerly present.
Differing maps present countries with a problem that is very difficult to solve. It is not politically feasible for any government to align maps to ground realities because that would be seen as giving away swathes of the countrys territory. Even though the territories in dispute may never actually have been ruled by either of the contending parties, national pride is involved. Historical realities are forgotten and clashes, possibly escalating into war, become a path that cannot be avoided.
The territorial dispute between India and China is over borderlands that are at the edges of both countries. They are over spaces that were largely blanks on the map until after 1800, and in some cases, even after 1900. The fight over them is actually a consequence of technologies of communication that have enabled state cores to expand their reaches to distant peripheries. The clash is fundamentally one caused by nation-states colonising what were formerly non-state spaces.
Take Aksai Chin, for example. The area was and is a forbidding desert that remained uninhabited and uninhabitable for most of the history. It ended up finding its way into the map of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir thanks to a junior civilian sub-assistant of the Survey of India named WH Johnson, whose cartographic exertions in 1865 made it Kashmiri territory. In 2003, writing (paywall) on this in the Economic and Political Weekly, Mohan Guruswamy noted that Johnsons survey is not without some controversy. To have completed the journey to Khotan, which lay well beyond the forbidding Kuen Lun range, and to return to Leh in the time he did, he would have had to be covering over 30 kms a day. Even if that frenetic pace were possible, it is doubtful any serious survey effort would have been possible.
Regardless of the quality and veracity of Johnsons surveying and map-making, the Maharaja of Kashmir was pleased to find his territory suddenly enlarged. Johnson resigned from his Survey of India job and was appointed governor of Ladakh by the Maharaja. The territory he had quite literally drawn into Jammu and Kashmir however remained unoccupied. A few years later, according to an article by AG Noorani, the British Viceroy of India, Lord Lansdowne, believing the territory to be of no value, and not wishing to leave a no-mans land between their domains and China, suggested the Chinese should be encouraged to take it as a way of ensuring the Russians, then seen as the primary threat for British India, did not find a way in.
The status of Aksai Chin remained unclear even after India and China emerged as modern nation-states in their present avatars in 1947 and 1949 respectively. Praveen Swami, in a piece for Firstpost earlier this year, pointed out that Indias 1950 map of its borders included no claim to Aksai Chin, recording the Ladakh frontier areas as undefined. Ladakh sort of shaded into Tibet on that map; there was no line between them.
India and China today are now fighting over those very same no-mans lands that neither of them had actually previously owned, or even particularly wanted.
The case of Arunachal Pradesh is similar. Much of the area in dispute appeared as blanks on the map until after 1900. The first surveys from the Indian side were done in the early 1900s by British expeditions that followed the course of one or the other of the Brahmaputra rivers formative tributaries, the Lohit, Dibang and Siang. There were no roads, the rivers were not navigable by boat, and the thick jungles were inhabited by tribes that were hostile to strangers, often greeting them with murderous physical attacks. There was of course no question of any existing administrative machinery, either Indian or Chinese, of any kind. No emperor in Delhi or Beijing, and no king in Tibet or Assam, had ever ruled those lands.
These areas, which had never belonged to anyone but the local tribes, gradually began to appear on Indian and Chinese maps as their own territories. They became an administrative territory called the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) under Indian rule, after being part of Assam immediately after Independence. Beijing first laid claim to NEFA, with the exception of Tirap, as well as parts of Ladakh, in a 1958 official map, according to Swami.
The maps then took on a life of their own. The nation-state deified them. For India, an expansive map even became a backdrop to the image of Bharat Mata although the original painting of Bharat Mata by Abanindranath Tagore in 1905 had no such cartographic character to it.
Neither India nor China can now allow changes to their maps. The logic of proud nationalism dictates that maps may become larger, but they certainly cannot be allowed to shrink. This requirement to defend the map at any cost is part of the essential character of the nation-state. Flag-waving populism and majoritarianism only make it more obvious.
Majoritarianism is part and parcel of the nation-state, which by definition belongs to a certain group, explicitly in many cases, but implicitly in others. We know that England belongs to the English and Spain to the Spaniards, China to the Han Chinese and Japan to the Japanese, Pakistan to Muslims and Israel to Jews. However, all countries tend to have internal diversity, because that is simply how the human world is. The degree of diversity varies, but there is diversity everywhere. The internally diverse population of the country is united under the majority in the nation-state by the imagery of map and flag, the emotional tune of the national anthem, and the social contract of the Constitution. Without these bindings, the centre cannot hold.
Any assault on its map, flag, anthem or Constitution is thus an existential issue for the nation-state.
This is why the escalating dispute between India and China in Ladakh may continue to escalate. The territory in question may be a sliver of land in a high-altitude cold desert far away from the national heartlands, inhabited by populations very different from the respective dominant majorities on either side but if in our perception it is ours, and in their perception it is theirs, both sides are now bound to defend their maps, as they were in the past.
Having embarked upon a path of confrontation, it will be extremely difficult for India and China to back down from their positions and claims.
Featured image via Press Trust of India
Boris Johnson today hinted that 'flexible' season tickets could be introduced soon to encourage workers to get back to offices.
The PM said the government and rail companies were cooperating 'at pace' to develop tickets that can be used a few times a week.
The news came as the government stepped up its efforts to get Britons to return to workplaces, amid fears that deserted town and city centres are on the verge of collapse.
Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said that more than half of staff were in the office at her department. But she said it was down to employers and employees to discuss their arrangements.
Many companies say they cannot accommodate the normal staffing levels at their bases due to coronavirus social distancing rules.
Boris Johnson (pictured in the Commons today) said the government and rail companies were cooperating 'at pace' to develop tickets that can be used a few times a week
Travellers at Waterloo Station in London this week, a key commuter route into the city
And at PMQs, Tory former minister Damian Green pointed out that commuters in his Kent constituency would be unable to get better value season tickets for coming in two or three days a week.
In counties surrounding London, it is typically cheaper to get a weekly ticket than three peak day returns.
Mr Johnson said: 'We are working at pace with rail companies to try to deliver new products, in terms of ticketing, which ensure not just better value, but also enable people to get back to work in a flexible way.'
Amid a push for civil servants to lead from the front, Ms Coffey said 'more than half' of staff are 'fully back in the offices' at the DWP.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she added: 'But even then we have capacity on how many people can be in a Covid-safe environment within our workplace.'
Ms Coffey said that 799 of the department's 804 sites are open, and hoped that children returning to school would give parents more opportunities to go back to the office.
The minister told the programme: 'It's important that employers and employees have that discussion about Covid-safe environments,' and added: 'There'll be more opportunities for parents to go back into the office if that's what is the best thing for them and their employer.'
Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said that more than half of staff were in the office at her department
Pictures from the previously bustling City of London this week have shown empty streets and Tube stations at rush hour
At PMQs, Tory former minister Damian Green pointed out that commuters in his Kent constituency would be unable to get better value season tickets for coming in two or three days a week
Pictures from the previously bustling City of London this week have shown empty streets and Tube stations at rush hour.
But the Prime Minister has claimed that people are returning 'in huge numbers to the office'.
A Downing Street spokesman said: 'We've been clear with departments that they need to ensure Government workspaces are Covid-secure and permanent secretaries have been undertaking the work to return civil servants to the office or workplace.'
Responding, Mr Johnson said: 'This is a leader of the Opposition who backed remaining in the EU and now is totally silent on the subject, now has performed a U-turn. He backed - in fact he still does Mr Speaker - this is a leader of the Opposition who supported an IRA-condoning politician who wanted to get out of Nato and now says absolutely nothing. This is a leader of the Opposition who sat on the front bench whilst there was anti-Semitism...'
Mr Johnson's comments were cut off by the Speaker who called for Order.
A woman who met her 53-year-old husband as a teenager and is younger than his eldest daughter wants to break down the 'gold digger' stereotype in their age gap relationship.
With 27 years between them, Kelsey Kammeyer Allen, 25, said that she and her husband Paul Allen, 53, often attract curious stares from strangers when they kiss or hold hands while out in public together.
But the happy couple from Salt Lake City, Utah, never let their age get in the way of true love, and the pair tied the knot in June 2019 after being together for five years.
Now the happy couple are trying for a baby of their own to complete their family - and Kelsey joked it's strange to be a step-grandmother before she's a mother.
Esthetician Kelsey first met Paul - who has three children aged 27, 25 and 23, along with three grandchildren - back when she was just 19 years old and he was 47.
Kelsey Kammeyer Allen, 25, said that she and her husband Paul Allen, 53, often attract curious stares from strangers when they kiss or hold hands in public because of their age gap
Paul has three kids aged 27, 25 and 23 - Marcus (right) Alyssa (left) and Lindsey (top), seen with the couple at their wedding - and three grandkids. Kelsey is younger than his eldest daughter
And while she never imaged falling for someone so much older, Kelsey said there was an instant attraction between them and the pair quickly fell in love.
But throughout their relationship, Kelsey said their difference in age has caused a few awkward moments such as strangers assuming they were father and daughter - while she has also felt judgement from people who presumed she was a 'gold digger'.
Kelsey said: 'I first met Paul when I was 19, I was living in California at the time and my brother invited me to a poker party when I was home in Utah visiting.
'I was young, it sounded like fun, so I decided to go. My brother and Paul had known each other for a long time, they are hunting buddies.
Throughout their relationship, Kelsey said their difference in age has caused a few awkward moments
While she never imaged falling for someone so much older, Kelsey said there was an instant attraction between them and the pair quickly fell in love
'I met him there, we all had so much fun and so all of us kept hanging out after that. I gradually started falling in love with him because he is such an incredible man.
'It was hard at the start. There is a big age gap between us, I never imagined I would end up with an older man.
'We'd go out in public and people would stare at us. I felt nervous to hold his hand because I knew people were judging us.
'There is so much stigma around a younger woman being with an older man, they think we are "Gold Diggers" just after their money.
'There have been a couple of instances where people assumed we were father and daughter, and it's always a bit awkward.
'But after a year of dating, I finally let it go. I realized I loved him, life is short and no one else's opinion matters as long as we are happy.
'I think at first, everyone was not too sure about our relationship.. But once our families got to know each other, everyone was very accepting.
'His kids were a bit wary at first about my intentions, but after I spent more time with them, we all got along so well.'
The happy couple are trying for a baby of their own to complete their family - and Kelsey joked that it's strange to be a step-grandmother before she's a mother
Kelsey told how Paul's daughter said she has an 'old soul' while he is 'young at heart', which is why they match well
Kelsey was over the moon when romantic Paul - who has owned his own successful landscape business for 27 years - popped the question outside the Versace mansion in Miami Beach, Florida back in 2018 while they were on vacation.
About a year later, the loved-up pair walked down the aisle in a close-knit ceremony in Utah surrounded by family and friends - who Kelsey said have been incredibly supportive.
She said: 'We were in Florida on vacation, and we just had dinner at the Versace mansion.
'After that, we walked across to the beach and he proposed. I was over the moon.
'Then a year later, we had a lovely wedding in California on the beach. It was very intimate and beautiful.
'Now we are trying to have a baby. It has always been my dream to be a mom.
Kelsey was thrilled when Paul - who has owned his own landscape business for 27 years - proposed outside the Versace mansion in Miami in 2018 while they were on vacation
The happy couple, from Salt Lake City, Utah, never let their age get in the way of true love, and the pair tied the knot in June 2019 after being together for five years
Kelsey said there is a misconception that younger women with older men are just after their money
'It's funny that I'm actually a step-grandma before I'm actually a mother. We call ourselves the modern family. The traditional unit isn't as common anymore.
'We are so incredibly happy together and wouldn't change anything for the world.'
Stunning Kelsey is now sharing her story in the hopes that it will help break down the stigma surrounding age gap relationships - while also proving that anyone can fall in love.
She added: 'I hope one day the stigma surrounding age gap relationships will change. There is a misconception that younger women with older men are just after their money.
'But I have always been an independent person. I love to work and make my own money.
Kelsey, pictured with Paul, is now sharing her story in the hopes that it will help break down the stigma surrounding age gap relationships - while also proving that anyone can fall in love
Kelsey said she loves Paul with all her heart and he is the 'most perfect husband she could have asked for'
'I could easily survive on my own. I'm not some lost little girl with daddy issues that needs someone to take care of them.
'There are so many wrong ideas about people in age gap relationships. We honestly are such a normal couple but he just happens to be older than me.
'His daughter said something really sweet, and that is that I have an old soul, and he has a young heart, that's why we match up.
'Everyone's story is different, age truly is just a number. I fell in love with Paul for who he is, not for his age.
'We don't focus on age, we could have let it tear us apart, but we love each other too much to let that happen.
'We are so happy, and I am so excited for the future. I love Paul with all my heart and he is the most perfect husband I could have asked for.'
This Week in Review
A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has tested positive for Covid-19, his spokesperson has said.
Mr Berlusconi, 83, has confirmed to have been infected following precautionary check and is self-isolating at home in Arcore, near Milan.
The media tycoon plans to continue to work from there until he completes the necessary quarantine period, his office said.
Alberto Zangrillo, Mr Berlusconis personal doctor at Milans San Raffaele hospital, told Italian news agency Adnkronos he had no symptoms but had decided undergo a test after a recent stay in Sardinia.
The Mediterranean island has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus incections following an influx of tourists.
The three-time Italian premier had been recently pictured with an old friend, businessman Flavio Briatore, who was treated in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 last month.
Mr Berlusconi had tested negative at the time.
Recommended Italy to shut nightclubs and make face masks compulsory outdoors
The ex-PM has recently gained new attention on Italys political scene ahead of regional elections in late September, when his centrist Forza Italia party could prove crucial for a possible win of the centre-right opposition.
Italy, which has suffered one of Europes worst outbreaks of Covid-19 with over 270,000 confirmed cases and 35,500 deaths, has managed to contain the outbreak since a peak in fatalities and infections in March and April.
However, the country recorded a steady increase in new cases in August, with experts blaming gatherings of people associated with holidays and nightlife.
T he Government relied too heavily on scientific advice during the initial response to the coronavirus pandemic, a think tank has claimed.
Ministers should have been prepared to act in the absence of scientific certainty in the early stages of the outbreak, an Institute for Government report said.
The IfG also criticised the Government's ambition to reach 100,000 tests per day by the end of April, saying it had not been well thought through.
It said the Government "lacked a wider sense of strategy" at times.
It accused Health Secretary Matt Hancock of making the testing commitment "without a strong enough sense of how the Government would use additional capacity".
A Government spokesman defended the response to the crisis, saying ministers "make no apology for being guided by the best scientific advice".
The IfG report said: "Ministers made much of 'following the science'. But it is not enough to use evidence: ministers and civil servants also need to understand the limitations of both the evidence base and the forums through which it is channelled, and, difficult as it might be, ministers must be prepared to act in the absence of scientific certainty.
"Failure to do so now seems likely to have cost a significant number of additional lives, and contributed to the UK suffering the highest excess death rate in Europe over the period to the end of May."
The IfG also said that while school closures and social distancing measures were contemplated in February, some "key aspects of making them work - like remote learning arrangements for schools and guidance for police - were not considered until after decisions had been made".
However, the report praised the successful rollout of economic support measures, which the IfG said showed that ministers and officials "can find fast ways to consult those who will be affected by a policy or programme and think through how it will be carried out, before making a decision".
A Government spokesman said: "We make no apology for being guided by the best scientific advice during this unprecedented global pandemic - as the public would expect.
"We keep our response under constant review and have been prepared to adapt as new evidence emerges and we learn more about this virus.
"Working closely with the public and private sectors we rapidly built the largest diagnostics infrastructure in British history."
Captured by their teacher as a gift, a collection of student graduation photos went viral on Facebook in Vietnam in mid-August thanks to its heartwarming depiction of the familial love between the high school graduates and their parents.
It portrays high school students in graduation gowns, holding a red diploma while their families are by their side, their faces glowing with satisfaction.
The photos were taken by Pham Van Thong, a geography teacher at Ngo Van Nhac High School in the Mekong Delta province Tien Giang.
Taken after the national high school exam in early August, these portraits are Thongs gift to celebrate his students accomplishments.
According to Thong, the majority of his students come from families that are floating around the poverty line; they can barely afford education for their children, let alone a graduation photoshoot.
As a way to commemorate the occasion, Thong brought up the idea of a photographic project with his students and their parents.
Most of the parents were excited about the idea of photographs marking such a momentous occasion in their childrens lives, Thong recollected.
Some of them did refuse to appear in the images for fear that their unsightly looks might be an embarrassment for their children.
However, most kids have talked their parents into appearing in front of the camera, to which they ultimately surrendered, Thong recalled.
A student in a graduation gown is seen holding a duck, her familys livelihood, while her mother holds a high school diploma. Photo: Pham Van Thong
Moving between photoshoot sites proved to be a substantial challenge to Thongs project since the locale is a remote one, where houses are scarcely dispersed.
For this reason, Thong and his student Nguyen Quang Huy had to spend a few days completing their intended work.
The teacher talked of those unforgettable snapshots from the life that his students and their families lead.
Thong reminisced about the trip to the house of a female student and her 67-year-old grandmother.
The students mother passed away when she was very young, meaning she had never met her mother, and her father moved out of town for work, leaving her alone with her grandmother in a remote house.
It takes a lot of work to get to her home over a long and bumpy road.
To this day, I still cannot fathom how she made it to school every day traveling on that road, he exclaimed.
The photoshoot had to be paused halfway through because her grandmother burst into tears.
Her grandchild passed the exam, but she has no means to support further education for her, which means her grandchild would have to compromise her dreams.
A student in a graduation gown is pictured walking next to her father on a rural field. Photo: Pham Van Thong
There is another student whose father sells lottery tickets for a living. The fact that his family is classified as a poor household did not stop the student from excelling in his studies.
He chose to apply to military school to have his tuition fee and subsistence expenses covered, and his hard work paid off in the entrance exam results.
Rocky as their journey to education may be, their perseverance shone through, helping them conquer all obstacles, Thong said.
The exam results of Thongs students were welcomed with joyfulness by the teacher, yet at the same time, he was aware that the struggles of the kids have not ended.
Some will not be able to pursue further education due to their financial circumstances. It perturbs me that some of my students will face formidable obstacles in their next pursuits.
A student in a graduation gown is shown fanning his father while he reads a high school diploma. Photo: Pham Van Thong
Since his students have not yet received their diploma, Thong brought his own one that he earned after graduating from high school 15 years ago for them to use as a prop.
I did fight to earn this diploma. The same goes for them, their work was accompanied by the dedication of their parents. They deserve to see the achievements of their children on their graduation day.
Quang Huy, the associate that contributed work to Thongs project, said of his experience, Im very proud and happy to see photos of [my friends] standing next to their parents, whose hard work was the very reason for the success that they have today.
A student in a graduation gown shows a high school diploma to his family. Photo: Pham Van Thong
A student in a graduation gown is seen using the stethoscope of his father in a medical clinic. Photo: Pham Van Thong
A student in a graduation gown is shown next to his mother in front of the familys altar. Photo: Pham Van Thong
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MIDDLETOWN Local dignitaries gathered Tuesday afternoon for a joy-filled, informal christening of the new Beman Middle School at the track which overlooks the massive building now under construction.
With the $87.35 million construction project humming along in the background, Board of Education officials and city leaders spoke to several-dozen members of the community several of them instrumental in ushering the naming project to fruition.
When done, the state-of-the-art building will incorporate an innovation lab and the latest tools used in 21st-century learning.
The crowd clapped and whistled as construction workers at the top of the building unveiled the temporary banner at the conclusion of the ceremony.
The Beman family theyre smiling on us today, said the Rev. Moses Harville of Cross Street AME Zion Church before leading a prayer of blessing. In the midst of a struggle, you can rise above slavery, racism, classism, sexism. Peace and love, nurturing, caring and sharing are all that the Beman family represents.
Superintendent of Schools Michael Conner said the occasion was monumental for me, as a Black man, the history of this beautiful city, and our American history.
He recalled the presentation by Wesleyan University assistant professor of African-American studies and Middlesex County Historical Society Director Jesse Nasta on the familys local and national significance early on in the naming process.
There was one thing that resonated with me: the last name, Beman. When you unwrap it, that last name is Be A Man. When you think about African-American history, weve been striving to be a man to be recognized in this country as a whole, not a half, Conner said.
Looking at it from an African-American, that brings significant context to me, he said.
The Common Council officially named the new middle school, located in front of Woodrow Wilson Middle School on Wildermans Way, on Aug. 3.
Woodrow Wilson Principal Cheryl Gonzales, calling herself an advocate of social justice, said she was very pleased to be a part of the event honoring the legacy of a family who stood at the forefront of abolition and the voting rights for African Americans.
We will honor the memory of Caesar, Jehiel and Leverett Beman, and Amos Beman by providing an equitable and future-driven education, she said.
Common Council Majority Leader Gene Nocera, co-chairman of the middle school building committee, a role he shares with Councilwoman Jeanette Blackwell, said hes pleased the banner will greet students when the 2020-21 academic year begins Thursday.
Middletown Public Schools will be operating under a hybrid plan of learning, with rotating in-person and virtual classes, during the pandemic.
Mayor Ben Florsheim called the new facility a monument to learning. Victory has many fathers and mothers, and certainly all our due credit today. This is so much more than a school building. We are on a campus that is transformative for the whole city of Middletown.
Board of Education Chairwoman Deborah Cain said the project was a yearlong effort by countless, committed people.
The Bemans bought parcels of land near Wesleyan University, known as the Beman Triangle, so African Americans could own their own property, she said. It encompasses a wedge-shaped block of land bordered by Vine and Cross streets, and Knowles Avenue on the western boundary of the school.
Five original homes remain there today, Cain said.
Board of Education member Lisa Loomis-Davern shared a quote from the book, The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, which, she said, exemplifies the Bemans: Everything you touch, you change, and everything you change changes you.
Regardless of the rocky and unforgiving soil that was around them, they persisted in planting seeds in the hope of shaping a more free and just future, Loomis said. Their name is our seed for this next generation.
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion at this hour. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.
With hundreds of Oximeter centres, AAP gets closer to people in Bihar
Not a big player in Bihar politics, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has adopted a unique way of drawing peoples attention in the state. In the midst of Covid-19 pandemic and scourge of flood in nearly half the state, out of box thinking is what is driving the political parties in Bihar to connect with the masses in the interiors, where online connectivity may not be easily possible. Read more
Cabinet approves Karmayogi scheme for government officials, Javadekar calls it biggest HRD reform
The union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Mission Karmayogi, a skill building programme, for its civil servants, which it said will help them in the future. Read more
World champion PV Sindhu pulls out of Uber Cup in Denmark
World Champion PV Sindhu has decided to skip the Uber Cup, in Aarhus, Denmark starting from Oct 3-11. The prestigious Thomas and Uber Cup Finals is supposed to restart international badminton after a gap of six months. Read more
Xiaomi India launches Redmi 9A, prices start from 6,799
Xiaomi has announced the latest Redmi 9A as a part of their Redmi A series of smartphones today. The Redmi A series are a part of Xiaomis budget offerings that aim to get users the best of the specs without having to splurge. Read more
Volkswagen opens bookings for Polo and Vento BS6 with auto transmission
Volkswagen India on Wednesday announced the start of bookings for BS6 Polo and Ventos automatic variants. While the former has been priced at 9.67 lakh, the later is priced at 12.99 lakh (all prices are ex showroom and are introductory). Read more
Hina Khans rainbow-hued eye make-up game is perfect for masked fashion amid Covid-19
Hina Khans fashion game has got to be the strongest when it comes to telly actors. From her choice of clothing to her unique styling, be it her hairdos or her make-up, the Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai fame starlet is constantly experimenting and setting new fashion goals. Read more
Amid tiff with China, Rajnath Singh heads to Russia for SCO meet: Key details
Amid tension with China at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is headed to Russia for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting. Read more
Wednesday delivered a handful of new active COVID-19 cases in Champaign County, with an additional four bumping up the total number of active cases in the county to 549.
By Michelle Nichols
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Russia has stepped up its logistic support for private military contractor Wagner Group in Libya with some 338 military cargo flights from Syria in the nine months to July 31 to aid Wagner fighters backing eastern-based Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, according to a U.N. report seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
The report by independent sanctions monitors - submitted to the U.N. Security Council Libya sanctions committee, but not yet public - also found that Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Russia, and Qatar breached an arms embargo on Libya.
The U.N. missions of Jordan, Russia, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the accusations in the report. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in January that if there are Russians in Libya, they are not representing or paid by his government. [nR4N29101F]
The U.N. report assessed "that direct Russian Federation military logistic support to ChVK Wagner, and possibly the other Russian Federation based private military companies ... significantly increased from January 2020 to June 2020."
It listed some 338 "suspicious flights from Syria by Russian Federation military aircraft" to Libya between Nov. 1, 2019 and July 31, 2020. In a confidential May report, the sanctions monitors said that Russia-based Wagner Group had up to 1,200 people deployed in Libya. [nL1N2CO16W]
Libya descended into chaos after the NATO-backed overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Since 2014, it has been split, with an internationally recognized government controlling the capital Tripoli and the northwest, while Haftar rules the east.
Haftar is supported by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, while the government is backed by Turkey.
"The arms embargo remains totally ineffective," the U.N. report said.
"Since the more direct engagement by Turkey in December 2019 and the United Arab Emirates in January 2020, arms transfers to Libya by those two member states have been extensive, blatant and with complete disregard to the sanctions measures," it said.
Story continues
The report also found that Egypt, Jordan, Russia, Syria, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE breached U.N. sanctions by not inspecting "cargo of suspicious commercial vessels or aircraft destined for Libya for which there were reasonable grounds."
The U.N. missions of Egypt and Syria did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
This article is adapted from The Climate Beat, the weekly newsletter of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism initiative strengthening coverage of the climate story. The author is Covering Climate Nows deputy director.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES has no plan to address the climate crisis.
This is not a partisan observation; it is a fact, supported by Donald Trumps own statements and the Republican Party platform, which, as in 2016, outrightly dismisses the climate threat and ridicules efforts to mitigate it. On August 23, the eve of the Republican National Convention, the presidents team released a bulleted list of Trumps priorities for a second term. The word climate did not appear once. Given the unparalleled and scientifically incontrovertible threat that climate change presents, this is shocking, though it is not a surprise.
Too often, the press meets the president on his termsand, in doing so, fails to interrogate something that is unacceptable from the nations leader, no matter ones political sympathies. Does the president have a plan on this issue? a journalist asks. Of course not, goes the answer. Who would be fool enough to ask? And so the issue goes undiscussed.
The effect, however inadvertent, is that journalists are giving a pass to the president on an issue of supreme and urgent importance to the countrysand, indeed, humanitysfuture. The public, meanwhile, is left woefully uninformed about the magnitude of the climate crisis and the necessity of a policy response.
In fairness, theres a lot on the medias and the publics collective plates right now: historic protests for racial justice and horrifying, devolving violence in city streets; a pandemic that has taken the lives of 183,000 Americans and counting; an economic crisis, with joblessness to rival the Great Recession. These are all matters of pressing concern, and they deserve every ounce of journalistic rigor theyve been given. Each is also closely intertwined with the climate emergency, however, so theres really no excuse for skipping over it.
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Even when nature itself delivers an opportunity to discuss climate change, many in the press let it slide. Last weeks Hurricane Laura escalated with a startling quickness, making landfall as one of the strongest storms on record to hit the Gulf Coast. The damage was not as catastrophic as initially feared, but the storm nevertheless left nearly a million people without powermeaning no air-conditioning, even as a nasty heat wave then brutalized residentsand sparked a worrying chemical fire at an industrial plant in Louisiana. Yet, as Laura bore down on the Gulf Coast, and as the Republican National Convention commenced, a combined fifty segments on the hurricane broadcast by NBC News, CBS News, and ABC News did not connect the storm to climate change or to Trump and the Republicans policies, according to analysis by the research organization Media Matters for America.
Other components of these networks, including their digital platforms, fared better, and a few leading print outlets, including the New York Times, the Associated Press, and The Guardian, did make the climate connection. At CNN, climate correspondent Bill Weir published a comprehensive survey of extreme weather that climate change is driving around the world and observed that youd never know that from watching the Republican National Convention. And CNNs Dana Bash drilled Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Peter Gaynor on whether or not he accepts climate science and considers climate change a threat to the United States. Im not a scientist, Gaynor repeatedly demurred.
It is disappointing that Bashs strong line of questioning feels so rare.
In truth, getting this story right doesnt take high-level mathjust the normal journalistic commitment to present information in the proper context. Climate change and the failure of political leaders to address it are matters of fundamental context, both when it comes to extreme-weather stories and to the broader story of this election cycle. Credible journalists would not, for example, report on coronavirus deaths without noting the Trump administrations halting, often unscientific response. Nor would they report on clashes in the streets between right-wing militias and Black Lives Matter protesters without noting the presidents own incitement of the violence that has ensued. So why do mainstream outlets repeatedly skip over the contexta crisis and no plan whatsoever to answer itwhen it comes to climate change?
Conversely, the media has given a fair amount of attention to former vice president Joe Bidens $2 trillion clean-energy plan, which in all but name calls for a Green New Deal and is by far the most ambitious climate action plan ever to accompany a major-party platform in the United States. The key tension in stories about Bidens plan, however, is often whether it will be judged as sufficient by the progressive wing of his party or whether Biden will be able to translate his plan into votes. This is a worthy subject, but surely the greater tension is between a nominee with a workable plan and a nominee with no plan at all. If journalists overemphasize Bidens plan, and potential progressive discontent with it, it leaves audiences with the impression that Bidens plan is more controversial than the presidents, which of course is not the case.
Journalists must do better in the weeks between now and Election Day. With the country embroiled in so many immediate crises, it may seem wrongheaded to insist on the climate story. But storms like Hurricane Laura, the raging wildfires in California, and the derechos that devastated the Midwest just weeks ago show that the climate crisis is not some faraway threat. Its here now, and it demands a swift and comprehensive political response, no matter your political allegiance. That Trump offers none is an outrage. It should be headline news. Journalists must say so, with all the tenacity and drive they have brought to the other stories of this historic moment.
WASHINGTON POST PUBLIC EDITOR: Political conventions are always propaganda
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Andrew McCormick is an independent journalist and former CJR Delacorte Fellow. His work has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, the South China Morning Post, and more. Follow him on Twitter @AndrewMcCormck.
Filmmaker and journalist Indrajit Lankesh on Tuesday claimed that at least 15 people in the Kannada film industry were involved in drug trafficking. He made the claim a day after deposing before the police to share the information about the alleged drug racket operating in the film industry.
I have given (names of) around 15 people whom I know are into drug business. I shared those names with the police, Lankesh told PTI.
Lankesh was questioned for nearly five hours by the Central Crime Branch on Monday for his statement that there were many people in the film industry who were into the drug business either as consumers or sellers. The filmmaker made the statement in the wake of the Narcotics Control Bureau busting a drug trafficking racket here and said some prominent musicians and actors in Karnataka were under its scanner.
The filmmaker said he wanted to expose the drug use in the industry. There are celebrities, when they start smoking and start doing cocaine, they are the brand ambassadors of youth today. These people think it is cool.., he added.
Also read: Khushi Kapoor poses in style for Janhvi Kapoor as actor shows off their photo shoot set-up at home. See pic
Lankesh said he suspected that some of the parties organised in the Sandalwood were hosted by drug mafias within the industry. Lankesh did not rule out the possibility of the Mumbai underworld behind the supply of drugs to a section of people in the Kannada film industry.
Meanwhile, the police said they were probing the matter.
Noted Kannada film star Sudeep on Tuesday said he was not aware of the industry being in the grip of drug menace and appealed against its portrayal in negative light based on isolated incidents. I can only say what I know. I am from the film industry. I really dont know anything about it.., he said.
Follow @htshowbiz for more
ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop
Ackerman Werner: We can be both cautious, functional in this environment
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Tunisian prime minister-designate Hichem Mechichi, in his inaugural address to parliament here Tuesday, painted a gloomy picture of the economic and social situation of the country
The HSE has written to Alcoholics Anonymous over a meeting the health service alleged contravened Covid-19 guidelines.
Health chiefs claimed they were aware of a meeting that breached regulations on numbers attending, the wearing of face masks and social distancing.
In a letter dated August 25, officials said they were concerned that more than six people attended, contrary to the tightened restrictions imposed last month as coronavirus infections rose.
Now dozens of AA groups, which only resumed face-to-face operations last month after a six-month suspension, have again voluntarily suspended meetings.
They will continue via online platforms such as Zoom.
The majority of AA and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) groups went to great lengths to try to adhere to HSE guidelines.
They insisted all attending should wear face masks, off-ered contact tracing details and adhered to social distancing and sanitisation measures.
However, compliance with the six-person rule for indoor gatherings emerged as an issue.
The AA general service office has written to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly asking for urgent clarification.
"This letter should serve to remind us of the seriousness of the pandemic while highlighting the reputational risks to the good name and work carried out by AA in Ireland," it said.
"We should always be conscious of our responsibility to others inside and outside of AA."
Politicians have expressed concern that groups providing an essential service, such as AA and Narcotics Anonymous, could now effectively be forced to shut down at a time when revellers have been seen flouting Covid controls in Dublin and Killarney.
Politicians said AA groups adhering to guidelines such as face masks, social distancing, contact tracing and sanitisation should be deemed an essential service and exempted from the six-person rule brought in to tackle the pandemic.
Several warned there could be serious mental-health consequences over the loss of such services for a prolonged period.
Sobriety
Sinn Fein deputy Thomas Gould expressed concern at the move and asked why AA and NA meetings have not been deemed essential.
"For some people, these meetings are a lifeline to help them retain their sobriety," said the Cork north-central TD.
"These meetings are controlled environments where contact tracing, social distancing and risk management is possible. If clusters have arisen from these meetings, they must be stopped, but we have no information on that.
"These are well-run and well-managed organisations that I would trust to put their members first and do everything in their power to keep society safe while still providing the support necessary to those struggling with past problematic alcohol and drug misuse during this pandemic."
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Scottish holidaymakers have complained that they are being punished for behaviour of drunken louts on Zante as hundreds rush home from Greece to beat Nicola Sturgeon's Covid quarantine deadline.
All passengers arriving in Scotland from 4am on Thursday will have to self-isolate for 14 days amid fears that partying youngsters on the island are rife with the virus.
One passenger tweeted tonight: 'Sat waiting @zante airport and I wish I wasn't, far too many youngsters, @jet2tweets , put them all one plane to send them home!! Stressy!!'
While another younger tourist wrote: 'Just found out that Scotland added Greece to the quarantine list... UK u better watch it cause I'm not spending 14 days in a hotel self-isolating.'
It comes after the Welsh Government yesterday singled out the island and imposed a 14-day self-isolation period on anyone returning from Zante.
There is mounting pressure on Boris Johnson to remove Greece from the UK's travel corridor exemptions after a cluster of cases in Buckinghamshire were linked to Zante on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a passenger on a flight back from Heraklion in Crete has said she was asked to self-isolate after it was believed someone on the plane had tested positive for the virus.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she had received a text from NHS Test and Trace saying she was in contact with someone on August 27.
But she said that the only place she was in contact with anyone where someone would have her contact details was the Tui flight back to London Stansted.
She added: 'Our flight was hideous, hardly anyone wore a mask and the crew didn't do anything about it.
'We raised the issue twice with the cabin crew who still didn't enforce it. My family is OK but we are having to self-isolate.
'I'm so sad for my son because he has to miss his first week back at school.'
A Tui spokeswoman said it was aware of a 'small number' of positive Covid-19 test results following flight TOM5449 returning from Heraklion to Stansted on August 27.
Around 190 passengers on a Tui Airways flight landing at Cardiff from Zante yesterday were asked to self-isolate for 14 days and - in the first example of state-sanctioned testing - they will be swabbed within 48 hours and again after eight days (stock photo of a Tui jet)
The rate of coronavirus cases per 100,000 of population in Greece over the past seven days is just 14 - well short of the government's quarantine threshold of 20
Nicola Sturgeon tweeted today to explain that her decision was due to 'a number of positive cases' in people returning from Greece over recent days
Greece lashed back at Sturgeon's 'harsh' quarantine move yesterday as thousands more holidaymakers face chaos.
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The Greek tourism minister pointed out that the country's infection rate is 'well below' the threshold set by the UK government.
Scotland dramatically declared that from 4am tomorrow arrivals from the popular destination must self-isolate, while Wales is placing restrictions on incomers from the island of Zante after a rash of cases.
Boris Johnson is now under massive pressure to follow suit, with a crunch meeting due to happen later.
But the moves have sparked fury as the infection rate in Greece as a whole is still well below the mark used by the UK government to trigger inclusion on the quarantine list, of 20 cases per 100,000 population in a seven-day period.
It raises questions about how holidaymakers can judge whether to travel to destinations, with complaints that the goalposts keep being shifted.
Greece's tourism minister Harry Theoharis insisted the country has 'a much lower number of infections compared to most other countries in Europe'. The rate per 100,000 of population over the past seven days is just 14.3 - well short of the government's alert level.
'We have put in place a comprehensive set of protocols and measures,' he told BBC Breakfast. 'We take targeted measures where we see concentration (of cases).
He added: 'We feel that this is a bit harsh.'
UK ministers are today holding an emergency meeting with Welsh and Scottish officials about the rules on Greece, while Portugal is on the brink after cases rose above the mark set by the government.
Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething said he would be pressing the UK Government to consider the potential risk in Greece following six clusters amounting to more than 30 cases of Covid-19 in the last week.
The cases had come from four flights, two of which landed in England.
Tour operator Tui has said it will no longer offer holidays to the resort of Laganas on Zante.
Mr Johnson now faces increasing pressure to put Greece on the UK's quarantine list after Scotland and Wales imposed restrictions on Britons returning from the holiday hotspot.
Nicola Sturgeon's government is mandating two weeks of self-isolation for anyone arriving from 4am on Thursday, while her Welsh counterpart Mark Drakeford has singled out the party island of Zante.
Around 190 passengers on a Tui Airways flight from Zante to Cardiff last night were asked to self-isolate for 14 days and - in the first example of state-sanctioned testing - they will be swabbed within 48 hours and again after eight days.
'There are concerns from our public health teams that the current advice and control measures for returning travellers are insufficient,' Mr Gething said.
He added that all passengers on a flight from Zante to Cardiff on Tuesday night would be told to quarantine and would be given two Covid-19 tests, one within 48 hours and another eight days after their return.
'In addition, I have pressed for an early meeting with the UK Government and devolved nations [today] to consider the latest assessment of risk by the Joint Biosecurity Centre,' he said.
'There is an obvious need for us to consider the potential for changes to the regulations in Wales which would require travellers arriving in the UK from Greece and possibly elsewhere to self-isolate on their return.'
Andrew Flintham, managing director of Tui UK and Ireland, said: 'Laganas is a popular resort with young people who traditionally holiday in large groups of friends.
'The health and safety of our colleagues and customers is our primary concern and recent cases shows that some customers are not following social distancing and Covid safety measures.
'It is therefore the right thing to do to protect and reduce a now identified potential risk to others by no longer offering holidays to this specific resort.
'The recent cases in Wales have highlighted a demographic of customers that have recently returned from Zante and subsequently tested positive. As the only airline that flies between Cardiff and Zante it has allowed us to understand trends that may also be seen in other areas of the UK.'
Trips to all other resorts in Zante will continue as normal.
Scotland's chief medical officer Gregor Smith said: 'There is a compelling public health risk around importation of the virus, especially given the number of imported cases linked to the Greek islands.
'The flow of travel between Scotland and Greece, and the behaviour we have seen from some of those travellers, means that on public health grounds there is a strong case - supported by public health directors - to remove Greece from the exemption list.'
The move came as holidaymakers scrambled to return from Portugal amid growing concerns restrictions could be reimposed to arrivals from there.
With thousands of Britons having travelled to Portugal since the country was exempted from quarantine measures on August 22, rising cases there were prompting airlines to increase capacity as holidaymakers hurried to return in case restrictions are reimposed.
There were 22.3 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Portugal in the seven days to August 31, up from 14.5 a week earlier, according to figures calculated by the PA news agency based on data collected by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Despite the changes in Wales and Scotland, the Department for Transport in London said there were no plans to amend travel arrangements with Greece.
Greece's current infection rate is 13.7 per 100,000 people, while the UK Government's threshold for its quarantine list is 20 cases per 100,000.
But there are grave fears that these relatively low numbers belie how rife the contagion is on Greek party islands popular with young Britons.
Rory Boland, travel editor at Which?, criticised the Government's approach to quarantining countries, claiming it was damaging the travel industry and leaving holidaymakers confused.
He said: 'Yet again haphazard announcements and rumours around quarantine have sparked chaos and confusion for holidaymakers, with many facing an unenviable choice between paying extortionate prices for last-minute flights home or the disruption caused by two weeks in isolation on their return.
'When the dust settles on what has been a disappointing summer for so many people, it's clear that a reassessment of the Government's approach to managing the threat posed by coronavirus to holiday travel will be needed.
'The travel industry will also need greater Government support to make it through the tough months ahead while major reforms will be needed to restore confidence among holidaymakers who have often been left out of pocket and with nowhere to turn for support when the pandemic has left their travel plans in tatters.'
Authorities impose new restrictions on the island of Zante as fears grow holiday destinations could become new covid hotspot Local restrictions have been put in place on the islands of Zante/Zakynthos amid fears of a rise in coronavirus cases. These include:
Suspension of any kind of live events and celebrations such as parties, trade fairs, religious ceremonies, open markets etc.
Prohibition of operation of all food/catering sector-related shops, services and facilities from midnight - 7am the next day.
A ban on gatherings of more than 9 people, either indoors or outdoors;
A limit of 4 people per table in any restaurant, except for cases where the party consists of family members, where the limit is 6 people;
Mandatory use of face masks in indoor and outdoor public spaces. Advertisement
Seven of those on Tui's August 25 flight to Cardiff were infectious at the time of flying and all 193 passengers have been told to self-isolate, the Welsh Government said.
One traveller claimed that the flight was full of 'selfish covidiots', with passengers not wearing their masks properly and disregarding the rules.
Education Minister Kirsty Williams told the Welsh Government's weekly press conference that a statement about other flights coming into Wales would be made on Tuesday.
'The Welsh Government is deeply concerned by the reports from people who were on that flight about the lack of appropriate measures to keep everybody on that flight safe,' she said.
'My colleague Vaughan Gething, the health minister, is in discussion with all relevant parties and will be making a statement later today about other flights that may be operating out of Greece and into Cardiff Airport.'
On Tuesday, Public Health Wales said one further person with coronavirus had died in Wales, bringing the total number of deaths there to 1,596.
There were a further 51 positive cases of Covid-19 reported, bringing the number of cases to 18,063.
Dr Christopher Williams, incident director for the Covid-19 outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: 'All passengers are being followed up by their local Test Trace Protect teams.
'They should all self-isolate at home, as they may become infectious, even if they have no symptoms. Anyone with symptoms should book a test without delay.'
Stephanie Whitfield, who was on the flight in question, claimed the 'inept crew couldn't care less' after passengers took off their masks and mixed freely with friends and families on board.
The flight left all 193 people on board facing two weeks self-isolation and comes amid fears that Zante could be a new coronavirus hotspot.
Mrs Whitfield, from Cardiff, who was on the flight with her husband, told the BBC: 'This flight was a debacle. The chap next to me had his mask around his neck.
'Not only did the airline not pull him up on it, they gave him a free drink when he said he knew a member of the crew.
'Loads of people were taking their masks off and wandering up and down the aisles to talk to others.
'As soon as the flight landed, a load of people took their masks off immediately. The flight was full of selfish 'covidiots' and an inept crew who couldn't care less.'
According to Dr Gwen Lowe, consultant in communicable disease control for Public Health Wales, there have been about 30 cases in the last week linked to Zante, and confirmed in people who were on different flights and staying in different locations.
She also admitted: 'These are confirmed positive cases and we're expecting that number to rise.'
The Foreign Commonwealth Office updated its advice for Britons travelling to Zante, or Zakynthos, after an increase in local restrictions to combat the virus.
TUI has defended itself over the claims and insisted that all passengers wore masks and complied with Covid protocols 'for the duration of their flight'.
A statement said: 'The health and safety of passengers is always our priority and we are concerned to hear of Mrs Whitfield's claims.
'Our crew are trained to the highest standards and in line with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) guidelines.
Passengers on board a TUI flight from Zante to Cardiff all have to self-isolate after seven tested positive for coronavirus
'Passengers are informed prior to travel and via PA announcements on the flight that they have to wear masks throughout and are not allowed to move around the cabin. Masks can only be removed when consuming food and drink.
'A full investigation is now underway as these concerns weren't reported during the flight or before today.'
Tourists now face several restrictions on what they can do on the island, including the suspension of live events and celebrations such as parties, trade fairs, religious ceremonies and open markets, as well as the prohibition of all food and catering sector-related shops, services and facilities from midnight to 7am the next day.
Several Britons who visited Greece in recent weeks have reported cases of the virus.
Last week, 11 teenagers from Plymouth tested positive for the coronavirus, with up to 30 infected in total after returning from Zante.
Plymouth's director for public health Ruth Harrell said that some of the teenagers went gone on a 'night out in Plymouth's bars and restaurants' before they were aware of the risk.
B oris Johnson has been branded "heartless" after declining to meet campaigners representing families bereaved during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Prime Minister said "of course I will meet the bereaved" when questioned last week in an interview about attempts by the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group to secure a meeting.
But the campaigners trying to secure a swift public inquiry into the Governments handling of the crisis shared a letter from Mr Johnson in which he "regrettably" declined to meet with the group.
"Its a U-turn followed by a U-turn," said campaign co-founder Jo Goodman, who lost her father Stuart to the virus.
"The Prime Minister has done a 360: dodging five letters, then agreeing on live TV to meet with us, and now quietly telling us hes too busy. Its heartless."
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran had earlier written to the Prime Minister saying she was "shocked" to learn that he had "refused" to meet the group which says it represents 1,600 families.
Mr Johnson previously told Sky News: "I am not aware of those letters but I will of course write back to every letter we get. Of course I will meet the bereaved."
But writing to Ms Goodman, the Prime Minister acknowledged "a letter will be of little comfort against the grief and heartbreak that families have suffered" as he declined a meeting.
The letter sent by Boris Johnson to Bereaved Families for Justice / PA
"As much as I would wish to be able to offer my condolences in person to all those who have suffered loss, that is regrettably not possible and so I am unable to meet with you and members of Bereaved Families for Justice," he wrote.
Mr Johnson also said he understands the group have instructed solicitors who are in pre-action legal correspondence over an independent inquiry.
He said he will hold the inquiry "at the appropriate time" and urged all further correspondence to be dealt with by their respective legal teams.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The Prime Minister has responded to Bereaved Families For Justice to express his sincere condolences to all families who have sadly lost loved ones to this terrible disease.
"He remains committed to meeting with members of the public and families of key workers who have been bereaved as a result of Covid-19.
"The Prime Minister is resolute in his determination to beat this virus and prevent further families from suffering such dreadful loss."
Some Areas Seeing COVID-19 Call Center Traffic Tapering Off
In the spring, when the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic began to be felt across the U.S., the demand on call centers both public and private spiked. Call centers, accustomed to dealing with a seasonally predictable pattern of incoming calls, were suddenly faced with unpredictable call spikes, and many struggled to catch up. Customers reported frustration and an inability to reach a human agent no matter what time of the day they tried.
While call centers of private companies had a little more wiggle room after all, its not an emergency if your book order is delayed, or an item of clothing needs to be returned call centers that support regional governments and healthcare resources were particularly mission-critical at a time they didnt have the resources to keep up. Wait times increased by many times over, and dropped and abandoned calls were rife. Many calls simply couldnt get through.
In some parts of the country, there is evidence that calls to public COVID call centers are slowing as the pace of infections slow. In North Carolina, a rising trend of infections began to drop in late July as more areas mandated masks, social distancing and quarantines.
At the Wake County Emergency Operation Center's COVID-19 call center Raleigh, North Carolina, calls have tapered off from the spring, when state lockdowns spawned a wide variety of questions from area citizens. Katy Punch, the call centers director, told Spectrum News 1 that at the height of the pandemic, more than 30 employees fielded hundreds of calls of day. Today, a few staffers answer about 100 calls per day as the state's stay at home order has eased.
"The most common calls are looking for testing...We show them how to register online and make an appointment," said Punch.
Currently, the county has no plans to discontinue the call center service, however.
"They'll [county officials] judge how long it will last based on the need of the community," said Punch.
Edited by Maurice Nagle
James Madison University has halted in-person instruction for, at least, the rest of the month as the campus deals with a "rapid increase" in the number of coronavirus cases, the school's president announced Tuesday.
More than 500 active cases of the coronavirus have been reported since July 1, including roughly 150 positive cases among tests taken at the university's health center, according to the school's covid-19 dashboard used to track the virus's presence on campus. More than 370 students and employees have reported contracting the disease since Aug. 17.
Out of 83 tests performed on students and employees at the university's health center Monday, 18 had positive results, according to the school's dashboard.
The university in Harrisonburg, Va., invited students to begin moving onto campus Aug. 21. A mix of in-person, online and hybrid classes started Aug. 26.
Now, the school is asking students to return home by Monday, when in-person classes are expected to transition online, Jonathan Alger, the campus' president, wrote in a message to the campus. Some specialized classes, including graduate research, will be offered in a hybrid format, Alger added.
"This is a difficult message to deliver, and while it is made in the best interest of public health and safety, we know it will come as a disappointment to many," Alger wrote. He also advised students returning to their homes away from campus to quarantine for two weeks upon arriving to their destination.
Alger also cited concerns about a potential bed shortage for sick students who need to quarantine. JMU's covid-19 dashboard shows 79 out of 143 beds reserved for self-quarantine have been allocated to individuals who have contracted the virus.
Students who have already started to self-quarantine have been told finish their prescribed period of isolation before leaving campus, Alger said.
The university will make a decision about students' return to campus by Sept. 25, Alger said. Face-to-face instruction could resume on or after Oct. 5 if university and health officials deem it to be safe.
"Protecting the health of our Harrisonburg and Rockingham County community - including students, faculty, staff - is our top priority, and we need to act swiftly to stop the spread as best we can," Alger said.
Scientists and health campaigners have condemned the Trump administration after it distanced itself from the World Health Organisations global initiative for the development and equitable distribution of a coronavirus vaccine.
More than 150 countries are engaging with the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (Covax) a multilateral WHO scheme aimed at working with manufacturers to provide countries with access to safe and effective vaccines, once they are licensed and approved.
This approach would allow nations to take advantage of a portfolio of potential vaccines to ensure their citizens are quickly covered by whichever ones are deemed effective.
However, the US government has refused to cooperate with the international initiative, opting to go it alone while placing billions worth of advance orders on the most promising vaccines currently in development.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also indicated its willingness to authorise a coronavirus vaccine before large-scale phase three clinical trials are complete, raising further concern that the Trump administration is positioning itself to hoard supplies of promising doses.
The United States will continue to engage our international partners to ensure we defeat this virus, but we will not be constrained by multilateral organisations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organisation and China, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement on Tuesday.
This president will spare no expense to ensure that any new vaccine maintains our own FDAs gold standard for safety and efficacy, is thoroughly tested, and saves lives, he said.
The move has drawn widespread criticism, with experts warning that Donald Trump was pursuing a dangerous strategy of vaccine nationalism that endangered the lives of American citizens.
Global Justice Now, which campaigns on issues of trade, health care and justice in the developing world, warned that Mr Trumps approach was fuelling a global scramble by rich countries to hoard potential vaccines that would deplete global stocks for lower income nations.
Heidi Chow, a senior policy manager, told The Independent: Donald Trump is racing ahead with his vaccine nationalism strategy and so its no surprise that he is refusing to join international vaccine efforts.
The fastest way to end this pandemic is through global collaboration and governments should be focusing on multilateral solutions to maximise global supplies while ensuring a fair allocation for all countries based on public health needs.
Alex Harris, the Wellcome Trusts head of global policy, said: It is disappointing that the US has decided not to join Covax. The only way were going to end this pandemic is if countries work together.
The WHO has warned against the threat of vaccine nationalism, with directer general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arguing that for the world to recover faster, it has to recover together, because its a globalised world: the economies are intertwined.
Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Show all 13 1 /13 Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Cheryll Mack, 46, a registered nurse in the emergency department, poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift outside the hospital where she works. "The Covid-19 spread has affected a lot of livelihood, a lot of people's lives. It has created a crisis, death in general. So I would like to ask not one single person, but all people worldwide, to converge and join the platform that this is something that nobody can fight individually," said Mack. Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Dr Laura Bontempo, 50, an emergency medicine doctor wears her personal protective equipment she uses when she sees patients, while posing for a photograph after a nine-hour shift, outside the hospital. "The hardest moments have actually been separating families from patients, there is a no-visitor policy now and taking people away from their loved ones is very challenging," Bontempo said. "I'm used to treating sick patients. I treat sick patients all the time. It's very different knowing that the patient you are treating, is actually a risk to you as well. That's the main difference here. No one who works in hospitals is afraid of treating sick people. Just want to keep staff safe and the patients safe at the same time." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Ernest Capadngan, 29, a registered nurse who works at a biocontainment unit poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift, outside the hospital. "The hardest moment during the shift was just seeing Covid patients die helpless and without their family members beside them," Capadngan said. Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Martine Bell, 41, a nurse practitioner in an emergency department, poses for a photograph after a six-hour shift outside the hospital where she works. "The hardest thing in all of this, has been taking care of fellow healthcare providers. It really hits home and it's really scary when you see someone that could be you coming in and now you're taking care of them. It's also hitting home that once healthcare providers start getting sick, who is going to be taking care of the public," Bell said. "It's very stressful, everyone is on edge. We don't know who's coming in next, or how sick they're going to be, or if we are going to get a whole bunch of people or if we're not going to get no one. It's a really stressful and just a completely unusual time for all of us." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Kaitlyn Martiniano, 25, a registered nurse who works at a biocontainment poses for a photograph after a 12.5-hour shift, outside the hospital. "We have a lot of patients and they are pretty sick right now but we have not yet been hit as hard as New York or Seattle, so I feel like we are very lucky with that so far. Every day you have to just be optimistic." Said Martiniano. "I think the reason that we are not being hit as hard right now is because so many things are closed, and because so many people are staying at home." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Tracey Wilson, 53, a nurse practitioner in an intensive care unit (ICU), poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift, outside the hospital where she works. "I had a patient fall out of bed today and I had to call his wife and tell her and she couldn't come see him, even though she pleaded and begged to come see him," Wilson said. "There is a lot of unknowns and with that unknown is a lot of anxiety and stress that we're not used to dealing with." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Meghan Sheehan, 27, a nurse practitioner in an emergency department, poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift, outside the hospital where she works. "I think the hardest moment has been the fear that lives within all of us. There is a lot of unknown right now. We fear what's going to happen tomorrow, how the emergency department will look next week when we come in. We have fears about our own colleagues, whether they will fall ill. We also fear that we could be asymptomatic carriers and bring this virus home to our families and our loved ones. There has been a lot of fear over our supplies and whether we'll run out. And then obviously there is the fear that we will see patients and not be able to do everything we normally can to help save patients' lives," Sheehan said. Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Kimberly Bowers, 44, a nurse practitioner in an ICU, poses for a photograph after a 13-hour shift, outside the hospital. "The hardest moment was a young woman who died and her family wasn't able to be here with her," Bowers said. "I think right now, it's just frustrating and scary just not knowing what comes next." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Tiffany Fare, 25, a registered nurse who works at a biocontainment unit poses for a photograph after a 13-hour shift, outside the hospital where she works. "One of the hardest moments was having to see a family member of a Covid patient, say goodbye over an iPad, rooms away. That was a tough one, I can't imagine how hard it would be to be saying goodbye, you can't see your loved one and then they're gone," Fare said. "My team has been really great to me. We've worked really well together and we've really come together in this crisis. We don't really know each other, we all come from different units within the same hospital, so for us to come together and work so well as a team, it's been a journey but I think that's what is giving me hope." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Dr Kyle Fischer, 35, an emergency medicine doctor, poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift, outside the hospital where he works. "Since it's a new virus, we don't have any experience with it. For most diseases I am used to seeing it and taking care of it and this, I don't have any starting place. I know what I'm hearing from New York, I've read all of the papers it seems like, but no one knows what the correct answers are, so there's a huge amount of uncertainty and people are really, really sick. So it's hard to second guess whether or not you are doing the right thing when you think you are but you never quite know," said Fischer. Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Julia Trainor, 23, a registered nurse at a surgical ICU, poses for a photograph after a 14-hour shift, outside the hospital. "The hardest moment was having to put a breathing tube in my patient who could no longer breathe for herself and after the breathing tube went in, we called her family and the husband, of course, couldn't visit her because of visitor restrictions at the hospital. So I had to put him on the phone and hold the phone to her ear, as he told her that he loved her so much and then I had to wipe away her tears as she was crying," said Trainor. "I'm used to seeing very sick patients and I'm used to patients dying but nothing quite like this. In the flip of a switch, without the support, they're completely isolated. They're very sick. Some of them recover and some of them don't. But the hardest part, I would think, is them having to go through this feeling like they are alone." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Lisa Mehring, 45, a registered nurse who works in a biocontainment unit with Covid-19 patients, poses for a photograph after a 12.5-hour shift, outside the hospital where she works in Maryland. "Seeing these new moms have babies has been the hardest moment along with having do their pumping for the new moms and them not being able to be with their newborn children, it's hard to think of the family that they are missing," Mehring said. Photos Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Jacqueline Hamil, 30, a registered nurse in an emergency department, poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift outside the hospital. "The hardest moment of my shift today, I was in charge, and we had a really sick patient that was in a really, really small room and usually, when we have sick crashing patients, we can have a ton of resources and a ton of staff go in and help with the nurse and the doctors that are taking care of that patient. But due to the patient being ruled out for the coronavirus, we could only have five or six people in the room at a time and putting on all the gowns and gloves and masks and face shields to protect us in case the patient does have coronavirus, it takes a while, so the nurse that was in there, ended up being in the room for you know 6, 7 hours with minimal breaks and it was hard being in charge and knowing that she was stuck in the room and really nothing I could do to help her," Hamil said. Reuters
Dr Joshua Moon, a research fellow in the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex, said that Mr Trumps decision to snub Covax was fairly par for the course.
He has demonstrated time and time again that multilateralism is not something he is willing to engage in and that America First really means America Only, said Dr Moon.
On a general tack, however, this is not just a move that harms the Covax agreement but harms America itself. Without equitable access to a vaccine (if and when it is ready), the spread of Sars-CoV-2 will likely remain active elsewhere and repeatedly be imported again and again into the US.
Dr Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, said Americas failure to participate in any sort of multilateral effort to secure vaccines marked a real blow.
The behaviour of countries when it comes to vaccines in this pandemic will have political repercussions beyond public health, she said.
The WHO has said that even governments making deals with individual vaccine makers would benefit from joining Covax because it would provide back-up vaccines in case the ones being secured through bilateral deals with manufacturers arent successful.
Earlier this week, the European Commission said it would contribute to the initiative, while the WHO said Germany had joined the pact.
The Commission, announcing that it would provide 400 million euros in guarantees, did not clarify whether EU states would acquire shots through the WHO scheme.
Mr Trump has previously criticised the WHOs handling of the coronavirus pandemic, accusing it of being too focused on China and issuing bad advice. In May, the president announced that the US was cutting ties with the organisation.
The all-new 2021 Toyota Venza features a cutting-edge hybrid powertrain, a roomy and well-equipped interior and a standard all-wheel drive system.
Crossover SUV shoppers in California's Central Coast region have an impressive new model choice: the 2021 Toyota Venza at Toyota of Santa Maria. The all-new 2021 Venza has many things going for it, with its eye-catching exterior design, and efficient hybrid powertrain, excellent traction with its standard all-wheel drive system, state-of-the-art multimedia and driving assistance technologies, high-level safety and an inviting cabin.
The exterior of the 2021 Venza has an elegant design, while the interior provides a great deal of comfort and functionality, with an eight-way power drivers seat and a generous amount of storage space. With the Star Gaze fixed panoramic glass roof, vehicle occupants can enjoy a great view of the sky above and a sense of airiness in the cabin. Interior technologies include an infotainment system with a 12.3-inch touchscreen display, the 9-speaker JBL Premium Audio System, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration, and a 10-inch color Head-Up Display.
The 2021 Venza comes equipped with an efficient hybrid powertrain, which combines a 2.5-liter DOHC four-cylinder engine with three electric motors and a lithium-ion battery. This helps the Venza get an estimated fuel economy of 40 combined mpg. The electric motors in the Venza provide a considerable amount of torque, resulting in quick acceleration. Drivers can customize the performance characteristics of the Venza with the selectable modes for SPORT, NORMAL, ECO and EV. With the EV mode, the Venza can drive on electric-only power for short distances. With its standard Electronic On-Demand AWD system, the Venza is a great choice for off-road adventures.
With the abundance of safety-enhancing driving assistance features in the Venza, drivers can count on a very safe ride. This includes Automatic High Beams, Full-Speed Range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, the Pre-Collision System, Lane Departure Alert, Lane Tracing Assist and Road Sign Assist.
Automotive shoppers that are interested in learning more about the 2021 Venza at Toyota of Santa Maria are encouraged to visit the dealerships website at http://www.toyotasm.com or call (866) 574-3306.
Toyota of Santa Maria is located at 700 East Betteravia Road in Santa Maria.
New Delhi: Sushant Singh Rajput's family lawyer Vikas Singh Wednesday said a malicious campaign relating to his mental health was being run by few TV channels to defame his family and benefit actress Rhea Chakraborty, who has been accused of abetting the actor's suicide.
The senior advocate told the media that Sushant's three sisters -- Priyanka, Mitu and Rani -- told him that they are extremely pained by the negative and false campaign related to his mental health which has been started by some news channels.
The lawyer said the FIR lodged by Sushant's father is in the public domain and in spite of this it is being said that the family was aware of his depression.
"The FIR clearly mentions that Sushant started having mental problems after Rhea came in his life. It also mentions that she was responsible for the problems and he became anxious due to the mental problems. Rhea never disclosed the files about Sushant's treatment to the family. Some of the prescriptions which were shared only mentioned about tablets and not the disease," Singh said at a press conference here.
The senior advocate said that a campaign is being run relentlessly by some channels and it is the earnest appeal of the family that do not increase sufferings of a bereaved family.
Please do not add to the suffering of the family by spreading canard and false accusations, he said.
Singh also said that a suggestion is being made that Sushant had a life insurance policy and the family would not get the money if he is declared to have died by suicide.
"And it is for this reason that the suicide theory was later changed to abetment of suicide. I must inform all of you that Sushant did not have any life insurance policy," he said.
"Sushant's father and sister have decided that no film/serial/book should be written/made without the consent of his father and without the script being shown to him. If anyone goes against it, they will do it at their own peril and appropriate action will be taken," Singh said.
Sushant, 34, was found dead at his Bandra residence. The actor's untimely demise was followed by a high-profile investigation by Mumbai Police during which many big names from Bollywood, including filmmakers Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Aditya Chopra, recorded their statements.
Later, the Supreme Court handed over the investigations to the CBI. Rhea is the main accused in the actor's death case in which the Enforcement Directorate has registered a case of money laundering.
The Narcotics Control Bureau has filed a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after the ED shared with it a report following the cloning of two mobile phones of Rhea.
"I believe we will, this will become the most important initiative to scale Sikh teachings for global audiences, - Prof. Mohanbir Singh Sawhney
The Sikh Research Institute (SikhRI) announces the first official release of The Guru Granth Sahib Project (TGGSP) website to coincide with the First Prakash Purab (Illumination day) of then known Adi Granth in 1604. SikhRI is making the timeless treasure-house accessible for today's seekers, scholars, and techies to connect with the Sabad-Wisdom.
Three years ago, the Guru Granth Sahib Project was envisioned as a curative-collaborative effort. Its research and development phase has completed eight different Banis (Compositions). Its technology, UX paradigm, and user persona were developed in the last few months. The current team consists of 31 members.
I consider SikhRI to be a leading research organization with 18 years of demonstrable record in delivering several key projects in educational resources. When they approached me about starting TGGSP, I took this on as a challenge that intermixes content, technology, and marketing. If we get this right, and I believe we will, this will become the most important initiative to scale Sikh teachings for global audiences, remarked Prof. Mohanbir Singh Sawhney, global IT Marketing expert, and TGGSP Strategic Alliance partner.
Translations, currently available in Panjabi and English of the Guru Granth Sahib, limit the profound depth, cultural opulence and poetic genius so eloquently revealed in the Guru Granth Sahib. In awe and reverence, we have attempted to converse and draft the verbiage that we hope is capturing the letter, message and spirit of the original language of the Guru Granth Sahib, shared Dr. Ishmeet Kaur Chaudhry, Assistant Professor of English literature and TGGSPs English Reviewer.
In reflecting on the projects vision, SikhRI Co-Founder and TGGSP Project Lead, Harinder Singh, said, We are disrupting the Sikh theological space which is currently caught between binaries created by men. This is the first effort in history to include the female perspective in developing an understanding of the Sikh canonical text enthroned to the Guru-Perfection. The process intentionally integrates a diverse array of schools of thought, acknowledges their strengths and biases, and builds on the collective knowledge transfer to expand them for current times. It is for teenagers and seniors, for the religious and the atheists, and so on.
This is another SikhRI milestone on a twenty-year journey to complete the research on each word of Guru Granth Sahib: etymology, grammar, and meaning. The team of subject matter experts carves a literal translation and an interpretive transcreation. Then, a commentary is composed. All is done in contemporary English and Panjabi while incorporating musical, poetical, and historical dimensions, added Dr. Jaswant Singh, TGGSPs Content Lead.
We are excited to release complete work to date on Asa ki Var: it is about 300,000 words (equivalent of 629 pages). We will be releasing Banis in the coming weeks on TGGSP site.
To access The Guru Granth Sahib Project, please visit: app.gurugranthsahib.io
For inquiries, please contact: Manpreet Singh
Manpreet.Singh@SikhRI.org | +1 855-913-1313 ext. 701
London, Sep 2 : Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced plans for a second Scottish independence referendum, paving the way for publishing draft legislation for a new vote before next May's elections for the parliament in Edinburgh, British media reported Wednesday.
Sturgeon, leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), announced the resumption of work on the bill in her annual programme for Scottish government on Tuesday, alongside plans for a 100-million-pound green jobs fund and proposals for a "National Care Service".
She said a new draft bill will be drawn up setting out the timing and terms for a new independence referendum, as well as the question to be asked to voters if it is given the green light by Westminster, Xinhua news agency reported.
Sturgeon said she will "make the case for Scotland to become an independent country, and seek a clear endorsement of Scotland's right to choose our own future".
Sturgeon also outlined her legislative agenda, saying that suppressing COVID-19 is "our most immediate priority - and it will remain so for some time".
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ruled out a new independence vote for Scotland. Under current British law, an independence referendum would need the consent of the Westminster Parliament.
In 2014, people in Scotland voted by a majority to remain part of Britain in what was described as a "once-in-a-generation" poll.
On September 8-9, the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine will hold the Kyiv Jewish Forum for the second time, which this year, given the epidemic situation in the world, will be held online in partnership with the Jerusalem Post.
Despite the fact that a direct meeting is impossible in the current situation, it is expected that the Second Kyiv Jewish Forum will become a large-scale and important world-class event.
Presidents and prime ministers of various countries, representatives of the US State Department, the UK House of Lords, religious leaders and world-famous scientists have already been invited to participate in the Forum. President of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder, Alternate Prime Minister of Israel Benny Gantz, US Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism Elan Carr, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, President of Poland (1995-2005) Aleksander Kwasniewski, Human Rights Advocate Natan Sharansky, Professor of Harvard University Serhii Plokhii and several dozen other speakers of the Forum will share their views on the issue of the fight against anti-Semitism, the future of Judaism, preserving the memory of the Holocaust, Israeli-Iranian relations, honoring the memory of the Babi Yar victims and other issues.
According to Boris Lozhkin, President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine, Ukraine is not an accidental place for consolidation of the world Jewry. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, a quarter of all Jews in the world lived in Ukraine, and today the descendants of the Ukrainian Jews are in all corners of the world without exception.
In the last few years, we have witnessed a real revival of the Jewish life in Ukraine. The Jewish Confederation of Ukraine seeks to contribute to the development of the world Jewish community, which is why we are organizing the Kyiv Jewish Forum, a global platform for discussing the opportunities and problems facing the world Jewry, and finding effective solutions, said Boris Lozhkin on the subject of holding the Kyiv Jewish Forum.
The first Kyiv Jewish Forum was held in Kyiv with the participation of more than 500 delegates from many parts of the world, including Israel, the United States, Canada and Europe. The level of representation and the importance of the issues discussed at the Forum made the Kyiv Jewish Forum an authoritative global platform for addressing the issues that worry not only the world Jewry, but everyone in general.
You can get acquainted with the program of the Second Kyiv Jewish Forum and receive reminders about broadcasts on the Forum's website.
The parliamentary standing committee on information and technology held an over three-hour long meeting with Facebook officials and experts on Wednesday, with its members discussing recent allegations of political bias against the social media company before the meeting was adjourned with no conclusions.
Facebook officials were summoned following a string of media reports in the last three weeks that showed that a key executive from its India operations team intervened to protect a politician linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from action over hate speech.
In response to overwhelming media interest in the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology that just adjourned, this is all I can say: we met for some three & a half hours & unanimously agreed to resume the discussion later, (including) with (representatives) of Facebook, panel chair and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said in a tweet.
The meeting was attended by Facebook India managing director and vice president Ajit Mohan. The committee decided to summon the social media company again. The panel, according to a member who asked not to be named, lapses on September 11 and Facebook has been asked to appear in front of the panel that will be reconstituted.
According to a member present at the meeting, some members raised objections over why no one from Facebooks policy team appeared as a witness. The recent allegations surround Facebook Indias public policy head Ankhi Das, who, according to a report by Wall Street Journal on August 14, intervened to stop a ban against BJPs Telangana MP Raja Singh.
They have taken cognisance of so many violations, why has no action been taken? said this member, asking not to be named.
Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil reiterated his partys stand seeking a joint parliamentary committee investigation into the allegations, while BJP MP Nishikant Dubey asked for reports of what exactly transpired during the Cambridge Analytica controversy, this person added.
The Cambridge Analytica controversy refers to the misuse of Facebook in the run up to the US presidential election in 2016 to glean political preferences of Americans and target them with misinformation, a concerted operation that involved Russia-linked individuals and is believed to have influenced the outcome of the polls. The Congress met with Cambridge Analytica before the 2019 parliamentary election but says it did not hire it.
According to a second member, questions were raised at the meeting about Facebooks neutrality and the backdrop of people working with the social media magnate.
When asked about Das, who is at the centre of the raging controversy for alleged violation of Facebooks hate speech policy, the company said it would respond in writing, this member added. Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday that the Opposition was pushing for a criminal inquiry into the companys conduct and a termination of its contracts with the government.
Electronics and information technology minster Ravi Shankar Prasad also wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, alleging company executives were biased against people who believed in BJPs ideology.
In the meeting, the members asked about Facebooks ties with governmental organisations and the Election Commission, and its executive was asked why the company functions as a publisher in the United States but as an intermediary in India.
Facebook asserted that it was maintaining neutrality and global standards, said the second member quoted above. They also said that political background had no bearing on their decisions.
We thank the Honourable Parliamentary Committee for their time. We remain committed to be an open and transparent platform, and to giving people voice and allowing them to express themselves freely, Facebook said in a statement after the meeting.
Experts said the scope of the problem is larger than the current exercise can address. We need the government to take a stand on content moderation, said Jyoti Panday, researcher with Internet Governance Project, Georgia Institute of Technology. This is only policy theatre, a PR exercise.
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Ameya Dalvi
A budget of Rs 25,000 opens doors to phones with flagship-grade processing hardware, premium designs and high-end cameras. There are some really good options available for purchase for this budget this month. You have phones with last-generation flagship processors, 64 MP cameras, quad cameras and full-screen AMOLED displays, among other things. Here are the best smartphones you can currently buy under Rs 25,000 in India.
Best phones to buy under Rs 25,000 in India
Realme X3
Realme has upped their game in the sub-25K segment with the release of the Realme X3. From a fairly potent Snapdragon 730G in the Realme X2, they have jumped to Qualcomms last generation flagship chip the Snapdragon 855+ in their new midrange phone. You can have the 6 GB RAM/128 GB internal storage variant in this budget. The display is impressive, with a 6.6-inch Full HD+ screen that flaunts a 120 Hz refresh rate, which is generally available in more expensive handsets. But they have switched from the AMOLED screen on the X2 to an LCD display here to keep the price down. The screen is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
(Also Read: Poco X2, Samsung Galaxy M31 to Redmi Note 9 Pro: Best phones under Rs 20,000 (Aug 2020))
Though the design isnt unique anymore, the textured glass back does look nice. The camera department on the Realme X3 is quite versatile, and includes a 12 MP telephoto camera for 2X optical zoom. It is accompanied by a 64 MP primary camera, an 8 MP ultrawide shooter and a 2 MP macro camera. If four cameras werent enough, you get two more at the front. Theres a 16 MP + 8 MP front camera combination to take care of selfies and video calls. A 4,200 mAh battery keeps the phone powered for over a day of moderate usage. But whats even better is that the bundled 30W fast charger juices it up in just about an hour. The Realme X3 runs Android 10 with Realme UI on top.
Realme X3 price in India: Rs 24,999 for 6 GB RAM/128 GB storage
Redmi K20 Pro
Xiaomi has dropped the price of Redmi K20 Pro (Review), thus making it a great all-round option in this budget. It has a very attractive exterior with a glass body and an eye-catching Aura Prime design. You get a 6.4-inch Full HD+ notchless AMOLED display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and a 20 MP pop-up selfie camera on top. An in-display fingerprint scanner keeps things clean. Powering this phone is Qualcomms previous flagship Snapdragon 855 SoC, with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage.
The camera department on Redmi K20 Pro is quite impressive too. You get three cameras at the back: a 48 MP main camera with a Sony IMX586 sensor, a 13 MP ultrawide camera with a 125-degree FOV and an 8 MP telephoto lens that gives you 2X optical zoom. No redundant cameras here to please the marketing team. They manage to capture some high-quality images in varied lighting conditions, and can also record super slo-mo videos at up to 960 fps. A 4,000 mAh battery keeps it powered for over a day of moderate usage. The smartphone launched with Android Pie and MIUI 10, but received an Android 10 update with MIUI 11 earlier this year.
Redmi K20 Pro price in India: Rs 24,999 for 6 GB RAM/128 GB storage
Honor 20
The Honor 20 (Review) has been a perennial presence in this list. It too has an elegant design with a compact (for todays standards) 6.26-inch Full HD+ display and an in-display punch-hole front camera. The Honor 20 is powered by Huaweis previous flagship Kirin 980 chip, and comes bundled with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage at a very competitive price. It launched with Android Pie, but the Android 10 update with Magic UI 3.0 started rolling out a couple of months ago.
The rear has four cameras comprising a 48 MP primary camera, 16 MP ultrawide camera, 2 MP macro camera and 2 MP depth sensor. The rear cameras do a very good job in different lighting conditions. Its 3,750 mAh battery provides ample power for a day of moderate usage, and the company bundles a fast charger that can charge 50 percent of the battery in less than 30 minutes. The Honor 20 gives you very little reason to complain at this selling price.
Honor 20 price in India: Rs 22,999 for 6 GB RAM/128 GB storage
(Also Read: Realme 6i, Poco M2 Pro to Xiaomi Mi A3: Best phones under Rs 15,000 (August 2020))
Non-Chinese brand Smartphones under Rs 25,000 in India
This is one of the most common queries we have received over the past couple of months. So, here are two smartphones from a non-Chinese manufacturer that you can buy under Rs 25,000. This time too, both belong to Samsung. They dont have processors as powerful as the above three, but can match them in other departments.
Samsung Galaxy A51
The Samsung Galaxy A51 (Review) retains its place in the list. It may not have the processing muscle of other phones in this list, but can still hold its own in the display and photography department. This phone too has quad cameras at the back with a combination of 48 MP primary camera, 12 MP ultrawide, 5 MP macro and 5 MP depth sensor. You can capture some quality photos from the primary camera, and its portrait and macro shots are quite impressive too. The 32 MP front camera should please selfie enthusiasts.
The Samsung Galaxy A51 has an impressive 6.5-inch Full HD+ sAMOLED display with excellent colour reproduction and a tiny hole for the front camera at the top centre. The phone is powered by Samsungs mid-range Exynos 9611 SoC, and comes bundled with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage that can be expanded further with a microSD card. Its 4,000 mAh battery manages to last a day of moderate usage. The Samsung Galaxy A51 runs Android 10 with One UI.
Samsung Galaxy A51 price in India: Rs 23,990 for 6 GB RAM/128 GB storage
Samsung Galaxy A70s
Galaxy A70s is another Samsung phone in the list with an even larger display and a Qualcomm chip instead of Exynos. It has a massive 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Full HD+ screen with a drop notch and a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels. The display is sharp and vibrant with good sunlight legibility. It has a larger 4,500 mAh battery that comfortably lasts over a day of moderate usage. The phone is powered by an efficient and still fairly powerful Snapdragon 675 SoC, and you get 6 GB RAM and 128 GB of internal storage that can be expanded further up to 1TB.
The Samsung Galaxy A70s has a triple camera setup at the back, with a 64 MP primary camera teaming up with an 8 MP 12mm ultra-wide camera and a 5 MP depth sensor. They do a commendable job in good to decent lighting, but not so much in low light. Theres a 32 MP front camera here too. The Samsung Galaxy A70s launched with Android Pie, but a stable Android 10 update for this phone with One UI 2.0 started rolling out a couple of months ago.
Samsung Galaxy A70s price in India: Rs 24,990 for 6 GB RAM/128 GB storage
Russia says US war games in Estonia 'provocative, extremely dangerous'
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 01 September 2020 3:12 PM
Russia says live-fire exercises by the United States in Estonia, near Russia's western borders, are "provocative" and "extremely dangerous" as they would escalate tensions in Europe.
The Russian Embassy in Washington raised the alarm about the war games in a statement on Tuesday.
The war games, involving an infantry brigade of the Baltic Armed Forces and the 41st Field Artillery Brigade of the US Army, started in Estonia on September 1 and will run until September 10.
The drills are the first live-fire exercises by US artillery units outside of their permanent bases in Europe.
The embassy's statement censured the planned use of multiple launch rocket systems "in the immediate vicinity of Russian borders," and said, "The Russian Federation has repeatedly proposed to the United States and its allies to limit training activities and to divert the exercise zones from the Russia-NATO contact line."
"We consider the actions of the US Armed Forces in Estonia provocative and extremely dangerous for regional stability," the Russian mission said.
"Why is this demonstrative saber-rattling? What signal do the NATO members want to send us? Who is actually escalating tensions in Europe? And this is all happening in the context of an aggravated political situation in that region of the European continent. A rhetorical question is how would the Americans react in the event of such shooting by our military at the US border?" the statement said.
Russia has long been wary of NATO activity near its borders, slamming military drills and missile deployments in Eastern Europe and near its western borders as provocative.
NATO military activity in the region has increased since 2014, when Crimea rejoined Russia following a referendum and when a military conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine.
Russia denies violating Denmark's airspace
In another development on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry rejected a NATO accusation that a Russian jet had intruded into Danish airspace.
The US-led military alliance claimed on August 28 that a Russian Sukhoi had followed an American Air Force B-52 into Danish airspace and committed a significant violation of the airspace of a NATO member.
The Russian Defense Ministry said no such violation had taken place and the flight had been carried out in strict accordance with international airspace regulations.
The ministry said the Su-27, which was scrambled to identify the US Air Force strategic bomber, flew over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea.
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Bishop Prays For Femi Fani-Kayode
Some prominent Ministers of God, on Sunday, 30 August, joined hands together, to pray for the former minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode after the Lagos state Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) told him he would become Nigerias President some day.
He was a guest at Bishop Isaac Idahosas celebration of 31 years in ministry in Lagos, where several other Pastors were present.
FFK received, with faith, the prophecy that he would one day rule Nigeria if he remains humble.
Source:Legit
ANN ARBOR, MI State officials are seeking public comment on a proposed cleanup plan for the Gelman dioxane plume in Ann Arbor.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, known as EGLE, has scheduled an online public meeting from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 14 to discuss a new consent judgment negotiated by the state, polluter Gelman Sciences, city of Ann Arbor, Scio Township, Washtenaw County and Huron River Watershed Council.
The state sued Gelman over its pollution in 1988, leading to a Circuit Court consent judgment in 1992 that has been amended multiple times, most recently in 2011.
Its proposed to be amended again as part of a legal settlement to require more aggressive cleanup and more monitoring of the toxic chemical plume thats been spreading for decades through the Ann Arbor areas groundwater.
The proposed cleanup plan includes more pumping and treating and attacking the pollution at the source, the old Gelman filter-manufacturing site off Wagner Road.
Expert explains cleanup plan for Ann Arbor dioxane plume in 7 new videos
The collective efforts of the state and local parties have resulted in substantial enhancements to the cleanup and monitoring efforts at the Gelman site and EGLE looks forward to overseeing implementation of the revised consent judgment. I encourage participation in the public comment process, EGLE Director Liesl Clark said in a statement.
The hard work of the local government intervenors alongside the state has produced a shared proposal for more work at the site that all of the parties agree on, Attorney General Dana Nessel added in a statement.
Now the public will have the chance to weigh in on that shared proposal, a step I applaud on the part of both EGLE and the local governments.
In addition to a public comment period at the Sept. 14 meeting, EGLE is accepting email input through Sept. 21 at EGLE-RRD-Gelman@Michigan.gov.
Written comments also can be sent via mail to Dan Hamel, EGLEs project manager for the Gelman cleanup, at EGLEs Jackson District Office, 301 East Louis Glick Highway, Jackson, MI, 49201-1556.
Those interested can register here for the Zoom meeting and receive an email about how to join. Pre-registration is not required and anyone interested in attending can join the meeting when it begins.
Those who would like to participate by phone can call 213-787-0529 or toll free at 888-808-6929 and use conference code 881478.
EGLE advises those who wish to remain anonymous to click the link to join at the start of the meeting and enter only a first name and last name initial and put eglemeeting@mi.gov in the email field.
A county map of the Gelman dioxane plume originating in Scio Township and moving easterly through Ann Arbor's west side as of 2019. Small dots on the map mark the locations of drinking water wells, while different types of larger circles show the locations of monitoring wells and groundwater extraction wells for treatment operations by polluter Gelman Sciences. The red outlined area is the prohibition zone where groundwater use is prohibited per court orders.Washtenaw County
Gelman used dioxane in its manufacturing operations from 1966 until 1986.
The plume has impacted 3.5 square miles of Ann Arbor and Scio Township, according to EGLE, which says there are currently no known health risks associated with it.
Impacted areas in Ann Arbor are served by municipal water, though there are Scio Township residents on well water that have had varying levels of dioxane in their water over the years. There also are lingering concerns about dioxane in shallow groundwater potentially getting into basements in residential areas just west of downtown Ann Arbor or rising to the surface in areas such as West Park.
The biggest fear is that dangerous levels of dioxane could eventually contaminate Barton Pond, the citys main drinking water supply. There have been trace levels detected in Barton Pond on several occasions over the last two years, most recently at 0.33 parts per billion this month, the highest its ever been.
There also have been trace levels of dioxane detected in the citys drinking water on two occasions in the last two years at about 0.04 to 0.06 ppb earlier this year.
Dioxane is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as likely to be carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure. It also can cause kidney and liver damage, and respiratory problems.
Just a few parts per billion in drinking water, with longterm exposure, poses a 1 in 100,000 cancer risk, according to EPA.
A closer look at the proposed Gelman plume cleanup plan. Is it enough?
A public-review copy of the proposed consent judgment is posted on EGLEs Gelman plume webpage. Local officials also have created an online repository for all of the previously confidential settlement documents released this week.
The proposed agreement applies a lower exposure limit for dioxane in drinking water, down from 85 ppb to 7.2 ppb, as well as a new limit for dioxane in groundwater venting into surface waters, down from 2,800 ppb to 280 ppb.
Gelman has voluntarily complied with the 7.2-ppb limit for drinking water since state standards were updated in October 2016, though its now proposed to be formally incorporated in the consent judgment.
In addition to updating the criteria, other changes to the consent judgment incorporate additional safeguards to protect human health and the environment, according to EGLE.
These updates include increasing the number of contaminated groundwater extraction wells, the number of monitoring wells in Ann Arbor, the number of compliance monitoring wells in Scio Township and source removal efforts on the Gelman property; in addition to preparing advance contingency plans to extend municipal water to four areas that rely on wells for drinking water if data and information indicates that the plume will expand into these areas.
After receiving public input in the coming weeks, local officials, including the Ann Arbor City Council, Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners and Scio Township Board of Trustees, are expected to vote on adopting the proposed consent judgment before going back to court Oct. 22.
Whats proposed is a polluter-funded cleanup, but it wouldnt fully rid the areas groundwater of dioxane, officials note.
Some activists have argued the city should instead seek a federal Superfund cleanup to try to restore local groundwater aquifers to drinking water standards.
The citys hydrogeological expert, Larry Lemke, has concluded the plume has spread so far its not possible to clean it up to a pristine standard, city officials note.
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The mayor of Washington DC has been slammed by the White House after a committee she founded to review the city's monuments and statues recommended the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial be 'removed, relocated or contextualized'.
Mayor Muriel Bowser formed DCFACES in July, amid a nationwide discussion about how America's history should be represented, and who should be commemorated.
She said their job was 'evaluating public spaces to ensure the namesake's legacy is consistent with DC values'.
On Monday the 34 members of the working group delivered their report, which will now be reviewed and potentially implemented by the mayor.
They found nine statues and monuments that they listed for 'remove, relocate or contextualize'.
Among them was the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial and statue of Andrew Jackson.
The Washington Monument was identified as problematic by a committee in the US capital
The 34-member DCFACES committee also said the Jefferson Memorial should be reviewed
The Andrew Jackson statue outside the White House was among nine statues of concern
Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, said she would study the recommendations
DC monuments listed for 'remove, relocate or contextualize' The DCFACES committee listed nine federal monuments in Washington DC that needed to be looked at: Christopher Columbus Fountain
Benjamin Franklin Statue
Andrew Jackson Statue
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
George Mason Memorial
Francis Griffith Newlands Memorial Fountain
Albert Pike Statue
Washington Monument
George Washington Statue Advertisement
The committee said it took into account five factors when making a decision whether something should be renamed or taken down: did the honoree participate in slavery, was the honoree involved in systematic racism, did the person support oppression, was the person involved in a supremacist agenda, and did the honoree violate the city's human rights law.
Critics of the Democrat mayor leapt on the idea that the world-renowned landmarks could be removed or relocated.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany immediately dismissed their 'ludicrous' findings.
'By publishing a plan that recommends potentially removing the Washington Monument, Christopher Columbus Statue, Andrew Jackson Statue, and Jefferson Memorial - among many other ludicrous recommendations - the radically liberal mayor of Washington, D.C., is repeating the same left-wing narrative used to incite dangerous riots: demolishing our history and destroying our great heritage,' she said.
'Our Nation's capital is rightly filled with countless markers, memorials, and statues to honor and respect the men and women who built this country.
'President Donald J. Trump believes these places should be preserved, not torn down; respected, not hated; and passed on for generations to come.'
She said that Trump would ensure 'the mayor's irresponsible recommendations will go absolutely nowhere'.
'She ought to be ashamed for even suggesting them for consideration,' McEnany said.
The Christopher Columbus fountain outside Union Station was deemed problematic
The Benjamin Franklin statue, on 12th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, was also listed
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt dismissed the suggestions immediately
'Not on my watch. Never going to happen,' tweeted David Bernhardt, Secretary of the Interior.
Alyssa Farah, White House communications director, tweeted: 'I'm not even sure what relocating the Washington Monument would entail.'
And DC political hopeful Will Mascaro, in the running to be an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, said he celebrated the idea of commemorating a wider variety of people, but was strongly against the removal of the existing nine statues and memorials.
'Also, where does the Working Group recommend we RELOCATE 81,000 ton Washington Monument to, exactly???' he said.
'I can't believe my tax dollars have been spent commissioning this report.'
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said he would refuse to remove the nine memorials
White House communications director said the idea of relocating the Monument was ludicrous
Aspiring local politician Will Mascaro laughed off the idea of removing the Monument
In making their decisions, the committee was asked to evaluate 1,330 named places - schools, residential housing, streets, neighborhoods, parks, recreation centers, libraries and monuments.
Of those, 153 were named after 'persons of concern'.
Some of the groups recommendations were widely expected; for example, Woodrow Wilson High School has been a prime candidate for a name change for years due to Wilsons open public support for segregation.
The report doesn't go into detail about how 're-contextualizing' would work, but there have been recent recommendations that plaques be added to the monuments to Jefferson and Washington, explaining that their namesakes were longtime slave-owners.
Bowser, in a Tuesday tweet, said she looked forward to reviewing the recommendations from the task force, which she had tasked with 'evaluating public spaces to ensure the namesakes legacy is consistent with #DCValues.'
Bowser has very little power to control what happens on federal land. She and the D.C. Council fought for years to have a statue of former Confederate general Albert Pike removed; they were unsuccessful because the statue sits on federal land. In June, hundreds of protesters toppled the Pike statue while officers from the Metropolitan Police Department looked on and kept their distance.
Demands for a reassessment of DC's monuments and statues have been growing, and have sharply divided people.
Donald Trump has seized on the discussion as a 'culture war', insisting that the debate should not even be held.
Yet even as he introduced fines for toppling statues, Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, ordered the removal of Confederate statues from within the Capitol.
Across the States protesters have been taking matters into their own hands, with memorials to Confederate generals such as Robert E Lee frequently attacked, as well as Christopher Columbus, who 'discovered' the Americas for his Spanish patrons but in doing so wiped out a huge swathe of the Native population.
Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests There has been a renewed push to remove Confederate monuments following the death of George Floyd in the custody of police. In May and June 2020, a number of monuments and memorials were destroyed or removed, or commitments to remove them were announced. Some had been the subject of lengthy, years-long efforts to remove them. Where legal avenues had all but failed, some monuments were deliberately broken. Many statues of Christopher Columbus were removed, as he participated in abuses against Native Americans and his arrival in the Americas was the beginning of the genocide of Native American people. Monuments to many other local figures connected with racism were also removed. Some pro-Union or anti-slavery monuments were also targeted, as they were seen to embody disrespectful attitudes towards Native Americans or the enslaved. At least 63 monuments or plaques in cities across the country have been removed since the protests began. General Stonewall Jackson and Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Richmond, Virginia Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the immediate removal of several confederate statues. 'These statues, although symbolic, have cast shadows on the dreams of our children of color,' Stoney said. 'Let me be clear, removing these monuments is not a solution to the deeply embedded racial injustices in our city and nation, but is a down payment.' The work began with the statues of General Stonewall Jackson, who became one of the best-known Confederate commanders, and General Robert E. Lee, who was the only president of the Confederate States of America. People watch as the Stonewall Jackson statue is removed from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia on July 1, 2020 A statue of Confederate States President Jefferson Davis lies on the street after protesters pulled it down in Richmond, Virginia John C. Calhoun, Charleston, South Carolina Crews in Charleston tore down a statue of politician John C. Calhoun, a former Vice President of the United States, from its pedestal in Marion Square on June 24. He is remembered for strongly defending slavery and for advancing the concept of minority states' rights in politics. Workers use cherry pickers to help remove the John C. Calhoun statue atop a monument in Marion Square in Charleston, South Carolina in June The John Breckinridge Castleman monument, Louisville, Kentucky John Breckinridge Castleman was a Confederate officer and later a United States Army brigadier general as well as a prominent landowner and businessman in Louisville, Kentucky. The statue will eventually make its way to Cave Hill Cemetery, where Castleman is buried. Jefferson Davis statue from Kentucky Capitol rotunda, Frankfort, Kentucky The statue had been in the building since 1936. Five years ago, Frankfort officials voted to get rid of the statue, but ended up just removing the bronze plaque that was displayed in the front. Workers hoist a statue of Jefferson Davis after removing it from the Kentucky state Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky in early June Charles Linn, a city founder who was in the Confederate Navy, in Birmingham, Alabama Linn was a sailor, wholesaler, banker and industrialist. He was a captain in the Confederate Navy and later one of the founders of Birmingham, Alabama. Robert E. Lee that stood in front of Lee High School in Montgomery, Alabama Robert Edward Lee was an American Confederate general best known as a commander of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He commanded the Army of Northern Virginia from 1862 until its surrender in 1865. The Robert E. Lee Statue stands off its base at Lee High School in Montgomery, Alabama, pictured in June 2020. The school has a majority black student population Edward Carmack, a former US senator, Nashville, Tennessee Carmack was an attorney, newspaperman and political figure who served as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee from 1901 to 1907. Following his political service, and after an unsuccessful run for Governor of Tennessee, he became editor of the one-year-old Nashville Tennessean. Protesters toppled the statue of Edward Carmack outside the state Capitol after a peaceful demonstration turned violent at the end of May in Nashville, Tennessee Confederate Adm. Raphael Semmes , Mobile, Alabama Raphael Semmes was an officer in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. Until then, he had been a serving officer in the US Navy from 1826 to 1860. During the American Civil War, Semmes was captain of the cruiser CSS Alabama, the most successful commerce raider in maritime history, taking 65 prizes. The pedestal where the statue of Admiral Raphael Semmes stands empty, in Mobile, Alabama. The city of Mobile removed the Confederate statue without making any public announcements Bronze statue of Confederate soldier named 'Appomattox' removed from Old Town Alexandria, Virginia The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Appomattox County, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War. Advertisement
George Washington, whose monument towers over DC, owned more than 300 enslaved black people at the time of his death, and, while alive, had those he enslaved whipped when they didn't work hard enough, or tried to run to freedom,
Washington's defenders insist he was simply acting as expected for his time; his detractors point out that he owned slaves while a growing number of others around him actively opposed slavery and committed their lives to abolition.
Washington, along with other Founding Fathers and 10 of the first 12 presidents all owned slaves.
Andrew Jackson, beloved by Trump, has had his statues around the U.S. defaced in multiple cities.
Jackson was the seventh president, serving from 1829 to 1837.
In addition to owning enslaved people and co-owning a plantation in Coahoma County, he also oversaw the forced migration of Native Americans in which many died.
In July a direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson called for the Jefferson Memorial to be pulled down and replaced with a statue of Harriet Tubman.
Lucian K. Truscott IV, describes himself in a New York Times op ed as 'the sixth-generation great-grandson of a slave owner'.
Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, was the third president of the United States, ruling from 1801-9.
Jefferson's grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph, was Truscott's great-great-great-great grandfather.
The Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC should be removed, a descendant has argued
Lucian Truscott, right, is a sixth generation grandson of Thomas Jefferson. He is pictured with his cousin Shannon, who descended from Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings
He argued that the domed marble monument to his ancestor, built by Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1939 -1943, was inappropriate given Jefferson owned 600 slaves.
'It's a shrine to a man who famously wrote that 'all men are created equal' in the Declaration of Independence that founded this nation and yet never did much to make those words come true,' Truscott wrote.
'Described by the National Park Service as 'a shrine to freedom,' it is anything but.
'He should not be honored with a bronze statue 19 feet tall, surrounded by a colonnade of white marble.
'The time to honor the slave-owning founders of our imperfect union is past.
'The ground, which should have moved long ago, has at last shifted beneath us.'
His remarks were approved by another of the thousands of Jefferson descendants, Chris Truscott.
'Me too. And yes,' he tweeted.
Chris Truscott, another Jefferson descendant, agreed with Lucian Truscott's view
Lucian Truscott, a 73-year-old journalist and novelist who graduated from West Point before taking up a career as a writer, told how as a child he had played at Jefferson's Monticello estate, in Charlottesville, Virginia.
He described running around the grounds and enjoying the historic plantation house.
Truscott argued that Monticello served as a more fitting memorial to Jefferson because it contextualized his entire life, slavery included.
'Monticello is an almost perfect memorial, because it reveals him with his moral failings in full, an imperfect man, a flawed founder,' he wrote.
The statue of Thomas Jefferson, inside the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC
Jefferson had at least nine children, including six with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings.
Her 'cavelike' quarters are on display at the Virginia estate.
Jefferson did not free Hemings. She was permitted to leave Monticello by his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph not long after Jefferson's death in 1826, and went to live with her sons Madison and Eston in Charlottesville.
'My cousins from the Sally Hemings family are also the great-grandchildren of a slave owner,' he wrote.
'But the difference is that our great-grandfather owned their great-grandmother. My family owned their family.
'That is the American history you will not learn when you visit the Jefferson Memorial. But you will learn it when you visit Monticello.'
Truscott concluded that the Jefferson Memorial should be replaced with a statue of Harriet Tubman, who he described as 'one of our founding mothers'.
'To see a 19-foot-tall bronze statue of a Black woman, who was a slave and also a patriot, in place of a white man who enslaved hundreds of men and women is not erasing history,' he wrote.
'It's telling the real history of America.'
On guard: Wisconsin National Guard members protect the Kenosha public safety building more than a week after Jacob Blake was shot by police. PHOTO: REUTERS/KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI
US President Donald Trump has claimed "people that are in the dark shadows" are "controlling the streets" and manipulating his Democratic opponent Joe Biden to sow chaos.
When Fox News host Laura Ingraham suggested the claim "sounds like conspiracy theory", Mr Trump doubled down, launching into a tale of a plane that allegedly flew from an unnamed city to Washington this weekend loaded with "thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms, with gear".
The strange exchange prompted head-scratching from Trump critics and produced few clear answers about what precisely the president was referring to. He declined to elaborate, saying the case was "under investigation".
"What does that mean?" Ms Ingraham asked. "That sounds like conspiracy theory. Dark shadows - what is that?"
"No, they're people that you haven't heard of," the president said. "They're people that are on the streets, people that are controlling the streets."
Mr Trump then described a plane "from a certain city this weekend, and on the plane it was almost completely loaded with thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms with gear". Ms Ingraham asked where the plane came from, but the president demurred.
But the allegations fit into Mr Trump's efforts after a week of deadly violence at protests in Wisconsin and Oregon to blame the unrest on Democrats and left-wing anarchists, ignoring the role of armed right-wing agitators in both places.
Debunked rumours of a plane filled with black-clad rabble-rousers setting out to harass right-leaning towns and suburbs have appeared on social media in the past.
Mr Trump yesterday said rioters who damaged buildings in Kenosha, Wisconsin, had committed acts of "domestic terror" as he visited the city to push his tough law-and-order message.
The US president said the city had been "ravaged by anti-police and anti-American riots" and accused "reckless far-Left politicians" of criticising police officers and pushing a "radical" ideology that risked the safety of the country's streets.
In Kenosha, he visited buildings destroyed by the protests which broke out after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, an African-American man, in the back seven times in an incident captured on camera.
The US president had been urged by local Democratic politicians, including the state's governor Tony Evers, not to come to the city, with some claiming his presence could raise tensions.
After touching down and leaving the airport, Mr Trump was met by around 100 people, some holding Black Lives Matter signs or ones that called him a "liar". Others waved "Trump 2020" slogans.
The US president provoked controversy the day before the trip when he refused to condemn Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who travelled from Illinois with a rifle to Kenosha last week and is accused of killing two protesters and injuring another.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump has denied having a series of "mini strokes" amid reports Vice President Mike Pence was put on standby as he sought hospital treatment in November.
"It never ends! Now they are trying to say that your favourite president, me, went to Walter Reed Medical Centre, having suffered a series of mini-strokes," Mr Trump said.
"Never happened to this candidate - fake news. Perhaps they are referring to another candidate!" he added, alluding to his frequent claims that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's mental acuity is somehow lacking.
Mr Trump's denial comes amid new scrutiny of his unannounced weekend trip to Walter Reed last November, during which the White House said the 74-year-old began "portions of his routine annual physical exam".
However, according to a forthcoming book by New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt, West Wing staffers were told to put Mr Pence on standby "to take over the powers of the presidency temporarily if Mr Trump had to undergo a procedure that would have required him to be anesthetised."
On Monday, Joe Lockhart, former press secretary for Bill Clinton, floated the theory that the president was covering up a stroke. The White House denied Mr Lockhart's allegation, and Dr Sean Conley, a White House physician, said: "I can confirm that Mr Trump has not experienced nor been evaluated for any acute cardiovascular emergencies, as have been incorrectly reported."
The US says Chinese diplomats will need approval to visit US universities and hold cultural events.
The United States has said senior Chinese diplomats will now be required to secure State Department approval before visiting US university campuses and holding cultural events with more than 50 people outside embassy grounds in a move that drew condemnation from Beijing.
Washington has cast the move as a response to what it said was Beijings restrictions on American diplomats based in China. It comes as part of a Trump administration campaign against alleged Chinese influence operations and espionage activity.
The State Department said it also would take action to help ensure all Chinese embassy and consular social media accounts were properly identified.
Were simply demanding reciprocity. Access for our diplomats in China should be reflective of the access that Chinese diplomats in the United States have, and todays steps will move us substantially in that direction, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a news briefing on Wednesday.
Rising tensions
The Chinese Embassy in Washington condemned the move as a gross violation of Vienna Conventions that govern diplomacy.
The US should correct its mistakes, revoke the relevant decisions, and provide support and facilitation for Chinese diplomats in the US to carry out the relevant activities, the Global Times, a state-run tabloid, reported the embassy as saying.
The US has been taking steps to restrict Chinese activity in the country in the run-up to the November presidential election, in which President Donald Trump faces a strong challenge from Democratic challenger Joe Biden and where he has made a tough approach to China a key foreign policy platform.
Relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate amid disputes over trade, Taiwan, Tibet, human rights, Hong Kong and the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump has blamed China for failing to adequately respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
The US has recorded the most cases and deaths in the world and Trumps handling of the pandemic has become a key campaign issue after the president pushed for a lifting of restrictions designed to curb the spread of the virus.
Despite Trumps previous affinity for Chinese President Xi Jinping, his administration has been ratcheting up up restrictions and sanctions on Chinese officials, government agencies and companies since last year, beginning with travel limits imposed on diplomats, and registration requirements for Chinese media outlets.
In June, the US ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, Texas, which prompted Beijing to force the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu.
University threats
Pompeo on Wednesday also revealed that Keith Krach, the State Departments under-secretary for economic erowth, had written recently to the governing boards of US universities alerting them to alleged threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
These threats can come in the form of illicit funding for research, intellectual property theft, intimidation of foreign students and opaque talent recruitment efforts, Pompeo said.
He said universities could ensure they had clean investments and endowment funds, by taking a few key steps to disclose all (Chinese) companies investments invested in the endowment funds, especially those in emerging-market index funds.
On Tuesday, Pompeo said he was hopeful Confucius Institute cultural centres on US university campuses, which he accused of working to recruit spies and collaborators, would all be shut by the end of the year.
Last month, Pompeo labelled the centre that manages the dozens of Confucius Institutes in the US an entity advancing Beijings global propaganda and malign influence and required it to register as a foreign mission.
The State Department announced in June it would start treating four major Chinese media outlets as foreign embassies, calling them mouthpieces for Beijing.
It took the same step against five other Chinese outlets in February, and in March said it was slashing the number of journalists allowed to work at US offices of major Chinese media outlets to 100 from 160 due to Beijings long-standing intimidation and harassment of journalists.
TORONTO, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. ("Supreme Cannabis" or the "Company") (TSX: FIRE) (OTCQX: SPRWF) (FRA: 53S1) is pleased to announce that further to the previously announced amendments (the "Amendments") to the terms of the Company's outstanding 6.0% senior unsecured subordinated convertible debentures issued in October 2018 (the "Debentures"), it has filed a prospectus supplement that qualifies the issuance of up to 58,300,000 common shares of the Company to holders of Debentures (the "Debentureholders") resident in eligible jurisdictions.
In consideration of the reduction of the principal amount of the Debentures by $63.5 million, among other consideration, the Company will issue an aggregate of 116.6 million common shares (the "Consideration Shares") to Debentureholders. Debentureholders resident in eligible jurisdictions will receive half of the Consideration Shares as freely-trading shares, and the other half of the Consideration Shares will be subject to a four-month restricted period. Debentureholders resident in other jurisdictions will be entitled to receive Consideration Shares subject to restricted periods, subject to applicable securities laws.
In order for eligible Debentureholders to receive freely-trading Consideration Shares, such Debentureholders are reminded to instruct their CDS participants to make the appropriate election with respect to jurisdiction of residency through CDS before the election deadline (the "Election Deadline"), which is expected to be on or around September 8, 2020. Any eligible Debentureholder that fails to elect prior to the Election Deadline will receive 100% of the Consideration Shares subject to a four-month restricted period.
No action is required by Debentureholders in order to receive their entitlement to Consideration Shares or Accretion Debentures, other than eligible Debentureholders wishing to receive freely-trading Consideration Shares being required to make the appropriate election through CDS as described above.
On September 9, 2020 the Company will enter into a supplemental trust indenture to implement the Amendments. At such time, all Amendments to the Debentures will become effective and Debentureholders will receive their pro rata entitlement to Consideration Shares and Accretion Debentures.
As of September 9, 2020, trading of Debentures on the Toronto Stock Exchange will occur on a post-Amendment basis.
About Supreme Cannabis.
The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc., (TSX: FIRE) (OTCQX: SPRWF) (FRA: 53S1), is a global diversified portfolio of distinct cannabis companies, products and brands. Since 2014, the Company has emerged as one of the world's most premium producers of recreational, wholesale and medical cannabis products.
Supreme Cannabis' portfolio of brands caters to diverse consumer and patient experiences, with brands and products that address recreational, wellness, medical and new consumer preferences. The Company's recreational brand portfolio includes, 7ACRES, Blissco , 7ACRES Craft Collective, Sugarleaf and Hiway. Supreme Cannabis addresses national and international medical cannabis opportunities through its premium Truverra brand.
Supreme Cannabis' brands are backed by a focused suite of world-class operating assets that serve key functions in the value chain, including, scaled cultivation, value-add processing, automated packaging and product testing and R&D. Follow the Company on Instagram , Twitter, Facebook , LinkedIn and YouTube.
We simply grow better.
Forward-Looking Information.
Certain statements made in this press release, including statements concerning the proposed amendments to the Debentures and the completion and timing thereof, constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to anticipated events or results and other statements that are not historical facts. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof, and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.
SOURCE The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc.
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Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, learns about efforts to strengthen ecological protection of the Yellow River at a section of the river in Wuzhong city, Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, June 8, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
Key Party meeting stresses conservation, development of water resources crucial
A key Party meeting on Monday stressed the need to promote the intensive and economical utilization of the water resources of the Yellow River to ensure its high-quality development.
The meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, reviewed a guideline on development planning for the Yellow River basin.
The ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River, known as China's Mother River, "concern the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", read a statement released after the meeting.
Efforts should be made to improve its environment, optimize the allocation of water resources, facilitate high-quality development of the whole basin, improve people's lives and promote the inheritance of Yellow River culture, it said.
"It is important to respect natural laws and taking targeted measures according to local circumstances to improve the environment in the Yellow River basin," the statement read.
It mandated efforts to reduce floods and droughts along the Yellow River for the long run and to improve the country's capabilities in dealing with various kinds of natural disasters by strengthening scientific research.
To boost the high-quality development of the Yellow River basin, meeting participants decided that effective measures should be adopted to accelerate the transformation of driving forces, to establish the modern industrial system with distinctive local features and advantages and to advance rural vitalization.
The meeting also stressed the need to protect and carry forward Yellow River culture and explore its value in modern times to strengthen Chinese people's confidence in Chinese culture.
The 5,464-kilometer-long river feeds about 12 percent of China's population, irrigates about 15 percent of arable land, supports 14 percent of national GDP and supplies water to more than 60 cities.
The Yellow River basin has a drainage area of over 752,000 sq km and covers seven provinces and two autonomous regions.
Since Xi became general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, he has made many visits to inspect the environmental conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin, with the most recent in June, when he inspected the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.
Monday's meeting also reviewed a report on the latest round of disciplinary inspections by the 19th CPC Central Committee.
It said that results of the inspections showed that central Party and government organs should be more consciously implementing various kinds of decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee on comprehensively deepening reform, thus pushing forward the country's modernization of its governance system and governance capabilities.
KINSHASA, Congo - Congo is seeing an upsurge in cases of the plague, as the vast Central African nation also battles outbreaks of COVID-19 and Ebola.
Since June, Congo has recorded at least 65 cases of the plague, including at least 10 deaths, in the eastern Ituri province according to Ituri provincial chief of health Dr. Louis Tsolu.
While the plague is endemic in Ituri province, the number of cases is increasing and has already surpassed the total recorded in 2019 which had 48 cases and eight deaths, according to WHO.
The new plague outbreak appears to have started in June when a 12-year-old girl in the Rethy health zone died with symptoms related to the plague headache, cough, enlarged lymph nodes, and a fever. More deaths in that area were later recorded with symptoms of the plague, which manifests in three different forms: Bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic.
The transmission of bubonic plague between humans usually occurs when people do not take preventive measures, especially in Congo when they follow traditional burial practices in which they wash and touch the corpses of those who died from the disease, authorities say. The plague is initially transmitted to humans who are bitten by fleas living on rodents. Antibiotics are usually used in treatment.
This year health workers are finding it difficult to assist people in eastern Congo because of insecurity caused by armed militias. The plague cases have also increased while Congo is also fighting COVID-19, which has infected more than 10,100 people and killed at least 260. There is also an Ebola outbreak in the western Equateur province, which has killed 43 people, although in June Congo succeeded in bringing to an end a larger Ebola outbreak in the east that lasted for nearly two years and killed nearly 2,300 people.
The plague is mostly endemic in Congo, Peru and Madagascar, which saw a large outbreak in 2017 with more than 2,300 cases and 202 deaths, according to WHO.
A priest identified as Reverend Father Jude slumped and died while delivering a sermon in a Catholic church in Cameroon, central Africa.
Catholic priest Reverend Father Jude can be seen speaking to his congregation from the pulpit in French.
All of a sudden, he falls to the ground in at the Church in Cameroon's western city of Douala. The incident took place during a Sunday Mass on 30 August, reports Daily Mail.
Twitter/@ChidiOdinkalu
The reverend father who was wearing a mask while preaching slumped and other congregants ran to rescue him, however, he died on the spot.
Also Read: Ancient Underwater Church Becomes Visible In Turkey Thanks To Reduced Pollution Amid Lockdown
The footage was shared on Twitter by lawyer Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman of Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission.
VIEWERS DISCRETION ADVISED
#LifeIsShort
Rev. Fr Jude., CMA, Spiritual Director of CMA Diedo, in Cameroon's commercial capital, Douala, was preaching the Homily at Mass earlier today when this happened. #RIP pic.twitter.com/dDGlA5mC98 Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) August 30, 2020
'Rev. Fr Jude., CMA, Spiritual Director of CMA Deido, in Cameroon's commercial capital, Douala, was preaching the Homily at Mass earlier today when this happened. RIP,' he wrote.
Catholic Priest Collapses, Dies during Church Service.
Tragedy struck in Cameroon when a priest identified as Reverend Father Jude slumped and died while preaching the Homily. Rev. Fr Jude., CMA, Spiritual Director of CMA Deido, in Cameroon.
Babu Owino
Citizen TV
Dennis Okari pic.twitter.com/6HKgOTvsjZ Wish Fm (@Wishfmradio) September 1, 2020
A Twitter user named @OYEDEJI wrote: Can you observe a man wiping off sweat from his face because the room was stuffy, coupled with talking with face mask on. Yes, probably with an underlying condition. That is why I will remove my face mask if I cant breathe comfortably when having it on. Life has no duplicate!
Can you observe a man wiping off sweat from his face because the room was stuffy, coupled with talking with face mask on. Yes, probably with an underlying condition. That is why I will remove my face mask if I can't breathe comfortably when having it on. Life has no duplicate! OYEDEJI ANTHONY (@OYEDEJI) August 30, 2020
Social media users expressed shocked at the priest's sudden death. One wrote: 'Oh my God! Right at the pulpit while preaching a sermon!?' 'May his soul rest in peace and may the Lord he served to grant him eternal rest in his kingdom.' 'Life isn't just short it's unbelievable,' said another.
Also Read: Keeping Social Distancing In Mind, Priest Squirts Holy Water At Churchgoers With Water Pistol
Image For Representation/Reuters
In the viral video, the priest can be heard breathing heavily into the microphone before he drops.
Also Read: Priest From UP Has A Tumor On Face And Is Worshipped As A Reincarnation Of Lord Jambavan
At the end of the video, fellow clergymen wearing face masks can be seen rushing to the priest's aid as people in the church scream. The cause of the death and any pre-existing medical conditions of the priest are yet to be known.
'In India, a really popular and well-entrenched leader is not defeated by a rival.'
'Such a leader has to defeat himself,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi descends from the ramparts of the Red Fort after addressing the nation on Independence Day, August 15, 2020. Photograph: Press Information Bureau of India
A hundred-plus days into the Chinese 'dharna' in Ladakh, six months into the coronavirus crisis and in the fourth year of economic growth decline, the many critics of Narendra Modi are exasperated.
Why are the people, hurting so badly, not turning against him?
Aren't they hurting?
Has Mr Modi subjected them to some kind of a spell, conjuring up a collective suspension of disbelief?
Is it black magic?
Although that is something you've been hearing in a very different context, a star's death and his live-in girlfriend.
It is nothing of the sort.
This is the way Indian politics is.
Ask people if they are hurting, they will say yes. Do you blame Mr Modi? Remember, many of the most miserable migrant workers walking back home hundreds of miles away were still saying, 'What could Modiji have done? He took the risk to save lives'.
Similarly on China, the economy.
It takes time cleaning up the mess of 'seventy years'.
The Congress left a weak military.
Corruption had to be countered first.
Coronavirus? He ordered a total lockdown in time at great risk and cost, he evangalised masks and social distancing and never trivialised the pandemic unlike Boris Johnson, Donald Trump or Jair Bolsonaro.
What can he do if this wretched virus wouldn't listen to him?
If you are a Modi critic, I know that I am getting you even more exasperated.
Because that is the idea.
To understand hard politics, you have to accept the reality, however rude.
You can find a hundred flaws in the latest India Today Mood of The Nation poll.
Yet, it has a good track record. Now it puts Mr Modi's popularity at its highest point at arguably the most messed up point of our economy, national security, internal cohesion and a pandemic in his six years.
So what's going on?
Take a walk anywhere, and ask strangers who will admit they are hurting, if they regret voting for Mr Modi.
If there is an election again, who will they vote for? And do they see a choice emerging? I am sorry, if the answers get you even more exasperated.
Are the people nuts then?
Let me put this differently to you.
What do ordinary people do when hospitalised by a terrible sickness? They trust the doctors. They are the ones who wear white coats. They are trying their best.
The choice of changing hospitals is rarely exercised.
That's how a lot of Indian voters, hurting severely for many reasons, look at their situation now.
There's been a flurry of advice lately from the pundits on how to defeat Mr Modi and what not to do.
Get the Opposition together, is the old trope.
It never works against a truly entrenched leader. Check out Indira Gandhi in 1971 against the Grand Alliance.
Get all Left and secular forces together. Yawn.
The Left here was always a red herring, the basic politics was using caste to keep divided what somebody was working to unite using the Fevicol of religion. That battle is over.
If Narendra Modi, accompanied by the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, governor and the RSS chief, leads the ceremonial bhoomi puja at Ayodhya and nobody in the Opposition, with the exception of Asaduddin Owaisi speaks out against it unqualifiedly, you know that old, post-1989 Mandir versus Mandal story is over.
See the political map of India.
State by state, where do you see leaders who could mount a credible challenge to Mr Modi? Amarinder Singh, Mamata Banerjee, ok.
Now name a third. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana stay out of this yet. But already the families ruling the latter two are supplicants of the BJP on the big issues that really matter to it. Just like in Odisha.
Other possibilities? Change the leadership of the Congress.
Let Rahul Gandhi go. Who would replace him? Some would say his sister, some would want no Gandhi. There is also a suggestion that the Congress re-consolidate, bringing in all of the prodigals, Mamata, Sharad Pawar, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, even the Sangmas.
But have you asked them if this is what they'd want? And even if they agree, who would lead them?
All of this is pure fantasy at this point.
All of it involves too many assumptions, too much wishful thinking, too many moving parts to build a functioning machine.
Which brings us to a concept, quite familiar to the smarter people I believe, but which I was told about just the other day.
Collateral benefit of a visit to the India International Centre lounge after five months. It is called Occam's Razor.
Now, William Occam (also spelt Ockham), born circa 1285 AD England, grew to be an Anglican priest and was no rationalist.
He developed a theory, instead, to justify and rationalise divine miracles.
His idea, that when there were many competing theories to predict what might happen, or why something happened, then the simplest of these was going to be correct.
To make it simpler still, the fewer assumptions you need to make in arriving at a conclusion, the more plausible it will be.
Conversely, if you made too many assumptions, you were going to go wrong.
He used it so often, and was so successful with his future-gazing that this was immortalised as the principle of Occam's Razor.
Presumably because he used it as often as a man might use a razor.
My interlocutor applied this principle to future politics in India.
And as we tossed many scenarios for 2024, he said, see which is the one with the fewest assumptions? It is Mr Modi coming back to power with another full majority.
Every other permutation fails the test of Occam's Razor. Which sent me scurrying to Uncle Google to read up a bit.
If you keep it simple, therefore, toss all wishful thinking, and look back on your own political history you might see some light.
In India, a really popular and well-entrenched leader is not defeated by a rival.
This is irrespective of which side of the fight a Gandhi is on.
Such a leader has to defeat himself. Or herself, as with Mrs Indira Gandhi in 1977.
And Rajiv in 1989. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee lost in 2004 not to a defined challenger, but to his own party's double-edged arrogance of advancing an election and then declaring 'India Shining' much too prematurely.
So, what do you do then if you can't stand Mr Modi and do not have a Green Card ready? Do you wait for him to defeat himself? Or, go beyond wishful thinking and do something different, harder?
The conventional way to fight a popular, strong leader is to find another leader with charisma, ambition, endless patience and a new idea.
If politics is a mega market place, you need product differentiation.
Unless all of that comes together, Mr Modi is impregnable.
You can pray to your favourite god and hope he will defeat himself like those in the past we just named.
By Special Arrangement with The Print
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
A female shopper received a creepy text message from a stranger who stole her phone number from a COVID-19 sign-in sheet.
Several women from North Shore, north of Auckland, recently reported unwanted advances after filling out contact tracing forms.
One of the customers received a text message after a visit to Countdown in Glenfield.
The 23-year-old left her contact details on a sign in sheet at the store entry on the weekend after forgetting to bring her phone to the shops.
One of the customers received a text message after a visit to Countdown in Glenfield, (pictured) the New Zealand equivalent of Woolworths
On Tuesday morning she was horrified to receive a text message from an unknown number.
'Hey hw r u,' the message read.
When she asked who sent the message she was advised they had gotten her number from a 'covid tracer form'.
She immediately deleted the text message and blocked the phone number.
The shopper was concerned whoever contacted her may have photographed the entire sign-in sheet.
'It's a bit scary to get text messages like that, especially that someone thinks it is appropriate to take your information off something like that,' she told the New Zealand Herald.
A female shopper received a creepy message from a stranger who stole her phone number from a COVID-19 sign-in sheet
But she laid blame on the supermarket chain for failing to protect the privacy of its customers.
'And it should be enough for stores to know it shouldn't be displayed out in the open,' she said.
'I'm good at keeping things quite private but to think it could get into the hands of the wrong person You never know what people will do.'
Countdown has urged customers to respect the privacy of other shoppers while using contact tracing forms.
A spokesperson for Countdown told the New Zealand Herald they would be happy to look into the shopper's concern and notify police.
The spokesperson said paper forms were under close supervision from supermarket staff before being locked away in the office.
Meanwhile the Office of the Privacy Commissioner is urging residents to use the NZ COVID Tracer app as the best method for tracking their movement
Meanwhile the Office of the Privacy Commissioner is urging residents to use the NZ COVID Tracer app as the best method for tracking their movement.
The office has encouraged the shopper to lodge a complaint with the business over the incident.
If the situation was unable to be resolved, the complaint could be escalated to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Countdown for comment.
A similar incident was reported in May after a customer was contacted by a Subway employee who had visited one of their franchises in North Shore.
The staff member who took the customer's order was fired after reaching out to her on social media.
He sent her an email, text message and requests on Facebook and Instagram after taking her details from a sign-in sheet.
The sandwich chain now operates a digitised contact-tracing system which is inaccessible to employees.
Battle archives of a well-known Chinese general of the Anti-Japanese War have been open to the public on Tuesday in northeast China's Jilin Province.
These precious archives recorded Yang Jingyu's 47 battles against the Japanese aggressors in the last some 100 days of his life. According to Jilin Archives, the archives was found at a headquarter site of the Japanese Kwantung Army in 1953.
Yang Jingyu, a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was sent to northeast China to fight Japanese troops in 1932. He fought to the end and died on the battlefield in 1940 at the age of 35. He once served as president of Northeast China Anti-Japanese Committee, secretary of the CPC Harbin Committee, secretary of the CPC Nanman Provincial Committee, and general commander and commissar of the First Northeast China Anti-Japanese Joint Army.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
The new United Nations Security Council president, Niger, said the body will stick with a decision to not reimpose sanctions on Iran, despite the United States request, Reuters reported today.
There is a monthly rotation of the presidency among the 15 countries that comprise the Security Council, and Niger is serving for September. Nigers ambassador to the United Nations, Abdou Abarry, made the comments today.
Were staying with this decision ... that was stated and announced by the president of the Security Council last month, said Abarry, according to Reuters. The president then was Indonesias Dian Triansyah Djani.
In August, the United States asked the UN Security Council to reimpose sanctions on Iran, saying Iran is not complying with the 2015 nuclear deal that prohibited Iran from building a nuclear weapon. The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, removed sanctions on Tehran in exchange for its compliance on the nuclear issue. The agreement includes a mechanism whereby parties to the deal can trigger snapback sanctions on Iran if the Islamic Republic violates the deal.
The council rejected the US efforts to put the sanctions back in place. European parties to the deal said at the time that the United States cannot trigger the return of sanctions because it withdrew from the agreement in 2018. Russia and China are the other signatories, along with Iran.
Under the deal, which is specified in UN Security Council Resolution 2231, other members of the council can put forward a sanctions relief extension for Iran in the event a country triggers the sanctions. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that if any members of the council introduce a resolution to continue sanctions relief on Iran, the United States will veto it.
The Nigerien envoys comments at the UN, however, signal that the organization is still of the opinion that the United States has no authority to begin the snapback process in the first place.
The ambassadors statements are an added setback for the United States as it attempts to further deter Iran. Also in August, the Security Council declined to extend a weapons embargo on Iran that expires in October, as per the 2015 deal.
Iran denies it is building a nuclear weapon, but the United States continues to take action. Last week, the US government seized control of websites it said Iran was using to facilitate oil deals with Venezuela.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Tony Herbert understands the need to contain spread of the coronavirus. Yet as someone who comes from the nightlife business he doesnt understand why restaurants in New York City havent yet reopened dining rooms, despite neighboring counties and states getting back into the indoor eating and drinking business.
To make himself heard hes staging a rally at City Hall on Monday, Sept. 7.
The rally will start at noon and run til 3 p.m. with a variety of speakers including some from Staten Island.
Herbert is the head of the New York Multicultural Restaurant and Nightlife Chamber of Commerce based in Brooklyn. He says, Im in support of small business owners who have poured their life savings into their businesses just to lose everything. Why cant New York open in the same way other places have?
He added, This outside dining is dangerous in a lot of ways. You have cars going by with fumes and crashing into the diners. And then theres gun violence -- thats a safety issue.
I understand we dont want to go backwards. But not only are our businesses suffering but those who need jobs are suffering, said Herbert.
This is a New York thing. This is important, he said. To contact Herbert, he offers his cell phone number -- 347-977-2300.
STATEN ISLANDERS IN THE MIX
Several Staten Island restaurant owners have expressed interest in the rally hoping to show their support. The effort follows on the heels of another large rally at City Hall held in August in support of small businesses reopening.
Richie Holmes of Juicy Lucy in Ocean Breeze plans to attend on Labor Day, his day off. Max Calicchio of Maxs EsCa is behind the effort as well but may have to tend to the restaurant that day as it is open.
As one of the founders of IROAR -- the Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescue -- Calicchio said the mayors announcement that schools would be delayed in opening sounded alarm bells. His thinking is that history will repeat itself: dining rooms were shut down as the same time as were the schools in mid-March.
Now they have an excuse and a reason not to reopen. Theres a lot of discontent. People are just very unhappy right now, theyre being strung along and strung along, said Calicchio.
He guesses on the reasoning for such delays in reopening.
Maybe they want to see how Jersey plays out. Thats been their game plan -- just like they did with the outdoor dining. Jersey did it and then we did it a week later. They want to see what happens somewhere else instead of taking the lead themselves, taking the reins, Calicchio said. Or maybe government agencies arent staffed well enough to check up on restaurants to ensure theyre following proper guidelines, the proprietor surmised.
I cant understand it -- its the only thing that came to my head. Were hoping for the best but it doesnt look good out there, said Calicchio.
In the meantime, the boroughs politicians continue to put pressure on Albany to set an opening date for outdoor dining. Most recently, local officials penned a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomos office.
Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com.
IN OTHER FOOD NEWS THIS WEEK:
Ins and outs of drive-ins . . . saving the restaurants -- and our sanity | Pamelas Food Service Diary
Todays fig news -- fake and otherwise -- from S.I. to Timbuktu | Pamelas Food Service Diary
Getting ready for cold-weather dining in NYC
Ralphs Ices moves locations on the South Shore
Adobe Blues postpones reopening
A federal bailout for Americas restaurants: Will this help NYC?
M ore Tasers, new laws and the increased provision of protective equipment to combat a surge in attacks on police are proposed today in a safety blueprint published by the countrys top officers.
The report, by the National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing, says that new measures are needed because of an unacceptable rise in assaults, which has led to a 26 per cent jump in the number of officers being injured.
It adds that 15 officers have also lost their lives to a criminal act since 2008 and that every chief constable, including Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, must now consider ways of preventing further harm.
The report was published as Home Secretary Priti Patel met Lissie Harper, the widow of Pc Andrew Harper. He was killed on duty in Berkshire in August last year when he was dragged along the road by a stolen vehicle.
The report says measures should include a potential increase in the use of Tasers. It also calls for the introduction or enhanced provision of body armour, safety shields, bite guards, slash and needle-stick resistant gloves and self-application tourniquets. Further recommendations include the development of remotely operated vehicle immobilisation devices to reduce the risk of officers being targeted by cars and a new offence of deliberately using, threatening or attempting to use a vehicle to target police.
It also proposes that officers should be given better training on how to de-escalate incidents, partly based on hostage negotiation techniques, to prevent attacks taking place.
But it says that there should also be a hardline approach to prosecution when assaults do occur, and warns that many officers feel that such crimes are not taken seriously enough by the courts.
It adds that the law should be changed so that spitting and hate offences against emergency workers are treated as aggravated offences in response to a recent spike in incidents in which offenders have threatened to infect officers with Covid-19 and longer-standing problems with sexual and racist attacks on officers.
The report states: Police officers and staff come to work every day to serve the public and bring offenders to justice. They do not come to work to be abused, kicked, punched, spat at, attacked with a weapon or assaulted in any other way. This is not acceptable, it is not part of the job and it must not be tolerated or condoned.
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Linkedin Gemma Holliani Cahya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, September 2, 2020 09:08 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c4215a93 1 National Education,health,COVID-19,school-reopening,distance-learning,internet-connection Free
Gemma Holliani Cahya
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The governments plan to fund schoolchildrens access to the internet in support of online-based learning has spotlighted the social gaps that children living in poverty and in remote areas must face, experts have said.
Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim announced on Thursday that the state would allocate Rp 7.2 trillion (US$ 532 million) in mobile phone credits and mobile data packages to support distance learning methods for the nations students and teachers, at a time when the pandemic has all but canceled face-to-face interactions across the country.
Read also: Teachers, parents fret over health risks as schools prepare to reopen
The state subsidy aims to cover the needs of the nations 60 million school students in the form of 35 gigabytes of internet data per student every month until the end of the year, while every teacher would get a monthly data allotment of 42 GB.
The ministry is verifying and updating its national student data until Sept. 11, which would give it a better idea of potential data package recipients.
Under the new scheme, which is financed by ministry funds reallocated from the delayed Mobilization Organization Program (POP), each university student and lecturer would also get 50 GB of mobile data per month.
While applauded by many, the creative solution still leaves some big holes in the implementation of distance education, as experts note that not every student in the country has a mobile phone or an internet connection.
Retno Listyarti, a commissioner for the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), said that while her office expressed appreciation for the ministrys decision, she insisted that the plan followed a class bias.
She said the program only provided learning aid only for those who could afford smartphones and access to a stable internet connection.
Such assistance cannot be enjoyed by poor students and students who live in rural areas. This group of students can only access education with face-to-face learning methods, but there is no help from the government for them, Retno said in a statement on Monday.
According to 2018/2019 statistics on the Indonesian education sector, a bit more than half of all Indonesian students are active internet users.
Read also: Embracing educational disruption under pandemic
Heru Purnomo, secretary-general of the Federation of Indonesian Teachers Associations (FSGI), also believes that the allocated funds are excessive.
It is too big to only solve one problem, especially when internet data wont be enjoyed by people from poor families who do not have smartphones to begin with, he said on Monday.
Heru suggested other ways to implement distance learning, such as optimizing the role of public broadcaster TVRI for airing educational programs for schoolchildren and students. He believes TV programs are still able to reach more students in Indonesia, even those in households without any hi-tech gadgets.
The KPAI also reminded the government that internet connection was rarely the only thing that students faced. Retno appealed to the ministry to work with every school and map out each of their unique learning environments, rather than just handing out a lump sum for internet data packages.
If we have a clear map of the problems and needs [of each school] then the Rp 7.2 trillion can also be allocated for [other needs], she said.
Among those are buying smartphones for students and teachers who need them, installing internet signal boosters in areas with spotty coverage, helping teachers cover commuting costs in places where they can only teach in person, and supporting infrastructure for face-to-face learning.
In a recent survey of 3,347 schools across the nation, the KPAI found that most schools had been lacking adequate infrastructure to ensure proper sanitation for students and faculty members considered more important for in-person learning than phone credits even before the pandemic.
The data showed that 46 percent of schools have less than five sinks, while only 6 percent have more than 20 sinks on site. The survey also shows that 5 percent of schools do not provide soap and that another 28 percent only provide it some of the time.
Sanitation has become more important than ever as frequent and proper hand hygiene is one of the most important measures for curbing the spread of COVID-19, especially as schools mull over reopening their classrooms for face-to-face learning.
All of that requires large sums of money. So the budget must go toward education, especially for preparing school infrastructure in line with health protocols, Retno said.
This is the only way to guarantee and fulfill the right of millions of Indonesian children and teachers to live, be healthy and have access to education.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on education, widening the gap between children from well-off families and their poverty-stricken peers.
This is further complicated by the governments decision to shift the responsibility for reopening schools to local administrations and effectively to the parents and teachers themselves.
Read also: Indonesia to allow phased reopening of schools in COVID-19 green zones: Minister
Data from the education ministry show that 4,966 schools in green and yellow zones have reopened their doors for face-to-face instruction. The government says that green zones are areas that recorded zero cases of COVID-19 and that yellow zones are areas that have a low risk of transmission.
Green and yellow zones cover some 43 percent of cities and regions in the entire archipelago.
NEW HAVEN A city man was ordered held without bond on a federal firearms charge Tuesday after prosecutors, citing evidence from an ongoing New Haven police investigation, said he is believed to have been involved in an altercation just prior to the fatal shooting of Dayshon Smith.
Denzel Suggs, 26, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon by the federal government on Aug. 19. He had been arrested by New Haven police on July 31 and charged at the state level with carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm and interfering with an officer.
No charges have been filed in connection with Smiths death.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Stolfi Collins, citing an ongoing New Haven police investigation, argued during Tuesdays detention hearing that releasing Suggs could pose a risk to the community and that he could be at risk.
Collins, as part of that argument, said Suggs is believed, based on the investigation, to have been involved in an altercation at a barbecue on Aug. 15. He was free on bond in the state case at that time, she said.
Collins said police believe that a man tried to hit Suggs with a bottle during an argument. Suggs allegedly then pulled out a gun and fired, then a melee, ensued, Collins said.
During that commotion, Collins said, 40 shots were fired. Smith was killed; five others were wounded. No suspects have been named and no charges have been filed in the shooting incident or Smiths death.
Collins argued that, if released into the community Suggs could be at the risk of being retaliated against be involved in further alleged violence perpetrated by the Exit 8 gang, of which she alleged Suggs is a member.
Defense attorney James Maguire argued that the government was offering rumors and word on the street, and thus had not come close to its burden to provide clear and conclusive evidence that Suggs poses a sufficiently dramatic risk to warrant pre-trial detention.
He noted the chaotic nature of the alleged Aug. 15 incident and said it was unclear whether Suggs was involved.
Collins, among other alleged evidence, cited Facebook posts, other information and jailhouse phone calls. She said there was Facebook video of Suggs at the barbecue, but not of the shooting.
Maguire argued that Suggs should be released into the custody of his parents, who he said live in the Annex neighborhood. Suggs has a steady job as a street sweeper, which he obtained after earning his CDL, he said.
Judge Sarah Merriam said the government was not required to produce admissible evidence during a detention hearing, affecting the standard for clear and conclusive evidence at this stage.
She said she was required, instead, to accept hearsay, and proffer balancing the information they potentially represent with the inherent danger of relying on them in an effort to safeguard the community from further crimes.
This is a very close call, said Merriam.
The potential dangers surrounding Suggs, as suggested by the government, were serious, she said. Suggs also allegedly ran from New Haven police on July 31 and allegedly was in the company of another gang member, she noted.
Noting the gun charge, the risk, and what she characterized as weak but meaningful evidence that Suggs had been involved in an altercation at the party, Merriam ultimately ordered that Suggs be detained and held without bond ahead of trial.
The defense has the right to appeal or offer new potential conditions of release, she said.
Suggs has not entered a plea at either the state or federal level to the gun charges.
A second man, arrested at the same time as Suggs and also allegedly a member of the Exit 8 group, also was detained without bond Tuesday.
Collins mentioned some of the evidence proffered in Suggs hearing, but said the government would be comfortable with the second man being released once further details regarding his living situation are determined.
william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
People vote at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center on Election Day in Philadelphia on Tuesday, June 02, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city for people to vote from on Pennsylvania's primary election day due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read more
For almost all of the 125,000 students in the Philadelphia School District, the 2020-21 school year starts today remotely. Phillys schools will remain that way until at least November as the district tries to plan a coherent learning experiences for students, maintain a safe atmosphere for workers, and grapple with looming financial issues. My colleague Kristen A. Graham stays on top of it all.
And, again, thanks for sharing your feedback with me. If you have more comments or questions about this newsletter in particular, feel free to reach out to jrosenblat@inquirer.com.
Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Its not that there arent rules in place for holding an election. Its that there are so many efforts to change the rules. Thats been causing uncertainty while election officials work to finalize their plans and voters try to figure out how to actually cast their ballots.
Pennsylvania is a state that President Donald Trump won by less than 1% of the votes cast in 2016. So, even small changes that impact voter turnout could have a massive impact.
Launching the school year is going to be a challenge. Philadelphia School Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said as much. Graham interviewed Hite about todays atypical start to the Philly school year. He insisted, though, that theres still a level of excitement and optimism.
But with the launch of the school year come concerns about finances. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers contract expired this week without a new agreement being reached. Hite said that the district is projected to face major long-term deficits without aid from the city or state.
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Thats a really cool way to capture the light. Thanks for sharing, @kslouf.
Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and well pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout-out!
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No recess on a playground. No cafeteria time. Only a herculean effort by valiant teachers on the other end of a lonely modem connection, and whatever scraps of attention caregivers could manage to dish out if any. writes columnist Maria Panaritis about the beginning of virtual schooling.
This Pro/Con piece asks whether a Sixers arena at Penns Landing would be good for Philly.
Wiley Cunningham, a Philadelphia homeless advocate and member of Philadelphia Housing Action, and Jennifer Bennetch, the founder of #OccupyPHA and co-founder of Philadelphia Housing Action, write about what the city can do to create plans for permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness.
What were reading
Your vote could decide if Philly will revamp its police oversight commission. Billy Penn has the story.
Eater spoke with 23 chefs, activists, restaurant workers, and more to look into crystal balls and envision what a perfect restaurant industry could look like in five years.
The Guardian wrote about a butcher shop that has lasted 300 years and the current 90-year-old butcher who has to decide when to hang up his coat.
Your Daily Dose of | Love
Tatiana Cruz wasnt too happy when she was asked to work a Friday night shift last month. The nurse with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania was going to get extra money and her boyfriend, Dominic Gatta, a nurse practitioner at HUP, was also working that night. Then, a colleague suggested they check out the hospitals helipad, and Gatta was waiting there, got down on one knee, and pulled out a ring.
Mumbai, Sep 2 : Two-wheeler and commercial vehicle manufacturer Bajaj Auto's total sales in August fell by 9 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
According to the company, total sales during the month under review fell to 356,199 units from 390,026 units sold during the corresponding month of 2019.
Similarly, Bajaj Auto's total domestic sales stood at 185,879 units -- down 11 per cent -- from 208,109 units sold in August last year.
The company's overall exports declined by 6 per cent to 170,320 units from 181,917 units shipped out during the like month of 2019.
In term of two-wheelers, the company's total sales slipped by 1 per cent to 321,058 units from 325,300 units sold in August last year.
The company's commercial vehicle sales during the month under review declined by 46 per cent to 35,141 units from 64,726 units sold during the like period of last year.
-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Paraprofessionals are hourly workers. Starting pay varied depending on an employees level of education and ranged from $15.12 an hour to $17.90 an hour in the first year of the contract. Starting pay increased to between $15.72 and $18.50 in the third year of the contact. All employees were to receive $1 an hour raises the first year and 60-cent an hour raises in the second and third years of the pact, the contract stated.
UAE betrays Islamic world: Ayatollah Khamenei
ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency
Tue / 1 September 2020 / 13:52
Tehran (ISNA) - The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei met with the directors and heads of the Department of Education on Tuesday September 1, 2020, via a videoconference in the 34th Conference on Education.
Ayatollah Khamenei said, "The UAE betrayed the world of Islam, the Arab nations, the region's countries, and Palestine. Of course, this betrayal won't last long".
"The UAE rulers opened the door to the region to the Zionists, and they have ignored and normalized the question of Palestine, which is a question about the usurpation of a country. This stigma will remain on them," he added.
"The nation of Palestine is under various, severe pressures. Then, the UAE cooperates with the Israelis and the filthy US agents - such as the Zionist in Trump's family - against the interests of the world of Islam and commits the greatest atrocity against it," the Supreme Leader went on to say.
The meeting was conducted as a video conference due to the conditions caused by the corona pandemic.
End Item
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(L) Incumbent U.S. Sen. Edward Markey speaks in Malden, Mass. on Sept. 1, 2020. (Michael Dwyer/AP) (R) U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III speaks outside his campaign headquarters in Watertown, Mass. on Sept. 1, 2020. (Charles Krupa/AP)
Ed Markey Defeats Challenger Joe Kennedy III in Massachusetts Senate Primary
Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.), the grandson of assassinated Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, has conceded defeat to incumbent Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) in the Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary late Tuesday.
Polls closed around 8 p.m. EDT. With 43.99 percent of precincts reporting, Markey had 54.3 percent while Kennedy had 45.7 of the votes.
Massachusetts Democrats and Republicans were choosing nominees for nine U.S. House seats in addition to Markeys Senate seat.
Markey thanked his supporters for the win in an announcement on Twitter.
Tonight is more than just a celebration of an election, it is a celebration of a movement, he wrote. Thank you to the thousands of grassroots supporters who organized around the principles that we believe in. We could not have done it without you.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) takes the stage at his primary election rally in Malden, Mass., on Sept. 1, 2020. (Gretchen Ertl/Reuters)
Speaking from his hometown in Malden, Markey told his supporters, I spoke with congressman Kennedy just a few moments ago and I extended my respect and congratulations for a campaign that has been fierce at times but always fueled by a shared commitment to the people of this great commonwealth.
We both love Massachusetts and the United States of America, he added. I look forward to talking with congressman Kennedy and working with him to make the lasting, meaningful change that I know we are both committed to.
He spoke about his agenda to address climate change and pass the Green New Deal, and also expressed his opposition to President Donald Trump.
Priority number one is to move Donald Trump from the White House, Markey said. We must banish his agenda of division and destruction to the history books.
After conceding defeat, Kennedy told his supporters outside his campaign headquarters in Watertown that he would now work to help Markeys reelection.
Rep. Joe Kennedy III, who ran for the seat held by Sen. Ed Markey, speaks at his primary election rally in Watertown, Massachusetts, on Sept. 1, 2020. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
The senator is a good man. You never heard me say otherwise, Kennedy said.
He said that his coalition of supporters who do not have the luxury of accepting the status quo will continue their fight for universal healthcare and civil rights improvements.
We may have lost the final vote count tonight but we built a coalition that will endure, he said of his own campaign. I would do this again with all of you in a heartbeat.
The unsuccessful challenge makes it the first time a Kennedy has been defeated in a race for Congress in Massachusetts.
Kennedy announced his bid for the Senate seat in September 2019. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had endorsed Kennedy in late August.
Markey appealed to voters in the deeply Democratic state by positioning himself as aligned with the liberal wing of the party. He teamed up with a leading progressive, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), on the Green New Deal climate change initiativeand at one point labeled Kennedy a progressive in name only. Markey also received endorsements from Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Kennedy, 39, had sought to cast Markey, 74, as someone out of touch after spending decades in Congress.
Markey will now face Republican Kevin OConnor, an attorney, in the general election on Nov. 3.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The first day of school has officially begun for Sarah Michelle Gellar and her children, who are continuing their studies at home in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.
But already the Buffy The Vampire Slayer has sent a plea for help.
Sarah, 43, jokingly asked for assistance from fans as she documented her first day of homeschooling on Wednesday, which was riddled with problems.
'Send help': Sarah Michelle Gellar jokingly asked for assistance from fans as she documented her first day of homeschooling on Wednesday, which has already been riddled with problems
'In case anyone was wondering how the first day went... the fire alarm started going off ten minutes in ... and no ladder we had was tall enough to reach... so seems about right for 2020 #sendhelp #homeschool #teachersareheroes,' she wrote.
In the video, Sarah stood in her living room holding onto two signs announcing her children's first day of school in quarantine.
'Send help,' Sarah whispered to the camera.
Sarah and her husband Freddie Prinze Jr. share daughter Charlotte, 10, and son Rocky, eight, together.
The apples of her eye! In the video, Sarah stood in her living room holding onto two signs announcing her children's first day of school in quarantine
Just the girls: Gellar with her daughter Charlotte in 2012
The couple celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, and Sarah marked the occasion with two black-and-white snaps from their special day.
'You... are my favorite husband #happyanniversary,' she captioned the sweet snaps.
Sarah and Freddie, 44, tied the knot in Mexico just two years after they first started dating.
The couple both starred in the hit 1997 horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer before becoming romantically involved in real life.
That's her boy! The Buffy The Vampire Slayer actress with her son Rocky in 2015
Congratulations! Sarah celebrated 18 years of marriage with her husband Freddie Prinze Jr. on Tuesday
Man and wife: The intimate photos showed the nearly newlywed couple exchanging vows, both wearing matching white
Friends first: The actor credits their early friendship for their enduring relationship (pictured 2002)
Now, nearly 20 years later, the couple are parents of two.
Sarah and her husband welcomed daughter Charlotte in 2009, followed by son Rocky in 2012.
The stars were friends for two years before becoming romantic, which Freddie credits their thriving, long-lasting relationship to.
Proud parents: Sarah and her husband welcomed daughter Charlotte in 2009, followed by son Rocky in 2012 (pictured 2002)
'We just became friends. It's one of the reasons I think our relationship has always been so good,' he told E! in 2017. 'We were friends for a good two years before we ever went on a date. She knew what kind of guy I was, she knew what my morals were, my priorities were, and vice versa.'
Though they were opposites, Freddie said that ended up working to their favor.
'Neither one of us would have ever - if you ask her, she would have been like, "Oh my God, I thought he was a dork." And I'd be like, "Oh my gosh, she just ran a million miles an hour and I couldn't keep up with her."
'We ended up being the perfect balance, you know what I mean? But it didn't happen until years after, and there was a solid foundation built, and that's probably the main reason why we've always been cool and grooving.'
Bully the Vampire Slayer is available on Stan in Australia
Pastor Todd Bell, who runs his own church 225 miles away in Sanford, officiated the August 7 wedding in Millinocket that has now been linked to 134 of the state's COVID-19 cases
The number of coronavirus cases linked to a Maine wedding has now risen to 134 as it's revealed that the pastor who officiated the nuptials held a Sunday service after health officials said they were investigating an outbreak at his own church.
Maine's Center for Disease Control and Prevention said there has now been 123 confirmed and 11 probable cases in the state that have been linked to the August 7 wedding in Millinocket.
Theresa Dentremont, a 83-year-old woman who did not attend the wedding, has since died after health officials say she contracted COVID-19 from a guest.
Pastor Todd Bell, who runs his own church 225 miles away in Sanford, officiated the wedding and has since said that six families from his church also attended the nuptials.
Bell's Calvary Baptist Church went ahead and held indoor services on Sunday - just one day after CDC officials revealed they were investigating an outbreak of COVID-19 at his place of worship.
There were at least five confirmed cases linked to Bell's church as of Saturday, health officials said.
The officials have not confirmed if they consider the cases to be linked to the wedding. They did confirm, without releasing Bell's name, that Calvary Baptist's pastor had officiated the wedding.
They warned that people who attended services at the church between August 9 - two days after the wedding - through August 23 could have been potentially exposed.
Footage from a livestream of the service showed Bell giving a defiant sermon and, at one point, a 15-person choir standing next to each other on stage to sing, according to the Boston Globe. None of those on stage wore masks.
Bell's Calvary Baptist Church went ahead and held indoor services on Sunday - just one day after CDC officials revealed they were investigating an outbreak of COVID-19 at his place of worship. Footage from a livestream of a service showed Bell giving a sermon
According to social media posts, Bell - who is a pilot - flew from Sanford to Millinocket the day before he was due to officiate the wedding
Addressing the outbreak at his own church (pictured above), Bell said they had told those who were sick to avoid coming to services and to quarantine at home
During his sermon, Bell addressed the coronavirus outbreak linked to the wedding.
'I officiated the wedding. It was a beautiful wedding,' Bell told the congregation.
'Six families from our church went there. We never expected to get COVID. Nobody expected to experience the things that happened because you went to a beautiful wedding like that.'
He said he had been on the receiving end of negative social media comments for officiating the wedding before quoting a Bible verse that reads: 'Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.'
'Men have reviled me,' he said during his sermon.
Bell addressed one comment about him flying his plane to another part of the state after the person commented that he was likely going to spread COVID-19 at a casino there.
'Be a good place to spread it,' Bell said. 'Gambling has killed more people and ruined more homes and destroyed more things in our society almost than liquor or pot or pornography... Gambling is wicked.'
Addressing the outbreak at his own church, Bell said they had told those who were sick to avoid coming to services and to quarantine at home.
At one point, Bell told his congregation that he was putting his faith in God instead of a vaccine.
He also said that any vaccine would contain 'aborted baby tissue'.
Theresa Dentremont, 83, died in Maine's Millinocket Regional Hospital on August 21 after becoming infected with coronavirus. Her 97-year-old husband Frank Dentremont was hospitalized at the same facility a few days later with COVID-19 but has since recovered
The couple had been self-isolating at their home for much of the pandemic given they fell into the high-risk COVID-19 category
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Amy Bell, administrator at the church, said: 'We were only guests at the wedding that was held at Tri Town Baptist Church in East Millinocket.'
When asked about a Facebook post in which Todd said he was 'marrying' the couple, she added: 'He was the officiant but that was all. We were just friends and guests.'
DailyMail.com did not receive a response when it reached out the the church for further comment on Monday.
The wedding that Bell officiated, which was held on August 7, has made national headlines ever since health officials first revealed guests had started testing positive for COVID-19 just days later.
The ceremony was held at the Tri Town Baptist Church before an indoor reception took place at the Big Moose Inn.
According to social media posts, Bell - who is a pilot - flew from Sanford to Millinocket the day before he was due to officiate the wedding.
The bride and groom have not been publicly identified.
The reception venue has since admitted that they misunderstood local capacity rules for COVID-19 restrictions and overbooked the event.
Sixty-five guests attended the wedding despite the state having a 50-person limit for indoor gatherings, health officials say.
Cases believed to be tied to the wedding have since been detected in two nearby towns, the East Millinocket school system, a nursing home and a county jail 200 miles away after a jail employee attended the nuptials.
As of Wednesday, Maine had reported 4,548 cases and 132 deaths from COVID-19.
The ceremony was held at the Tri Town Baptist Church before an indoor reception took place at the Big Moose Inn. Sixty-five guests attended the wedding despite the state having a 50-person limit for indoor gatherings, health officials say
As of Wednesday, Maine had reported 4,548 cases and 132 deaths from COVID-19
Among those deaths was 83-year-old Theresa Dentremont who died in Maine's Millinocket Regional Hospital on August 21 after becoming infected with the virus.
While she did not attend the wedding, the hospital believes she may have been infected by one of the guests.
Her 97-year-old husband Frank Dentremont, who is a WWII veteran and the oldest resident of resident of East Millinocket, was hospitalized at the same facility a few days later with COVID-19.
His son, Frank Dentremont Jr, revealed in a Facebook post that his father had since miraculously recovered and was due to be discharged from the hospital on Wednesday.
Dentremont Jr told the Washington Post that he recalled hearing about the wedding, which has now been linked to 123 of the state's coronavirus cases, but believed his father and stepmother would have been safe.
The couple had been self-isolating at their home for much of the pandemic given they fell into the high-risk COVID-19 category.
'I had heard the stories about the wedding thing,' he said.
'I thought, 'My dad and stepmom weren't there. They've been quarantining themselves; they'll be fine'. Who could have known?'
Dentremont Jr has said he doesn't want to speculate on who could have given his stepmother and father the virus.
He has also said he isn't angry at those who went ahead with the wedding.
'Nobody did this consciously,' Dentremont Jr said. 'If they knew they were the ones at fault, I'm sure they'd feel terrible.'
Highlights Google on Tuesday announced that it is expanding its Flood Forecasting Initiative in India as well as Bangladesh.
Google says the tool helps in predicting when and where the flooding will take place
The new initiative by Google can help save more than 200 million people in India.
Google on Tuesday announced that it is expanding its Flood Forecasting Initiative in India as well as Bangladesh which uses AI-driven tools to predict floods. The company claims that the tool helps in predicting when and where the flooding will take place so that the people living in nearby areas and relocate to safer places. Since India is one of the countries affected by massive floods every year, this new initiative by Google can help save more than 200 million people in India.
"In recent months, we've been expanding our forecasting models and services in partnership with the Indian Central Water Commission. In June, just in time for the monsoon season, we reached an important milestone: our systems now extend to the whole of India, with Google technology being used to improve the targeting of every alert the government sends. This means we can help better protect more than 200 million people across more than 250,000 square kilometersmore than 20 times our coverage last year. To date, we've sent out around 30 million notifications to people in flood-affected areas," Yossi Matias, VP Engineering and Crisis Respond Lead, Google.
The tool would not only help 200 million people in India but also 40 million people in Bangladesh, which is another South Asian country where floods occur everywhere. "In addition to expanding in India, we've partnered with the Bangladesh Water Development Board to bring our warnings and services to Bangladesh, which experiences more flooding than any other country in the world. We currently cover more than 40 million people in Bangladesh, and we're working to extend this to the whole country," the blog read.
Google in a survey discovered that 65 percent of people who receive flood warnings before the flooding begins to take action to save themselves and their belongings. It was found out that people moved to safer places and stored their belongings at places where there were fewer chances of flooding.
"We're providing people with information about flood depth: when and how much floodwaters are likely to rise. And in areas where we can produce depth maps throughout the floodplain, we're sharing information about depth in the user's village or area. We've also overhauled the way our alerts look and function to make sure they're useful and accessible for everyone. We now provide the information in different formats, so that people can both read their alerts and see them presented visually; we've added support for Hindi, Bengali, and seven other local languages; we've made the alert more localized and accurate, and we now allow for easy changes to language or location," the Google said.
The search giant said that it will send alerts in Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, and 7 other local languages.
A cheeky dolphin named Frodo sunk his teeth into a man's hand during a friendly open ocean encounter.
Fisherman Ty Duncan said he had repeatedly come into contact with the playful animal near Noosa, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, over several years.
Mr Duncan recorded his latest interaction with Frodo on Friday as the dolphin approached his outstretched hand before biting down on his fingers.
Fisherman Ty Duncan filmed his close open ocean interaction with a friendly dolphin named Frodo (pictured above) near Noosa, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, on Friday
Heartwarming footage showed Frodo swim up to Mr Duncan's small fishing boat and lift his head and jaws out of the water.
The dolphin happily held on to Mr Duncan's hand as he laughed and exclaimed 'it's got my fingers'.
'The bite doesnt hurt at all, it was just playing. That specific dolphin is always super friendly.
'It might recognise my boat or something. Ive seen him for at least the last five years,' Mr Duncan told Daily Mail Australia.
Mr Duncan said he had shared multiple encounters with Frodo and described him as 'the friendliest dolphin I've ever met'.
The fisherman has even swum with the aquatic mammal on one occasion.
'Other dolphins will keep their distance and won't really engage but this one, as you can see, doesn't mind it at all,' Mr Duncan said.
The video showed Frodo have another nibble at Mr Duncan's fingers and allowed the fisherman to pat his head.
Mr Duncan said he had encountered the playful dolphin multiple times over the years and recorded Frodo playfully biting his hand (pictured above)
The fisherman described Frodo (pictured) as 'the friendliest dolphin I've ever met' and recorded himself patting the dolphin
Viewers of the 'adorable' footage were quick to voice their praise for the 'cute' dolphin.
'It seems like dolphins are the golden retrievers of the sea,' one commenter said.
'It just wants to have a swim buddy, jump in and have a go at it,' another user wrote.
Other commenters said the encounter was 'sick', 'cool', and 'amazing'.
Mr Duncan's footage also showed Frodo happily swimming underwater and around the boat.
Copado, a leading native DevOps platform for Salesforce The Copado DevOps Talent Center offers a single place for businesses in search of DevOps skills to find professionals with a broad skill set to accelerate their Salesforce projects.
Copado, a leading native DevOps platform for Salesforce, today introduced the Copado DevOps Talent Center to connect businesses with the worlds leading Salesforce DevOps talent. This website is the industrys first and only resource for Salesforce DevOps training, certification, and staffing to address the growing skills gap and demand for Salesforce DevOps expertise.
Through a partnership with Salesforce recruitment leaders Mason Frank International and Salesforce talent creators Revolent, the Copado DevOps Talent Center offers a single place for businesses in search of DevOps skills to find professionals with a broad skill set to accelerate their Salesforce projects. Copado will be able to connect the right talent with the right teams. As DevOps talent spreads across the Salesforce ecosystem, more businesses will be able to successfully deliver projects on time and on budget.
Were delighted to have partnered with the Copado DevOps Talent Center, said James Lloyd-Townshend, Chairman and CEO of Mason Frank. DevOps is one of the fastest-growing areas of demand for Salesforce professionals and finding skilled workers who can add genuine value to organizations is becoming increasingly difficult for them. This partnership will allow us to connect more businesses with the world-leading talent that we have access to.
IDC reports that 4.2 million new Salesforce jobs will be created by 2024 and 30% of jobs in emerging technologies will go unfilled by 2022. Finding and retaining skilled DevOps talent is one of the biggest hurdles facing Salesforce teams. Well-oiled DevOps processes unlock rapid delivery, delivering valuable applications to the business faster.
This is an incredibly exciting partnership for us to become involved with, added Nabila Salem, President at Revolent. Weve already been able to inject the Salesforce ecosystem with a diverse range of net new talent. Our partnership with the Copado DevOps Talent Center enables us to deliver our world-leading training with a focus on an area that the platform really needs.
The DevOps Talent Center includes three new certifications on Copado Academy -- DevOps Consultants, Advanced Consultant and Architect. These new tracks will define and deliver deeper DevOps experience that will prepare consultants to both implement and optimize large scale Salesforce projects.
Additionally, Copado created two new official Salesforce Trailhead Modules on DevOps and Continuous Innovation, the first ever from a Salesforce ISV. Copado has already trained more than 10,000 Salesforce DevOps specialists in the first half of 2020 and is on track to certify 20,000 by the end of the year.
As companies pivot to virtual workforces and accelerate their digital transformation strategies, Copado is providing the training, certification and now the staffing needed to close the DevOps skills gap, said Sanjay Gidwani, Chief Operating Officer at Copado. Businesses need the right talent and the right skills to achieve rapid delivery and rapid ROI in their Salesforce investments. Partnering with Mason Frank and Revolent is the natural next step to help Copado-certified DevOps professionals find their dream job.
More information about the DevOps Talent Center can be found at https://www.copado.com/success/devops-talent/
Follow Copado:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/copado-solutions-s.l/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CopadoSolutions
Blog: https://www.copado.com/learning/blog/
About Mason Frank International
Mason Frank International is the largest Salesforce-specific recruiter in the world. With offices on four continents, the company has exclusive access to over 70,000 contract and permanent Salesforce professionals in its database and experienced, certified Salesforce professionals rely on Mason Frank for advice on career opportunities. Mason Frank takes the time to understand the technical and cultural requirements for both job-seekers and hiring managers to find the best match for each role. In fact, Mason Frank has recruited over 6,750 Salesforce professionals in 87 countries for Salesforce partners, ISVs and customers. Half of its registered job seekers work exclusively with Mason Frank and 95% of its clients have used the companys services more than once. More information can be found at https://www.masonfrank.com/
About Revolent
As part of Tenth Revolution Group, Revolent is a world-leading cloud talent creator focusing on the Salesforce ecosystem. It cross-trains and certifies job seekers with some tech experience, offering a highly structured and lucrative launchpad into the cloud market. For businesses, Revolent provides cost-effective, certified cloud professionals that result in immediately billable resources with zero risk to the business. With hubs in the USA, UK and Australia, Revolent has won multiple awards for its work within tech ecosystems, as well as receiving glowing reviews from over 50 different clients.
Follow Revolent
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/revolentgroup/
Twitter: @revolentgroup
About Copado
Founded in 2013, Copado is a leading DevOps platform for Salesforce. For enterprises wanting to accelerate their Salesforce deployments, Copado simplifies the release process, increases developer productivity and maximizes return on investment. The platform is comprised of Agile Planning, Release Management and Compliance & Testing. Backed by Insight Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures, Copado counts more than 200 enterprises as customers, including Fair Trade, MassMutual, Shell and Vlocity. With more than 7,500 installations, Copado has received the top rating of 100 percent positive feedback on Salesforce AppExchange. More information can be found at: https://www.copado.com/
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ROME - Greece has announced the first case of coronavirus at its largest migrant camp in Moria, on the island of Lesvos, where nearly 13,000 asylum seekers are living in precarious conditions. The person who tested positive is a ''40-year-old Somali man'', said a migration ministry source, explaining that the man is a refugee who has recently returned to the island from Athens. Over 12,700 people live in Moria although the facility is built to host less than 2,800.
Facebook and Twitter have taken down a network of Russia-linked accounts accused of spreading conspiracy theories and undermining democracy ahead of the US presidential elections.
The social networks attributed the campaign to the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA), which was previously behind a major online effort to interfere with the 2016 US elections.
Thirteen Facebook accounts and two pages were removed for violating the sites policy against foreign interference co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour on behalf of a foreign entity.
Facebook said the network had achieved little reach on the platform when it was taken down.
This network was in the early stages of building its audience, primarily on the left of the political spectrum, and saw nearly no engagement on Facebook before we removed it, the social media giant said in its August Co-ordinated Inauthentic Behaviour Report.
The people behind this network posted about global news and current events relevant to the countries and left-leaning communities they targeted, including social and racial justice in the US and UK, Nato and EU politics; alleged Western war crimes and corruption; environmental issues; the founder of Wikileaks; tensions between Israel and Palestine; the coronavirus pandemic; criticism of fracking; French influence in Africa; the Biden-Harris campaign; QAnon; President Trump and his policies; and the US military policies in Africa," it said.
According to Facebooks report, the network had around 14,000 accounts following one or more of its pages, and the English language page had a little over 200 followers.
It said around $480 (360) had been spent on Facebook advertising, paid for predominantly in US dollars.
The network had also attempted to gain political advertising authorisation to run such adverts in the United States.
Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Show all 15 1 /15 Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook is born On 4 Feb, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called 'TheFacebook' from his dorm. Within 24 hours the college social network had more than 1,000 users Wikimedia Commons Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Winklevoss twins sue Zuckerberg Within one week of launching, fellow Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. It would be four years later when the resulting lawsuit was finally settled Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Open for business The social network finally opened it platform to everyone on 26 September, 2006. The move proved the catalyst in supercharging the site's already explosive growth PA Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Billion-dollar bid Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in September 2006 but Zuckerberg turned it down. 'I dont know what I could do with the money,' Zuckerberg reportedly said. 'Id just start another social networking site' Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network In the money In September 2009, almost five years since the site launched, Facebook turned a profit for the first time Getty Images/iStockphoto Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking the lead Facebook overtook MySpace in 2010 to become the worlds most popular social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking on the tech giants In 2011, Google launched its own social network that it hoped would knock Facebook from its perch. Despite its initial success, Google+ ultimately failed and will be shut down completely in 2019 Getty Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook goes public On 18 May, 2012, Facebook went public. The initial public offering raised $16 billion the third largest in US history Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Gobbling up the competition Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, consolidating its position as the world's leading social network Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network One billion users On 4 October, 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had hit 1 billion users. 'If youre reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you,' he wrote in a blog post Getty Images Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Expanding its empire In February 2014 Facebook acquired the messaging app WhatsApp for $19.3 billion REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Two billion users In June 2017, Facebook passed the 2 billion user milestone REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Privacy scandal On 17 March 2018, news broke that UK firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from around 87 million Facebook users for the purpose of political profiling in the build up to the 2016 US presidential elections Shutterstock Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Record profits Despite the scandals and subsequent #DeleteFacebook campaign, Facebook posted record profits just before its 15th anniversary, the equivalent of $7.37 from each of its 2.32 billions users iStock/Independent Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Unhappy users A study found that people are happier when they dont use Facebook, adding to mounting evidence surrounding the impact social media has on mental health Rex Features
Alongside Facebook, Twitter said it had suspended five accounts for platform manipulation, which it said it could reliably attribute to Russian state actors.
Regardless of the low-level impact in this case, governments around the world must stop these practices, Twitter said.
Theyre anti-democratic. Attempts to manipulate our service to undermine democracy by both foreign and domestic actors will be met with strict enforcement of our policies.
Facebooks latest Co-ordinated Inauthentic Behaviour Report also revealed a number of accounts, pages and Instagram profiles linked to a US-based strategic communications firm which was carrying out inauthentic behaviour in Venezuela, Mexico and Bolivia.
A further network of more than 450 Facebook accounts, as well as pages, groups and Instagram accounts operated from Pakistan has also been removed, which had focused on relations between Pakistan and India.
The Russian IRA was a key part of the investigation undertaken by former FBI director Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 US elections.
The resulting report concluded that the IRA was involved in an interference effort across social media aimed at benefiting Donald Trump's campaign.
Earlier this year, current FBI director Christopher Wray said attempts to interfere with US politics by Russian groups were still ongoing.
"We are seeing, and have never stopped seeing, efforts to engage in malign foreign influence by the Russians," he said at a US House Judiciary committee hearing.
Additional reporting from agencies
Islamabad, Sep 2 : After the Islamabad High Court directed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to 'surrender' by September 10, the government has asked the PML-N supremo to return from London and face justice.
Replying to a question at a press conference held after a cabinet meeting, Information Minister Shibli Faraz said on Tuesday that Sharif should return to the country, appear before the court and answer its question, reports Dawn news.
"If a person, who has remained the country's Prime Minister three times, considers himself above law, then this is something the citizens of Pakistan need to think about," he added.
Faraz said that Sharif's health seemed alright as was evident from his photographs uploaded on social media where he was seen walking and eating at a restaurant in London.
He claimed that the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was faced with divisions as several groups had emerged within the party.
On October 29, 2019 the Lahore High Court granted the former leader an eight-week bail for treatment within Pakistan and on November 16, he got a four-week permission to travel abroad for treatment.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will deliver a keynote address at the opening ceremony of the Virtual Summit of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (#GMIS2020) which is scheduled to take place on September 4-5.
The Summit will also convene the Heads of State of the Republic of Angola, Armenia, Brazil, Ghana, in addition to the Prime Minister of Cambodia and Crown Prince of Jordan to participate in discussions centred around how fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technologies can shape the future of manufacturing, strengthen global value chains, and restore global economic activity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a statement said.
Ministerial representatives will also be present on behalf of the Presidents of Egypt, Indonesia, and the Republic of Rwanda, alongside Heads of United Nations (UN) agencies, it added.
A key session at the #GMIS2020 Virtual Summit will gather Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco, President of the Republic of Angola, Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana, and Albert M. Muchanga, Commissioner of Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission, to discuss Germanys Marshall Plan with Africa which aims to harness the potential of 4IR technologies to accelerate economic growth and the spread of inclusive and sustainable development across Africa.
Germany has made Africa a focus of its G20 Presidency and adopted this collaborative initiative with the continent in an effort to help bolster entrepreneurship and innovation and create the estimated 20 million yearly new jobs needed for its young population. The panel will explore what factors are needed to catalyse industrialisation on the African continent and how policymakers, development partners and the private sector can address these opportunities through initiatives like the Marshall Plan.
Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco, President of the Republic of Angola, said: For Africa to reach its true potential we must focus on meeting the needs of our young people through providing quality education and training, especially when it comes to the advanced digital technologies of the fourth industrial revolution which hold great potential to deliver sustainable development for citizens everywhere. One of the most effective ways of doing this is through partnership with the international community and initiatives like the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit are essential to help facilitate these partnerships.
Armen Sarkissian, President of Armenia, Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil, Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, Crown Prince of Jordan, and Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia will participate on a panel session focused on Restoring prosperity in a post-pandemic world. The pandemic has been the catalyst for a shift towards e-learning all around the world, however it has exposed the widening digital divide between developed and developing countries. The discussion will consider how 4IR technology can help achieve prosperity for populations in less developed countries that might be affected by a crisis, and how the international community can provide the support and tools needed for this to happen.
Crown Prince of Jordan Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, said: Instead of abandoning our global system of cooperation and multilateralism, Jordan, led by His Majesty King Abdullah II, believes a better global integration is the way forward - a re-globalisation that builds on the strengths and resources of each of us, for the benefit of all, ensuring global synergy and prosperity.
Armen Sarkissian, President of Armenia, said: Internet connectivity and access to digital technology has become a basic prerequisite for prosperity but the pandemic threatens to widen the digital divide that already exists between men and women, rural and urban areas, and developed and less developed countries. A global approach is required to address this issue if the world is to stage a fully inclusive recovery and brighter future for all people and I look forward to discussing ways to achieve this with my counterparts at GMIS.
Other Heads of State who will be represented at the Summit include Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, President of Egypt, represented by Nevein Essam El Din Gamea, Minister of Trade and Industry; Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda represented by Hon. Soraya Hakuziyaremye, Minister of Trade and Industry of the Republic of Rwanda; and Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia, represented by Gen. (Ret.) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime & Investment Affairs.
LI Yong, Director-General of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) will be joined by Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on a panel focused on Gearing up for a manufacturing renaissance, discussing best practices to strike a balance between creating a more resilient manufacturing sector and delivering a framework of social prosperity to ensure the promotion of inclusivity and sustainability.
Badr Al-Olama, Head of the Organising Committee for the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit, said: We are honoured to welcome the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Heads of State from Angola, Armenia, and Ghana, as well as the Prime Minister of Cambodia and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Jordan. The participation of these global leaders reflects the inclusive and truly global perspective of GMIS as it sparks debate on the future of manufacturing, and how fourth industrial revolution technologies can spread sustainability and prosperity across the world. The pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains, forcing businesses to redistribute their manufacturing activities and accelerate their digital transformation strategies. This requires collaborative management between all stakeholders.
The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) is a joint initiative by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The third edition of the Summit (#GMIS2020) will be held virtually under the theme Glocalisation: Towards Sustainable and Inclusive Global Value Chains. The #GMIS2020 Virtual Summit will feature a cross-section of close to 100 global leaders from the worlds public and private sector participating across more than 20 virtual sessions.
Discussions will focus on the major issues facing the manufacturing sector and will explore how the adoption of 4IR technologies, localising production capabilities and capacity building, and spreading inclusive and sustainable development will all be critical to the future of global value chains.
The Summit will also hold five working group sessions gathering a cross-section of experts from world-leading organisations to discuss the challenges and opportunities related to promoting the role of women in manufacturing; enhancing industrial safety and security; advancing the decarbonisation of industry; developing future leaders of industry; and setting up an Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Performance (ISID) Index that helps measure the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) performance of public and private sector entities.TradeArabia News Service
East Hanover, NJ. September 2, 2020. Researchers conducting a large international study of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) examined the impact of the global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on their study participants. Compared with pre-COVID baseline assessments, findings from a COVID Impact Survey administered during lockdown showed minimal changes in depression, anxiety, and quality of life, and in the impact of MS symptomatology on activities of daily living.
The article, "The emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with progressive multiple sclerosis" (doi: 10.1007/s00415-020-10160-7) was published online August 19, 2020 in Journal of Neurology. The article is included in SpringerLink's COVID collection: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00415-020-10160-7
The authors are members of the CogEx Research Team, comprised of site investigators from Canada, the United States, Italy, the UK, Denmark, and Belgium. The COVID Impact Survey was administered during the suspension of a randomized clinical trial (RCT) involving 131 participants at 11 sites in the above six countries. The trial's principal investigator is Anthony Feinstein, MD, PhD, of the University of Toronto.
The COVID pandemic has had substantial impact on the general population, raising concern for populations at increased risk for infection, as well as for detrimental psychological and social effects of quarantine and social distancing requirements. The pause in the RCT provided an opportunity for investigators to assess the impact of the pandemic on the population with progressive MS in real time.
Participants from all sites responded to the COVID Impact Survey while under social restrictions from May 2020 to July 2020. COVID infection was reported by 4% of participants, according to lead author Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD, director of the Centers for Neuropsychology, Neuroscience and Traumatic Brain Injury at Kessler Foundation. Comparing baseline with COVID assessments revealed minimal changes in depression, anxiety, and quality of life. Impact of MS symptomatology on daily life functions was also minimal, except in the small subset with COVID-19 infection, where the impact was significant.
"Minimal effects were not what we expected to see," said Dr. Chiaravalloti, noting that the findings were consistent across different continents. "People with progressive MS appeared to have adapted more effectively to the lockdown conditions. Knowing their increased risk, they may have been early adopters of safety precautions, which may have provided a sense of control that countered negative emotional reactions," she speculated. "They are also accustomed to living with medical uncertainly and social isolation, two major factors that fueled high levels of psychological discomfort in the general population."
The COVID Impact Survey showed that the majority of participants actively engaged in mental and physical activities during lockdown. ""This is not surprising given that the aim of the RTC was to measure the outcomes of such activities," Dr. Chiaravalloti reported. "Focusing on elements of a healthy lifestyle may have mediated the negative effects on wellbeing in this group with progressive MS."
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This research was supported by Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada grant EGID3185.
About Multiple Sclerosis and the MS Society of Canada
Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world. On average, 11 Canadians are diagnosed every day. MS is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord). It is considered an episodic disease meaning that the severity and duration of illness and disability can vary and are often followed by periods of wellness. Most people are diagnosed with MS between the ages of 20 and 49 and the unpredictable effects of the disease will last for the rest of their lives. The MS Society provides information, support and advocacy to people affected by MS, and funds research to find the cause and cure for the disease, bringing us closer to a world free of MS. Please visit mssociety.ca or call 1-800-268-7582 for more information, to get involved, or to support Canadians affected by MS by making a donation.
About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. For more information, visit KesslerFoundation.org.
For more information, or to interview an expert, contact: Carolann Murphy, 973.324.8382, CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org.
Flight experiences ate different for different people. Take-offs and landing can often cause a lot of breathing troubles or even anxiety and nausea and people often try out several ways to prevent this including chewing on a something to balance the air pressure inside ears during the take-off.
However, a woman passenger flying with Ukraine International Airlines took a completely different route to breathe some fresh air after feeling too hot inside the flight. Accompanied by her two children, the woman took a flight from Turkey, where she went on holiday, and came to Kyiv, Ukraine.
As she was feeling too hot after her plane landed, she decided to walk all the way from the fin of the plane to the emergency exit gate of the Boeing 737-86N to get on the wing of the flight and get some air. Her walk was so casual and relaxed that she looked least bothered to be out there on the wing.
The entire incident was caught in the camera and uploaded on YouTube.
A witness revealed reports that the woman chose to get on the wing when almost all the passengers had deboarded the aircraft. Her act also left her children embarrassed, who were standing next to the witness and said, This is our mum".
The aircraft landed and almost all the passengers got off. She walked almost all the way from the tail to the emergency exit row, opened the door, and went out," the man revealed.
The pilot had to call the police and ambulance after they got hold of the woman. As a result, she was barred from flying with Ukraine International Airlines.
Moreover, when the police interrogated her for the act, she was unable to explain the behaviour. Her tests revealed that she was not drunk or under the influence of drugs.
The family of a Black man who was shot and killed by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies is calling for the officers involved to be identified and prosecuted, as a second night of protests got underway Tuesday.
The man, identified by family as Dijon Kizzee, 29, was pursued Monday afternoon for riding a bicycle in violation of vehicle laws, authorities said. Following an altercation with the two officers, he allegedly dropped a gun and was shot several times, officials said.
What appears to sound like at least 15 rounds can be heard fired off-screen in doorbell camera footage obtained by ABC News.
MORE: Protesters gather after LA sheriff's deputies shoot Black man during confrontation
During a press briefing Tuesday, activist Najee Ali, a spokesperson for Ben Crump, the family's lawyer, said that Kizzee was shot while unarmed and running away.
Several eyewitnesses of the incident in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Westmont told ABC News Tuesday that Kizzee was unarmed and backing away at the time of the shooting.
One, who wanted to be called by only his last name, said he and his girlfriend were feet away from the shooting. Martin, 23, said they saw Kizzee drop what appeared to be a bundle of clothing and heard a clattering like a phone falling on the ground seconds before the officers opened fire. He said they didn't hear any orders from the officers prior to the shooting.
Tim Ingram, 52, who lives across the street from the site of the incident, told ABC News that Kizzee had his hands up when he was shot, and that the officers continued to shoot after he was down.
In an update Tuesday night that did not name the suspect, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said that two deputies observed a man commit a vehicle code violation while riding a bicycle. The man allegedly ran from the scene and punched one of the deputies in the face once. "After he punched the deputy, he dropped a jacket at which time a black semi-automatic handgun fell to the ground," the statement said. "The suspect made a motion toward the firearm, it was at that time a deputy-involved shooting occurred."
Story continues
The man was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
In describing the incident late Monday, Lt. Brandon Dean of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told reporters that the suspect was struck several times, with both officers firing their weapons.
Deputies recovered the handgun that the man had been carrying, he said.
The deputies have been removed from the field during the investigation, officials said Tuesday.
Kizzee's family is demanding the identification and arrest of the officers who shot Kizzee, Ali said. They also are calling for the sheriff's department to immediately implement body cameras. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is set to start deploying body cameras in the fall.
PHOTO: Gloria Gonzalez carries her daughter, Violet, 5, as protesters face off with Sheriff deputies hours after killing Dijon Kizzee, Aug. 31, 2020, Los Angeles. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Polaris)
A second night of protests over Kizzee's death was planned for Tuesday evening, as the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police organized a march outside the South Los Angeles Sheriff's Station. According to organizers, Kizzee's family participated. Protesters were demanding that the officers be identified and arrested for murder.
At the press briefing earlier Tuesday, Fletcher Fair, Kizzees aunt, spoke out in anger over violence against Black people.
"I think this is so dirty of any department -- sheriff's department or any department to kill people. They don't kill any other race but us and this don't make any sense," Fair said. Right now, Im sad and Im mad at the same time, she said. Why us? ... We're tired. We are absolutely tired.
MORE: Autopsy results confirm Andres Guardado was shot in the back
In a high-profile deputy-involved shooting back in June, 18-year-old Andres Guardado was shot and killed after two Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies said they saw him wielding a gun in front of a business and led them on a foot chase. The Los Angeles County medical examiner confirmed that he was shot five times in the back.
ABC News' Lisa Sivertsen, Timmy Truong and Robert Zepeda contributed to this report.
Family of Dijon Kizzee calls for officers in shooting to be identified, prosecuted originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the same type of Soviet-era nerve agent that British authorities identified in a 2018 attack on a former Russian spy, the German government said September 2, citing new test results.
Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a statement that testing by a special German military laboratory at the Charite's request had now shown proof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group.
It is a dismaying event that Alexei Navalny was the victim of an attack with a chemical nerve agent in Russia, Seibert said. The German government condemns this attack in the strongest terms.
Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator who is one of Russian President Vladimir Putins fiercest critics, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on Aug 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.
He was transferred two days later to Berlins Charite hospital, where doctors last week said initial tests indicated Navalny had been poisoned.
British authorities identified Novichok as the poison used in 2018 on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England. The nerve agent is a cholinesterase inhibitor, part of the class of substances that doctors at the Charite initially identified in Navalny.
Germany demanded a response from the Russian government. The Kremlin said Wednesday it hadnt been informed yet of Navalny being poisoned with a nerve agent.
Such information hasnt been relayed to us, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state Tass news agency.
Seibert said the German government would inform its partners in the European Union and NATO about the test results. He said that it will consult with its partners in light of the Russian response on an appropriate joint response. Germany also will contact the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, he added.
Navalnys allies in Russia have insisted he was deliberately poisoned by the countrys authorities, accusations that the Kremlin rejected as empty noise.
To poison Navalny with Novichok in 2020 would be exactly the same as leaving an autograph at a crime scene, like this one, Navalnys longtime ally and strategist Leonid Volkov said in a tweet that featured a photo of Putin's name and a signature next to it.
The Russian doctors who treated Navalny in Siberia repeatedly contested the German hospitals poisoning conclusion, saying they had ruled out poisoning as a diagnosis and that their tests for cholinesterase inhibitors came back negative.
In the Charite's latest update, the hospital said Navalny was still in an induced coma but in stable condition.
Novichok is a class of military-grade nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Western weapons experts say it was only ever manufactured in Russia. After the Skripals were poisoned, Russia said the U.S., Britain and other Western countries acquired the expertise to make the nerve agent after the Soviet Union collapsed, and that the Novichok used in the attack could have come from them.
According to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, there is no record of Novichok having been declared by any nation that signed the chemical weapons convention.
Britain has charged two Russians -- alleged to be agents of the Russian military intelligence service GRU --- in absentia with the 2018 attack, which left the Skripals in critical condition and killed a local woman. Russia has refused to extradite the men to the U.K.
British police believe the nerve agent was smuggled to Britain in a counterfeit Nina Ricci perfume bottle and sprayed on the front door of Sergei Skripals house in the city of Salisbury in southwest England.
More than three months later, the bottle was found by a local man, 48-year-old Charlie Rowley. He was hospitalized and his girlfriend Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after being exposed to the contents.
A best selling author has been charged with child homicide after her seven-month-old daughter died in a suspected drowning.
Fiori Giovanni, 35, will face court on Wednesday morning after baby Illen was found unconscious on July 18 at the family's Southbank home in Melbourne at 7.20am.
Paramedics desperately attempted to resuscitate the infant but she sadly died at the scene.
Giovanni, who lives with her partner Ben Bellinger and their two children, wrote a moving tribute to Illen on social media where she called her 'their beautiful little angel'.
Fiori Giovanni (pictured), 35, will face court on Wednesday after baby Illen was found at the apartment she shared with her partner Ben Bellinger and their two children on July 18
Giovanni wrote a moving tribute on social media after the tragic incident calling her 'our beautiful little angel'
She wrote: 'A shining star was sent to us to inspire, change, and transform our lives in the short 7 and half months we had the pleasure of being with her.
'Our beautiful angel may be gone and we can't physically hold her but her amazing presence can never be forgotten as she'll forever be in our heart.
'And the light she has sparked in us can never be put out.
'We are currently not taking calls for we need this time to heal and process and be there for our beautiful son Odis but we've decided to have her cremated so that she can always be here with us.'
The couple held her funeral over Zoom as family and friends could not attend in person due to coronavirus restrictions.
In the weeks after her child's death, the motivational speaker posted a video on social media where she spoke about her grief.
'As life would have it, I no longer have to imagine the tragedy or the pain that comes from losing something,' said Ms Giovanni.
'I tragically lost my little girl of seven-and-a-half-months-old a few weeks ago and no, I am not ready to talk about it yet, as it is still incredibly fresh and we are still trying to go through it as a family.
She described it as 'a day by day process' and said she is learning more about herself and how she can move forward.
'Being born in a war torn country, making my way to my western country, adapt a life here with a new language, culture, people, while trying to still keep my identity and build something I could be part of.
'I thought I had been through the worst type of pain the world has to offer.
'But I'm quickly realising that the kind of pain that comes from losing a child is a different kind of pain. It's something that takes a piece of you and I don't think you ever get it back.
'It is something that I have never felt before.'
Ms Giovanni is a bestselling author and humans rights activist regularly appears on television as a guest panelist. Pictured here on Studio 10
Ms Giovanni (pictured on stage) appears regularly on television as a guest panelist, attends corporate functions as a keynote speaker and has sold more than 30 books
Ms Giovanni is a bestselling author and humans rights activist with a raft of accolades to her name.
She appears regularly on television as a guest panelist, attends corporate functions as a keynote speaker and has sold more than 30 books.
Her autobiography Defy your Destiny talks about the challenges she overcame to arrive in Australia and how she was able to become an entrepreneur.
She was born in Eritrea and was 12 years old when she convinced her parents to let her escape an arranged marriage to a 25-year-old man.
At the age of 14 she started a summer camp which she later realised was preparation for mandatory army service.
She later fled to neighbouring Sudan in search of a better life.
Ms Giovanni set up 'My Mind Valley' which is an affirmation program designed around her 'unrelenting belief that people can change their world by changing the way they speak to themselves.'
Brad Pitt took his new rumoured girlfriend, 27-year-old model Nicole Poturalski, to Chateau Miraval in the south of France last week.
The move seemed calculated as almost exactly six years ago, the 56-year-old actor wed his estranged wife Angelina Jolie there. Their wedding anniversary is August 23, 2014.
And on Wednesday a source told UsWeekly that the Oscar-winning Troy actor simply doesn't care if the Maleficent actress gets so angry that she retaliates.
Nice going: Brad Pitt took his new 'girlfriend' Nicole Poturalski to Chateau Miraval in the south of France recently; he is seen left in February and she is seen right on Instagram
Painful: The chateau is where Brad and Angeline Jolie wed in 2014. In fact, it is very close to their wedding anniversary date which was August 23
'Taking Nicole to Miraval on their former wedding anniversary, Brad knows exactly what he is doing and the reaction its going to get from Angelina,' a source told the site.
'He just doesnt care if Angelina is going to lash out. He expects she will.'
Brad and Angelina were married at the Chateau Miraval, located in the village of Correns, just over six years ago.
The intimate ceremony was only attended by a handful of guests and their six children: Maddox, 19, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 12.
The couple filed for divorce in 2016, and they're still engaged in an ongoing custody battle.
She may stroke back: On Wednesday a source told UsWeekly that the Oscar-winning Troy actor simply doesn't care if the Maleficent actress gets so angry that she retaliates; seen in London in 2019
According to E! News, Pitt and his lady friend landed in France in late August. Nicole is reportedly staying with Brad while he's at the vineyard over the weekend.
According to a local, Brad is visiting Miraval because he's 'participating in a campaign for his wine.'
The chateau, which he and Angelina purchased in 2011 for $60 million, is famous for its wines, especially its rose. He also just launched a champagne.
The rumored couple were spotted exactly one week ago - August 26 - as they stepped off a private plane in the south of France, after flying from LAX in Los Angeles to the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, before transferring.
Pitt likes the bubbly: According to a local, Brad is visiting Miraval because he's 'participating in a campaign for his wine.' The chateau, which he and Angelina purchased in 2011 for $60 million, is famous for its wines, especially its rose
'They were kissing and Brad was being super attentive to her,' a source told OK! magazine. 'He was in a semi public place but didnt seem to mind people seeing him. Shes a real beauty and obviously a lot younger than him.'
The model's husband: The beauty reportedly has an open marriage with husband Roland Mary, seen in 2015
Most recently, the Tomb Raider actress moved to have the judge overseeing her divorce trial removed due to business dealings he has with one of Brad's lawyers.
She's also reportedly considering moving with the children to the UK, which would make it considerably more difficult for her ex to spend time with the kids.
Although Brad's potential relationship with Nicole is only now drawing widespread attention, the two may have been together for as long as nine months.
They were first spotted together in November during a performance of Kanye West's opera Nebuchadnezzar at the Hollywood Bowl.
The bombshell, who has a son, has graced the cover of ELLE and is currently signed to Next Management in Los Angeles and A Management in Germany.
She's also married to Berlin-based restaurateur Roland Mary, with whom she's allegedly in an open relationship.
The timeline also raises the possibility that the multi-lingual model may have been leaving messages for the Tree Of Life star on her Instagram.
Her last post: The siren was in a mint green bikini as she posed on a beach
Beachy babe: And before that, the runway veteran was seen in a pink Polo hat near the shore
'Missing my strolls with my Love,' she captioned a since-deleted post from February.
She followed it up with another post from March, which she captioned, 'Saturdays these days for me is self-reflection, reading books spending time with my better half.'
So far, the two have stayed quiet about a possible relationship.
In December, Brad shut down most rumors about his dating life during an interview with The New York Times.
'People always say they don't read about themselves. I never believe it,' he said. 'I don't go out of my way to avoid it; I just don't seek it out. I don't know how many women they've said I've been dating the last two or three years, and none of it's true.'
The Hollywood hunk previously shot down rumors that he was dating Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 16:54:57|Editor: huaxia
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VIENTIANE, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Lao Ministry of Health has urged people countrywide to remain vigilant and help control the spread of dengue fever, as the number of infected cases across the country continues to rise.
According to a report from Lao Ministry of Health on Wednesday, a total of 5,781 people have been diagnosed with dengue fever and 11 deaths have been recorded.
The highest number of dengue patients were reported in Lao capital Vientiane at 1,338 with four deaths, while 680 cases and two deaths were reported in Bolikhamxay province, and 606 cases were recorded in Vientiane province.
Lao Ministry of Health suggested five simple measures as the most effective method of dengue control which is being practiced by households across the region.
These measures consist of closing and sealing all unused containers, flushing out all water vessels, placing small guppy fish in water jars as these eat mosquito larvae, cleaning areas around homes, and remembering to do these four tasks each week.
According to the World Health Organization, dengue fever is one of the fastest emerging infections, with Thailand, Laos, the Philippines and Singapore also seeing high incidence. The number of cases in the Western Pacific Region has more than doubled over the past 10 years. Enditem
Trains out of of London King's Cross to Edinburgh, Leeds, Lincoln and Bradford have been cancelled in fresh hell for commuters.
All trains out of the major station in London were cancelled at around 5.30pm this afternoon after damage to overhead electric wires in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.
The overhead lines were entangled on a train, pulling neighbouring lines and lowering them.
Engineers are on site but disruption between London and Peterborough and Cambridge is expected to continue until the end of the day.
Commuters are facing fresh hell after damage to overhead electric wires in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, cause all trains coming out of London's Kings Cross to be cancelled this afternoon. Pictured: Customers on an LNER service exit the train after it is halted
The overhead lines (pictured) were entangled on a train, pulling neighbouring lines and lowering them
The disruption began before 2pm and is affecting London Northeastern Railway services previously headed to York, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness.
Grand Central trains between London Kings Cross and Bradford Interchange and Sunderland have also been affected.
Great Northern trains between London Kings Cross and Ely and Kings Lynn and Hull Trains between London Kings Cross and Hull are also disrupted.
Trains are currently unable to run between Stevenage, Hitchin and Peterborough.
Angry customers have taken to social media to complain about replacement bus services coming into London.
One wrote: 'Because of your delays it is now unlikely that I will be getting into London before the public transport closes for the night. I will therefore need to book an Uber to get me home.'
Another said: 'What is going on I am currently on a rail replacement bus from Peterborough to Sandy connecting onto another bus meant to get us to Stevenage then onto London?
'At the moment no one knows where were meant to be what is going on. Sort it out.'
Managing Director of LNER David Horner apologised for the disruption while customers Tweeted their frustration earlier this afternoon
The line between Hitchin and Cambridge was reopened and trains began operating between the stations but journey times may be extended by up to 90 minutes.
Managing Director of LNER David Horner said: 'My apologies to LNER customers affected by this afternoon's disruption at Biggleswade due to damage to the overhead electric wires.
'Engineers are on site but we expect the disruption will continue for the rest of today.'
LNER said: 'Overhead lines form the power supply that move trains. Earlier today, these got entangled on a train, and also pulled neighbouring lines, lowering them.
The disruption began before 2pm and is affecting London Northeastern Railway services previously headed to York, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness
'This essentially meant trains are unable to move. Network Rail are currently assessing the damage.
'Attempts are currently being made to reopen the line towards Cambridge.
'This incident will have a severe impact on services to/from Peterborough, with work required overnight to resolve the issue.
'Therefore, you may wish to look at alternative travel arrangements for any journeys on this route.'
Great Northern and Thameslink are advising passengers to not travel at this time.
Businessmen from Jammu and Kashmir have sought a comprehensive financial package for the revival of industry in the UT, especially Kashmir division, which has been in doldrums for over a year.
Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) on Tuesday evening via video-conference highlighted the plight of businessmen here during a meeting with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The virtual meeting, which was also attended by businessmen from Jammu, lasted for an hour.
The industry is under deep stress due to subsequent lockdowns after the revocation of Article 370 and Covid-19 pandemic. As per KCCIs estimates, different business sectors have suffered losses worth 40,000 crore in the past year.
KCCI president Shiekh Ashiq said the Union minister was very cordial in the conference and said the Centre was ready to help with the revival of business activities in J&K.
I reminded the finance minister of our meeting with her in March before the Covid-19 lockdown. At that time too, she had promised full help and support and gave us assurance. I am hopeful something good will take place this time.
Ashiq said Sitharaman told them she had joined the conference to listen to their problems. We sought a soft package for revival of tourism sector. We also demanded assistance for uplifting the horticulture sector on the pattern of Himachal Pradesh where several schemes have been introduced for the same, besides handicraft and other sectors.
Recently, KCCI members had held a meeting with Lt governor Manoj Sinha who formed a working group to give suggestions for business revival.
The KCCI president said many young men and women who had established fresh units in the last few years suffered huge losses. They (young businessmen) were going to create opportunities for others, but now they are hunting jobs for themselves in different cities of the country and feel dejected.
He added that the Union finance minister has assured the business community of full support from the central government.
What happened when a shark crashed our swim call... You can also catch ME1 Cintron, our shark watch who fired the shots at the shark, explaining what happened tomorrow morning on Good Morning America! And, everyone is safe, including the shark. The shots turned it away from our shipmates so they had time to get out of the water. A few of its buddies later showed up and they swam off together. Posted by U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball on Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Coasties had a shark scare during a recent swim in the Pacific Ocean. The incident included shots fired at the shark to redirect it away from swimmers.
The Coasties response to the shark attack? Requests to watch JAWS and Sharknado that night.
First, everyone is safe We even saved the inflatable unicorn! the U.S. Coast Guard said in a Facebook post. And with that, we share one of the most amazing events many of us have ever experienced at sea.
Coasties were swimming in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 26 when a 6- to 8-foot shark appeared near their ship, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball. A Coastguardsman fired at the shark several times to direct it away from swimmers. No one was injured, including the shark.U.S. Coast Guard
The crew of USCG Cutter Kimball had finished operations for the day, there were no vessels for miles around, the weather was perfect and the crew was looking for a way to break up the Groundhog Day-like monotony after weeks at sea, the post said. Solution: A swim call.
The swim was conducted under a fully vetted and tested plan, including safety briefs, setting up communications, a small boat with extra crew stationed 50 yards from the ship, an armed shark watch, an open and manned rescue station, and an accountability system, the post said.
Everything was by the numbers. Everyone was having a great day. Everyone was smiling and having fun. It was perfect! the post said. And then... Bridge personnel reported, Shark! over the radio.
Coasties were swimming in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 26 when a 6- to 8-foot shark appeared near their ship, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball. A Coastguardsman fired at the shark several times to direct it away from swimmers. No one was injured, including the shark.U.S. Coast Guard
The 6- to 8-foot shark - no exaggeration - surfaced near the ships rescue door and began swimming toward a group of 30-40 swimmers who were about 10 yards away.
The scene was right out of a Hollywood movie, the post said. The shark, likely a longfin mako or a pelagic thresher, was not something to mess with!
Our animal-lover chief who wants to save every animal she finds yelled, Shoot it! the post said.
Metalsmith Petty Officer First Class Cintron was on shark watch duty, the post said. As crew members scrambled for the ship ladder, the open stern notch and the small boat, Cintron fired several bursts at the shark with amazing accuracy to direct it away from the swimmers who were just feet away. The shark would turn away after each burst but kept coming back toward the shipmates. Cintron likely saved one or more of his shipmates from a shark attack.
Coasties were swimming in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 26 when a 6- to 8-foot shark appeared near their ship, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball. A Coastguardsman fired at the shark several times to direct it away from swimmers. No one was injured, including the shark.U.S. Coast Guard
It wasnt the panic of the 4th of July scene from JAWS, but once everyone realized what was happening, they moved with a purpose! the post said.
The only injury was a small and ironic scrape to Operations Specialist Petty Officer Third Class Berks knee, which he got while climbing aboard. The scrape was in the center of an open shark jaws tattoo.
Seriously, you cant make this up! the post said.
Coasties were swimming in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 26 when a 6- to 8-foot shark appeared near their ship, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball. A Coastguardsman fired at the shark several times to direct it away from swimmers. No one was injured, including the shark. That is, except for a small scrape in the center of a open shark jaw tattoo on a Coastguardsman's knee.U.S. Coast Guard
No one on the ship had seen or heard of a shark showing up during a swim call. As the new subject matter experts, the crew is writing updated Shark Watch & Response Tactics.
The crew shifted to fishing for the rest of the afternoon, the post said. But the experience was still fresh on their minds when it came time for a flight deck movie the top requests were JAWS and Sharknado.
Coasties were swimming in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 26 when a 6- to 8-foot shark appeared near their ship, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball. A Coastguardsman fired at the shark several times to direct it away from swimmers. No one was injured, including the shark.U.S. Coast Guard
The shark was uninjured in the incident.
It was most likely curious and not looking for a meal, the post said. We picked our location to try and avoid such an encounter, but it is their ocean after all. It later joined a few smaller buddies that showed up and they swam off together.
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and Airlines have inked a partnership that allows members of their frequent flyer programmes to earn and spend points on each other.
A frequent flyer program (FFP) is a loyalty programme wherein a passenger earns points for travelling on an airline's flights, which can then be used to get rewards on the same airline or partner
"The partnership enables Club members to earn and redeem CV points on flights operated and marketed by Airlines," said on Wednesday in a press release.
Vistara's FFP is called Club Vistara and Airlines' FFP is called JAL Mileage Bank.
Members of JAL Mileage Bank will be able to earn and spend their miles on flights operated and marketed by Vistara, the release noted, adding the partnership came into effect from Monday.
Now, Club Vistara members can earn and redeem points when travelling on partner airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Silk Air, United Airlines and Japan Airlines.
The aforementioned two airlines entered a code-share agreement in 2019. A code-share agreement allows an airline to sell seats of other airline's flights on its distribution network.
Vistara is yet to start flight operations between India and Japan.
Five days ago, the airline started services to London's Heathrow airport as part of the bilateral 'transport bubble' between India and the UK. It is also considering similar flights to Paris and Frankfurt.
Since July, India has signed separate bilateral air bubble pacts with countries like the US, the UK, the UAE, Germany and France. In an air bubble pact, airlines of both the countries can operate passenger flights under certain restrictions.
Scheduled passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Ukrainian national guardsman has been sentenced in Italy for the alleged complicity in the deaths of an Italian reporter and his Russian interpreter in the Donbas warzone in 2014.
The first part of The Wrong Place documentary was aired at the Italian Senate this week to address a high-profile case of a Ukrainian national guardsman Vitaliy Markiv, whose sentencing in Italy Ukraine has branded "politicized" and in Russia's interests.
The authors of The Wrong Place dig deeper into the circumstances of the deaths of Italian reporter Andrea Rocchelli in Donbas six years ago, according to RFE/RL.
They also look into the charges pressed against Markiv who was part of the Ukrainian Anti-Terrorist Forces fighting off Russian hybrid proxy forces in eastern Ukraine.
Cristiano Tinazzi, the documentary's director, says the task of the journalistic investigation was to probe the Rocchelli-Markiv case more deeply, rather than defending the positions of defense or prosecution.
"With this film, we propose to open a debate to better understand a resonating case, we propose to go all the way to find the truth," said Eleonora Mongelli, deputy head of the Italian Federation for Human Rights.
It is noteworthy that the event was attended by a representative of the Democratic Party (with the government coalition), Senator Roberto Rampa.
Read alsoUkraine's envoy urges Italian media to objectively cover Markiv case"I'm a convinced pacifist, but I realize that in a time of war, unfortunately, soldiers are bound to kill. At the same time, it is impossible to imagine that murder cases are initiated regarding all tragic incidents occurring at war. I think this film will help achieve the desired result by providing new elements for a deeper understanding of the case," he said.
The audience was shown a 35-minute fragment, where the authors revealed new facts and talked with witnesses who have not been involved in the trial.
Vitaliy Markiv case: background
Yet, for all of this, the young and healthy have a tiny chance of falling seriously ill. That minimal risk they run, and nearly all are taking it eagerly, is a small price to pay for the experience of bravely confronting lifes realities. To protect them and the broader community we must be crafty and adaptable. We have to do all we can to contain, manage and mitigate. We cannot be fools. But we would be foolish to think we can wait out a virus. We will reckon with it sooner or later. And all we have is the now, whether of our choosing or not.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death, called Rhea Chakrabortys father for the second round of questioning on Wednesday.
Chakrabortys father Indrajeet reached the DRDO guest house in Mumbais Kalina where the CBI team is stationed around 10:25 am this morning. Chakraborty, her brother and mother have not been summoned on Wednesday so far, an official said.
Indrajeet and Chakrabortys mother Sandhya were grilled by the central agency for about nine hours on Tuesday.
The investigation agency has so far interrogated Rajputs cook Neeraj Singh, house help Keshav Bachner, roommate and creative director Siddharth Pithani, his former business manager Shruti Modi and house manager Samuel Miranda.
The 34-year-old actor was found dead at his Bandra apartment on June 14 following which the Mumbai police had registered a case of accidental death and recorded statements of nearly three dozen people.
Rajputs father KK Singh the filed an FIR in Patna accusing Rhea Chakraborty and her family of abetting Rajputs alleged suicide and misappropriating his money that led to a war of words between Maharashtra and Bihar Police. The Supreme Court last week upheld the transfer of the FIR lodged in Patna to the central agency.
Apart from CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) are also probing the case from the money laundering and drugs-related angles respectively. The NCB made its first arrest in the case on Wednesday.
Kolkata: On May 13, 1952, the Rajya Sabha met for the first time. And till May 26, 1952, there was no Question Hour in the Upper House for paying more attention to other important businesses.
Then, the decision to suspend the Question Hour drew severe criticism and one of the members on May 19, 1952, (while addressing the chairman of the House) had said, It appears that under powers conferred on him under Article 118(2) of the Constitution, the chairman has modified the practice obtained in the old Council of State relating to asking of questions by members to the disadvantage of the rights of such members.
The next day, on May 20, 1952, the chairman informed the House that Question Hour would be allowed from May 27-28. Then, three starred questions and 12 unstarred questions were listed for May 27, 1952, and three starred questions and 45 unstarred questions were listed for May 28, 1952. The controversy came to an end and the first question was asked by then Rajya Sabha member SV Krishnamoorthy Rao on May 27, 1952. He later became the first deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha on May 31, 1952.
Once again, after a few more suspensions of the Question Hour in the past, the controversy is back in the Legislature of the Union. There wont be any Question Hour in the monsoon session which detractors say will deprive the opposition leaders and any members to hold the Centre accountable for its work/actions/decisions taken".
A notification in this regard was issued and as per the directives the monsoon session of Parliament, for both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, will start from September 14, 2020, and it will continue till October 1 with a total 18 sittings.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O Brien has expressed concern over the decision while Congress MP Shashi Tharoor sees this move as an attempt to reduce Parliament to a rubber stamp.
During the 33rd (1961), 93rd (1975), 98th (1976) 99th (1977) Sessions there was no Question Hour as these sessions were summoned for SPECIAL PURPOSES: Orissa, Proclamation of Emergency, 44th Amendment, Presidents Rule TN/Nagaland. The upcoming Monsoon Session is a regular session. MPs are required to submit Qs for Question Hour in Parliament 15 days in advance. Session starts 14 Sept. So Q Hour cancelled? Oppn MPs lose right to Q govt. A first since 1950? Parliament overall working hours remain same so why cancel Q Hour? Pandemic excuse to murder democracy, Derek tweeted.
The TMC parliamentarians concern was backed by Tharoor, who tweeted, I said four months ago that strongmen leaders would use the excuse of the pandemic to stifle democracy & dissent. The notification for the delayed Parliament session blandly announces there will be no Question Hour. How can this be justified in the name of keeping us safe?
While the leaders are outraged over the decision, political expert Kapil Thakur explained the importance of Question Hour in Parliament.
It is the most important session of Parliament to catch the government on various decisions taken against the interest of the people. It is the session (in the first hour of sitting) to hold the union government accountable for its actions. Primarily there are three types of questions which are starred questions, unstarred questions, and short-notice questions," he said.
The starred questions must be submitted 15 days in advance by the parliamentarian and only 20 questions are selected for oral answers on a day by the minister-in-charge related to the questions. Based on the Speakers discretion, an MP can ask two supplementary questions. The second one is unstarred questions. These are those questions which get direct replies from the respective ministries. The questions should be submitted 15 days in advance and nearly 230 of them go to the minister for explanation per day during the session. The third one is a short- notice question, which is related to urgent public matters. An MP can request a short-notice question by giving intimation within 10 days. All questions under this category are answered orally followed by supplementary questions. Acceptance of short notice questions is at the discretion of the Speaker.
Besides, there is one more category, and that is questions to private members, Thakur said. In this case, questions will be asked to members who are not ministers. These questions are related to parliamentary committees, private member bills and resolutions, he added.
In the past, there were many instances when Question Hour sessions were not held.
For example, In 1961, 1975, 1976 and in 1977, Question Hour sessions were suspended for special businesses like Orissa Budget, approval of Proclamation of Emergency, Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Bill, 1976 and approval of Presidents Rule in Tamil Nadu and Nagaland, respectively.
On July 21, 1975 (the 93rd session), the minister of state in the department of parliamentary affairs moved a motion, which read, That this House resolves that the current session of the upper house being in the nature of an emergent session to transact certain urgent and important Government business, only Government business be transacted during the session and no other business whatsoever and all relevant rules on the subject do hereby stand suspended to that extent.
The move angered the parliamentarians and the chairman intervened and he said, regarding allowing the Question Hour or not allowing the Question Hour, it is a point to be decided by merule 38 is very clear on this pointon my own considering the importance of the present situation, I have decided not to have the Question Hour. It is within the authority of the Chairman. He has used it independently of the Government or anybody else. Nobody can question it.
On November 26, 1962, during the 41st session of Parliament, the parliamentary affairs minister held a meeting with the opposition leaders and then it was unanimously (those present at the meeting) decided to dispense with the Question Hour.
During the 78th session, the House decided not to hold the Question Hour with effect from December 6, 1971 during the remaining part of the session due to war with Pakistan.
Before that, on March 18, 1954, Question Hour was dispensed with for consideration and passing of the Press (Objectionable Matter) Amendment Bill, 1953.
During the 201st session, summons for the session was released at a short notice and Question Hour was suspended.
Similarly, due to a terrorist attack in Parliament on December 13, 2001, during the 194th session (November 19, 2001 to December 19, 2001), the chairman decided to dispense with the Question Hour on December 18 and 19, 2001.
No Question Hour was fixed for the first few days of the commencement of the 75th, 100th, 101st and 112th sessions of Parliament due to short or inadequate notices.
Speaking to News18.com, Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said, I am personally not attending the monsoon session because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the context of suspending the Question Hour session, he said, Not only Question Hour but also the Zero Hour session was suspended. There is no time for such sessions because the timing has been reduced from normal seven hours (roughly) to three hours. There is no scope. Besides all, I believe that the government should have called a meeting with the leaders of the House before taking the final decision on suspending the Question Hour. All the elected representatives should have been consulted. There are other ways to raise questions like calling attention, short-notice questions but that requires the Speakers discretion.
Cuba has successfully dealt with the pandemic outside of the capital, Havana, where new cases continue to be reported.
Cuban authorities have ordered a strict 15-day lockdown of Havana, seeking to stamp out the low-level but persistent spread of the novel coronavirus in the capital.
Aggressive anti-virus measures including closing down air travel, have virtually eliminated COVID-19 in Cuba with the exception of Havana, where cases have surged from a handful a day to dozens daily over the last month.
Starting on Tuesday, Havana was placed under a 7pm to 5am curfew. Most stores are barred from selling to shoppers from outside the immediate neighbourhood in order to discourage people from moving around the city.
Some Havana residents complained that the measures were complicating the already difficult task of buying food in a city stricken by constant shortages and long lines for a limited supply of basic goods.
Its a good cause, getting rid of all of this [coronavirus], but in the end they arent going to get rid of the lines, Josuel Suarez, a 26-year-old engineer, told the Associated Press news agency. The situation is already difficult, and on top of that these restrictive measures, and people have to eat, to resolve their problems.
Others welcomed the tighter control.
Many people dont pay attention to medical advice. This is how were going to resolve this situation, which isnt easy, Rosa Rojas, an 80-year-old homemaker, told AP. I go out because I need to, but there are people in the street with no reason, drinking rum and hanging out in parks without a face mask.
Police stationed on every road leaving Havana are supposed to stop everyone who does not have a special permit to travel, meant to be issued only in extraordinary circumstances.
Some provinces that saw no new cases for weeks have begun detecting them in recent days, often linked to travellers from Havana.
The start of in-person classes was also indefinitely delayed in Havana, even as schools open normally in the rest of Cuba.
The island of 11 million people has reported slightly more than 4,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, with fewer than 100 deaths, one of the lowest rates in the region during the pandemic.
The government made face masks obligatory in the early stages of its pandemic response, and in the first months of the crisis police aggressively fined and even jailed people for violations.
That stance slackened somewhat as Havana moved out of the first, strictest phase of lockdown in July, public transportation restarted and people returned to work. Cases began to climb, and the capital province returned to phase zero last month.
But the measures failed to brake the rise of coronavirus infections, as authorities bemoaned widespread violations of requirements including wearing face masks, avoiding large gatherings and maintaining social distance.
People waiting to enter the first wholesale outlet for private eateries, during the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease, in Havana, Cuba [Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters]
The government announced last week that for at least 15 days the capital would be placed under the strictest measures to date. These include fines of up to $125 per violation, more than triple the average monthly wage.
We are going to demand people follow the rules with a lot of rigour so that our country sees the results it deserves, said Dr Francisco Duran, the countrys head of epidemiology.
Caleb McGough, 10, does schoolwork with his mother, Rebecca Penglase, at her dining room table Saturday, March 16, 2019. McGough is one of more than 34,000 Pennsylvania students who attend cyber charter schools, and he started school online after moving to Northeast Philadelphia because his mother feared he would be bullied as he was in his New Jersey elementary school. Read more
Families are in need of educational options now more than ever as we deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Seventeen of the 20 largest school districts in the country, including the School District of Philadelphia, have chosen to begin this school year without offering an in-person learning option for students. Although remote learning may prove suitable for some families, others may strongly prefer in-person instruction for various educational and child-care needs.
The only way to truly address the diverse needs of families during the pandemic and beyond is for Pennsylvania to fund students, rather than school districts, directly.
This is exactly how we fund many other taxpayer-funded initiatives, including Pell Grants for higher education and prekindergarten programs. For these programs, funding goes to families who can then choose from a wide array of public or private providers of the service. The same goes for food stamps. In these scenarios, the power is rightly in the hands of families rather than institutions.
READ MORE: While most Philly charters are opening virtually, this school started in person
The current public health crisis has produced countless examples of special interests pushing to prevent families from having educational options. Pennsylvania is no exception. In March, the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators lobbied to make it illegal for families to enroll in virtual charter schools during the lockdown because they were concerned about school districts losing money.
Earlier this spring, the state legislature passed a bill preventing state education dollars from following additional students to charter schools, which protected traditional public schools at the expense of families who might need other options. Now, State Rep. Steve McCarter (D., Montgomery) is planning to introduce a bill that would freeze enrollment at virtual charter schools.
Pennsylvania could decide to instead put families first by allowing education dollars to follow children to the school that works best for them whether that be a traditional district-run public school, charter school, or private school. One way to do so would be to expand access to the states two private school choice programs.
Expanding families educational options would not only benefit children but would also have a positive impact on the rest of society. My just-released study suggests that giving families more options could produce substantial economic and societal benefits through higher lifetime earnings and reductions in crime. The studys model estimates that doubling current tax-credit scholarship funding in Pennsylvania could produce around $3 billion in additional lifetime earnings associated with improved academic achievement, and save $115 million via reductions in the social costs related to crime.
READ MORE: Philly-area children, parents, and teachers brace for a school year unlike any other
A timely solution to providing families with more educational options was introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature last month. The proposal would provide federal education dollars from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act directly to students to help families offset the costs of homeschooling and private education. These scholarships would be available to help 500,000 K-12 students in Pennsylvania get back on track this fall.
Other states like Oklahoma and South Carolina have already taken advantage of this idea by reallocating much of their federal stimulus dollars directly to families to help them adapt this school year.
Funding students directly would also reduce inequities in school systems by allowing all students to have access to alternative education options. Wealthier families are already accessing pandemic pods and microschools. Families without the funds for these models risk seeing their students fall further behind.
Allowing just two-thirds of Pennsylvanias currently allocated K-12 education dollars to follow students to their school of choice would provide each child with $12,500 per year. Thats well over the average private school tuition in the state, and would be more than enough to cover the costs of pandemic pods and microschools.
If a business like Walmart doesnt reopen, families can take their money elsewhere. Shouldnt families similarly be empowered to take their childrens education dollars elsewhere if schools dont reopen in ways that fit the needs of students and parents? Education funding is intended to help children learn, not to protect a government monopoly.
Corey DeAngelis is the director of school choice at Reason Foundation and an adjunct scholar at Cato Institute. He is also the executive director at Educational Freedom Institute.
A wildflower native to southeastern Pennsylvania is one of two new species described for the first time by Charles Horn, professor of biology at Newberry College in South Carolina.
The two new species of aquatic plants described by Horn in an article in the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas are part of a group of plants that his previous work elevated to species level more than 30 years ago.
The first species, the few-flowered roundleaf mud-plantain, is found in southeastern Pennsylvania and along the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to North Carolina. It produces 3-6 small, white to light lavender flowers.
The second species, the Missouri roundleaf mud-plantain, is found in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, in the southern Great Plains. It produces 5-13 small, lavender to purple flowers.
Both plants grow in water or wet soil, such as freshwater marshes and river margins.
They were originally described as varieties of the bouquet mud-plantain, a species found across wide swaths of North and South America that Horn officially defined as its own species in 1986.
As time has gone by, weve developed new techniques, new methods, new insights, and of course, more field trips, Horn said. In the last three or four years, Ive been collaborating with a variety of other folks, including some botanists in Brazil. And weve developed sort of a new take on what is a species. And so, the result was that we have now officially described two new species of the group referred to by the common name, mud-plantain.
He said the recent discoveries have been part of an on-and-off project for the past 30 years.
When I did my dissertation back in the 1980s, I said, these things look a little different, but I dont have enough material to feel confident that they are different, he explained. And so I put it on the proverbial back-burner, and then as I went out and did some more field trips and gathered more information, I was able to reach the conclusion and work out the details, and thats what Ive been doing for about the last year-and-a-half.
In 2017, Horn also worked with Brazilian botanist Marco Pellegrini to define two other species of aquatic plants native to southern Brazil.
Horns ongoing research includes the presence and distribution of native and rare species of azaleas of the southern Appalachians. Since 2000, he has focused on the rare May-white azalea, first described as a species in 1999. The flower is found only in South Carolina, with 65 populations in 13 counties.
In 1986, he established the Newberry College Herbarium, a collection of over 25,000 dried and documented plant specimens from the piedmont regions of South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, along with collections from the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica and Guyana.
Horn explained the implications of his research: In the field of plant biology, one of the questions that always comes up is, How many species are on planet Earth? Have we documented all those species? And a lot of people feel that, these botanists have been working in North America for 300 years, weve gotten every species identified and observed and we have them clearly understood. The answer is no.
The bottom line is, this is an ongoing process as we discover new things, go to new places, we have to always reevaluate, how does this fit in with what we already know?
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.
Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.
SOFIA -- Violent clashes erupted between Bulgarian police and protesters in central Sofia in one of the biggest showings in nearly two months anti-government protests calling for the resignation of the countrys prime minister and chief prosecutor.
Thousands of protesters gathered early on September 2 on Sofias Independence Square, home to the parliament, the government building, and the presidential administration, at the start of a so-called Grand National Uprising in response to the government's plan for a new constitution.
The rally took place on the first sitting of the National Assembly after summer recess. It followed weeks of mass demonstrations across Bulgaria against what protesters say is oligarchic control over Bulgarias government and judicial system.
Tensions rose as protesters tried to break through the police cordon and pushed police buses.
Riot police fired pepper spray against protesters who threw eggs, tomatoes, and stones, according to Sofia police chief Georgi Hadzhiev, who said officers were affected by an unknown gas aimed at them.
In the evening, some protesters threw firecrackers and small bombs at police.
Health officials said some 45 people including police officers, were treated in hospitals.
State news agency BTA reported that more than 30 people were detained during the violence, in which protesters and journalists from the commercial channel bTV were also wounded.
A number of them were said to have been taken to hospital for treatment.
The Interior Ministry said a gendarmerie officer was taken to hospital with a wound in the head.
The protesters are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, his government, and Prosecutor-General Ivan Geshev. They also want parliament to be dissolved and early elections to be held.
In parliament, President Rumen Radev called for the immediate resignation of Borisov and Geshev, and appealed to deputies to dismiss the plan for a new constitution.
"It was not the lack of a new constitutionthat brought the people onto the streets, but the lack of morality in the leadership, the erosion of statehood, and corruption," Radev said.
Borisov has pledged to resign if lawmakers approve his call for the election of a grand national assembly tasked with voting on a new constitution.
After two days of negotiations with parties, the ruling GERB party on September 2 said it had collected the more than 120 signatures in parliament needed to start debate on a new constitution and convene a grand national assembly.
By Trend
According the Geneva Conventions, moving civilians into a war zone as well as into (pacified) occupied territories is a Crime of War, Thomas Goltz, journalist, professor at the University of Montana (US), Honorary Doctor of ADA University, told Trend.
His remarks came in response to a question about the illegal settlement of other ethnic groups by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
The problem is proving it and then prosecuting it, said Goltz.
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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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Some schools are now collapsing and combining in-person classes as enrolment dips as parents choose to keep their children learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, says the association representing public boards.
Typically, schools undergo a reorganization in early October, but with school boards surveying families in August about their intentions, that work is being done now but this year, its not quite the same ... I dont know of a school board that doesnt have a bit of a reorganization if theres an influx of students but a reorganization for students not showing up, that is unusual, said Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards Association.
And, she added, the concerns about collapsing classes right now is that schools open in the next couple of weeks, and parents and teachers are just finding out class assignments and are confused about why classes would be merged and made larger during a pandemic.
Abraham noted that some, but not all boards are combining classes.
School boards have reported about one-quarter of students opting for remote learning.
The province has announced about $900 million in pandemic-related funding for boards, and the bulk of it $500 million to come from school boards own reserves. Additional money has also come from the federal government, with an immediate $381 million for Ontario.
Boards are using some of the government funds to hire teachers to make classes smaller, Abraham said, and some like Toronto are targeting teachers for schools in areas hardest hit by COVID-19.
We have heard from school boards, who even with the ability to access reserve funds, even with the extra funding it helps, but we could use more funding and we could make our classes smaller, she said.
For the most part, Abraham added, elementary classes wont be at 15, a number that has been discussed by parents and some experts as a preferred size.
If you are collapsing a class, you are not going to get 15 out of two classes joined together, in all likelihood, she added.
Speaking at Queens Park on Tuesday, Health Minister Christine Elliott said we certainly know that many parents are concerned about sending their children back to school given the COVID situation but said that the provinces plans have many layers of risk minimization put into this plan, from physical distancing, from wearing masks to making sure that these students wash their hands on a regular basis and through creating the pools of children that interact with each other. So, we are ready for it.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said boards are now essentially (ascertaining) said how many children will be in class. And then correspondingly, how many staff need to be in our schools to provide education for those kids in class, because this year were providing a remote option as well it creates more of a challenge for school boards.
He said we do believe that this will stabilize over the next few days once those final numbers are provided from parents to school boards, and that theyll be the right complement of teachers to support our kids.
But schools continue to struggle with class sizes, especially in kindergarten and from Grades 4 to 8. A Toronto District School Board elementary principal last week said her upper-year students will be in classes of about 27, as will those in kindergarten, making proper physical distancing difficult in a regular classroom.
Lecce said school boards have been given very clear guidance, when it comes to distancing ... the bottom line is our commitment is to ensure distancing can be achieved. We are asking school boards to work very hard to do that, and they are.
Premier Doug Ford said he knows parents have worries.
People have anxiety I understand because I have it too, Ford said. Everyone is a little nervous and there may be a few bumps in the road. We will get through it. We have every resources, all hands-on deck, every minister, every resource, every board of directors, everyones on full alert on this. And were ready.
Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca launched a website for parents and educators to report and share local stories about school reopenings.
Rapper Akon has revealed plans for a futuristic $6 billion city in his Senegal homeland modelled on Black Panther's Wakanda.
The R&B star, who boasts two multi-platinum albums, told a news conference on Monday he had laid the first stone for the city in the Atlantic Ocean village of Mbodiene, around 60 miles south of the capital Dakar.
The solar-powered Akon City will offer hotels, a university, hospitals, business and leisure centres including a casino, as well as movie studios, all featuring futuristic designs by architect Hussein Bakri, with African sculptures for inspiration.
Wakanda, the fictional African city of the Black Panther comic book series, served as additional inspiration, Akon acknowledged.
The solar-powered Akon City will offer hotels, a university, hospitals, business and leisure centres including a casino, as well as movie studios, all featuring futuristic designs by architect Hussein Bakri, with African sculptures for inspiration
Wakanda, the fictional African city of the Black Panther comic book series, served as additional inspiration, Akon acknowledged
As he was growing up in the US state of New Jersey, where his family moved when he was seven, Akon 'ran into a lot of African-Americans that didn't really understand their culture,' the 47-year-old said.
'So I wanted to build a city or a project like this that will give them the motivation to know that there is a home back home,' he said, adding that he had received the blessing - and advice - of Mbodiene's elders.
Speaking alternately in English and Wolof, the dominant language in Senegal, the talent with hits including 'Locked Up' and 'Smack That' said that Akon City would also include a 'village of African cultures'.
'As you come in from America, or Europe or anywhere in the diaspora, and you feel like you want to visit Africa, we want Senegal to be your first stop,' said Akon, whose real name is Alioune Badara Thiam.
The musician and green entrepreneur who set up Akon Lighting Africa to boost solar power on the continent said the new city would be built using renewable materials of African origin to the extent possible.
He said the project would cost an overall $6 billion but would not name the principal investors because of confidentiality clauses.
'We are still talking with partners and investors,' Akon said, adding that local investment 'no matter how small or how big' would be welcome.
Akon said he told Bakri - who accompanied him at the press conference - 'I need a building that looks like a statue that you can take home... like real African sculptures that they make in the villages.'
He added: 'The shapes might be weird, but they are African.'
Work will start early next year, with completion of the first phase set for 2023.
Akon, pictured left, told a news conference Monday he had laid the first stone for the city in the Atlantic Ocean village of Mbodiene around 60 miles south of the capital Dakar
Akon performing with Becky G at the European MTV Awards in Seville, Spain, last year
The town will initially cover some 55 hectares (135 acres) but grow to 500 hectares by the end of the decade, with plans for artificial islands and a marina that can accommodate cruise ships.
Bakri said the city's population would eventually reach 300,000.
There have even previously been reports that the city would trade in a crypto-currency named 'AKoin' after himself.
West Africa continues to suffer the economic pain brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and so such a level of private investment, at a time when it has appeared scarce, is much needed.
Senegal's Tourism Minister Alioune Sarr hailed the project, saying he hoped it would give the lie to 'Cassandras... who always view new projects as pipe dreams' and vowing to help see that it is completed on schedule.
Akon, who said the project would benefit the local people, notably young Senegalese, is not the only international star with West African roots involved in such investments.
British actor Idris Elba - son of a Ghanaian mother and Sierra Leonean father - plans to build an eco-tourism complex on an island off Sierra Leone, having visited the former British colony in December last year.
FRANKFURT, Germany, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Blockchain Research Institute (BRI), the world's largest independent blockchain think-tank, and Blockwall, a leading blockchain investment firm, are excited to announce the launch of Blockchain Research Institute Europe (BRIE).
This partnership will establish the BRIE as the preeminent European blockchain think-tank. Building on the path-breaking work of the BRI and the deep network of Blockwall, the BRIE will bring together Europe's top industry leaders, academics, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, and researchers to undertake ground-breaking research on blockchain technology, bridging the gap between the technological functionality of blockchain and the real market need.
"Blockchain is a team sport, and we need global cross-industry solutions to address the challenges and seize the opportunities in business today," said Dale Chrystie, Blockchain Strategist at FedEx. "As a global business, FedEx is pleased to see the Blockchain Research Institute launch BRI Europe to further strengthen and expand its impact globally."
The BRIE will be establishing an expert council of industry-leaders to help foster research, innovation, and the strategic direction of blockchain in their industries. The expert council will comprise leading executives from European corporates, academic institutions, and the public sector.
"Blockchain technology can be applied to improve and transform existing processes," said Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Reimelt, former CEO and President DACH and Europe at General Electric. "I look forward to working with the BRIE in order to promote the adoption of blockchain technology in Europe and supporting its implementation and integration into business models, specifically in the energy industry. It is time for Europe to manifest its leading role in this emerging industry and I see the BRIE as an ideal platform to facilitate this."
The BRIE will take a leading role in European blockchain education, offering a range of webinars, books, events, and online courses.
"The Blockchain Research Institute has been a key strategic partner for INSEAD in strengthening and growing our online learning offerings," said Peter Zemsky, Deputy Dean at INSEAD Business School. "With the launch of BRI Europe, we look forward to further expanding our impactful collaboration in this key market and beyond."
Through the BRI's Build program, the BRIE will support its members' strategies of testing and implementing blockchain technologies, partnering their teams with the most suitable stakeholders from its ecosystem.
"We see blockchain as adding crucial functionalities to the internet and representing a backend revolution," said Dominic Briggs, General Partner at Blockwall. "Here in Europe, blockchain technology opened up a completely new universe of business models to invest in and it offers the opportunity to tap into value which was too complex to exploit with centralized systems. Europe is uniquely positioned to be at the forefront of this revolution and together with the BRIE we want to support European corporates, entrepreneurs, and governments to take a leading role in this development."
"As a global leader, the Blockchain Research Institute believes that the best way to steward the blockchain revolution is to collaborate with leading regional partners who share our vision and ambition," said Don Tapscott, Executive Chairman at the Blockchain Research Institute. "For us, Blockwall is the ideal partner to lead the blockchain transformation in Europe."
"We are excited to partner with Blockwall to launch the Blockchain Research Institute Europe, and usher in the next wave of digital transformation for Europe and the world," said Alex Tapscott, Co-founder at the Blockchain Research Institute.
Interested companies can now join the Blockchain Research Institute Europe. Visit www.brieurope.org to learn more.
Contact:
Dominic Briggs
Managing Director
Blockchain Research Institute Europe
[email protected]
SOURCE Blockchain Research Institute
Belarusian Police Detain Demonstrators
By VOA News September 01, 2020
Belarusian authorities detained scores of demonstrators Tuesday as university students protested in Minsk to demand the resignation of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Hundreds of students marched through the center of the capital to the Education Ministry on the first day of classes, in the fourth week of mass protests against Lukashenko's August 9 reelection, which the students, other activists and critics maintain was rigged. Lukashenko won a sixth term in office.
As police moved to disperse the crowds, they detained a portion of the demonstrators, some of whom were students, according to local media reports. Police confirmed people were apprehended but did not say how many.
The Viasna Human Rights Center in Belarus said riot police beat many of the students who had been detained, and it noted that several university professors also were apprehended.
Additionally, reports say several organizers of work stoppages at large industrial plants have been detained, prompting people to gather Tuesday near several of the plants in a show of support for the striking workers.
Prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into the opposition's Coordination Council, which was formed last month to negotiate a transition of power in the wake of the election.
Lukashenko has said council members and other activists are under the control of Western nations, and he accused them of trying to create a parallel government.
The protests were triggered by a government crackdown shortly after the election that resulted in the detention of nearly 7,000 people. Three people were killed, and hundreds of others were hurt when police dispersed peaceful protesters using rubber bullets, clubs and stun grenades.
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PasarPolis, the Indonesian-based startup focused on making insurance policies more accessible in Southeast Asia, has closed a Series B round totaling $54 million. Investors include LeapFrog Investments and SBI Investment, both firms that focus on financial services; AlphaJWC; Intudo Ventures; and Xiaomi.
Gojek's venture capital arm, Go-Ventures, which participated in PasarPolis Series A two years ago, returned for this round.
Founded in 2015 by chief executive officer Cleosent Randing, PasarPolis operates in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Randing said the the insurance penetration rate in the ASEAN region is currently just 3.6%, and the startup's goal is to reach people who have never purchased insurance before with products like inexpensive "micro-policies" that cover broken device screens.
The company now partners with more than 30 insurance providers, and sells most of its products through its mobile apps. In 2019, PasarPolis says it issued more than 650 million policies to people buying insurance for the first time, including ride-hailing drivers, delivery couriers, and online merchants.
Sales continued to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic because of increased demand for insurance and online services. In June alone, the company claims it served more than four million new customers, and has now sold policies to more than 35 million customers in total.
Nishant Kumar, PasarPolis chief technology officer, told TechCrunch that the new funding will be used on its AI-based claim automation platform, which allows the company to customize insurance products for different industries.
It also plans to invest in PasarPolis Mitra, an onboarding platform for agents. Soft-launched in May 2020, PasarPolis allows people to apply to become Mitra, or insurance agents, for the company. PasarPolis currently has a network of about 10,000 agents in Indonesia, who help customers pick policies and process claims.
"We plan to invest in infrastructure to help our Mitra be able to engage with our customers more," said Kumar. "We believe its important for us to implement both online and offline strategies as an insurtech player."
Story continues
Kumar added that even though technology plays a "pivotal role" in making insurance products accessible to more people, PasarPolis does not "see digital as just a medium to sell insurance. We think that technology can be used to segment risk in real-time and provide more affordable insurance to the masses."
Two of PasarPolis main competitors in Southeast Asia include Qoala, another Indonesia-based insurtech startup that recently raised funding, and Grab Financial Group, which launched a new portfolio of consumer financial services last month, including expanded insurance offerings.
Randing told TechCrunch that PasarPolis competitive advantage is its "ability to offer highly customized and modular insurance products that are integrated with partners systems." These include health and accident coverage for Gojek's drivers and passengers; insurance for small- to medium-sized businesses that cover damaged products and missing items; and policies that protect e-commerce customers.
An example of the type of customized insurance products PasarPolis can create is a policy for Gojek ride-share drivers that covers stolen vehicles and costs less than USD $4 a year.
The company is also a licensed insurance broker, which is why it is able to operate PasarPolis Mitra. "The platform is so unique to Indonesians, that it enables anyone, from professional insurance Mitra, Gojek drivers, stay-at-home moms, and furloughed employees, to earn additional income, especially during the new normal," said Randing.
New Delhi, Sep 2 : Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency or the ISI could be planning attacks on Indian establishments in Afghanistan while India is engaged with China at other frontiers, intelligence agencies have flagged.
The security establishments of Afghanistan and India have been alerted that Pakistan-sponsored terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) may carry out vehicle-borne attacks on the Indian Consulate in Jalalabad and use improvised explosive devices.
"Four suicide attackers from the LeT have been sent to Kunar province. They are planning a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack on the Indian consulate in Jalalabad," said the Indian intelligence agency.
A senior government officer stated there have been a number of threats against Indian establishments in Afghanistan. One of its main reasons being Pakistan remaining insecure about Indian influence in Afghanistan. "So they may use proxies/sponsor terrorists groups to target Indian personnel and infrastructure," the officer said.
Pakistan has also engaged the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) to execute high visibility and high impact attacks targeting ethnic minorities in Kabul. They have started targeting Hindu and Sikh communities in Afghanistan. Once the strength of these communities were in tens of thousands with well-established businesses and high-ranking positions in the government. Now, most of them have fled to India, Europe, or North America after decades of war and persecution.
Further, Pakistan is alluring Indian Muslims to seek jihad. It has also turned Afghanistan into a breeding ground for such Indians.
Recently, the UN Security Council stated that the Indian ISIS affiliate -- Hind Wilayah -- that was announced on May 10, 2019, already has around 180 to 200 members present in Kerala and Karnataka.
The current security situation in Afghanistan remains volatile with both the Taliban and the ISKP stepping up attacks across the country.
In its bid to enhance territorial power, the Taliban seized control of Yumgan district in the northeastern province of Badakhshan on March 28 and 29 while continuing with its attacks targeting the Afghan Security Forces. The Talibs have long controlled the Yumgan and Jurm districts of Badakhshan Province until the government forces retook them late in 2019.
The Afghan Security Forces this year inflicted heavy casualties on the militant group and retook control of Khamab district of Jawzjan province on April 18.
(Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in)
-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
While flying to some off-the-beaten-path, exotic destination may not be in the cards right now, we could all use a quick break as this strange pandemic summer stretches on and on.
The good news: Texans need not travel too far to experience one of the best quick getaways in the U.S.
Austin has just landed a top spot on travel website Hotwire's 40 best cities in America list for a "quickie" getaway in 2020. Touted as the "Live Music Capitol of the World," Austin ranked No. 8 on the list of major metropolitan cities.
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"Quarantine has made us stir crazy and that's probably putting it lightly, " brain health expert Dr. Mike Dow said in a Hotwire press release. "We've heard everyone talk about flattening the COVID-19 curve it's important to flatten the mental health curve."
In making its selections for its "Make It a Quickie" list, Hotwire took a look at 10,000 internal and external data points across 300 cities based on these four factors: ease of arrival and driveability (30 percent), best bang for buck (30 percent), things to do and leisure (30 percent) and population (10 percent).
What's cool about this list is that travelers can choose the scale of their destination and getaway experience from major urban centers and mid-size must-sees to small town favorites and "itty bitty cities." High on the list for major metropolises are Las Vegas, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Oklahoma City, Seattle, Memphis, Indianapolis, Austin, Denver and Portland.
A recent survey by Hotwire found that more than four in five (81 percent) adults state that after the quarantine, quick getaway trips offer an ideal chance to test the waters before investing in a longer vacation.
Hotwire also discovered changes in travelers' patterns amid the pandemic, including more travel by car (50 percent), visiting less crowded spots, (43 percent), researching a hotel's cleanliness procedures (29 percent) and traveling close to home in case of emergency (26 percent), according to the survey.
"Travel, especially quick local getaways are a valuable way to balance our physical health with our mental health and can increase connections in our brain, thereby improving both our current and future mood so quickie getaways are actually an investment in your well-being," Dow added.
Hotwire has rounded up a few things that should be on your must-do list for Austin. From Barton Creek to Hamilton Pool, explore some of Austin's best swimming holes. If you need to just unwind and take a hike, drive out to the Hill Country or spend a day at Emma Long Metropolitan Park.
alison.medley@chron.com
Regional language news and content aggregator Dailyhunt is in talks to raise about $100 million, seeking a valuation of $1.2 billion as it looks to cash in on the big jump in online content consumption following the coronavirus outbreak, sources said.
The round is likely to be led by existing investor US-based Falcon Edge Capital that recently raised $300-million India-focused fund, sources said. The deal could make the Bengaluru-based company Indias newest unicorn, a privately held firm valued at a billion dollars or more.
The deal has not closed yet, but it should get done given their traction and because no one has been able to compete with them at the same scale. The valuation, however, is a bit aggressive, said a person close to the talks on condition of anonymity.
Dailyhunt was valued at $625 million when it raised $36 million from James Murdochs Lupa India in May, Entrackr reported.
Dailyhunt did not respond to Moneycontrols email while Falcon Edge declined to comment.
Run by Verse Innovation Pvt. Ltd, Dailyhunt aggregates content from newspapers and websites and is available in 13 languages, including Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and Bhojpuri.
It also offers original video content in Hindi and Telugu and a free live television streaming service in nine languages through strategic partnerships.
One of the earliest entrants in the regional content aggregation space, Dailyhunt, previously known as Newshunt, was founded by ex-Nokia employees Umesh Kulkarni and Chandrashekhar Sohoni in 2009.
Three years later, Virendra Gupta acquired the company and is now the chief executive. Former Facebook India head, Umang Bedi, joined the news aggregator in February 2018.
Dailyhunt has been looking to raise a large round of funding for more than a year now. In the last couple of years, it raised between $20-50 million from Goldman Sachs, Sofina, Lupa India and Stonebridge Capital.
Like most content startups, Dailyhunt makes money by serving ads, a business model largely seen as unsustainable because the online advertising market is cornered by Google and Facebook, whose personalisation algorithms are generally better.
Dailyhunt users can create an account and select their preferred news outlets that helps in personalising their feeds, similar to Chinas TikTok, Douyin and Toutiao, which is Chinas largest online news aggregator. It has a For You section on its app, a design choice similar to the Chinese apps.
As India-China ties plunge to their lowest in 50 years and Chinese investments face increased scrutiny, banned TikToks parent ByteDance is a minority shareholder in Dailyhunt, where it led a $25 million round in 2016.
TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps were banned by India a few days after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash with the troops of the neighbouring country in Ladakhs Galwan Valley on June 14.
Indian content startups, in news or social media space, have found monetisation challenging, though sources say Dailyhunt has a revenue of about $50 million, an exception in the space.
Regional language platforms such as ShareChat and Pratilipi, have, so far, not been able to monetise beyond a few million dollars despite a sizable user base.
Another news aggregator, InShorts, backed by Tiger Global Management, also wants to make a dent in the space.
Dailyhunt and others with regional content as a focus have a non-English speaking, non-metro core audience, whose purchasing power is relatively low. It is a segment online advertisers have been wary of so far because it is difficult to make money from these users, said an investor in the space, requesting anonymity.
Dailyhunt, however, stands to gain in the long run from the pandemic, which has dealt a big blow to revenues of the already struggling newspaper industry and driven up digital news consumption.
In the initial months of the pandemic, lower ad spends online hit digital media platforms but in the long term, they stand to benefit.
Dailyhunt has also faced headwinds on the regulatory front. The government said in August last year that foreign direct investment in digital media firms should not exceed 26 percent but has since not clarified or enforced the rule.Dailyhunts investors are all foreign, including venture capital firms Sequoia Capital, Goldman Sachs, Sofina and ByteDance.
New York, Sep 2 : While accusing Beijing of bullying its neighbours, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that Washington hopes there would be a peaceful settlement of the escalating tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China.
"We are hoping for a peaceful resolution of the situation on the India-China border," he said at a news conference in Washington.
"From the Taiwan Strait to the Himalayas and beyond, the Chinese Communist Party is engaged in a clear and intensifying pattern of bullying its neighbours," he said.
In the latest confrontation, New Delhi has said that China carried out "provocative military movements" on the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake between Sunday and Monday but Indian troops stopped them from moving into its territory.
This followed clashes between the troops of the two countries in June in which 20 Indian soldiers and some Chinese troops were killed.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, David Stillwell, who spoke to reporters after Pompeo, attributed China's intensifying aggressiveness from the Himalayas to Taiwan to Beijing's attempts to take advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"What we've seen since the corona outbreak from Wuhan is it seems the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) is trying to take advantage of the situation, and India, I think, is one of those examples of that," he said.
He declined to say how the US would help India if the tensions worsened, indicative of Washington's limitations in stepping into the conflict.
Asked by a reporter if the US would share intelligence with India or help it, he said that he would "defer that question to others who are more closely related to the Indian part".
"For the conflict in the Himalayas, like all things, especially, related to the PRC's differences of opinion with its neighbours, we advise them to return to dialogue, resolve these things peacefully without coercion or use of force," he said.
"Our friends in Beijing, I would ask them to follow their commitment to resolve these things through peaceful means and dialogue." Pompeo said that he would be holding virtual meetings next week with his Indo-Pacific and ASEAN counterparts.
During the wide-ranging discussions, he said: "I will also raise how the Trump administration is restoring reciprocity to the US-China relationship." He announced several restrictions on Chinese diplomats in the US, mirroring some of the conditions Beijing has placed on Washington's diplomats.
Pompeo also asked China to hold talks with the Dalai Lama and criticised Beijing's actions in Tibet.
"We are also concerned about Chinese actions in Tibet, in the light of the General Secretary's recent calls to Sinicise Tibetan Buddhism and fight splitism there," he said.
China' President Xi Jinping also holds the title of the Communist Party's General Secretary.
"We continue to call upon Beijing to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives without preconditions to reach a settlement that resolves their differences," Pompeo said.
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis)
China recently rolled out its first smart grain warehouse with multifaceted capabilities to facilitate production, stockpiling and scientific research in Nanjing, the capital of southeastern Jiangsu province.
The warehouse operates with the support of applied sciences and big data analysis to form a modern information system dedicated to facilitating potential grain transactions and expanding high-tech applications. It will set a standard in developing national grain production and preservation by utilizing systematic digital technologies and scientific achievements.
The warehouse's 11 storage rooms, which belong to Nanjing Lingshan Grain Inventory Co Ltd, function under a synthesized monitoring system consisting of wireless sensory facilities that can show indexes of internal conditions, such as air quality, pest invasions, indoor humidity and temperature alterations. By evaluating changes within the warehouse, the equipment being launched guarantees the safe preservation of grains.
The warehouse project was part of a platform dubbed "the Silicon Valley of Jiangsu Grains" that was jointly established by the College of Information Engineering at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu Grain and Edible Oil Transaction Market and the Quality Monitoring Department of Grain and Edible Oil of the Jiangsu Provincial Food and Strategic Reserves Administration.
Along with taking on research projects for industries at provincial and national levels, the platform has benefited 8,800 agricultural cooperatives with key technologies applied for digitalized stockpiling practices. By renovating 552 granaries, the platform has produced a direct economic gain estimated at 246 million yuan ($35.97 million), with the loss of stockpiling dropping to less than 1%, the storable rate soaring to 98% and the use of chemical agents dropping by 80%.
Content created in partnership with Science and Technology Daily
President Donald Trump has praised his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, for her speech to the Republican National Convention, and defended her from cruel criticism over her English pronunciation, noting it is not her first language.
'They like her, they love her style, her class, her grace,' Donald Trump said when asked by Fox News host Laura Ingraham about Melania's appeal to female voters in an interview that aired on Tuesday.
'I thought she gave an incredible speech,' Trump added. 'And you have to understand, it's not her first language,' he continued, referencing critics including Bette Midler who mocked the first lady over her accent.
'How many people could come over and make a speech to the world, think of it, no think of it, she did an incredible job,' Trump said.
President Donald Trump has praised his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, for her speech to the Republican National Convention
The First Lady spoke about her migrant background in her RNC speech, telling the audience that 'I was able to achieve my own American dream'
The president added that his wife will be participating actively in his re-election campaign, saying 'she'll be very much involved, she wants to see this be a victory.'
Melania won praise from some for her compassionate RNC speech last week, in which she told families affected by the coronavirus pandemic 'youre not alone.'
However, others unleashed shocking criticism of the first lady, a native of Slovenia, over her accented English and ethnic background.
Actress Bette Midler apologized after tweeting that Melania 'can't speak English' and calling the first lady an 'illegal alien.'
Midler admitted she was 'wrong' to mock Melaniain social media posts she shared while watching the Republican National Convention.
'A UGE bore! She can speak several words in a few languages. Get that illegal alien off the stage!' Middler had written in a tweet.
(From R) Barron Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, US President Donald Trump, Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Lara Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner stand after the president accepted the Republican nomination
The First Lady spoke about her migrant background in her RNC speech, telling the audience that 'I was able to achieve my own American dream'.
The Slovenian-born former fashion model moved to the US in the 1990s and was granted American citizenship in 2006.
'Growing up as a young child in Slovenia, which was under communist rule at the time, I always heard about an amazing place called America - a land that stood for freedom and opportunity,' she said.
'As I grew older it became my goal to move to the United States and follow my dream of working in the fashion industry.
President Donald J. Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump depart after the First Lady delivered her speech during the second night of the Republican National Convention
'My parents worked very hard to ensure our family could not only leave and prosper in America, but also contribute to a nation that allows for people to arrive with a dream and make it reality.'
In her speech she also called for an end to what she called 'violence and looting' during the months of race protests after the death of George Floyd.
'Instead of tearing things down, let's reflect on our mistakes. Be proud of our evolution and look to our way forward,' she said.
'Every day let us remember that we are one nation under God, and we need to cherish one another.'
A Citigroup China unit has received a domestic fund custody licence from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the bank said on Wednesday, the latest foreign financial firm to expand its presence in mainland China, Trend reports with reference to Reuters.
Citi is the first U.S. bank to receive such a licence, which will allow it to hold securities for safekeeping on behalf of mutual funds and private funds domiciled in China, once it has passed an onsite inspection.
Despite Sino-U.S. political tensions, several U.S. asset managers are expanding their presence in China, after foreign ownership restrictions were scrapped earlier this year.
BlackRock last week became the first global asset manager to win regulatory approval to set up a mutual fund unit in China, and Vanguard Group announced it would shift its Asian headquarters to Shanghai and close its Hong Kong and Japan operations.
As international fund managers, securities firms, and insurance companies set up in China, we believe they will want a trusted service provider to help them mitigate risks and reduce costs, David Russell, Citis APAC Head of Securities Services, said in a statement.
A new paper in The Economic Journal finds that bus drivers are more likely to let white riders ride for free and less likely to let Black riders ride without paying the fee.
Police officers must issue tickets to drivers exceeding the speed limit. A grocery store worker is not allowed to hand out goods free of charge. Similarly, bus drivers require all passengers to have valid tickets before being allowed onto the bus.
This study set out to test what happens when decisionmakers have to make unmonitored judgments. Do they voluntarily provide favours? And, if so, do they reward and accommodate some people more than others?
This study tested for discretionary favours, i.e., private accommodations, in everyday consumer transactions. In the study, the researchers hired test customers randomly assigned to board public buses where they presented a travel card with a zero monetary balance and asked the bus driver if they can have a free ride to a bus stop. While the public bus company's official rules and policies mostly discourage employees from providing a service free of monetary charge, close to two-thirds of observed bus drivers granted such favours, and predominantly to lighter-skinned people.
Based on 1,552 transactions in Queensland, Australia, the authors uncovered strong evidence of racial bias: bus drivers were twice as willing to let white testers ride free as Black testers (72% versus 36% of the time). Indian testers were accepted at 51%, while Asian testers were treated similarly to whites; being offered a free ride 73% of the time. Such racial bias against Black citizens still existed after controlling for several other variables including the bus driver's age, gender, and race. Based on the data, researchers found no evidence of own-group bias: bus drivers were just as likely to grant free rides to customers from other races as they were to customers of their own race.
The study revealed strong evidence of racial discrimination. A key feature in the field experiment is that the bus drivers had only a few seconds to decide regarding a person standing in front of them. Here the bus drivers appeared to use a customer's skin colour as a proxy for other unobservable group characteristics. The uncovered white privilege was reduced but still present when test customers wore business attire or dressed in army uniforms.
"Our findings show that white privilege extends into marketplace favours, or private accommodations, that are often hidden and unregulated," said Redzo Mujcic, one of the paper's authors. "The level of white privilege found is markedly greater than previously documented in other markets and public services, such as employment and housing, where discrimination is already illegal. As a society, we need to think about ways to eliminate such bias in daily interactions, especially given the large economic and social costs that accrue to discriminated minorities. For example, white citizens can simply refuse any such gifts in future transactions."
###
The paper, "The Colour of a Free Ride," is available (on September 2) at https://academic.oup.com/ej/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/ej/ueaa090.
Direct correspondence to:
Redzo Mujcic
Warwick Business School, The University of Warwick
Scarman Rd,
Coventry CV4 7AL, UNITED KINGDOM
redzo.mujcic@wbs.ac.uk
To request a copy of the study, please contact:
Daniel Luzer
daniel.luzer@oup.com
Sharing on social media? Find Oxford Journals online at @OxfordJournals
Africa's Leading Carrier Neutral Tier III Data Centre We are proud of the quality and scale bar we have set in the region and are scaling to be the de-facto digital data hub for West Africa, says Dr Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director of Rack Centre.
Rack Centre, the leading carrier neutral data centre operator in West Africa, has announced an expansion programme that will increase capacity to a total net lettable white space of 6000 square metres and allow for 13MW of IT power capacity in its Lagos campus. The expansion will bring unprecedented carrier neutral scale to West Africa and is in response to increasing demand for data centre space from cloud uptake, telecommunication investment and outsourcing of IT facilities by enterprises in the region.
In March 2020, Actis, a London private equity firm, announced an investment in Rack Centre, taking a controlling stake in the business alongside Jagal. The funding for this expansion will come from a $250m pan-African data centre platform established by Actis and Convergence Partners, a leading ICT infrastructure investor in Africa. In addition to Rack Centre, the platform is also actively developing additional buy and build opportunities across Africa, to establish a network of carrier neutral data centres aimed at catering to carrier, cloud and hyperscale customers. Tim Parsonson, co-founder of Teraco Data Environments, the largest carrier neutral operator in Africa, joins the Board as Chairperson. The platform has also engaged Frank Hassett, a veteran of the global data centre industry and previous Vice President of Infrastructure at Equinix, who brings over 1300MW of build and operate experience, to assist with hyperscale expansion.
Africa is at the start of a critical time in its development, as the 4th industrial revolution offers the chance to leapfrog many of Africas challenges and harness the immense potential of its people. Convergence Partners is delighted to partner with Actis in accelerating the growth of high quality data centre infrastructure, an indispensable part of the foundation of this revolution in the region. said Andile Ngcaba, chairman of Convergence Partners.
With 138 million Internet subscribers, more than any country in Africa or Europe, and the largest population and GDP in Africa, Nigeria is a key entry point for global telecommunications, content and cloud players seeking access to the region. However, a lack of cost effective, energy efficient IT infrastructure has been a constraint to doing business in the region. Rack Centre brings global best practice to Nigeria, as the first carrier neutral data centre in the region to achieve Uptime Institute Tier III Certification of Constructed Facility (TCCF). As a uniquely scale carrier neutral player, Rack Centre allows unrestricted connectivity between customers, telecommunication carriers and internet exchange points within its data centres.
"We are proud of the quality and scale bar we have set in the region and are scaling to be the de-facto digital data hub for West Africa, says Dr Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director of Rack Centre, Mass adoption of digital working models and content distribution is driving growing investment in the region and Rack Centre offers a world class location to house these IT and telecoms facilities.
Supporting this ambition, engineering consultancy Arup have been appointed for the project. Arups multidisciplinary data centre design teams are world leaders in the design and construction of data centres, having designed over 2,000MW of IT capacity for industry leading tech giants and co-location providers across the globe.
Sustainability and Energy Savings
Data centres are energy intensive. With the data demands ever increasing, the design of Rack Centres Phase 2 facility will target regional industry leading Power Utilisation Efficiency (PUE) benchmarks, and will contribute towards [Sustainable Development Goals] in particular Affordable and Clean Energy, Industry Innovation and Infrastructure and Climate Action. Rack Centre is working on various green data centre initiatives to set other benchmarks in the Africa data centre landscape.
About Rack Centre
Founded in 2012, Rack Centre is the only carrier neutral Tier III Constructed Facility Certified data centre in Africa and focuses solely on providing best in class data centre colocation services and unrestricted interconnect between carriers and customers. This gives customers a technically superior, physically more secure and lower cost environment for their information systems.
Rack Centres carrier neutrality allows customers to manage traffic to get better value, lower latency and higher resilience, and creates an open market for partnerships between customers, networks, cloud and content providers, the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria and managed service providers.
Rack Centre clients include 40 telecommunication carriers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), global Tier 1 networks and pan Africa international carriers, including direct connection to all 5 undersea cables serving the South Atlantic Coast of Africa and every country on the Atlantic coast of Africa.
For additional information: Follow us on LinkedIn
About Actis
Actis is a leading emerging markets investor. With a growing portfolio of investments across Asia, Africa and Latin America, Actis has raised over US$15bn since inception, and deployed capital across the real estate, private equity, energy and infrastructure asset classes.
The responsible investing ethos of values-drive-value, is at the heart of Actis belief that capital invested in growth markets can and should be transformational, leading to sustainable value creation and mitigation of risk.
Actis is a signatory to the United Nations backed Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), an investor initiative developed by the UNEP FI and the UN Global Compact. The firm has been awarded the highest rating score, A* for the third consecutive year in the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) independent assessment.
About Convergence Partners
Convergence Partners is a seasoned pan-African private equity investor experienced in growing businesses to deliver enhanced investment returns while simultaneously driving continental development through investment in information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and services. With over US$300mn of capital under management, Convergence Partners brings its skills, experience and capital to develop new investment opportunities as well as actively adding value to investments across the lifecycle of ICT assets. As a value investor, the firm accelerates communications access, digital inclusion and ICT infrastructure development in Africa
To date Convergence Partners has partnered with several global best-in-breed operators and has played a leading role in landmark African ICT infrastructure investments that have changed the paradigm in pricing of broadband services and availability of reliable, quality networks, services and new technology offerings.
For more information, visit http://www.convergencepartners.com/
About ARUP
Arup is the creative force at the heart of many of the worlds most prominent projects in the built environment and across industry. From 90 offices in 38 countries our 11,000 planners, designers, engineers and consultants deliver innovative projects across the world with creativity and passion.
Arup Press Enquiries: Media@arup.com
A retired army colonel arrested over crimes during the Uruguayan dictatorship admitted to murder, kidnapping and torture, according to official documents released on Tuesday.
"I executed many people, kidnapped and imprisoned in various countries, for which I received congratulations from the army high command during the process and in democracy until last year," wrote Gilberto Vazquez in 2006.
The letter was revealed by the Mothers and Relatives of Disappeared Detainees in Uruguay after accessing the minutes of a 2006 army trial.
Ignacio Errandonea, a member of the relatives organization, said the court handed the letter to Carlos Diaz, the army commander-in-chief at that time, to decide whether or not the admission amounted to a crime.
Diaz ordered the trial to continue and said the alleged crimes would be "communicated in due course" to the defence minister.
The court "found Vazquez guilty of offending (military) honor by using a toupee" to escape detention "but not for all the barbarities he confessed to," said Errandonea.
"Where is the honor of those generals?"
"They hid these facts from the ministry, they hid these facts from justice," added Errandonea.
On Friday, the organization shared other minutes from the court case, in which Vazquez admitted to crimes against humanity during the dictatorship that lasted from 1973 until 1985.
"I had to kill, I killed and I have no regrets. I had to torture and I tortured," said Vazquez, who was eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of 28 Uruguayans captured in Argentina in 1976.
He was taken before the military court after escaping from a military hospital by faking an illness to leave the prison where he was being held ahead of a possible extradition to Argentina to face charges of crimes committed during the dictatorship.
The mothers and relatives organization gained access to the court minutes following a request to the defense ministry for access to public information.
A Vasai-based start-up, supported by the Indian Institutes of Bombay and Patna, is offering a line of affordable prosthetics that contain features such as the sense of touch.
Robo Bionics, a start-up by alumni of IIT Patna and University of Mumbai, was among the 15 start-ups chosen in August under the StartupToScaleup scheme supported by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India (GOI). Through the programme, young healthcare and edtech start-ups get a chance to elevate their innovation to the international markets.
GrippyRobo Bionics productis a line of inexpensive prosthetics that are easy to use and also address some of the difficulties that amputees face with body-powered as well as externally powered prosthetics.
Llewellyn Dsa, co-founder of Robo Bionics, started developing the technology after she completed her M Tech on a Robotic Prosthetic Hand at IIT Patna. Inspired by a batchmate, who had no hands owing to a birth defect, she started the firm in 2016.
When my team and I started looking at the market for myoelectric (prosthetics that use electronic sensors to detect muscle and nerve activity) hands, we found that while they are available in the market, they have a lot of drawbacks. They are heavy, have a steep learning curve and function in a very robotic way. To solve this we, at Robo Bionics, researched the market, customer pain points and technology to bring out Grippy, said Dsa.
Grippy, while being affordable, offers features such as sense of touch, grip control and adaptive shape control which is unique for every user. While a basic prosthetic of grippy is priced at Rs60,000, an advanced one can cost up to Rs75,000. A professional approved by the Rehabilitation Council of India makes the socket that connects the part between Grippy and the users hand. The cost for the socket could range from Rs25,000 to Rs50,000 depending on the complexity.
Incubated at IIT Patna, the startup is supported by the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay, as well as the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), government of India.
Our device is undergoing rigorous safety testing in a lab accredited to the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories in Pune. After that we will bring our Grippy, a high-quality prosthetic hand, made in India, to a limited set of users, as a pilot study under the supervision of clinicians and professionals, said Dsa. The product, which is awaiting two patents, is expected to be launched in the market by April 2021.
The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates.
Whats happening
Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey fended off a primary challenge from Rep. Joe Kennedy III in a tightly watched race Tuesday seen by many as a referendum on the state of the Democratic Party.
Markey, who has served in Congress for more than 40 years, bucked a trend that has seen older, established Democrats lose primary races to younger challengers. He won by aligning himself with the left wing of the party and earning the endorsement of progressive stars like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who herself had unseated a long-serving Democratic representative in 2018.
Kennedy, the 39-year-old grandson of former Sen. and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, led by a significant margin in polls when he entered the race just over a year ago. But that lead gradually evaporated during the course of a heated campaign in which Markey, 74, built a devoted online following among younger progressives who bolstered his candidacy through memes while leveling harsh criticism at Kennedy. In the end, Markey won the race by more than 10 points.
By running for the Senate, Kennedy forfeited his chance to hold on to his seat in the House. His loss is the first time a member of the Kennedy political dynasty has lost a statewide race in Massachusetts.
Why theres debate
The Massachusetts Senate primary has been considered by many political observers to be a strong indicator of the balance of power within the Democratic Party in 2020 and beyond. Though their relative ages may suggest otherwise and their policy platforms were quite similar, Markey successfully managed to sell himself as the insurgent face of systemic change by emphasizing his progressive credentials especially his early support of the Green New Deal. Kennedy, on the other hand, was seen as the establishment choice because of his family legacy and endorsement from mainstream figures like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Story continues
To some observers, the main takeaway from the race is the extraordinary power that Ocasio-Cortez and other young progressives have developed to influence Democratic voters. On paper, the contest fit the profile of an up-and-coming contender looking to unseat an older establishment Democrat, but Markeys support from progressive groups like the Sunrise Movement flipped that narrative on its head.
The result may guide the decision making of other incumbent Democrats in 2022 or 2024. They may see a shift to the left as the best way to survive a primary challenge, or choose not to run for reelection at all if they worry they cant successfully make that pivot.
The primary is also notable for being the end of the Kennedy dynasty as its been known in the U.S. for the past half-century, some argue. Though members of the family including Joe will likely have a role in politics going forward, the power to court voters by the name alone seems to have evaporated, some say.
Whats next
Markey is expected to comfortably defeat Republican primary winner Kevin OConnor in November and return to the Senate for a term ending in 2026. Kennedy likely wont hold public office next year, but his name is already being floated for possible future vacancies in Massachusetts or perhaps another Senate run if Elizabeth Warrens seat becomes available.
Perspectives
Markey showed that older, established lawmakers have a place in the future of the party
Choosing Markey, though, sent a message to Democratic incumbents that the new generation of activists does not consider age or length of service disqualifying credentials. This ought to have been clear given the youth support for the presidential campaigns of Bernie Sanders, yet it still seemed to mystify pundits covering the race, who marveled that young people were somehow not supporting the young person. Rachel M. Cohen, Intercept
The race showed how influential the left wing of the party can be when its unified
What led to Kennedys loss was not Markeys army of memers, many of whom are too young to vote or dont live in Massachusetts. It was the coalition of affluent, white, liberal Sanders and Warren sympathizers who joined them, achieving a unity that evaded that group during the presidential primary. Kara Voght, Mother Jones
The primary highlighted the importance of climate policy to young voters
Because most politicians are in safe seats, big primaries often have a bigger impact on the party agenda. Ed Markeys win last night will likely send a strong message to Democrats about the moral and political imperative to support bold climate action. Former Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer
Pivoting to the left wont work for every Democratic incumbent
While it is true that Markey took full advantage of these endorsements to seal the deal with younger voters, it is a capital mistake to say that Markey in any way rebranded himself by attaching himself to things like the Green New Deal. For most of his career in Congress, Markey has been ahead of most politicians on issues concerning the environment and emerging technologies. Charles P. Pierce, Esquire
Markeys win will influence the decisions of incumbent Democrats in future elections
A number of House lawmakers are bracing for demands that they push through an ambitious agenda in a Democratic-controlled Washington or face another wave of primaries. Some of them may retire or, should Joseph R. Biden Jr. win the presidency, accept administration posts rather than seek re-election. Jonathan Martin, New York Times
Despite Markeys win, incumbents are still losing at a higher rate than normal
Tuesday notwithstanding, 2020 has still seen an unusual amount of anti-incumbent sentiment. The more-or-less final tally: Eight members of the House of Representatives (and no U.S. senators) lost renomination in 2020. It is an unusually high number by historical standards its twice as many as in 2018 or in the tea party cycle of 2010. Nathaniel Rakich, FiveThirtyEight
The Kennedy name isnt the political force it used to be
Only voters old enough for retirement have real-time memories of the Kennedy administration. ... And much of what remains in photos and video clips of the once-famous Kennedy style is obnoxious to the public mood: Sleekly dressed men with sometimes leering eyes, captive spouses, cocktails and cigarettes. Peter Canellos, Politico
Progressive Democrats arent mobilizing working-class voters as much as theyd hoped
A noteworthy consistent pattern you saw across the three different primaries in Massachusetts is that the progressive candidates do better in more upscale, highly educated towns and the moderates in more working class ones. Im not sure thats a bad thing or a good one, but its in important ways at odds with what progressives think theyre doing or at least what they say they think theyre doing. Vox co-founder Matthew Yglesias
Is there a topic youd like to see covered in The 360? Send your suggestions to the360@yahoonews.com.
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Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 23:51:18|Editor: huaxia
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Representatives from China Southern Power Grid and Lao state-owned Electricite du Laos shake hands during a signing ceremony in Vientiane, Laos, Sept. 1, 2020. Lao state-owned Electricite du Laos and China Southern Power Grid have signed the Shareholders' Agreement of Electricite du Laos Transmission Company Limited (EDLT) in Lao capital Vientiane for jointly establishing the EDLT. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)
VIENTIANE, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Lao state-owned Electricite du Laos (EDL) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) have signed the Shareholders' Agreement of Electricite du Laos Transmission Company Limited (EDLT) in Lao capital Vientiane for jointly establishing the EDLT.
The signing of the agreement on Tuesday marks a significant progress in enhancing win-win cooperation between Laos and China in the power industry, CSG officials told Xinhua on Wednesday.
Founding EDLT is an important step in building the China-Laos community with a shared future, and is also the latest achievement of the third Lancang-Mekong Cooperation leaders' meeting held in late August, according to the CSG.
Khammany Inthirath, Lao minister for energy and mines, said that the EDLT, a key project in the industrialization process in Laos, will help provide self-sufficient and stable power supply to support the country's development, as well as reinforce the infrastructure connectivity with neighboring countries.
The Lao minister believed that with CSG's advantages in experience, technology and human resources, the EDLT will bring a fresh outlook to the Lao power industry.
Jiang Zaidong, the Chinese ambassador to Laos, said during the signing ceremony that the founding of the EDLT takes the first step to implement the important consensus reached on the third Lancang-Mekong Cooperation leaders' meeting, which calls for strengthening the power connectivity in Lancang-Mekong countries.
He said the two companies should enhance cooperation to serve the national strategies of Laos, to improve Lao people's livelihoods, and to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
The Chinese ambassador also highlighted the importance to follow market principles and make its operating mechanisms market-based for the high-level development of the EDLT.
According to the Shareholders' Agreement, the EDLT will operate under the regulation of the Lao government, taking advantage of CSG's financial strength and mature experiences in power grid construction, operation and management to move forward the construction of the national backbone power grids in Laos.
The EDLT will provide power transmission service to the EDL with safety, reliability, efficiency, accessibility and sustainability.
The EDLT will enable Laos to strengthen power grid connectivity with its neighboring countries for transforming its water resource into economic benefits, so as to support Laos' effort to build itself as the "battery of clean energy" in Southeast Asia. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-03 00:07:16|Editor: huaxia
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ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Wednesday afternoon said the number of COVID-19 recoveries in the continent passed the one million mark for the first time.
According to the Africa CDC, some 1,001,581 people who were infected with COVID-19 had recovered across the continent so far.
It said the death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has climbed to 30,065 across the African continent as the number of positive cases rose to 1,260,400.
The African Union (AU) Commission's specialized healthcare agency, said that five African countries account for over 70 percent of all COVID-19 infections in the continent. They are South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Ethiopia.
Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the continent, South Africa alone accounts for about 50 percent of all COVID-19 infections in the continent, the Africa CDC said.
Egypt, which has the second highest COVID-19 cases in the continent, is near to becoming the second African country to pass the 100,000 COVID-19 infections milestone.
Egypt has recorded 99,115 COVID-19 cases and 5,440 COVID-19 related deaths as of Wednesday evening, it said.
Nigeria has the third largest cases of COVID-19 in the continent with 54,247 cases and 1,023 deaths, said the Africa CDC.
The southern Africa region is the most affected area in terms of confirmed cases, followed by northern Africa and western Africa regions, it was noted. Enditem
SRINAGAR: In the second such incident in the past four days, another Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of Indian Army was killed in a sniper attack from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmirs Rajouri district on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, six structures including four residential houses, a government school building and a madrassa (Islamic religious school) were damaged in cross-LoC firing in Gurez sector of Kashmir Valley on Wednesday, the officials said.
The Army and police officials said that a Naib Sebedar posted at a forward location in the Tarkundi area along the LoC was killed after being targeted from across the de facto border. Earlier the facing armies had exchanged small arms fire for some time in this area without causing any casualties or damage on the Indian side, the officials said.
On August 30, Naib Sebedar (JCO) Rajvinder Singh of 1 Sikh Regiment-a resident of Amritsar- was killed possibly in a sniper attack in the LoCs Nowshera sector in Rajouri.
Separately, four residential houses, a high school building and a madrassa were partially damaged in Pakistani firing in Gurez sector J&Ks northern Bandipora district on Wednesday, the officials said.
They said that the Pakistani troops targeted two forward Indian Army posts near Tarabal in Bagtore area of Gurez with light machine guns, which was "effectively retaliated (to)".
The police sources said that the intermittent exchange of fire between the two sides stopped after a few hours. It is not known if any casualties or damage occurred on the other side of the LoC.
As per official statics, 17 Army and BSF personnel, three civilian porters working for the Army, seven militants and infiltrators and an equal number of civilians were killed in the incidents of cross-border firing and shelling, clashes and sneak attacks carried out by militants along the LoC and 198-km stretch of IB with Pakistan, so far, this year.
The U.S. Department of Defense says the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan is among the countries China may be planning to set up new military bases as it expands the world's largest standing ground force.
The Pentagon's annual report to Congress, a 200-page unclassified version of which was released on September 1, also said that Beijing plans to double its current nuclear warhead stockpile over the next decade.
"The [People's Republic of China] has likely considered locations for [People's Liberation Army] military logistics facilities in Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, and Tajikistan," the report said, adding that Beijing's sea force is the largest navy, with a strong ship-building capacity in reserve.
Tajikistan currently houses about 7,000 troops from Russias 201st Motor Rifle Division at three facilities in the Central Asian nation that are considered part of the Russian base in Tajikistan.
Russia has not commented officially on the mention of Tajikistan in the Pentagon report.
The report estimates that Beijing currently has some 200 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, emphasizing that Chinese capacity with regard to its ground-launched cruise missiles is greater than the United States.
According to the report, China's goal is to become a more robust great power as its leadership sees itself in competition with the United States and is starting to use its armed forces to project power internationally.
China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, rejected the report on September 2, denying that Beijing wants to double the number of its nuclear warheads and saying that the report was filled with bias.
With reporting by Reuters and dpa
Autumn Driscoll / Autumn Driscoll
WESTON The Weston Board of Education and Weston Teachers Association have reached an agreement on reopening schools Sept. 8.
The Board of Education and the Administration have been committed to effective communication with the Association, the teachers it represents and the entire school community, Douglas Pregman, president of the Weston Teachers Association, and Tony Pesco, BOE chair, said in a joint statement on Tuesday. In reaching this agreement, we confirmed that good communication between and among the Board of Education, the Administration and the Association is essential to our ongoing collaboration on these important issues.
Readers shared their memories of the end of World War II and tales of their families or themselves during the conflict.
South Korea and Singapore agreed Wednesday to introduce a "fast-track" entry program this week for essential trips by businesspeople and others in exception to coronavirus entry restrictions, the foreign ministry said.
During telephone talks, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Singaporean counterpart, Vivian Balakrishnan, reached the agreement on the streamlined entry procedures set to take effect on Friday.
"The agreement with Singapore, the logistical and financial hub, is expected to contribute to not only the two countries' economic recovery, but also the stable management of global supply chains under the COVID-19 situation," the ministry said in a press release.
Under the entry program, a South Korean businessperson with a negative coronavirus test and a travel pass from the Singaporean government can fly to Singapore. Upon arrival, he or she must undergo another test, and negative results will exempt him or her from quarantine.
It is South Korea's fourth such fast-track entry program, following ones with China, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.
South Korea has been pushing to create such streamlined entry programs with other countries, stressing that essential business trips should be allowed to mitigate the fallout of the pandemic and spur the world's economic recovery. (Yonhap)
NEW HAVEN A city man is in custody on a driving under the influence charge after a deadly crash involving a pedestrian Monday night, police officials said.
New Haven police and fire units responded to the intersection of Ella Grasso Boulevard and Orange Avenue for a reported pedestrian hit by a vehicle around 8:30 p.m. Monday, according to Capt. Anthony Duff.
First responders found a severely injured adult male pedestrian in the roadway and a motor vehicle crashed into a utility pole, he said.
Eric Joseph Pechalonis was pronounced dead at the scene after police said he was struck while crossing from Orange Avenue to Columbus Avenue, police said.
The driver of the vehicle, identified as 39-year-old New Haven resident Edward Lugo, was arrested at the scene and charged with driving under the influence, Duff said.
Duff said another driver had slowed at the intersection to allow Pechalonis to cross the street. When Lugo passed that car, he struck Pechalonis in the roadway, Duff said.
Lugos car then struck a utility pole, which caused an electrical fire in a transformer at the top of the pole, Duff said. The fire eventually burned out.
With the investigation still ongoing, additional charges are pending.
Duff said Lugo was transferred to court for his arraignment hearing Tuesday morning and was held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
As crews investigated, the intersection remained closed overnight, reopening to traffic around 5 a.m. Tuesday, Duff said.
Any witnesses who have not already spoken with police can call the department at 203-946-6316.
The flood situation in Odisha continued to remain grim as thousands of villages in Jajpur, Kendrapara and Khurda continued to remain waterlogged as the tidal waves in Bay of Bengal due to full moon day kept repelling the floodwaters from entering the sea.
Engineer-in-chief of water resources department Jyotirmaya Rath said water level in major rivers was not coming down due to high tidal conditions. As today is a full moon day the discharge of floodwater from Mahanadi river system and Brahmani river into the Bay of Bengal has not been fast and swift. As the sea is unsteady due to the natural impact of the full moon, the steady discharge of river water into the sea will begin only by Thursday. It will take another three to four days for the situation to improve, Rath said.
The flood has affected at least 1.4 million people across 20 districts of the state, but the districts of Jajpur, Kendrapara and Khurda have been the worst hit.
So far, 22 people in the state have died due to the flood. A total of 3256 villages under 896 gram panchayats in 112 blocks were hit due to the massive flood resulting in the wake of incessant rainfall due to back to back low pressures in the Bay of Bengal.
In Jajpur and Kendrapara districts, several villages continued to remain dark as electricity substations were submerged in floodwater. Jajpur district, which was fighting the rage of Baitarani river and its tributaries for the last few days, is gradually getting back to normalcy. However, 13 out of the 29 flood affected panchayats are still fighting to stay afloat in this terrible flood situation.
Villagers whose houses were washed away by floodwaters have been forced to stay in temporary huts on river embankments. With handpumps and ponds contaminated by flood water, villagers have little drinking water. As many dont have an LPG connection, villagers are finding it difficult to arrange dry firewood to cook their food.
If the initial flood was bad, the waterlogging has made it worse. We have to wade in deep water to defecate in some dry place as latrines are waterlogged. We are scared of snakebites at night, said farmer Ajay Nayak of Bari block in Jajpur district. In Bari block a woman bitten by a snake was carried through the flooded village roads in a large aluminium vessel to the hospital.
In Kendrapara district, the anger over government apathy in reaching out to the flood-affected people boiled over when angry villagers heckled BJD MP Anubhav Mohanty over his alleged negligence in visiting the people of his constituency. Mohanty, who was on a visit to flood-ravaged Alapua village under Pattamundai block of the district on Monday, was gheraoed by locals over alleged negligence on part of the actor-turned-MP citing that he is seldom seen in the worst-hit areas.
Villagers in Kendrapara said they never expected the flood to linger for so long and are now wary of an outbreak of waterborne diseases. While we somehow manage in the daytime, the nights are unbearable due to lack of electricity. We have to either burn candles or lamps to get by, said a villager in the Rajkanika block of Kendrapara. Kendrapara district emergency officer Sambit Satpathy said 2.6 lakh people in this district have been affected by the flood.
OTTAWA, Sept. 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calian Group Ltd. (TSX:CGY) today announces that Mr. Loeb has resigned as Chair of the Board of Directors. Mr. Loeb will continue to serve as a director of the Company.
Mr. Loeb informed the Board of the charges against him with respect to uttering threats and assault under the Criminal Code.
The Company does not tolerate abuse of any kind and will continue to review the matter as further developments occur.
Calian also reiterates that the alleged misconduct does not pertain to anyone related to the Company, nor to its business prospects or financials in any way.
George Weber, a director of Calian since 2012 will assume the position of Chair effective immediately. He brings decades of experience as a former Chief Executive Officer, and an experienced director and chair of numerous Canadian and International Organizations.
About Calian
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Kanye West has repeated claims that Kim Kardashian nearly aborted their daughter North, just months after sparking a marriage crisis between them.
Speaking on comedian Nick Cannon's podcast, Cannon's Class, the renowned rapper discussed the couple's decision not to abort their daughter.
It comes after Kanye made the revelation about the couple's private life during an explosive presidential campaign rally in South Carolina in July.
Speaking on comedian Nick Cannon's podcast, Cannon's Class, the renowned rapper discussed the couple's decision not to abort their daughter
Kanye's marriage to reality TV star Kim Kardashian was said to be at crisis point following the explosive rally in South Carolina. Above, Kim Kardashian and daughter North pictured together
'Because of South Carolina, there are people that have decided to have a child, they have connected,' Kanye said on the podcast.
'They never saw anyone in my position take that position [against abortion], and say "look at this this is a seven-year-old right here, and she might have never made it here."'
He continued: 'It was my wife who said "this is a soul", and the scariest thing is she had the pills - you take the pills and the next morning the baby is gone - she had them in her hand.'
Kanye's marriage to reality TV star Kim Kardashian was said to be at crisis point following the explosive rally in South Carolina.
During the event, the rapper emotionally revealed that he and Kim wanted to have an abortion when she was pregnant with daughter North, but that God came to him and told him it was not right.
In a rambling, unscripted speech to supporters, he focused frequently on the topic of abortion, saying that in 2013 Kim 'had the pills in her hand' to have an abortion before he was inspired by God to have the child.
Kanye West broke down in tears on stage in South Carolina in July as he revealed that he and Kim wanted to have an abortion when she was pregnant with daughter North
Kanye West is seen with wife Kim Kardashian and their children North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm, in a photo posted on Father's Day - June 21, 2020
The interview with Nick Cannon was recorded at the West Mountain Ranch in Cody, Wyoming, and released in full today.
The rapper also discussed his unlikely presidential bid and denied speculation he is running for president in an effort to help Donald Trump gain re-election.
West brought up rumors that he is in 'cahoots' with Republicans.
'They're saying that they're paying you to do what you're doing to be a distraction,' Cannon said in reply.
West discussed his unlikely presidential bid in an interview with Nick Cannon's Cannon Class podcast which aired Tuesday
Kanye quickly quashed that suggestion, saying: 'Bro, can't nobody pay me! I got more money than Trump!'
The pair shared a hearty laugh before Cannon said: 'But people are saying that you're a distraction, and because they don't want four more years of Trump, maybe you might.
'You want an alternative of four years of Ye. Is that realistic right now in 2020?'
'I'm not running for president - I'm walking,' West replied.
West's claim that he's richer than Trump appears to be untrue, as Forbes lists the former's net worth at $1.3billion and the latter's at $2.1billion.
But the rapper disputed Forbes' estimate when it came out back in April, saying that his true worth exceeds $3billion.
Scott Atlas, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, speaks with President Donald Trump during a COVID-19 briefing on August 12. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
A recently hired pandemic adviser, Scott Atlas, is urging the White House to consider a "herd immunity" approach to combatting the coronavirus, The Washington Post reported on Monday.
The strategy is controversial because it would allow the disease to spread to most of the population in order to build resistance while also attempting to protect vulnerable groups such as older Americans.
Many health experts have said that such a strategy could cause hundreds of thousands of more deaths.
Shortly after The Post published its article, Atlas denied that the strategy was being proposed.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
A new coronavirus adviser is pushing the White House to adopt a "herd immunity" strategy that would allow the disease to spread through most of the population to build resistance, five sources told The Washington Post on Monday.
Scott Atlas, a healthcare policy fellow at Stanford University's conservative Hoover Institution think tank, joined the Trump administration earlier this month as a top pandemic adviser. His expertise is in neuroradiology, and he "does not have a background in infectious diseases or epidemiology," The Post said.
The Post's sources said Atlas had proposed that the US adopt Sweden's pandemic response, which relies on keeping the economy open so healthy people can build immunity to the disease through the spread of infection.
At the onset of the outbreak, the Nordic country decided against imposing strict lockdown measures a far different approach from its European neighbors. Instead, it advised people to behave responsibly and told vulnerable populations, such as older people, to self-isolate if they had symptoms. The Post noted that Sweden now has among the highest COVID-19 infection and death rates in the world.
The approach has received mixed responses. Many public-health experts have described it as a reckless strategy that could result in hundreds of thousands more deaths. Others are considering its feasibility as a long-term solution.
Story continues
It's unclear exactly how many people would need to become infected to achieve herd immunity; estimates have ranged from 20% to 70% of the population, according to The Post.
The Post reported that Atlas had also suggested that an increased case count would not lead to more deaths if vulnerable people were protected, a claim that most infectious-disease experts strongly dispute. More than 25,000 people under age 65 have died of the virus in the US so far, the report said.
Before joining the coronavirus task force, Atlas regularly advocated reopening schools and businesses. He frequently appeared on Fox News to share his opinions, many of which aligned with those expressed by President Donald Trump's. Atlas now meets with Trump more than any other health official, The Post said.
"When younger, healthier people get the disease, they don't have a problem with the disease," Atlas said in a Fox News interview in July. "I'm not sure why that's so difficult for everyone to acknowledge."
Atlas has clashed with other officials, including Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US's top infectious-disease expert. A senior administration official told The Post that Atlas had positioned himself as an "anti-Dr. Fauci."
Shortly after The Post published its report on Monday, Atlas released a statement denying any push for a herd-immunity strategy. "There is no policy of the President or this administration of achieving herd immunity," he said. "There never has been any such policy recommended to the President or to anyone else from me."
A White House representative also said there was no change to its approach.
Read the original article on Business Insider
It said that, after being challenged by alert troops, the infiltrators moved back into Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
SRINAGAR: The Army on Tuesday claimed that its troops defending the Line of Control (LoC) hit upon a huge cache of arms and ammunition left behind by a group of infiltrators in in secreted locations in Rampur sector of Uri belt in Jammu and Kashmirs north-western Baramulla district.
It said that, after being challenged by alert troops, the infiltrators moved back into Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
Separately, the Border Security Force (BSF) and J&K police said that they during a joint operation carried out in Shiendara Top and Khanater Top villages in the hills of Poonch district of Jammu region recovered two pistols with four magazines and 150 rounds of live ammunition, five AK-47 magazines and 250 bullets, two wireless sets, four grenades and a Binocular from a militant hideout.
Defence spokesman, Colonel Rajesh Kalia, said here that the Army troops detected movement of suspicious persons in a forward area in Rampur sector on August 30. The movement was from a village close to the LoC and the suspects crossed into Indian Territory. Due to terrain of thick foliage and weather conditions an alert of likely infiltration attempt was sounded, he said.
He added, The surveillance grid was beefed up all across the area and along the likely infiltration routes and ambushes were sited to thwart any attempt of infiltration. Surveillance continued throughout the night.
The spokesman further said that at first light on Monday, the troops carried a search of the area which continued for seven hours and that it was when two concealed locations in two hideouts were discovered. From these hideouts five AK series rifles along with six magazines and two sealed boxes of 1,254 rounds of AK ammunition, six pistols with nine magazines and six rounds, 21 grenades, 2 UBGL grenades and 2 Kenwood radio sets with one antenna were recovered, he said.
The Army said that the area has villages ahead of the anti-infiltration fence and claimed that the suspected modus operandi is to drop war like stores in caches near the LoC and, subsequently, militants or their Over Ground Workers (OGWs) picking the same for further transportation into the hinterland for terror activities.
Colonel Kalia said that a similar attempt was made earlier on 22 July this year, when inputs were received regarding a likely weapon drop along the LoC ahead of the anti-infiltration fence. During the subsequent search operation along the LoC in Rampur sector one AKS-74U with magazines, five pistols-one of these with Chinese markings- and magazines, 24 grenades and other warlike stores were recovered, he said.
A statement issued by the Army here asserted, The modus operandi shows desperate attempts by Pakistan based terror groups to infiltrate weapons into J&K for terror activities, with active connivance of the Pakistan Army. Robust surveillance and LoC domination activities will continue to deny all such misadventures.
By Shim Jae-yun
Blaise Pascal (1623-62), a renowned French scientist and philosopher, pointed out that people tend to degrade a religion by exploiting it for their own purposes and against those of their adversaries. History shows how many religious leaders have met tragic ends after pursuing power and wealth through "dirty" collusive ties with political forces. For the political figures, they need to rely on the religious "forces" to expand their clout.
Russia's notorious mad monk Grigori Rasputin, for instance, committed diverse misdeeds under the protection of the royal family, leading the Romanov Dynasty's collapse in 1918. For the political figures' part, they tend to rely on their religious comrades to earn public support.
This seems to be true in the case of pastor Jun Kwang-hoon. He is the symbolic figure who relentlessly and brazenly used his leadership of the Presbyterian Sarang Jeil Church as a springboard to leap onto the political stage; but to no particular avail.
Jun has become a "public enemy" amid the protracted COVID-19 pandemic which has shown no signs of abating. Jun led the Aug. 15 anti-government rally at Gwanghwamun Square that became a possible "hotbed" of infections that spread nationwide.
In 2008, he founded an ultra-conservative Christian party that ran in every general election since in a bid to obtain a seat in the National Assembly under the proportional representation system. While serving as head of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK) in 2019, he even spread rumors that President Moon Jae-in was a spy for North Korea.
Lawmakers from the conservative opposition United Future Party (UFP), then known as the Liberty Korea Party (LKP), boosted Jun by hopping on his bandwagon. Former LKP Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn even appeared at a mass rally with Jun.
The UFP's support rating which once soared to rival the ruling Democratic Party of Korea again nosedived to 20 percent as of Aug. 26 in the wake of the revelation that the party's lawmakers attended the Gwanghwamun rally.
Jun's behavior also imposed seemingly irreversible damage on Korea's Christian churches amid allegations they have been the culprits of many outbreaks. In many senses, the churches deserve criticism as several of them have refused to comply with the government's quarantine guidelines.
They still opt for face-to-face worship, triggering concern over further infections. This compares with Catholic churches and Buddhist temples which have seen few cases of infection. Catholic churches, with a tightly organized hierarchy, abide by the organizational order. But other Korean Christian churches are operated independently from each other financially.
Their operations depend heavily on donations from church followers which are made usually during official face-to-face worship. This seems to be one of the biggest reasons many churches still insist on this form of worship.
Most Christian churches are located in densely populated urban areas, raising the danger of spreading the infection, compared to Buddhist temples which are mostly found in mountainous areas. Moreover, pastors of Protestant churches wield absolute authority to the extent of blocking any opposition among church members.
Jun made a highly blasphemous statement by saying, "If you mess around with me God, I will kill you." Despite his extremely inappropriate remark, church members still follow him. It is like seeing the mass hysteria of a fanatical pseudo-religious group.
Blind belief also poses grave dangers in politics too. Staunch followers of President Moon are shutting down opponents, bombarding them with harsh slanderous comments online. Moon's aides and ministers have been desperate to read his mind, instead of speaking to him directly on various pending issues.
Over the soaring housing prices, chief presidential secretary Noh Young-min told a National Assembly committee that the government's countermeasures were beginning to take effect, with housing prices showing signs of declining on Aug. 25. But data from KB Bank showed that average housing prices went up 1.5 percentage points from a month earlier.
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha aroused anger from New Zealand by saying she only felt sorry to President Moon for bungling the process of dealing with the sexual harassment of a local employee by a Korean diplomat.
Against this backdrop, a citizen's petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website has been drawing public attention, calling for Moon to grasp the reality without listening to flattery from aides. Elaborating on seven points, the petition cited the need to curb soaring housing prices, to lower taxes, pursue pragmatic diplomacy, employ proper personnel and honor the value of the Constitution.
Moon needs to listen to the voices of the people who are suffering during the pandemic and his aides should help him to squarely face the reality so he can take proper measures to fix the problems. "Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth," Albert Einstein said.
Shim Jae-yun is editorial writer at The Korea Times.
By Express News Service
BENGALURU: After a gap of over five months, metro trains will be operated in Bengaluru from September 7.
The Purple Line from Baiyappanahalli to Mysuru Road will begin first and the Green Line from Yelachenahalli to Nagasandra will witness operations from September 9.
Services will initially be run only for three hours in the morning and evening upto September 11 on both lines.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited Managing Director Ajay Seth told The New Indian Express, We will initially run trains only from 8 am to 11 am and 4.30 pm to 7.30 pm on both lines. After September 11, both lines will operate from 7 am to 9 pm.
The frequency of the trains from September 11 would be 5 minutes during peak morning and evening hours and 10 minutes during non-peak hours, he added.
Only one or two gates will be opened up at each station. On precautions to be taken by passengers, Seth said that face mask is mandatory at all times.
Those coming without masks will be denied entry.
Tokens will not be allowed and only Metro travel cards will be permitted which have to be recharged online, he added.
Asked if any restrictions were announced for the elderly and young children, the MD said, They are advised to avoid travel. But BMRCL will not stop them from boarding trains.
Asked when the trains would get back to their full timings of 5 am to 12 midnight, he said a decision on that was not taken yet.
If this is the brave new America ...
Shoot a Black man in the back in cold blood by a merciless Kenosha, Wisconsin cop named Rusten Sheskey and watch the city burn; watch the right-wing rise; watch President Trump and his ministers of propaganda exploit; exacerbate an already hardened base with incendiary and threatening tweets; give credence to armed militias.
Two bold markers need be placed on the dates of the Kenosha shootings: the one for Jacob Blake and the other for Kyle Rittenhouse. While I might claim it has been open season on Black men for years by killer-cops and right-wing White supremacists, that season has now been expanded to include protesters. Clearly, the message from 17-year old Kyle Rittenhouse to militias across the countryand to protestorswas delivered by his cynical act and, I predict, it wont stop here, and hasnt.
Should protests mount against armed militias joining with local and state law enforcement to violate human rights, injure and kill protesters, what a perfect formula is developing for Trump to exploit: Whip up the base; gaslight the populace; invoke law and order; unleash unrestrained law enforcement; declare martial law; suspend Constitutional rights; delay the election; institute an authoritarian fascistic state.
They have the tear gas, the rubber bullets, the AR- and MK-16s, Homeland Security, Tanks, Drones, Surveillance, armed White gangs hoisting American and Gadsden flags in 4x4s and 600-vehicle caravans, Trump, prisonsand the Federal death penalty on their side.
When Bernard Goetz shot four African-American males as they approached him in a New York subway in 1984, the city saluted him. There were people who praised the gunman, wrote Jimmy Breslin in the New York Daily News. As long as this was applauded, we in New York arrived at the sourest of all moments. When people become what they hate.
At Kent State two boys and two girls were shot to death by men unleashed by a presidents slovenly rhetoric, wrote Pete Hamill that day in 1970 in the New York Post. If thats the brave new America, the hell with it.
Reporting from Selma, Alabama in 1965 on the march from Selma to Montgomery, Breslin wrote: There are people who have been beaten because they are black. Theyve had relatives and friends killed because they are black. Theyve been laughed at and spit at because they are black. And they have been held down in the dusts of the streets and made to be dirty and uneducated for all of their lives because they are black. Yesterday they stood up from the dust and asked for the right to vote, which is the start of the right to live.
If today and tomorrow President Trump, law enforcement, right-wing militias and vigilante killers of Blacks and protesters; death threats to Democrats. Liberals, Progressives, women, gays and voters at the polls win the day; if that be the way to Make America Great Again through the cowardly force of violence and guns by people who have become what they hate, who defend burnt storefronts over human life, who extend the bloody history of racial violence to people because they are black ...
To hell with you, brave new America!
###
(c) 2020 Michael T. Bucci
Michael T. Bucci is a retired public relations executive from New Jersey currently residing in New England. He was a Commentary/Opinion writer for a New England regional newspaper.
2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.
By William Schwartz | Published on 2020/09/01
The jewelry brand Didier Dubot recently announced publication of its 2020 Fall/Winter catalog. Han Ye-seul is featuring as the main prominent model of note for the upcoming collection, which has stoked interest due to fortuitous product placement. The Signature D line contains jewlery that appeared prominently in the popular drama "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" which aired over the summer.
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The jewelry featured in the collection is most noteworthy because the large holes in the centers of the designs make them highly visible. Purportedly the round shapes do much to emphasize the eyeline. They're intended to give off an elegant look. Han Ye-seul's appearance is notably significantly altered in addition to just the jewelry. The actress is not just wearing heavy makeup but also brown colored lenses.
The emphasis on jewelry featured in "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" is most likely due to the speed with which this jewelry was sold while the drama was still airing. Purportedly Didier Dubot ran out of stock only ten days after this jewelry first appeared in an "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" TV broadcast. The French jewlelry brand is currently reordering stock in anticipation of improved demand over the Fall/Winter season.
Written by William Schwartz
To the editor:
The president just pardoned Susan B. Anthony which should have been done by a president a long time ago. Anthony was, in terms of accomplishments, the greatest American woman of the 19th century.
Her conviction was for "voter fraud" after she showed up to vote (for President Grant) in the 1872 election. After a long discussion with the clerk and showing him the language of the newly enacted 14th Amendment which stated that all persons were entitled to equal protection under the law, the clerk allowed her to vote. She got him to admit she was a person just like him. She was later convicted after a jury trial. She represented herself and gave one of the greatest closing arguments ever. The judge only fined her $100 fearing hundreds of women outside the courthouse. Anthony refused to pay it and that was the end of it.
Anthony's efforts with the legislature in the state of New York were responsible for getting women to hold title to property in their own names, and equal pay for women teachers. She had earlier refused to continue her teaching job at an elementary school when they would not pay her the same salary as the male teachers. Anthony was strongly anti-abortion. She went on to be a major force in the temperance movement and when she was younger she was very active in the abolition movement. She finished her years working hard on the suffrage movement forming along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a major women's organization in the U.S. to push for the right to vote.
Unfortunately, she died a few years before the enactment of the women's suffrage amendment on Aug. 18, 1920. This happened after President Wilson finally agreed to support the amendment during one of Alice Paul's jail hunger strikes.
Why hasn't Hollywood made a movie about her life? I think I know the reason.
ROBERT J. DUNN
Midland
Urban alternative radio station The Vibe will take over programming of 90.9 FM this weekend to host a voter registration event.
The Vibe is a new digital radio station that caters to millennials and Gen Z audiences. The station is powered by KTSU 90.9 FM Radio and will stream online 24 hours a day.
"KTSU 90.9 FM Radio was the first African American station to introduce hip hop to Houston listeners right here on the historic campus of Texas Southern University," KTSU general manager Ernest Walker said in an emailed press release. "How appropriate is it for us to extend our reach in 2020 by going back to the basics by reaching a new generation of listeners."
The station will partner with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Houston and the Houston Area Urban League Young Professionals to host The Movement Continues Drive-Thru Voter Registration and 2020 Census Drive on Texas Southern University's campus.
The collaboration among the three organizations has the common goal of focusing on pushing the underserved and underinformed towards the polls, according to the release.
Related: Why 74,000-plus Texas immigrants could be excluded from voting in 2020
"Unfortunately, we have seen a systemic deficiency in the resources and awareness for urban populations when it comes to voting and voter registration,"said The Vibes marketing & community engagement director Holly Charles. "At the same time, we have seen an increase in registration purges and policies which might disproportionately affect communities of color."
Black Americans face massive disparities and inequalities in accessing the right to vote 150 years after the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, according to Business Insider, and Black voters face barriers in many places to registering to vote at all, staying on the voter rolls and having their mail-in ballots counted.
This event and those that KTSU and The Vibe will continue to support throughout this election season, is a way to stand in the gap and reciprocate community support," Charles said.
The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in Lot M at TSU.
NEW CANAAN High school alumni one a Broadway actor and others want New Canaan Public Schools to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the staff.
This historical moment in our nations racial reckoning, said Jelani Alladin, a 2010 alumni of A Better Chance (ABC) of New Canaan and an actor best known for the role of Kristoff in the stage version of Frozen.
Alladin said national events and local discussions have created an opening where our own BIPOC (Black, indigenous and people of color) students finally feel comfortable, more than comfortable, making their experiences known and feeling perhaps for the first time they will be listened to and understood.
Ethan Niang, who just graduated with the Class of 2020, said the history curriculum is lacking and doesnt tell the full story.
The story stops as if racism was finally conquered once and for all by the civil right acts, but racism is still around, he said.
We were never taught about quiet, underhanded forms of racism, Niang said. We never learned about redlining, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, prison reentry system, the jury system, prosecutor or police bias.
Bryan Soohoo, Class of 2011, said he felt isolated while attending school in New Canaan.
I have always been proud to be Chinese American, Soohoo said, but it was challenging while I was going to New Canaan High School to feel that way.
It wasnt until I graduated and went to university that other students started calling me by my first name, rather than my last name, or some amalgamation of my last name that was amusing or funny, he recalled.
Most of the half dozen speakers requested that the Board of Education hire a more diverse group of teachers during its meeting Monday, Aug. 24. The board responded by discussing revision of one of its goals for 2020-21 to include language to increase educational equity, diversity and inclusion throughout the district.
The board unanimously approved the districts goals in a final vote at their first virtual meeting of the 2020-21 school year, on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Most speakers asked for such changes as a full-time diversity leader, a goal to meet or exceed Connecticut average minority representation for the staff, to be transparent regarding hiring and curriculum changes.
But Brian Duran did not think that was all that was needed.
If the district hires BIPOC, we will get people in those roles, and we will think we accomplished a mission, Duran said, but those people will continue to bear the burden of a culture that still goes on unaddressed, since they are going to be navigating a culture in which white norms are really dominating the culture.
Revising attitudes
Board members followed a tradition of reviewing their goals, and concentrated on the fourth goal, which states: Promote an environment that fosters respect, ethical behavior and responsible global citizens.
Superintendent of Schools Bryan Luizzi read a new bullet point under that intention that is being considered: Understand and communicate efforts to expand and increase educational equity, diversity and inclusion throughout the district with a long-term focus to eliminate gaps.
The board also considered bullets for professional development led by an expert in inclusiveness; to increase awareness and improve cultural humility and develop culturally proficient and responsive educational practices.
Revisions also include updating the social studies curriculum.
Board member Carl Gardiner said he would like to see the new district aspirations interwoven into the document in order to integrate them into the fabric of how we run the school.
Board member Sheri West strongly supported adding more BIPOC staff who are more representative of our student population, and I think an important first step to make sure we have more increased transparency in that area.
I have a little bit of a concern, Board member Dionna Carlson said, because all minority teaching is a shortage area.
By reporting on teacher demographics I think you are putting the district in a tough position, when it is a national problem, Carlson said.
People who arent aware of what is happening nationally could misinterpret that, Carlson said.
I am not aware of research Dionna cited, Gardiner said. I think it should (be) a statement about arriving at a goal in regards to hiring BIPOC individuals, that is the most tangible step.
West wanted to be measured and accountable.
After the board discussed the changes, the public was allowed to comment again.
Ethan Niangs mother, Fatou, offered resources that could help with the districts new initiative.
The speakers expressed gratitude for the school boards consideration.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chongqing Changan Automobile Company Limited (Changan) procured roughly 32.782 billion yuan ($4,786,272,132) in the operating revenue for the first half of 2020, a year-on-year increase of 9.73%, according to the company's semi-annual financial results.
For the same period, Changan's net profit attributable to shareholders amounted to 2.602 billion yuan ($379,928,213), recording an impressive surge from the year-ago loss of 2.24 billion yuan ($327,056,065). However, after deducting non-recurring profit and loss, the company still suffered a net loss of 2.617 billion yuan ($382,077,677), versus the loss of 2.912 billion yuan ($425,131,405) for the prior-year period.
Changan said its profit for the first six months was greatly affected by non-recurring gains and losses. Notably, the government subsidies included in the profit and loss of the reporting period amounted to 215.978 million yuan ($31,533,770).
According to the financial preview Changan released in mid-July, three non-recurring items contributed to the net profit worth 5.275 billion yuan ($770,174,160) in total. To be specific, introducing strategic investors for Chongqing Changan New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., Changan's wholly-owned subsidiary, while Changan waiving its pre-emptive right to subscribe for shares of Changan New Energy, brought 2.1 billion yuan ($306,609,620) worth of net profit.
Besides, the disposal of the shares Changan held in Changan PSA Automobiles Co., Ltd. (CAPSA) and the increase in the price of shares in CATL controlled by Changan respectively produced net profits of 1.4 billion yuan ($204,406,410) and 1.775 billion yuan ($259,158,130).
The company noted that its Jan.-Jun. R&D expenses reached around 1.465 billion yuan ($213,831,653), dropping 14.86% year over year.
Changan said it has built up a world-class R&D capability backed by the industry-leading global R&D system. It accelerated the Beidou Tianshu and Shangrila projects for the transformation into smart technology company. As the core of the intelligent strategy, Changan Automobiles global software center, which is located in Xiantao Data Valley, is dedicated to building a world-leading, autonomous, safe and controllable software technology and mobile intelligent platform in China. As of June 2020, a total of 14,411 patent applications have been filed at home and abroad, including 4,449 for invention patents.
(UNI-T, photo source: Changan)
In terms of the achievements of innovative technologies, the Level 3 autopilot uses UNI-T to achieve the first domestic mass production, including 40 km/h under the congestion of automatic driving function and 40 km/h above high-speed automatic driving auxiliary function. The "PM0.1" composite anti-bacterial and anti-toxic high-efficiency filter passed the Certification Center "CATARC CN95" certification issued by China Automotive Technology Research Center, carrying with the Eado PLUS. Ultraviolet lamp sterilization system was carried with UNI-T debut.
Moreover, breakthroughs have been made in such advanced technologies as load distribution and structural optimization of carbon fiber body, integrated design of carbon fiber body and aluminum alloy frame, connection technology of various lightweight materials, etc. , to achieve carbon fiber, aluminum alloy and other lightweight materials integrated applications.
For the first two quarters, Changan saw its automobile sale rise 6.04% over a year ago to 995,923 units, thanks to the vigorous impetus delivered by Hefei Changan and Changan Ford.
The economy will not return to pre-coronavirus levels for a "long time," the chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank warned Wednesday.
Business activity in the euro zone dropped sharply in the wake of the strict lockdown measures imposed in March, but have somewhat rebounded in recent months following the easing of certain restrictions. The United States has experienced a similar picture.
However, there are concerns that the slight rebound in activity will not last if new lockdowns and social restrictions are implemented once again or, more simply, if there is no vaccine or significant treatment put in place.
"A return to our old economic strength will take much longer than we assume today," Christian Sewing, CEO of Deutsche Bank, said at the Handelsblatt Banking Summit.
"A lot of companies have to manage to live with reduced sales for quite a long time. We have to deal with an economic situation where we will have a recovery, yes, but only step by step and not in all industries," Sewing warned.
Professor Naana Jane Opoku- Agyemang, the Vice Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will embark on a three day tour of all the nine constituencies in the Western North Region on Wednesday September 02, 2020.
She is expected to hold radio discussions, pay courtesy calls on Paramount chiefs in the Region, meet party executives and supporters as well as address community durbars.
Prof Opoku-Agyemang will kick start the tour with an address to residents on a major radio station within the Region.
A statement signed by Mr Sam Jerome, Regional Communication Officer and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the NDC Vice Presidential candidate will address a community durbar at Camp-Junction, Sefwi-Essam and Asempaneye in the Bia East, Bia west and Juaboso Constituencies.
On the second day, Prof Opoku-Agyemang will address a durbar at Akontombra, pay courtesy call on the Paramount chiefs of Dadieso and Enchi before addressing party supporters and identified groups in Aowin and Suaman Constituencies.
Prof Opoku-Agyemang will also attend a community durbar at Bekawi to address party supporters in the Bibiani- Anhwiaso-Bekwai Constituency.
The NDC Vice Presidential Candidate will pay a courtesy call on the Paramount chief of Sefwi-Waiwso Traditional Area, address a community durbar at Sefwi-Asawinso in the Sefwi- Waiwso Constituency.
To round up her tour, Prof Opoku-Agyemang will commission some projects and hold community durbar at Kwesi- Adukrom in the Bodi Constituency.
The statement entreated all party faithful to take the visit of the Vice Presidential candidate seriously.
She would be accompanied by some national and regional executives and parliamentary candidates.
Source: GNA
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She has been candidly sharing her journey into motherhood and recently revealed that her daughter, Sienna, had been diagnosed with hip dysplasia.
And Millie Mackintosh took some time out for herself on Wednesday as she picked up groceries at her local supermarket in west London.
The former Made In Chelsea star, 31, looked radiant as she cut a low-key figure in activewear for the outing.
Low-key: Millie Mackintosh took some time out for herself on Wednesday as she picked up groceries at her local supermarket in west London
Millie displayed her postpartum figure in a pair of grey leopard print leggings and a black vest top.
The reality star finished her look with Nike trainers, a black hoodie tied around her waist and a face mask, which she held in her hand amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Adding some glamorous touches, Millie wore a pair of oversized sunglasses and accessorised with a suede handbag.
The mother-of-one styled her brunette locks into a sleek sweptback ponytail, she appeared to go make-up free and showed off her radiant complexion.
Yummy mummy: The former Made In Chelsea star, 31, looked radiant as she cut a low-key figure in activewear for the outing
Stepping out: Millie displayed her postpartum figure in a pair of grey leopard print leggings and a black vest top
Millie appeared to be making a phone call after her supermarket visit as she walked with her mobile in hand.
It comes after the MIC star posed for a smiley snap with baby Sienna, four months, and shared a video of her little girl 'trying to say her first word'.
The former Made In Chelsea star took to Instagram, where she shared the adorable footage of her baby lying in her crib, attempting to say 'hello.'
Details: The reality star finished her look with Nike trainers, a black hoodie tied around her waist and a face mask, which she held in her hand amid the Covid-19 crisis
Glamour: Adding some glamorous touches, Millie wore a pair of oversized sunglasses and accessorised with a suede handbag
Sienna tried to mimic her mother who repeatedly said 'hello', and encouraged her daughter to do the same.
In the cute clip, the sweet girl managed to utter 'eh oh,' as she copied the noise made by Millie.
Last week, Millie took to Instagram to upload a sweet snap of herself cradling her baby girl as she wore her harness and said Sienna is back to her 'usually smiley self' after she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia.
Low-key: The mother-of-one styled her brunette locks into a sleek sweptback ponytail, she appeared to go make-up free and showed off her radiant complexion
Adorable: It comes after the MIC star posed for a smiley snap with baby Sienna, four months, and shared a video of her little girl 'trying to say her first word'
Declaring she and husband Hugo, are 'remaining positive', the star said she's 'delighted' her little one has managed to 'adapt really quickly' and expressed her gratitude towards fans who have shared helpful advice.
She has also been posted several candid Instagram VS reality posts to her Instagram after welcoming her first child.
Millie and Hugo welcomed their first child together in May, just over two years after they tied the knot at Whithurst Park in West Sussex.
Being attended by top corporate leaders and government officials, the summit highlights areas of trade and investment, strategic energy ties and Indias position in global supply chains
Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver key note address to the third leadership summit of US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) on Thursday, organisers announced on Tuesday.
"We are honored that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken time to address USISPF annual event. It signifies importance of US-India relations in the current challenging environment," USISPF president Mukesh Aghi said.
"It is a win-win partnership mutually dependent geo-politically, trade, culturally, diplomatically and scientifically. Aggressive and assertive China provides further opportunity for both nations to collaborate and ensure international rule of law prevails," he said after USISPF announced Modi's address to the summit.
US Vice President Mike Pence had a fire side on Monday, the first day of the week-long summit titled "US-India Week: Navigating New Challenges".
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also participated in the discussion on Monday. Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal also addressed the summit on Tuesday.
Being attended by top corporate leaders, government officials and leaders, the summit highlights areas of bilateral cooperation: trade and investment; strategic energy ties; India's position in global supply chains, collaboration in fintech, healthcare, and technology.
SAN ANTONIO In vintage photos, Marcelino Serna wears his World War I Army uniforms that are festooned with several of his battle medals.
But one medal is missing the Medal of Honor that should have been draped around his neck about a century ago, Latino advocates, legislators and historians said.
Theyve launched the latest effort to persuade the federal government to posthumously award Serna the medal, the nations highest honor for battlefield heroics, arguing it was denied because of racism and xenophobia.
It clearly appears Private Marcelino Serna did not receive the Medal of Honor due to him being a Mexican American and an immigrant, Lawrence Romo, national commander of the American GI Forum, a civil rights organization and federally chartered veterans group, wrote to the Army.
Texas' most decorated WWI soldier
Serna has been called the most decorated World War I soldier from Texas. He fought between April 6, 1917, and Nov. 11, 1918, despite being a Mexican immigrant and noncitizen.
Commander M.R. McKinney, Marcelino Serna, Diana Stopani, Mrs. M. Serna, and Major Bernard L. Mourlevat. (Courtesy Texas Historical Commission)
There have been earlier petitions for him to be awarded the honor, but now the law mandates review of cases like his.
Last year, Congress ordered the Pentagon to review records of Latino, Black, Asian, Native American and Jewish World War I soldiers to determine if they were denied the Medal of Honor because of their race or religion and should be awarded the medal.
A similar review, ordered in 2002, was done for military personnel of later wars. In 2014, President Barack Obama awarded 24 veterans the medal, all but three posthumously. Many of those recipients were Latinos.
Image: US-POLITICS-OBAMA-MEDAL OF HONOR (Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images file)
Theres a lot of times in history when you cant right a wrong, but this is an opportunity for us to right an obvious wrong, said Romo, who was serving in the Obama administration when those medals were given.
Bravery omitted, medal denied
The militarys official citation for the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest battlefield honor, states that Serna singlehandedly charged and captured 24 German soldiers.
Story continues
But other accounts give more thorough details of his heroism and cite more than one such successful solo mission.
The Texas Handbook Online describes his involvement in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, France. Serna went out alone, voluntarily, after 12 members of his unit were killed and used grenades to blast a machine gun site, killing six German soldiers and capturing eight others.
Marcelino Serna. (Courtesy Texas Historical Commission)
Two weeks later, in the Meuse-Argonne offensive he followed a sniper on a solitary scouting mission, tossed grenades and fired into a trench from different positions, killing 26 enemy soldiers and taking 26 more as prisoners. He refused to allow American soldiers to execute them in contradiction of the rules of war, according to the Texas Handbook Online.
He was hit by sniper fire in both legs Nov. 7, 1918, four days before the armistice agreement that ended the fighting. He died in 1992 and is buried in the Fort Bliss National Cemetery in El Paso.
Serna performed acts of bravery that were not fully documented in official citations by the military, said Andres Tijerina, a Vietnam veteran and award-winning historian who has researched Serna.
Serna was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, two Croix de Guerre with Palm by France and the Croce al Merito di Guerra by the Italian government. His Distinguished Service Cross was presented by Gen. John J. Pershing, according to a 2016 opinion piece written by former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and published in the El Paso Times.
Romo said the omission of the additional details on the number of enemy soldiers he killed and captured from Serna's Distinguished Service Cross documents appears to be almost like they watered down his citation so they wouldnt have to give him the Medal of Honor.
According to Hispanics in Americas Defense, a Department of Defense pamphlet published in 1989 when former Vice President Dick Cheney was the defense secretary, Serna was told by an officer he had to be of higher rank than a "buck" private, the lowest rank, to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Serna was told he was denied a promotion in rank that would qualify him because he could not read or write English well enough to sign reports.
Like York and Murphy, but not white
Romo and others like to compare the heroics of Serna with Sgt. Alvin York, another WWI soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor.
York was a corporal when he led seven men against a machine gun nest in Chatel-Chehery after his unit took casualties and he assumed command, according to his Medal of Honor citation. York is credited with taking down several German soldiers with his pistol as they charged at him with their bayonets. The Germans surrendered. York and his men took several prisoners that grew to 132 as he marched them to his lines.
York, who was white, was immediately promoted to sergeant and awarded the Medal of Honor. He became the subject of several books and documentaries. He detailed his actions in a diary that was adapted into a 1941 movie starring Gary Cooper.
Audie Murphy, another Texan, is lauded for his WWII exploits. He also is celebrated in movies and books and museums and has schools and a veterans hospital named for him.
York and Murphy deserve their accolades and medals, but Serna is overdue for his, Roma, Tijerina and others said.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection port of entry in Tornillo, Texas, was named for Serna in 2017 after congressional approval of a bill written by Hurd.
'Served during a time of extreme prejudice'
That Private Serna served during a time of extreme prejudice cannot and must not erase his acts of immense bravery and devotion to the United States, Texas Mexican American Legislative Caucus said in a letter to the U.S. Army supporting the GI Forum petition for awarding Serna the Medal of Honor.
Texas Rep. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso, a Navy veteran, said the caucus added its support because the 41-member caucus is the largest Hispanic legislative caucus in the country, so "I figured it would send a powerful statement."
"Throughout the history of our country, Latinos have made great sacrifices in many ways, but this one is a very unique way where Latinos such as Pvt. Marcelino Serna did so much for our country," Blanco said. "This demonstrates, especially now seeing race relations in such a volatile state, that correcting wrong injustices is important and this is a great effort to do that."
A bill introduced in Congress in 1995 to award Serna the Medal of Honor died in committee, according to The Associated Press. There also have been calls for Serna to be awarded the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor, which has been awarded since 1997. Murphy is among its recipients, but not Serna.
Marcelino Serna, right. (Courtesy Texas Historical Commission)
Serna was born in 1896 in a mining camp outside of Chihuahua City, Mexico. He immigrated to El Paso, Texas, in 1915, worked on a railway and later worked as a seasonal farm laborer in Colorado, according to historical articles gathered by Romo to support his petition.
When the U.S. joined the war, it established a draft for young men and would round up men who failed to report. In 1917, Serna was rounded up in the fields with other laborers on the assumption that they were evading the draft, and he was sent to training and then overseas. He spoke little English, Tijerina said.
Serna was exempt from fighting because he was not an American citizen and was given the chance to not fight. He refused. He served with Company B, 355th Infantry, 89th Infantry Division.
Tijerina said Sernas story helps contradict generalizations about Mexican and other immigrants as harmful to the country and that so many are rapists, murderers and criminals.
In 2016, President Donald Trump announced his presidential bid by claiming Mexico was sending to the U.S. people that are bringing drugs and crime and are rapists.
That Serna was not a citizen when he carried out his heroics is all the more reason to recognize his bravery, Tijerina said.
He did it because he believed in democracy. And he did it in the face of insults, Tijerina said. People should know about this man.
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If there were questions about Alabamas plan to keep in-person classes, the UA Systems news release sent Wednesday evening had the answer.
The headline in bold type stated Leading medical experts caution universities that are considering closing with quotes from doctors and infectious disease experts.
It comes two days before the UA System plans to release its next round of student COVID-19 test results after more than 1,000 were infected in the first week of classes in Tuscaloosa. A handful of schools including North Carolina, North Carolina State and Notre Dame have ended or paused face-to-face classes after campus outbreaks.
The Alabama campuses, it appears, are sticking it out.
There is a strong feeling among public health and infectious disease experts that it is safer to keep students on a college campus where there is COVID-19 spread rather than closing campus and sending students home en masse, said Dr. Michael Saag, an infectious disease expert who serves as associate dean of Global Health in the UAB School of Medicine.
Previous versions of the UA Systems plan to re-enter campuses for in-person learning had a different tone.
In accordance with medical advice, the campuses should work with students requesting to return home for safe and supportive isolation/quarantine. In furtherance of that commitment, the campuses will implement isolation and quarantine measures as outlined below, a June 9 draft of the return to campus document read.
RELATED: Alabama dean: UA handled COVID cases well, impact of changes will take weeks
That language no longer appears in the current version of the UA return plan.
The risk in closing a college campus and forcing thousands of students home at once is that the virus then has the opportunity to spread more widely to other geographic locations and possibly more vulnerable populations, Saag said in Wednesdays news release.
UA officials have been asked multiple times if they had set a red line for the potential of making the decision to end in-person learning. Dr. Ricky Friend, Dean of UAs College of Community Health Sciences, gave an answer similar to others given by UA President Stuart Bell.
Were not looking at one number, he said on a Wednesday video conference with reporters. Were looking at a lot of different metrics. Science if evolving every single day and were working very hard to get as much information as we can to make good decisions and I trust that we will use all of those metrics to make whatever decision is needed to keep campus safe.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
Kabul, Sep 2 : An official of Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation has said that the prisoner swap process with the Taliban will end soon, paving the way for the much-awaited talks between the militant group and the Kabul government.
"All obstacles ahead of the intra-Afghan talks have been removed. The prisoner swap process will end soon and intra-Afghan talks will begin," TOLO News reported on Wednesday citing Council spokesman Fraidoon Khwazoon as saying.
He added that Afghanistan's negotiation team is fully prepared for the trip to Doha where the talks are likely to take place.
Meanwhile, eight of the 320 controversial Taliban prisoners, which were still being held by the Afghan government, have been released from the Kandahar prison in an effort to help start the talks.
Reports have suggested that more than 200 of the 320 have been released in the past three days, and that the remaining prisoners will be released soon.
On Tuesday, US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien on Tuesday in a phone call with President Ashraf Ghani called for a swift start to the intra-Afghan talks, reports TOLO News.
"The US stands with the Afghan security forces who have made tremendous sacrifices for the Afghan people," said O'Brien.
Meanwhile, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Taliban's chief negotiator, has called on Australia and France not to interfere in Afghanistan's internal affairs.
Both countries have asked the Afghan government not to release prisoners who are accused of killing their citizens.
The Afghan government has also demanded the release of 22 security personnel held by the Taliban.
The intra-Afghan talks were expected to begin 10 days after the February 29 peace deal between the US and the Taliban.
-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The First Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a preliminary injunction that prevents federal agents from conducting civil immigration arrests at courthouses across Massachusetts.
In a 49-page opinion, authored by Judge Bruce M. Seyla, the court said the U.S. District Court abused its discretion in granting the preliminary injunction in August 2019. The matter now goes back to U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani for further review.
The coalition of district attorneys, public defenders and immigrants rights advocates failed to prove common law was supposed to prevent civil arrests from a government entity such as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the opinion states.
The absence of clear precedent involving fairly comparable forms of civil arrest throws considerable shade on the plaintiffs effort to show that, in 1952, there was a long-established and familiar common law rule privileging individuals attending court on official business from civil immigration arrests, Seyla wrote, referring to when the The Immigration and Nationality Act was enacted.
ICE filed the appeal after a district court judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the civil courthouse arrests in August 2019. The injunction did not apply to people brought to court already in state or federal custody.
While ICE agents only made certain arrests at courthouses before President Donald Trump took office, ICE does not consider courthouses sensitive locations like schools, hospitals or places of worship, where ICE agents tend to avoid making administrative arrests.
In 2018, ICE issued a memo reiterating the sensitive location policys exclusion of courthouses. The memo states courthouses are safe places for agents to make arrests because people are screened for weapons and other contraband.
The coalition of immigrant rights advocates and attorneys, led by Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan, filed a lawsuit against ICE in Boston federal court in March 2019 after seeing an uptick in civil immigration arrests and ICE activity in Massachusetts courthouses. Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins also joined the suit.
Lawyers for Civil Rights, one of the plaintiffs, told MassLive last year it had tracked more than 100 ICE courthouse arrests across the state over the course of a year.
Rollins said in a statement Tuesday night she was disappointed with the First Circuits decision, vowing to continue fighting for an injunction.
We will review and consider all of our options and move forward in a way that honors the people of Suffolk County, their families and basic human and civil rights, she said. We are absolutely on the right side of justice here. It is never a loss when you are fighting for human rights, justice and building a safer community.
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New Delhi, Sep 2 : Even as the National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL) is working on the construction of the 508 km-long Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speed train or Bullet Train project, the agency is also holding studies for 5,000 km long seven new routes across the country.
According to senior NHSRCL officials, the agency has been assigned by the Railway Ministry to study the proposed seven new high speed corridors.
The official said NHSRCL has been entrusted by the Ministry of Railways to prepare Detailed Project Reports (DPR) for the 865 km Delhi-Varanasi, 753 km Mumbai-Nagpur, 886 km Delhi-Ahmedabad, 435 km Chennai-Mysore, 459 km Delhi-Amritsar, 711 km Mumbai-Hyderabad and 760 km Varanasi-Howrah new proposed corridors.
The official said that the NHSRCL is collecting data on the seven new proposed corridors for the preparation of the DPRs. The NHSRCL is currently constructing the Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed rail project.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on September 14, 2017 laid the foundation stone of the ambitious Rs 1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion) project.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Union Railway Ministry have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the 508-km corridor, with Japan to partially fund the project. According to NHSRCL a total of 1,380 hectare land is required for the high speed train project, out of which the Railways have acquired 479 hectare from private persons and 119 hectare from government land.
The NHSRCL is set to complete the 508-km corridor project before its deadline of December 2023. According to the official, a 21 km-long tunnel will be dug between Boisar and BKC in Mumbai, seven km of which will be under the sea.
According to the NHSRCL official, the tender for the design and construction of civil and building works, including testing and commissioning of 237 km length of the mainline out of the elevated 460 kms has been floated. The mainline also has one mountain tunnel of about 280 metre, 24 river crossings and 30 road and canal crossings.
The Bullet Trains are expected to run at 350 km per hour covering the 508 km stretch in about two hours. In comparison, trains currently plying on the route take over seven hours to travel the distance, whereas flights take about an hour.
(Anand Singh can be contacted at Anand.s@ians.in)
-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Follow our latest coverage of the Biden vs. Trump 2020 election here.
President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. clashed on Wednesday in dueling remarks and with new advertisements about public safety and the outbursts of violence in some American cities, as the presidential campaign entered an aggressive new phase with the parties tussling over both the issues and the electoral map they are being fought on.
The collisions came as a wave of new polling gave the first significant snapshot of the race since the Democratic and Republican conventions last month. The polls showed that Mr. Biden still holds a steady if not overwhelming lead, tight enough to give Democrats cause for concern and Republicans room for hope, particularly in the key battleground of Pennsylvania. Polls by Fox News on Wednesday showed Mr. Biden leading in Arizona, North Carolina and Wisconsin, all states Mr. Trump won in 2016.
While the president has a dwindling number of days to reset a race in which he has consistently trailed this year, Democrats are still wrestling with the asymmetrical nature of battling a candidate willing to make outlandish and false statements in pursuit of victory.
Get off Twitter, Mr. Biden scolded Mr. Trump in a speech on Wednesday, urging him to engage with congressional leaders to help support schools and pass an economic aid package.
Jack Fincham has revealed he is missing his baby daughter Blossom.
The Love Island star, 29, who announced he had become a father in January after a brief relationship with friend Casey Ranger, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a sweet throwback snap of his little girl, eight months.
It comes after Jack flouted social distancing rules at the weekend by posting a slew of pictures of his partying with a marquee-full of people in Kent.
Doting dad: Jack Fincham has revealed he is missing his baby daughter Blossom as he shared a throwback snap of her on Instagram on Tuesday
Jack captioned the sweet photo of Blossom in a white baby-grow with a pink hair ribbon: 'Miss my baby. The time will come. Love you Blossom.'
It's unclear why Jack isn't seeing Blossom and fans soon flooded the comments asking the reality star, with some suspecting the pair were taking precautions after Jack partied with a crowd of people amid the coronavirus pandemic.
One wrote: 'Ah why haven't you seen her?', while another follower queried: 'Oh no are you not seeing her :( so sad xxx'.
Party boy: It comes after Jack flouted social distancing rules at the weekend by posting a slew of pictures of his partying with a marquee-full of people in Kent
A third chimed: 'Ah can you not see her? She's your double.'
One fan said: 'Just seen online he was in a packed bar yesterday so I think the mum is protecting the baby obviously because of Covid.'
MailOnline has contacted Jack's representatives for comment.
Safety first: Fans soon flooded the comments asking Jack as to why he isn't seeing Blossom, with some suspecting the pair were taking precautions after Jack partied
It comes after Jack deleted a string of Instagram posts, uploaded on bank holiday Monday, featuring him and a marquee-full of people flouting COVID-19 rules.
The television personality decided to film the event and upload around 10 Instagram Stories on Monday afternoon and evening, as he and his friends attended the BBQ and disco held at The Swan in West Malling, Kent.
But clearly realising that doing this incriminated all involved - making them eligible to be fined 10,000 under the newly enforced rules for mass gatherings - Jack removed the evidence on Tuesday.
Social, not distant! It comes after Jack deleted a string of Instagram posts, uploaded on bank holiday Monday, featuring him and a marquee-full of people flouting COVID-19 rules
Neither Jack's representatives nor The Swan pub replied to MailOnline's request for comment on Monday evening.
The pub has also removed all traces of the event from their Facebook page, which had previously advertised the party with a picture of a marquee and balloons and details of the food, drink and music.
The Swan charged revellers 120 each for the pleasure - promising to adhere to social distancing and the pandemic public safety guidelines.
Flouting the rules! The Swan threw a huge event - charging revellers 120 each for the pleasure - promising to adhere to social distancing and the pandemic public safety guidelines
Evidence: Jack not only attended the event, but filmed himself and all the attendees, plastering it across his social media accounts
It posted the following message ahead of the event: 'Your tables will be positioned 2 metres apart and you will be allowed to dance at your tables only.
'There won't be a dance floor and we ask that you don't form the conga at any point.
'We will be adhering to COVID-19 guidelines and expect everyone joining us to do the same, if our rules are followed we will stay healthy and safe.'
Yet Jack's social media posts saw him kissing an unknown brunette woman on the cheek while they partied under the marquee, hugging his friends as they drank and dancing with a mass of people as night fell.
The ex-reality personality flouted COVID-19 rules, along with the other attendees, who were all seen crammed into the event despite the 2m+ rules that are still in place in England.
SANTA FE New Mexico reported three more coronavirus deaths and 154 new cases Wednesday led by 33 new infections in Dona Ana County.
But the state also reported progress in its contact tracing the time it takes to isolate someone who may have been exposed to the virus.
With 154 new cases Wednesday, the states seven-day rolling average now stands at 126 cases a day, well below the target of 168 or fewer cases.
Dona Ana County led the state, followed by Bernalillo and Chaves counties, which reported 24 new cases each.
The three deaths throughout the state were older adults, ranging in age from their 60s to their 100s, all with an underlying medical condition of some kind.
The statewide death toll is now 790 residents since March.
New Mexico also reported progress on its contact tracing. It sliced the median time to ensure someone is isolated after a possible exposure to the virus from 47 hours last week to 28 hours this week. The states goal is 36 hours or less.
New Mexico now meets all of its reopening standards on testing capacity, spread of the disease and other factors.
(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) U.S. Rep. Sam Graves stopped in St. Joseph on Tuesday meeting with multiple groups including farmers and a special interest group geared towards agribusiness.
While the U.S. House is on a break, Graves said he wanted to spend time hearing from the community and his constituents.
Thats the way Im able to represent the best is getting out and talking to folks and businesses to get their ideas, thoughts, and concerns, he said.
The Republican Congressman has served the 6th District since 2001 and is up for re-election in November. Graves is the ranking member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
His first stop in St. Joseph was at the Deluxe Truck Stop. Bob Wollenman, the owner and manager, said he appreciated Graves making time to stop and talk.
When hes got a break like this and can come out and visit with his constituents and understand some of the concerns. We didnt express a lot of concerns, but we have them, Wollenman said. Whats going in our country affects us eventually.
Graves also visited with members of the Missouri Farmers Bureau and the Coalition to Protect the Missouri River.
During his visit, he touched on hot-button election issues like more funding for the U.S. Postal Service.
The post office is important to almost every community that I have in the district so I want to do everything I can to protect that and protect those individuals that work there, he said.
He also answered questions about political polarization in Washington, D.C., and whether it was likely Americans would see another round of COVID-relief money.
Theres a couple of different things were hung up on, Graves said. The price, weve also got liability protections in there. That, and of course the extension of unemployment benefits. I think we can get those things worked out.
On the topic of sending kids to school during the pandemic, the Congressman said he believed it was important for schools to open their doors for in-person learning.
Half of my family has had the virus now, half of them, Graves said. My grandchildren came home with it from daycare. They did their 14-day quarantine and theyre back in daycare and I think thats important. I think its important to get our kids back to school.
January: 210
February: 222
March: 938
April: 1,038
May: 758
June: 770
July: 1,503
August: 766
United Shore Financial Services, LLC, based in Pontiac
UPS distribution facility based in Livonia, MI
Speedway, LLC, gas station and convenience store location based in Waterford, MI
Coops Iron Works, a fitness center based in Saginaw, MI
Dan Freed, a residential contractor based in Eaton Rapids, MI
Hills Roofing, LLC based in Niles, MI
(TNS) The Michigan agency in charge of monitoring, investigating and ensuring workplace safety says the number of complaints have boomed exponentially amid the coronavirus pandemic.Based on the criteria for reporting deaths, injuries and serious illness to the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA), those investigations are likewise expected to experience a surge.Typically, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) investigates 200 to 240 complaints per month, in line with what the agency received in January and February of this year, MIOSHA spokesperson Camara Lewis said, but those figures skyrocketed in March.The number of incoming complaints has increased to over 200 per week for the last several weeks, Lewis said Monday, Aug. 31. Just to put this in perspective, MIOSHA has received more complaints this year since March, than were received in 2018 and 2019 combined.Of the nearly 5,800 complaints this year, the greatest number, 1,312 or 23 percent, have occurred in the manufacturing industry, followed by retail, 16 percent; hospitality and food service, 14 percent; and health care and social assistance, 14 percent.The greatest number of weekly complaints, 476, were reported during the third week of July between July 13 and July 17. MIOSHA issued a press release on July 13 that contained a complaint hotline number, which may partially account for the spike, Lewis said.Complaints by month:When it comes to death and serious injury or illness investigation, MIOSHA typically investigates accidents clearly connected to the job.On Feb. 13, a 59-year-old sawmill laborer in Fairview was killed when his clothes became tangled in a debarking machine; a 42-year-old mechanic died March 13 after a car he was changing the oil on lurched forward and pinned him against a toolbox; and a 23-year-old volunteer firefighter in Gwinn lost his life also on March 13 after falling through the floor of a three-story home during a fire fight.Of late, the death investigations are a little different. MIOSHA last week reported three new confirmed worker deaths, the 15th, 16th, and 17th of the year. All were COVID-19-related, categorized as other and involved victims who worked in Ann Arbor.A 51-year-old public bus driver in Ann Arbor began experiencing symptoms while driving on March 16, called in sick the following day, was hospitalized March 22 and died on March 28, the same day his coronavirus test results were returned showing he was positive.A 62-year-old clerk for a medical facility in An Arbor left work after experiencing symptoms on March 19. She never returned to work and died on March 29. The death certificate lists the manner of death as natural due to COVID-19, MIOSHAs preliminary report says.A 77-year-old custodian was asymptomatic during his last day of work, March 27, but later tested positive, was immediately hospitalized and died on May 3.In each of the Ann Arbor cases, the employer reported the death to MIOSHA.MIOSHA has over 30 COVID-19 workplace fatalities that are in various stages of completion, Lewis told. The three that have been released are the first that have been completed. More will be released as they are completed.As of July, the Michigan Nurses Association reported over a dozen potential workplace deaths connected to hospitals; in the Michigan Department of Corrections, where more than 5,100 inmates and 450 correctional officers have contracted the virus, three guards have died; by late April, nearly 200 Detroit police officers or civilian employees had tested positive, including an officer, 911 dispatcher and volunteer chaplain who died. There have been publicized outbreaks among workers at farms, bars, restaurants, offices buildings and factories.While the law requires reporting of any work-related serious illness that results in hospitalization to MIOSHA, the lag time and nature of contagious illness can lead to confusion regarding the employers obligation, said Nelson Miller, a professor of employer law at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School and a former practicing attorney.Anything requiring medical treatment beyond first-aid qualifies as reportable, Miller said. A few days off at home because of (an illness) contracted at work would also qualify.I think employers are reluctant and able to claim that they need not report because of questions over whether the infection occurred in the course of work and work-related exposures ... So I think a lot of employers are sort of saying, you know what, we dont know.Miller said some employers may be avoiding making reports to MIOSHA out of fear that they will face greater oversight, potential fines or other enforcement action.He notes, however, that businesses found in violation for failing to report serious illness or death also face significant fines. Those generally range up to $7,000 but may be as high as $70,000 for repeat or willful violations.Employers may also face misdemeanor charges that included fines of up to $500 and 90 days in jail for violating Gov. Gretchen Whitmers executive orders establishing guidelines for businesses to safely reopen.I would advise that employers who are concerned that their employees may have contracted the disease ... go ahead and report, he said. That way youre not involved in any kind of additional violations, any kind of a cover-up and that information may be very helpful.Miller said some employers are likely reporting to county health officials but they should be mindful of reporting to MIOSHA safety officials, as well.MIOSHA reported 37 worker deaths in 2019 and youd think wed have many times that number already, Miller said.It is the responsibility of the employer to determine if the COVID-19 death was contracted at work or not, and if so, report it to MIOSHA, Lewis said. MIOSHA reviews the employers rational behind the determination.If MIOSHA is made aware of a potential COVID-19 related workplace fatality, an investigation is conducted to determine if the employer had the appropriate precautions in place at the time of the incident to protect their employees. If the investigation reveals appropriate precautions were not in place, a general duty citation may be issued.An employer must report a death within eight hours of becoming aware of it, assuming the death is the result of a workplace contraction of the coronavirus, Lewis said.The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued criteria to help employers determine whether an employee case of COVID-19 is work related.This cannot be reduced to a ready formula, but certain types of evidence may weigh in favor of or against work-relatedness, OSHA said in a May 19 memo.If several cases develop among workers without an alternative explanation; if the case develops shortly after lengthy, close exposure with a customer or coworker with a confirmed case; or if the employee has close contact with the public in a community with a coronavirus outbreak and there are no alternative explanation, the infection is likely work-related, OSHA said.OSHA is tasked with investigating work-related deaths involving federal and some state government employees. It hasnt listed any coronavirus deaths this year. However, there is usually a six-month delay between the death or injury and completion of any investigation.The federal safety agency has created worker exposure risk guidelines that identify greater risks based on the workers contact with the public, proximity to colleagues, or in the case healthcare and morgue workers, the most at-risk, the likelihood of coming into contact with airborne particles due to specimen collection or handling of the dead.MIOSHA on Aug. 21 cited six businesses for failing to protect workers from the coronavirus, including:The MIOSHA investigations determined that these six employers were clearly not taking the appropriate steps to protect employees and their communities from the spread of COVID-19, MIOSHA Director Bart Pickelman said. These citations are meant to reiterate the employers duty. Precautions are necessary to establish and maintain a work environment where everyone can return home safe and healthy.MIOSHA does not require businesses to report common illnesses, such as a cold or the flu, regardless of whether they result in death or serious illness.The agency has published guidelines for businesses and employees to follow as businesses across the state reopen.Any workplace safety complaints or death, injury or illness reporting may be made made to MIOSHA, 855-723-3219 or via the agency website.
Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West have had no qualms about living their lives in the spotlight. Long before they were a couple, Kardashian West was known for her reality TV series, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and for staying on the blogs and in the headlines. In contrast, West was an outspoken rapper from Chicago.
When the two became a couple in 2012, a media frenzy swirled around them and its continued through their marriage and the birth of their four children, North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm. Now, amids West run for the presidency and some recent outbursts on social media, the couples marriage appears to be going through some struggles.
While there have been no talks about divorce, Kardashian West refuses to speak to her husband about politics.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are working on their marriage
Amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic when the Wests were quarantined alone in their Calabasada mansion with their four children, rumors swirled that the KKW Beauty mogul was increasingly frustrated with her husband.
While she was doing the housework and tending to the children, West reportedly locked himself away in his home office offering his wife little support. An insider told The Sun,
Kim and Kanye are arguing and at each others throats during this pandemic. Kim is getting stir crazy, as shes used to being on the go. Its also a lot of time alone with the kids for her. Kim is also frustrated with Kanye and thinks hes not pulling his weight in family responsibilities, Theyve been staying at opposite ends of the house to keep things civil.
However, as restrictions lifted, West flew to Wyoming amid a bipolar episode. He later spent some quality time in the Dominican Republic with Kardashian West and their children.
RELATED: Kim Kardashian Taking a Selfie While Kanye West Eats KFC Is the Best Thing on the Internet
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West have been living apart
While their marriage seems to be in a better place, it doesnt look like Kardashian West or her producer hubby will be living together anytime soon. Following their return to the states, West remained in Wyoming on his ranch while Kardashian West returned to California with her children.
An insider explained to People,
Kim still seems focused on making her marriage work. She is pretty quiet about her exact plans for the future, but for now she seems OK with Kanye living in Wyoming. He is moving ahead with the presidential campaign. This is a decision that no one can change his mind about.
Kardashian West has always been adamant about having LA as her home base since its close to her family and her businesses.
Kim Kardashian West refuses to talk about politics with Kanye West
Though Kardashian West has been respectful about the conditions of her husbands bipolar disorder and his quest for the White House, she has always said she will never compromise who she is for her husband. Im always going to be me, she said during an appearance on The Real in 2019.
To that end, Kardashian West has refused to speak about politics with West. TMZ reported,
Kim and Kanye arent going to hash out any political differences while working out their family issues. In fact, were told the couple hasnt talked politics in a long time.
We hope both Kardashian West and the Jesus Is King rapper do whats best for them.
The Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi will hold a special condolence meeting on Wednesday for former president Pranab Mukherjee, who passed away at the age of 84.
In a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sheikh Hasina called the Congress veteran a highly esteemed leader of South Asia who commanded the respect and admiration of all.
As a renowned scholar and statesman of India, and a highly esteemed leader of South Asia, Pranab Mukherjee commanded the respect and admiration of all. The tireless work of Bharat Ratna Pranab Mukherjee for the welfare of the people of India will inspire the future generation of leaders not only in India but across countries in the region, she wrote in the letter.
She called Mukherjee a true friend and said that he was always been highly revered and loved by the people of Bangladesh.
In the letter, she also wrote about Mukherjees support and contribution in strengthening relations between the two countries and said that he will always be remembered with the deepest respect in Bangladesh.
In 2013, Bangladesh conferred the honour of Bangladesh Muktijuddho Sommanona (Liberation War Honour) on Mukherjee for his valuable contribution to Bangladeshs Liberation War of 1971.
Mukherjee, who had tested positive for the coronavirus, died on Monday, weeks after his brain surgery.
In his long political career, he held several top posts including that of External Affairs Minister, Defence Minister and Finance Minister.
The Government of India and many states have announced seven-day official mourning.
SEYMOUR A weekend fire that ripped through two century-old buildings and had the potential to destroy part of downtown has been ruled accidental by Fire Marshal Timothy Willis.
The fire, which broke out around noon Saturday, involved buildings at 143 and 151-153 Main St. The buildings, dating back to the 1900s, housed a mix of apartments and businesses, including the Greenwich Workshop fine art gallery and studio, which Willis said incurred about $1 million in damage.
It certainly had potential to be one of the biggest (fires) weve had in years, Willis said.
But thanks to a Seymour police officer observing the beginnings of the fire and quickly alerting dispatch, and mutual aid from neighboring fire crews in Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Derby and Oxford, Willis said the fire was contained quickly, with lives and buildings saved as a result of everyone working together.
This was definitely a bad fire, but it could have been much, much worse, Willis said. Aggressive firefighting saved those buildings.
There were no injuries to tenants or firefighters.
The cause of the fire is accidental, Willis said. It was an electrical fire in the service entry riser on 143 Main St.
Some 15-20 people living in apartments on the upper floors at 143 Main St. were displaced as a result of the fast-moving fire. Willis said that building is currently unoccupiable, and the tenants, who were helped by the local Red Cross, are staying in hotels or with family and friends, Willis said, until they can return home after repairs are made.
Willis said the buildings at 151-153 Main St. took the majority of the damage.
The Greenwich Workshop which was where the majority of the damage occurred is extensive and probably upwards of $1 million in damage between property and contents, Willis said.
Vincent Grabowski, president of the Greenwich Workshop, said plans for the future of the small business, which specializes in fine art and was founded in 1972, are not certain.
Unfortunately, at this time we have no comment as to what our plans will be in the future, Grabowski said.
jean.sos@snet.net
A Sydney mother stranded in an African city dubbed the 'rape capital of the world' has finally returned home.
Melissa Inkster, 44, flew into the Democratic Republic of Congo on March 16 to help set up a charity with her fiance Joseph in the Tshopo province in the country's east.
Eight days later the DRC shut its borders as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold globally, leaving Ms Inkster separated from her two young children back home on Sydney's northern beaches.
She flew to the capital Kinshasa in early August after the DRC's government lifted international border restrictions.
After several unsuccessful attempts to get on a plane, she finally boarded the first of four flights home at Kinshasa International Airport on Monday after friends and family helped raised $15,000 to get her back to Australia.
Ms Inkster briefly spoke to Daily Mail Australia while in transit in Frankfurt, Germany on Tuesday, where she expressed relief that she finally was on her way home and being reunited with her young sons for the first time in six months.
She also looked forward to sharing her story with the public after she touched down in Sydney on Wednesday night.
Melissa Inkster (pictured on her way home) is now in quarantine in a Sydney hotel
'OMG I AM HOME,' she posted on Facebook.
But it will be another two weeks before she's reunited with her sons as she undergoes mandatory hotel quarantine.
Ms Inkster uploaded a video filmed on a flight, where she emotionally thanked her friends, family and the Australian public for their support and help in getting her home.
'The good thing is I can't wait to see my kids Max and Tomas and just hug them,' she says in the video.
'I just don't know when I'll let them go. I think they're going to fight me on that one.
'I love you all, thank you so much. I still can't believe this is happening.'
Ms Inkster previously opened up to Daily Mail Australia about her nightmare as she desperately tried to escape the continent.
Melissa Inkster (pictured) thanked friends, family and the Australian public for their support
Her life savings have been completely drained by being trapped in the country for so long.
Adding further to her pain, in the week prior to her leaving the regional city of Kisangani she fainted and suffered a miscarriage.
In the same week, she had been robbed of her purse as she went shopping and was then confronted by a man with a knife when she got home.
Ms Inkster was supposed to board a flight home from Kinshasa on Saturday, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo , but was bumped off
Melissa Inkster, 44, has been stuck in the Democratic Republic of Congo since March - unable to get a flight home to her two children
The man pulled a large blade on them and had attempted to corner Ms Inkster before her fiance Joe Bagala jumped in front of her to scare the attacker away.
Ms Inkster had faced a number of flight cancellations to flee the Congo.
Friends and family raised more than $15,000 to fly the mother home on business class through an online fundraiser after she boarded a regional flight from the Congo surrounded by goats in the freezing cold.
Ms Inkster's travel agent secured her a flight leaving the country on August 15 but an administrative issue meant the airline did not receive confirmation for the second leg of her journey.
The mother - who does not have access to JobKeeper because she is outside Australia - had an anxious wait before she finally left the country on Sunday.
She said the hotel she has paid for in the city was costing her $1,300 for a week despite the relative poverty of the country.
Sydney is receiving just 350 international arrivals a day and Victoria has suspended them altogether amid its horror coronavirus second wave.
Ms Inkster pictured with her children Tomas, nine, and Max, six. She said one of the most painful parts of being stuck halfway around the world is not being able to hug her children
'Do they want me to be stranded in a third-world country?' she previously told Daily Mail Australia.
'I'm one of thousands in a precarious situation. I haven't chosen to stay here for as long as I have.
'People say things like "they've had a chance to come home already" but it's not my fault.
'I've now got to find a $3000 quarantine fee from somewhere and we have no money.'
Ms Inkster said she was 'dumbfounded' why the Australian government were leaving her to languish in a country as dangerous as the DRC - which is ranked 179th in the world in the Human Development Index.
'Being a white woman is particularly dangerous but being alone as a white woman in Kingshasa is really dangerous. I cannot leave the hotel I'm in alone - I have to make sure I have an escort at all times.'
She said she and her fiance had originally planned to return to Australia and live at her home in Curl Curl while renting out his property in Leichhardt in the city's inner-west.
Ms Inkster and her partner Joseph travelled to Africa via Europe in March for business. They have together set up a charity to help impoverished people in the DRC's capital
'People say things like 'they've had a chance to come home already' but it's not my fault,' the mother said
Ms Inkster set up a charity in the central African country with the aim of improving the lives of people within one of its impoverished regions
'I should write a book about what has happened, we were here to do good for a few weeks and now we're stuck here,' Ms Inkster said
The draining financial impact of being unable to get out of the DRC for so long though depleted her savings to such a point she considered renting out her home.
'It's been extremely tough we've got no money we've had to try to get some from family and friends to support us,' she said.
Her fiance - who works in the construction industry and was appointed as the chief of the village they have worked to lift out of poverty - had to stay behind in regional DRC.
'If he could have flown with me we would have but we don't have the money,' she said.
'I should write a book about what has happened, we were here to do good for a few weeks and now we're stuck here.
'We are actually really open to writing a documentary about it.'
An Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo is seen on patrol in February. The country is ranked 179th in the world in the Human Development Index
Her partner works in the construction industry and was appointed as the chief of the village they have helped lift out of poverty
Ms Inkster's efforts to get back to Australia have been stifled by the government's caps on international passenger arrivals
Perhaps most painful of all though was not being able to hug her children.
'My son Tomas used to call me crying asking me when I'm coming home. Their Dad is doing a great job looking after them while I'm gone but they need their Mum,' she said.
Ms Inkster spoke to her sons on Skype as much as she could to ask them how their lives are going, but did not go into detail about her situation so she didn't confuse them.
CONGO: 'THE RAPE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD' A senior UN official declared the African nation to be the 'rape capital of the world' in 2010. 'Women have no rights, if those who violate their rights go unpunished,' Margot Wallstrom, the Secretary-General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict said at the time. The comments drew the attention of researchers, advocates and journalists and Congo is still known as the 'rape capital' in media reports due to widespread sexual violence. Advertisement
The GoFundMe fundraiser set up to help Ms Inkster explains she and her partner travelled to Africa with the intention to go on to Europe in March for business.
'Mel and her fiance spent their time in Africa creating a charity and working with locals to improve many aspects of their lives and will continue working in these areas along with new business ideas when they are safely back home,' the page says.
'Mel has two young boys in the Australia who she is desperate to get back too. They need her and she needs them.'
'Mel is a kindhearted woman giving to all she meets and wouldn't hesitate to help another Mum get home.
'The government isn't helping and she is stuck in Africa alone which is also incredibly dangerous.'
Mr Bagala said despite some of their negative experiences the couple had a lot of love and respect for the Congolese people.
'99 per cent of people in the Congo are amazing. They are a beautiful people who deserve development and a better life,' he said.
At the 25th National Cabinet meeting on August 7, the government decided to extend caps on international passenger arrivals 'to manage and maintain quarantine arrangements across jurisdictions'.
International flights into Victoria have been suspended as the state attempts to control their active infections.
Sydney is taking in a maximum of 350 arrivals each day, while Perth is limited to 525 each week.
Ms Inkster and her partner are stranded in different parts of the DRC because they did not have the money to get him home too
There is a limit of 500 passengers in both Brisbane and Adelaide, while passenger limits on flights in Canberra and Darwin are 'discussed with jurisdictions on a case-by-case basis'.
A DFAT spokesperson said: 'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade stands ready to provide consular assistance to any Australian citizen, should they request it.'
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton for comment.
Ivanka Trump, advisor to President Donald Trump, her father, (left to right) tours a General Motors training facility in suburban Detroit with GM CEO Mary Barra and Deputy Secretary U.S. Department of Commerce Karen Dunn Kelley on Sept. 2, 2020.
WARREN, Mich. White House advisor Ivanka Trump touted President Donald Trump's support for American workers Wednesday in Michigan as her father seeks support from blue-collar workers in his reelection campaign.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra led Ivanka Trump on a tour of a new GM training facility at the automaker's global tech and design headquarters in suburban Detroit. Ivanka Trump actively engaged with employees and trainees, including an elbow bump with at least one and discussions with several others. She also heard about initiatives the automaker is taking to train new and veteran employees.
"This is something that the president has been passionate about since the day he took office, championing the American worker and creating more pathways and opportunities for the American workers," Ivanka Trump said.
Both the White House and GM downplayed the tour as a campaign event for President Donald Trump, saying Barra invited the president's daughter to visit the facility last year and this was one of the first opportunities for both to attend due to the coronavirus pandemic.
WASHINGTON: U.S. Senator Ed Markey on Tuesday defeated Representative Joe Kennedy III in the Massachusetts Democratic primary and is positioned to win another six-year term in the general election on Nov. 3 that would give him a platform for his progressive agenda.
With his unsuccessful challenge, Kennedy became the first member of his fabled political family to suffer a defeat in a Massachusetts election for a congressional seat.
When he made his surprise announcement last September that he would try to unseat fellow Democrat Markey, Kennedy was seen as a favorite.
But Markey, who has been at the forefront of liberal causes ranging from stopping nuclear weapons proliferation to imposing strict new carbon emissions standards to curb climate change, mounted an aggressive campaign that was bolstered by progressive stars such as fellow Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In public opinion polls, Markey, 74, was capturing the support of young voters in his run against Kennedy, 39, the grandson of slain Senator Robert F. Kennedy. His grand-uncle was President John F. Kennedy.
Meanwhile, the New York Times declared U.S. Representatives Richard Neal and Stephen Lynch, also of Massachusetts, the winners in their primary bids to hold onto their House of Representatives seats in November.
Both lawmakers turned back challenges from progressive candidates, despite progressive victories in other states primary races earlier this year.
Masschusetts Democrats and Republicans were choosing nominees for nine U.S. House seats and one Senate seat.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
BeBop Sensors the leader in smart fabric sensor technology with over four million state-of-the-art wearable smart fabric sensors shipped, announced today that AFWERX, the catalyst for fostering innovation within the U.S. Air Force, selected BeBop Sensors from over 1,500 submissions across the globe, competing in the Base of the Future Challenge to present their proposal for deploying their Forte Data Glove for every Airman.
BeBop Sensors is competing in the Culture of Innovation Challenge category alongside a diverse group of teams - originating from the vast regions of North America, Europe, Australia and other allied countries that represent entrepreneurial startups, small businesses, large enterprises, academic institutions and research labs all vying to build the Base of the Future and modernize the Department of Defense with innovative technology.
The Culture of Innovation Challenge aims to strengthen and perpetuate a culture of innovation within the U.S. Air Force by improving workforce agility and breaking down barriers to change. Currently, the adoption of new technology is slow and presents a significant challenge for the Air Force, often frustrating Airmen who are readily trying to drive change. The Challenge looks to create new ways to increase community engagement among Airmen and develop education and training that supports enterprise-wide team development.
The AFWERX Base of the Future Challenge is critical to our mission of increasing collaboration between large businesses and entrepreneurs to accelerate solutions for the Air Force, stated Mark Rowland of AFWERX. On behalf of AFWERX and the Department of Defense, we congratulate the teams advancing to the next phase. Their contributions are invaluable and have the potential to create game-changing results across the Air Force enterprise.
BeBop aims to provide every Airman the technology for a lifetime learning that transcends the classroom to the flight line, hangar, cockpit, datacenter, and combat zone. BeBops vision is to enable Airmen to use gestures with haptic feedback via BeBops Forte Data Gloves to accelerate and improve training and virtual collaboration while making it rugged and weatherproof to use in the field. BeBop enables:
Training - design, delivery, and assessment leading to learning retention levels upwards to 90%
Open and collaborative workspaces with touch and feel in large XR workspaces
Data visualization and haptic interaction in 3D space
Exploring new communications gesture-to-speech and haptic communication; Remotely control robotics and UxVs
Re-imagining the HMI to improve situational awareness on the battlefield and reduce the cognitive load on the Airman
Reducing injuries with telerobotic control of devices in hazardous conditions such as ordinance handling/control
We are honored to be selected as part of AFWERXs Base of the Future Challenge, said Keith McMillen, CEO, BeBop Sensors. We aim to transform the way Airmen learn in the classroom and seamlessly transition to the battlefield with the BeBop Forte Data gloves. We are creating next-generation training tools that are immersive, safe, and provide our troops with a technological advantage in the future.
About BeBop Sensors & Award-Winning BeBop Sensors Products
BeBop Sensors products have won the Red Herring Award, the TIME Magazine Best Inventions Award, the IDTechEx Wearable Award, the Frost & Sullivan North American Technology Innovation Award, and the Gartner Cool Vendor Award. BeBop Sensors uses smart fabrics to create elegant sensor solutions for OEMs. BeBop's sensors comprehend force, location, size, weight, bend, twist, and presence across any size, resolution, and geometry. The sensors are available for a wide variety of applications, including military, industrial, medical, human factors, Virtual Reality, gaming, design, automotive, sports, and more. BeBop's technology is robust and proven with over four million sensors in daily use. BeBop Sensors makes things knowable for product designers and visionaries.
About AFWERX
Established in 2017, AFWERX is a product of the U.S. Air Force, directly envisioned by former Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson. Her vision of AFWERX to solve some of the toughest challenges that the Air Force faces through innovation and collaboration amongst our nations top subject matter experts. AFWERX serves as a catalyst to unleash new approaches for the warfighter through a growing ecosystem of innovators. AFWERX and the U.S. Air Force are committed to exploring viable solutions and partnerships to further strengthen the Air Force, which could lead to additional prototyping, R&D, and follow-on production contracts.
Media Contacts:
BeBop:
Jerry Kurtze, VP, Business Development
Jkurtze@BeBopSensors.com
http://www.BeBopSensors.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bebop-sensors
AFWERX:
AFWERX@kirvindoak.com
Marketing@afwerx.af.mil
Funeral operators say the coronavirus pandemic has led to an increase in the number of outdoor funerals, as a way to maximise the number of people who can attend.
Strong restrictions were put in place for funeral services during the peak of the pandemic across the country, with just a handful of people allowed to attend.
Outdoor funerals have become increasingly popular as people try to maximise the number of people who can attend under pandemic restrictions. Credit:Michelle Mossop
Funerals had been identified as high-risk events for potential spread of COVID-19, after some high-profile international examples of funerals resulting in dozens of cases.
During that period, many funeral operators were struggling to meet the requirements, in particular that all mourners observe a four-square-metre distance from other people at the service.
Hardeep Singh Puri (Image: PIB via PTI Photo)
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has announced the SOP guidelines for metro operations in a media interaction on September 2. As part of Unlock 4 guidelines, The Centre allowed metro services to restart across the country, from September 7, 2020, in a graded manner. Following the decision, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri released a statement specifying the necessary protocols to be taken for the resumption of metro services after a hiatus of over five months.
The SOPs circulated in the statement include the following:
>> Metros having more than one line should open different lines starting from September 7 onwards in a graded manner so that all corridors become operational by September 12. Daily hours of operations may be staggered initially, which needs to be increased gradually with the resumption of full revenue service by September 12, 2020.
>> Frequency of trains to be regulated to avoid passenger crowding at stations and in trains.
>> In order to ensure social distancing, suitable markings at stations and inside trains to be done.
>> Wearing of face mask to be mandatory for all passengers and staff. Metro rail corporations may make arrangements for supply of masks on payment basis to the persons arriving without a mask.
>> Only asymptomatic persons to be allowed to travel after thermal screening at entry into the stations. Symptomatic persons should be advised to go to nearby COVID Care Centre/Hospital for testing/medical attention.
Use of Aarogya Setu App to be encouraged.
>> Provision of sanitisers to be made at entry into the stations for use by passengers. Sanitization of all areas having human interface viz. equipment, train, working area, lift, escalators, handrail, AFC gate, toilets etc. needs to be done at regular intervals.
>> Use of Smart Card and cashless/online transactions to be encouraged. Tokens and paper slips/ticket to be used with proper sanitization.
>> Adequate dwell time at stations to be provided to enable smooth boarding/deboarding ensuring social distancing. Metro rail corporations may also resort to skipping of stations to ensure proper social distancing.
>> Passengers to be advised to travel with minimum luggage and avoid carrying metallic items for easy and quick scanning.
>> Operation of Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system as per the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE) guidelines. Intake of fresh air in air-conditioning system to be increased to the extent possible.
>> Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign to be launched for passenger and staff through electronic/print/social media, poster, banner, hoarding, website etc.
>> Metro rail corporations to keep close liaison with state police and local administration for regulating crowd outside stations and to deal with contingencies.
The ministry also revealed that Delhi, Noida, Chennai, Kochi, Bangalore, Mumbai Line-1, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Maha Metro (Nagpur) Kolkata, Gujarat and UP Metro (Lucknow) have prepared their SOPs based on the above guidelines.
The Government of Maharashtra has decided not to resume operation of metro during September 2020. Hence, Mumbai Line-1 and Maha Metro operations shall commence from October 2020 or as the State Government may decide further.
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Partner-Attorneys June Bashant, John M. Feder, Cynthia B. McGuinn, Ronald H. Rouda, and Timothy G. Tietjen were each named in The Best Lawyers in America 2021 for their excellent work in their respective practice areas. Published every year by Best Lawyers, this list boasts the top 5% of the United States' practicing lawyers.
Since The Best Lawyers in America is regarded as a respected peer-review publication, the selection process is rigorous. Attorneys must be nominated by a third-party before they can be considered for inclusion in the final list. Then, selected nominees and previous listees are assessed through peer review. Before they are selected, they are rated and assessed for good standing with their respective state bar and ethics committee. The result is a list of elite practicing attorneys vetted for quality and reliability.
About June Bashant
With 20 years of experience serving clients victimized by catastrophic injury, June Bashant has worked to improve safety standards in favor of consumers. Her biggest verdicts include the $20 million compensation she won, alongside John Feder, for the victim of a deadly exposure to a harmful virus. She has repeatedly been named to the Super Lawyers list and has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2019.
About John M. Feder
Best Lawyers has honored John Feder consistently since 2013. His past achievements include working as the president of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association in 2007 and serving as the state president of the Consumer Attorneys of California. In both positions, he wrote and lectured on personal injury as a legal practice area. Furthermore, he won what is thought to be the biggest settlement for a motorcycle wrongful death case.
About Cynthia B. McGuinn
Cynthia McGuinn has been listed by Best Lawyers since 2008. She impressively set a record for the largest personal injury verdict in Sonoma County in 2015. Her previous honors include her recognition by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association as the 2003 Trial Lawyer of the Year, and her memberships with the International Society of Barristers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. These organizations are invitation-only, with the latter admitting a mere 600 lawyers around the globe.
About Attorney Ronald H. Rouda
Recognized by Best Lawyers since 1991, Ronald Rouda is the founding partner of Rouda, Feder, Tietjen & McGuinn. In 2011, he earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Board of Trial Advocates, a national legal association for which he also served as president in 1998. He is also dedicated to trial advocacy, as made evident by his huge contributions to The Youth Education Project, an interactive curriculum created by the American Board of Trial Advocates that aims to educate children on the reasoning behind trial by jury. The program has met success across the United States.
About Timothy G. Tietjen
Timothy Tietjen has been practicing law for more than 35 years. Like his partners, Tim Tietjen has won many multimillion-dollar cases and served as president of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association. He has been recognized in the Super Lawyers list every single year since 2006, and in 2013, he earned his first recognition from Best Lawyers.
Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn has won $500 million in personal injury litigation for their clients. Visit them online at rftmlaw.com to learn more. And, to learn more about Best Lawyers, visit bestlawyers.com.
SOURCE Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn
Related Links
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New Delhi: As Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats on Wednesday (September 2) issued notifications that there will be no Question Hour and private members' bills will not be taken up in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Opposition parties criticised the latest decision.
Seeking justification of no question hour in the monsoon session, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted, "Questioning the government is the oxygen of parliamentary democracy. This Govt seeks to reduce Parliament to a notice-board and uses its crushing majority as a rubber-stamp for whatever it wants to pass. The one mechanism to promote accountability has now been done away with."
In another tweet, he asked, "I said four months ago that strongmen leaders would use the excuse of the pandemic to stifle democracy and dissent. The notification for the delayed Parliament session blandly announces there will be no Question Hour. How can this be justified in the name of keeping us safe?" he asked on Twitter.
TMC MP Derek O`Brien also flayed the move through his tweet saying, "MPs required to submit Qs for Question Hour in Parliament 15 days in advance. Session starts 14 Sept. So Q Hour cancelled? Oppn MPs lose right to Q govt. A first since 1950? Parliament overall working hours remain same so why cancel Q Hour? Pandemic excuse to murder democracy."
"During the 33rd (1961), 93rd (1975), 98th (1976) 99th (1977) Sessions there was no Question Hour as these sessions were summoned for SPECIAL PURPOSES: Orissa, Proclamation of Emergency, 44th Amdmt, President`s Rule TN/Nagaland. The upcoming Monsoon Session is a REGULAR SESSION," O`Brien said in another tweet.
RJD MP Manoj Jha told ANI, "It is disappointing. No question hour in such a time when coronavirus has taken so many lives, infection is rising, management regarding it is below poor and also there is a situation at the border, is like a death of the soul of democracy. The Zero Hour is reduced to half an hour. Cannot stand by this decision."
Congress MP PL Punia hoped that the zero hour will be continued to discuss important issues, adding "People should take all precautions in view of the COVID-19. They should avoid crowded places. Question hour has been omitted in this parliament session keeping coronavirus pandemic in mind. The hours are limited. There will be sitting arrangements accordingly. I hope Zero Hour will be there as many important issues are raised in it."
CPI MP Binoy Viswam, however, wrote a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asking that the question hour be reinstated immediately.
Last week, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to Speaker Om Birla urging him not to curtail the Question Hour and the Zero Hour. Chowdhury had said it will prevent lawmakers from raising issues of national importance.
Monsoon session of Parliament is scheduled to begin from September 14 and conclude on October 1. The notification also added that the Zero Hour will also be restricted. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the session will be held in two shifts -- 9 AM to 1 PM and 3 PM to 7 PM.
Those who attend the session would be required to follow the necessary coronavirus protocols, including getting tested for COVID-19 within 72 hours.
Representative image
China deliberately provoked India with a new incursion into contested territory after a fresh confrontation between India and China on the southern bank of the Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh, an American intelligence assessment said.
On August 31, the Indian Army said the Chinese military had carried out "provocative military movements" to "unilaterally" change the status quo on the southern bank of Pangong lake on the intervening night of August 29 and 30. But, the attempt was thwarted by the Indian troops.
Talking about this, the US intelligence assessment said that Beijing remains enraged that its local commander withdrew forces when a physical conflict appeared about to be happened, reported US News.
In the skirmish, Indian forces have prevented any loss of ground, believes the US, said the report citing a source familiar with the assessment.
The fresh attempt by China to change the status quo in the Pangong lake area is the first major incident in the area after the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15 in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed. China also suffered casualties but is yet to make the details public. According to an American intelligence report, it was 35.
Following the deadly June clash, Indians were better prepared to respond to the Chinese provocation, the US reportedly believes.
The report further said that the assessment does not conclude that Chinese forces were the first to act provocatively in this case, but the US has chosen to support India's side because of Beijing's past provocative behavior.
The timing of the latest clash has confused the American intelligence officials and local analysts as it came when China seeks to cool tensions and improve ties with India amid fears the latest violence has pushed New Delhi into closer cooperation with the US, said the report.
The US is closely monitoring the border dispute between India and China and it hopes for a peaceful resolution, said a State Department spokesperson.
Education leaders are focusing now on how they can use projectors and document cameras to safely bring people back together and maintain social distancing in what are typically crowded environments.
Within many classrooms, moving people apart by two metres raises the significant challenge of ensuring that all children in the class, can adequately see the lesson visuals being shown or presented at the front of the room, writes Abdulnassir Ali, Sales Manager, Visual Imaging Solutions, Epson Middle East.
Flat panels, which are commonly used in many of these environments, offer little flexibility and have no scope for increasing the screen size. Given that around 58% of students claim they cant read all content on a 70-inch flat panel at the best of times, further distancing poses a serious concern.
One solution available is a projector. Again, commonly used already in these environments, they offer a far more flexible solution. By scaling screen sizes up (with Epson products up to 155 inches in full HD) the screen becomes accessible to everyone in the room.
Lessons can therefore be more inclusive, collaborative, and memorable. And whats more, unlike with their flat panel counterparts, there are no visible finger marks left on screen if touched. When using Epson displays with anti-bacterial whiteboard surfaces, it eradicates any breeding ground for bacteria and viruses.
In the UAE, parents can choose between distance learning or face-to-face learning, with the latter seeing classrooms meeting social distancing requirements. In Saudi Arabia, the first seven weeks of the fall term for schools will be online, when the government will examine the situation.
INCREASED FLEXIBILITY AND VISIBILITY
Providing bright, scalable screen sizes up to 350 inches at an affordable price point, Epsons new entry-level display solutions for education (EB-E20, EB-X49, EB-W49, EB-982W, EB-992F, and EB-FH52) are set to support the return to the workplace, aiding social distancing.
Unlike their flat panel counterparts, Epsons new display solutions offer flexibility and scalable screen sizes up to 350 inches, making them adaptable and suitable for multiple settings, enabling clear content delivery and visibility - even from the back of classrooms.
Similarly, the Epson EB-1400 series of ultra-short-throw projectors can combine the benefits of interactive projection, white boards, and flip charts in one multi-purpose, integrated device, for more flexible and interactive lessons.
The projectors are perfect for brainstorming and presentations, with a large screen size of up to 120 inches, along with the latest features and connectivity. Students can get a perfect view from anywhere in the classroom, make on-screen contributions, and take part from their own smart devices.
Overall, Epsons interactive display solutions can give teachers the freedom to create digital learning experiences that meet the expectations of today's technologically aware teachers and students and promote participation and effective learning.
COLLABORATION AND INCLUSION
The use of collaborative solutions, such as interactive projectors, means that not only those in the room can be involved in the lesson, but also those at home. And not only can everyone see the content, they can also annotate on it, share ideas, add to group work, and remain included in the process. Multiple devices can project simultaneously and well as share content between them.
Visualisers, or document cameras, also offer an ideal opportunity to share a projected live view of 3D objects. Large groups of people, both in and outside of the physical room, can share a detailed, close-up view of an item without crowding around and without having to pass the object between them.
Middle East educational institutions that already have projectors and document cameras are in a great position to realise their full potential. Those that dont, but are investing, would make a wise decision in selecting them. -- Tradearabia News Service
Kia Canada sets a new company record with 8,780 units sold in August, exceeding its best-ever July and record sales in June
Top sellers from August include Sorento, Seltos and Forte, for the third month in a row
The overall 8,780 units sold represents a 15% increase YoY
TORONTO, Sept. 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the second time in 2020, Kia Canada announces their best ever month with 8,780 units sold. June saw Kia Canada making history with its best-ever month of sales, followed by their best-ever July and now, another record-breaker in August, which saw a 15% YoY increase. These month-over-month achievements are a true testament to how Canadians are increasingly recognizing Kia Canadas range of products that deliver an exceptional driving experience at a great value.
Sorento led sales in August, with 1,820 total units sold, closely followed by Seltos and Forte, selling 1,781 and 1,748 units, rounding out the top three models for the third-consecutive month in a row. The continued support from Canadians for Kia Canadas brand is truly astounding, says Elias El-Achhab, Chief Operating Officer at Kia Canada. We strive to create products that deliver on quality, design and technology, with Seltos being the latest example of that, as it solidifies its top tier position in our line up.
August rounded out a great summer for the brand in Canada, as in addition to the sales records, Kia was also awarded top position for the 6th year in a row in the J.D. Power IQS report in the US.
About Kia Canada
Kia Canada Inc. (KCI), founded in 1999 and is a subsidiary of the Kia Motors Corporation (KMC) based in Seoul, South Korea. The full line of award-winning Kia vehicles offers world-class quality and customer satisfaction through a network of 195 dealers across the country. The company employs 170 people at its headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario, as well as in locations across Canada and at its regional office in Montreal, Quebec. Kias slogan "The Power to Surprise," symbolizes the companys worldwide commitment to exceed customer expectations through sustained automotive innovation.
Whether it is a compact, crossover, or electric model which is among the best in the industry, each Kia vehicle offers a superior combination of precision engineering, exceptional performance, innovative features and advanced safety systems. Kia has sold a million vehicles, including popular models in Canada like the Soul, Forte, Sportage, Sorento, Stinger and has recently added the Seltos and K5 to its lineup. To learn more, visit kia.ca or Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
Media Contact:
Amanda Chouinard
Strategic Objectives
amanda.chouinard@strategicobjectives.com
T 416-500-0351
Jennifer Szmilko
Manager, PR and Communications
Kia Canada
jszmilko@kia.ca
T 905-302-5452
The biblical-era fortress, which dates back to the 12th century B.C., was discovered in Israel. Israel Antiquities Authority reported that the 3,200-year-old fortress was likely built by the ancient Canaanite civilization to protect against Philistine invaders.
The fortification measures 59 feet by 59 feet with watchtowers in each of its four corners. Pottery vessels, likely used in religious rituals, were also discovered in the fortress' former rooms. In the middle of the fortress, there was a central courtyard paved with stone slabs.
Israel Antiquities Authority Archaeologists Saar Ganor and itamar Weissbein stated that "the fortress we found provides a glimpse into the Geopolitical reality described in the Judges book, in which the Canaanites, Israelites and Philistines are fighting each other." The two Archaeologists added that "in this period, the land of Canaan was ruled by the Egyptians and its inhabitants were under their custody." However, the Egyptians left the land of Canaan in the middle of the 12th century BC, which left the Israelites and the Philistines and that "led to a series of violent territorial disputes."
Israel is discovering more of their ancient histories. An ancient soap factory was recently found in the Negev desert. In another project, hidden underground chambers dating back 2000 years were also discovered near the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Also, an Iron Age temple complex was found near Jerusalem.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that a letter was sent to an Irving resident in which the writer threatens to shoot mercilessly immigrants of Indian and Chinese descent who work in the information technology field. The Irving Police Department is investigating the threat and wants to know if anyone else has received such a letter. (Twitter photo/Irving PD)
PARIS: A unit of the French Barkhane military force has killed a civilian by accident, the French army said in a statement on Tuesday.
The army said a bus driving at high speed towards a military convoy did not slow down despite visual warnings and a warning shot. Bullets from a second warning shot bounced off the ground and punctured the windscreen of the bus, injuring three passengers, one mortally, the army said.
The Barkhane force presents its sincere condolences to the family of the victim, the army said.
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Former Bay City Rollers star Ian Mitchell has died at the age of 62, the band has said.
The musician joined the Scottish pop band in 1976 when he was 17, to replace founding member and bassist Alan Longmuir.
Mitchell, who was from Northern Ireland, was the first band member born outside of Edinburgh, but left after seven months.
A statement on the bands Instagram page said: We are deeply saddened by the news of Ian Mitchells death. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Wendy, their family and friends. Rest In Peace, Ian.
If you wish to leave your condolences, please do so in the comments below.
During Mitchells time with the band, which has had many changes to the line-up, they released the 1976 album Dedication and a cover version of the Dusty Springfield song I Only Want to Be With You.
The tartan-clad band had previously dominated the charts with songs such as Saturday Night, Bye Bye Baby, Money Honey and I Only Want To Be With You, selling almost 300 million records worldwide.
Very sad, sad news about Ian Mitchell. Wed like to send our love and condolences to Wendy and all Ians family and Posted by Stuart Woody Wood on Wednesday, September 2, 2020
As the groups popularity waned, Mitchell quit the band and was replaced by guitarist Pat McGlynn.
Stuart Woody Wood, who is among the founding members and still performs with the band, wrote on Facebook: Very sad, sad news about Ian Mitchell. Wed like to send our love and condolences to Wendy and all Ians family and friends you are in our hearts.
I have many fond memories of Ian not only in the BCR days but also when we played together in the 80s with The Passengers great guys and great days! You will sorely be missed Ian
The bands current line-up features Ian Thomson on lead vocals and guitar, Marcus Cordock on bass guitar, Jamie McGrory on drums and Wood on guitar.
An animal rights group this week complained to the USDA that baboons and pigs were mistreated in transplant experiments at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
UAB denies the allegations.
In its federal complaint, People of the Ethical Treatment of Animals alleges Woolite laundry detergent was used to treat a baboons open wound and that subsequent fluid buildup led to the baboon being euthanized. The group alleges pigs were malnourished, expired drugs were used, and basic sanitation procedures were not followed in the lab.
(Woolite) would be painful and cause distress and certainly that is not something that is typically used as an antiseptic, said Dr. Alka Chandna, PETAs vice president of laboratory investigations.
UAB spokesman Bob Shepard said that the allegations of mistreatment are false, but he acknowledged several issues at the lab were self-reported by UAB to the USDA and NIH in 2019. UAB acknowledged a detergent was used on a baboons wound, expired drugs were stored that may have been used on primates and drug logs were filled out inappropriately. UAB confirmed Tuesday that the detergent was Woolite.
This was investigated and self-reported to the USDA , as well as National Institutes of Health Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare which confirmed we took appropriate corrective action to ensure proper procedures in the lab, said Shepard.
That corrective action included retraining staff in pain management for laboratory animals and enhanced monitoring of the lab, according to a letter to the university from the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare obtained by al.com
The lab, run by Dr. David Cooper, performs xenotransplantation surgeries to test the viability of animal organs for human transplantation. In 2016, the laboratory received a $19.5 million, 5-year grant from United Therapeutics Corporation to test transplantation of pig organs for eventual use in humans.
Virtually all medical knowledge and treatment certainly every medical breakthrough of the last century, including for COVID-19 has involved research with animals, said Shepard.
We respect the great contributions made by animals to science for the benefit of both humans and animals alike not only at UAB, but around the world, he added.
In its USDA complaint, PETA alleges that a UAB insider shared concerns about treatment of animals in the lab, including that animals in severe pain were not euthanized in a timely way, and that genetically modified pigs were starved so that they would not grow too large for experimentation.
The group alleges there were lapses in recordkeeping, exposed needles were left out, and PPE used in the animal facility was improperly worn and discarded in the office.
Did these people not take seriously these very minimal regulations that are in place regarding how things should be done in laboratories? asked Dr. Chandna.
PETA opposes xenotransplantation as a solution to a shortage of organ transplant supply and believes public policy should make opting into organ donation a default, Chandna said.
Its not a problem that requires all manner of tinkering with the integrity of animals bodies, she said, where animals are subjected to invasive surgeries, left alive through these Frankenstein-style experiments and left to suffer miserably until theyre finally killed.
UAB scientists believe they are close to making transplants between pigs and humans viable.
The supply of human organs is insufficient to treat all the patients who present each year with organ failure and who could benefit if a compatible graft were available, said Shepard, who added that pig cell transplants could also someday be used for blood transfusions or to help people with Parkinsons disease.
According to UAB, safeguards are in place to ensure proper treatment of animals used in experimentation. Faculty and staff work closely with the institutions oversight committee to uphold USDA and other professional standards.
In a rare instance when corrective action is required, we take the necessary steps to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, and we self-report to the appropriate agency or agencies, said Shepard.
More than 9,500 evacuees from the damage caused by Hurricane Laura are now housed in New Orleans, prompting calls from Mayor LaToya Cantrell for additional state funds to handle the influx.
We want to make sure that were able to meet the needs of evacuees every day and are prepared for the long-haul, Cantrell said Tuesday during a press conference to discuss the city's work to accommodate the new arrivals. However, Im making sure that Im advocating and making sure this city gets her fair share and is made whole for the resources were deploying.
The evacuees already being housed in the city under the states program which the Red Cross is now beginning to oversee are currently spread across 33 hotels. It is unknown how many people have come to New Orleans outside of the state program.
There is currently no timeline for how long the hotel shelters will remain in operation, Cantrell said.
Were going to be prepared and will render whatever service, however long it takes, to make sure that our evacuees get whatever they need, Cantrell said.
The city has set up a reception center in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to connect evacuees with resources from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day until Friday. The center is providing medical and prescription assistance to evacuees, as well as coronavirus testing, city Health Department Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno said.
Additionally, the city has stationed EMS personnel at the hotels that are sheltering evacuees, which will be bolstered by 30 ambulances from the state to provide an additional layer of protection to make sure that we dont have any tragedy, Avegno said.
During the discussion of the city's preparations, Cantrell repeatedly turned the conversation back to calls for more money from state coffers. Federal and state funds are being distributed to pay for hotel rooms and other services. But with thousands of homes in southwest Louisiana still without water or power, it's not clear how long the city will be tasked with housing the evacuees, and what other costs may arise.
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City officials have repeatedly warned in recent months that a drop in sales tax revenue caused by coronavirus restrictions has already threatened the citys budget and said departments have been told to prepare budgets for next year that include 20% cuts.
We need to make sure we dont overextend the people on the ground who have been responding in the past months to the coronavirus pandemic, Cantrell said. We want to make sure the evacuees get the services they deserve while theyre here and that means additional manpower.
State Farm insurance claims hit 24,800 for Louisiana homeowners after Hurricane Laura State Farm, the largest homeowner insurer in Louisiana by market share, has received 24,800 insurance claims from homeowners across the state
Typically, expenses related to a disaster are reimbursed by FEMA or other agencies. Cantrell said officials were documenting costs related to hosting the evacuees in the city but did not yet have an estimate of how much had been spent.
During the press conference, Cantrell also highlighted her administrations growing complaints about the share of funds it received from a federal COVID-19 rescue package passed earlier this year. The roughly $525 million the state is passing on to local governments to reimburse them for costs associated with the pandemic is being divvied up based on a formula that takes into account both population and the number of cases at different points in time.
The city had most of its expenses reimbursed in a first round of funding that covered the time the outbreak was largely contained to the New Orleans area. But that meant there was a much smaller pot of money set aside for New Orleans for expenses incurred in late spring, when it had driven down its infection numbers and the virus was spreading elsewhere in the state.
State Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne said that formula was needed to ensure the money the state had to distribute did not go solely to parishes that were hit hard at the beginning of the pandemic.
This money had to go to the entire state, we needed to make sure that there was money for other parishes as (the pandemic) ramped up. And sure enough, it did, he said.
Kansas City Docs Warn Public In Dire COVID Conversation
KC-area hospital leaders to provide virtual COVID-19 briefing KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Hospital leaders from the Kansas City metro are concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic going into fall. Chief medical officers from a handful of hospitals will hold a virtual briefing Wednesday to discuss the status of the pandemic in the region.
Kansas City Dreams Of Vacay
Why A New Direct Flight To Mexico Is An Important Step Forward For Air Travel In Kansas City American Airlines, Frontier, and Air Canada will offer international flights from KCI beginning this fall, in the wake of catastrophic losses due to COVID-19. In Kansas City and elsewhere around the country planes are beginning to fill, but at its worst in April, commerical flights in the country had dropped by 77 percent.
Masks Made In America
Non-profit pays it forward to woman making masks for KCK's immigrant community KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Many people are stepping up to help keep everyone safe during the pandemic. In this pay it forward, one woman does it one mask at a time. The pandemic has been especially tough for non-profits like Hopeprint, which seeks to empower diverse families and provide immigrants with resources.
Insta Double Take
Georgia Harrison: 'I feel so much more confident with my new boobs' She was very much the IT girl when TOWIE first started in 2010 and now she's confirmed her comeback on Instagram. "'TOWIE 10 is coming, it's time to get back to Essex' .... IM BACK @towie," she wrote. CREDIT: Getty Let's be honest, it wouldn't be right to have a TOWIE reunion with Joey Essex.
Culture War Continues
NPR slammed over tweet that Trump claimed 'without evidence' that Kenosha gunman acted in self-defense NPR was strongly criticized Tuesday after it claimed that President Trump had "no evidence" that Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who shot three protesters in Kenosha, Wis. last week, acted out of self-defense. "You saw the same tape as I saw," Trump said during a White House press briefing on Monday.
White House Fact Check
Trump and his doctor deny stroke caused mysterious Walter Reed visit President Trump and his doctor on Tuesday denied that he suffered a stroke last year ahead of a mysterious visit to Walter Reed Medical Center. Dr. Sean Conley issued a statement after claims swirled on Twitter, without any apparent evidence, that Trump had suffered a stroke before the November 2019 visit.
Campaign 2020 Closer Than Anybody Wants To Admit
Trump, Biden running neck and neck in North Carolina: poll President Trump Joe Biden Joe Biden Trump says Black Lives Matter is 'bad for Black people' Kamala Harris pops in on Brandy and Monica's 'Verzuz' Battle: 'You queens, you stars' Hillicon Valley: Twitter flags Trump campaign tweet of Biden clip as manipulated media | Democrats demand in-person election security briefings resume | Proposed rules to protect power grid raise concerns MORE are running neck and neck in North Carolina as the Tarheel State emerges as one of the top swing states in the country.
Speaker Admits Delayed Stimulus
Pelosi says 'serious differences' between Democrats, White House on coronavirus aid WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after a phone call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday that "serious differences" remain between Democrats and the White House over coronavirus relief legislation.
American Vaccine Exceptionalism
US refuses to join international effort to develop Covid-19 vaccine The US government has said that it will not participate in a global initiative to develop, manufacture and equitably distribute a vaccine for Covid-19 because the effort is co-led by the World Health Organization.
Cowtown Booze News
Tap List | Your Kansas City Chiefs Starting (Beer) Lineup Discover unheard stories about Kansas City, every Thursday. Check your inbox, you should see something from us. Like what you see? For more stories like this, sign up for our newsletter. It drops in your inbox every Thursday. Check your inbox, you should see something from us.
Local Red Light Nights Debut
Live events team light-up KC bright red, bringing awareness to #RedAlertRestart Local live event workers and performers will be lighting up buildings downtown and around the city in the color red on September 1st. The buildings awash in red light will be to raise awareness for a movement called #REDALERTRESTART. The RESTART bill that will fund small businesses and the live music industry due to COVID-19 cutbacks.
Kansas City Midweek Heat Up
Temps will be in mid-80s for your Wednesday Hide Transcript Show Transcript MONKEY -- MUGGY BUT BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. SPOTTY SHOWERS AND MAYBE ONE THUNDERSTORM. OTHERWISE MOST AREAS REMAIN DRY. WINDS TURN WEST AND NORTHWEST ONLY FIVE MILES PER HOUR. TEMPERATURES BELOW 80 DEGREES AND BY 9:00 P.M. WE WILL BE AT 73 AND BY 11:00 TO 69 WITH PATCHY CLOUDS.
Right nowinspires another look at local news for closer readers of this blog; and so we take a peek at pop culture, community news, top headlines and more . . .And this is thefor tonight . . .
Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi was confirmed by 134-67 votes in an overnight session to lead Tunisia's second cabinet in six months, made up of judges, academics, civil servants and private-sector executives
Tunisia's parliament has approved a new technocratic government tasked with tackling deep social and economic woes in the North African country, ending weeks of uncertainty in the young democracy.
Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi was confirmed by 134-67 votes in an overnight session to lead Tunisia's second cabinet in six months, made up of judges, academics, civil servants and private-sector executives.
The 46-year-old has pledged to revitalise the tourism-reliant economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic and to stop the "hemorrhage" of public finances by restarting oil and phosphate production after recent labour unrest.
"I am proud of this support," Mechichi, the former interior minister, told AFP early Wednesday after the vote, vowing his government would "move forward on economic issues", provided it is not bogged down by political infighting.
Tunisia's parliament, elected last October, is deeply divided and many lawmakers were angry that Mechichi, the candidate picked in July by President Kais Saied, had bypassed the major political factions in building his cabinet.
The Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, the biggest bloc in parliament, had however said hours before the vote it would back Mechichi "despite reservations", averting a breakdown that would have forced unpopular new elections.
Tunisia has been praised as a rare success story among the 2011 Arab Spring popular uprisings that swept the region and brought down many autocrats, among them Tunisia's long-time president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
But the small Mediterranean country of about 11 million people is now mired in economic crisis, with the official unemployment rate at 18 percent, and in need of new assistance from the International Monetary Fund.
Mechichi's new government will have to resume talks with the IMF, whose four-year programme expired in the spring while Tunisia struggled to complete its budget.
The new premier warned of "dangerous indicators", with a debt of about 80 billion dinars ($30 billion), and 7.5 billion dinars due to be repaid in 2020.
- 'Discord at the top' -
The chairman of Ennahdha's advisory board, Abdelkarim Harouni, had said Tuesday the party would back Mechichi "given the difficult situation of the country" but would then seek to "develop and reform this government".
The vote is the result of a power struggle between the president, a trained jurist who had strongly intervened in building the new government, and the main parties, who were angered at being sidelined but now hope to have influence on the government.
The new defence minister, Ibrahim Bartagi, is a law professor from the university where Saied worked. Justice Minister Mohamed Boussetta is a magistrate. And the new interior minister, Taoufik Charfeddine, is another former lawyer close to the president.
Hamza Meddeb, of political think tank the Carnegie Center, said that in the end the new government gained legitimacy by winning the support of Ennahdha and its allies, including the liberal Qalb Tounes party.
"Mr Saied wanted a prime minister at his command, the presidency intervened a lot in the composition of the government, and Mr Mechichi ended up turning around and seeking party support to assert himself as head of government," Meddeb said.
Parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of Ennahdha, said that in the end the assembly "showed that it was the heart of power in this country".
Mechichi's new government, he said, "can solve the economic, health and security problems, I am convinced of its success".
Meddeb said Ennahdha had "found someone it hopes to compromise with" but also cautioned that "there's discord at the top state level ... Saied could make life difficult for this government."
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BERLIN - A Russian man charged with the brazen daylight murder in Berlin last year of a Georgian, which prosecutors say was ordered by the Russian state, will go on trial in the German capital next month.
The Berlin district court said Wednesday the trial will open Oct. 7. It has scheduled 25 court dates, the last of them on Jan. 27., 2021
The case prompted Germany last December to expel two Russian diplomats, citing a lack of co-operation with the investigation of the Aug. 23, 2019 killing.
Federal prosecutors in June filed charges of murder and a violation of weapons laws against a Russian citizen they identified as Vadim K., alias Vadim S. The 55-year-olds last name was withheld in line with German privacy laws but has been widely reported as Vadim Krasikov, using the alias Vadim Sokolov.
The victim, Tornike K., who also has widely been identified in reports as Zelimkhan Tornike Khangoshvili, was a Georgian citizen of Chechen ethnicity who fought against Russian troops in Chechnya. He had previously survived multiple assassination attempts and continued to receive threats after fleeing to Germany in 2016.
Prosecutors say the killer approached Tornike K. from behind on a bike in the small Kleiner Tiergarten park and shot him in the torso with a Glock handgun equipped with a silencer. The victim fell, and the assailant then fatally shot him twice in the head. The suspect was arrested near the scene shortly afterward.
The murder case and alleged Russian involvement in the 2015 hacking of the German parliament have weighed on relations between the two countries for months. In recent weeks, the suspected poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has added to tensions.
Navalny fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on Aug 20. He was later transferred to Berlins Charite hospital, where doctors found indications that he had been poisoned.
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The new Hyundai KONA features sleek, stylish design, andfor the first timewill be available with sporty N Line trim
Extra cargo capacity and rear seat legroom offer more accommodation and comfort
Upgrades in connectivity and convenience features, including the latest Hyundai Blue Link technology and improved safety package
Tuning updates make the new KONA more comfortable to drive
SEOUL, September 1, 2020 Hyundai Motor Company today unveiled its newly enhanced KONA subcompact SUV and introduced the exciting all-new KONA N Line variant.
Hyundai KONAthe 2019 North American Utility Vehicle of the Yearis back with a bold design update that retains the models winning personality. The B-SUVs exterior design is upgraded with various enhancements that make it even more appealing to customers who lead active lifestyles.
At the same time, Hyundai is expanding its B-SUV lineup by launching the sporty all-new KONA N Line. This attractive entry point to Hyundais high-performance N brand is distinguished by signature fascia, body color claddings and large rear spoiler as well as N Line specific design accents.
Interestingly, there's a happy vibe that I feel is common with many Kona drivers, said SangYup Lee, Senior Vice President, Head of Hyundai Global Design Center. Our design inspiration stems from this positive spirit, and this is a dedication to all the adventurers out there who explore life with a smile.
KONA N Line features a sporty and progressive design
With the latest product enhancement, KONA will be available for the first time as an N Line version, combining fun to drive with a sporty appearance. The KONA N Line stands out through its motorsports-inspired front and rear end, body color claddings, and diamond-cut wheel design.
KONA N Lines front is characterized by the dynamic features of the front bumper, harmoniously connected and unified with the body color treatment of the wheel arch claddings. Instead of the rugged skid plate of the new KONA, the N Line version features a characteristic N-style aerodynamic lip with low-lying corner fins for a road-hugging appearance. Larger, more technical air intake features are further distinguished by a unique mesh design and surface treatment.
On the sides, the body color claddings and new rocker panels are complemented by the dedicated 18-inch alloy wheel design.
KONA N Lines rear design reinforces the models dynamic image. The rear bumper incorporates a large central aerodynamic diffusor in a contrast color to the body as well as a one-side double muffler. The bumper fascia is formed with sharply creased corners and N-style fins for better air flow.
The interior is now available with a dedicated N Line color package in one-tone black with cloth, leather or suede seats. In addition, the distinctive red stitching, metal pedals and N logo on the gear shift and seats all contribute to a sportier look and feel.
Sleek and sophisticated design upgrades for the new KONA
With a bold, progressive design and adventurous personality, Hyundai KONA has become an icon in its segment. Design updates, front and rear, give the new KONA a sleek, sophisticated look while keeping its robust signature style.
The striking new front-end design stands out with eye-catching, protective cladding panels. At the top, the stretched bonnet ends sharply over the center grille with a wide, distinctive shape that gives KONA a powerful look. This effect is further enhanced by the wide, thin LED DRLs. Lower down, the main bumper fascia connects smoothly to the wheel arch claddings, forming a unique and robust armor in a contrasting material to the main body.
On the lower bumper, the robust skid plate appears to embrace the lower air intake, and visually complements the shape of the main upper grille. Integrated into the bumper corners are vertically oriented aerodynamic inlets that improve air flow.
The side body retains the muscular and sculpted shape of the previous KONA, but the sporty wedge-shaped silhouette is further accentuated by the visual connection between the shoulder creases and the sharper, cleaner, more harmonious front end.
At the rear, the new taillights feature horizontally stretched graphics. These reflect the unique identity of the front-end light design. The new rear bumper, which also follows the protective armor concept of the front and sides, also uses a contrasting material.
In addition, the latest model comes with updated 17- or 18-inch wheel designs, in addition to 16-inch wheels carried over from its predecessor. KONA Hybrid will be available with the same 16- or 18-inch wheels as before.
The new KONA is 40mm longer than the previous model, giving it a sleeker and more dynamic look that complements its wide, strong visual stance.
The new KONA comes with five new exterior colors, including Surfy Blue, Dive in Jeju, Ignite Flame, Cyber Grey, and Misty Jungle. These are in addition to five existing colors, including Phantom Black, Chalk White, Dark Knight, Pulse Red and Galactic Grey. Every color can be combined with the Phantom Black two-tone roof. The two-tone roof also comes with matching mirror housings. This contributes to its sporty and sleek appearance and gives customers more options for personalization and self-expression.
Interior design updates
The redesigned interior of the new KONA expresses a more upscale and progressive look than its predecessor. It features a rugged yet refined style that matches the exteriors boldness, designed to appeal to customers who lead an active lifestyle. Extra cargo capacity and rear seat legroom offer more accommodation and comfort. This is in addition to a significant technology upgrade that contributes to the interiors comprehensive update.
The new console area is disconnected from the instrument panel to emphasize the horizontal layout. The dashboard appears wide and airy to create a generously spacious atmosphere. An electric parking brake is added as a new convenience feature in response to customer demand.
Other enhancements that contribute to the interiors higher level of quality and refinement include new ambient light technology that illuminates the center cup holders as well as in the passenger and driver side footwells, and new aluminium finish rings around the speakers and air vents.
The new KONA interior is completed by new colors and materials. New seat cover options include a black woven houndstooth design, cloth seats with black and grey embossing, and perforated leather seats in black, beige, or khaki.
With the black woven houndstooth seats, industrial-inspired and modern grains accentuate the fine-spun linear seat trim with its three-dimensional pattern. With the black and grey cloth seats, sophisticated visuals are created by shadows and dark nuances in several anthracite grey tones. Optional leather seats show a classy tartan texture that is also reflected in the material perforation. Both the texture and the colors of the leather seats harmonize the dynamic-looking interior.
As an alternative to the dark interior, KONA is also available with a light beige interior trim, accentuating the fresh look seen in the door panels and seats. With the optional khaki leather seats and the khaki center console, Hyundai is also offering a natural and premium look as an alternative to the black and beige versions.
The new KONAs interior packages include changes in color to the dashboard as well as the seats and other surfaces.
Color packages:
Two-tone light beige (leather) [NEW]
Khaki (leather) [NEW]
Basic color operations:
One-tone black (woven cloth or leather)
Connectivity & Technology
The new KONA is equipped with the latest in-car connectivity and technology.
New to this model is a 10.25-inch digital cluster, first seen in the all-new i20. In addition, the new KONA also comes with an optional 10.25-inch AVN screen, providing new connectivity features. The new AVN screen also comes with a split-screen function and multiple Bluetooth connections.
In addition, KONA comes with the latest Blue Link upgrade, which includes User profile, Last Mile Navigation, Connected Routing, Live Parking Information, and more. Customers can have a personalized User profile that can be transferred to other Hyundai vehicles providing the same feature. Last Mile Navigation helps customers continue the journey to their destination even after the car is parked, using either Augmented Reality or Google Maps. Connected Routing is Hyundais cloud-based navigation system. Live Parking Information gives users real-time information on the location and price of nearby available parking spaces. In addition, the latest Blue Link upgrade features Free Text Search for users to enter addresses or points of interest.
As standard, the new KONA is equipped with Display Audio that is increased from seven to eight inches, and DAB radio. Its also upgraded with wireless Android Auto and Apple Car Play for convenient wireless connectivity of their phones to the Display Audio system.
Advanced safety and driver assistance features
The new KONA is equipped with a range of safety and driver assistance features.
Smart Cruise Control (SCC) is upgraded to include the stop-and-go function. Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA), available in combination with the DCT, is enhanced too, engaging the vehicles differential brakes to prevent a collision if another vehicle is detected near the rear corner (blind spot) and the driver attempts to change lanes.
New to this model is Leading Vehicle Departure Alert (LVDA), which alerts the driver if they do not react fast enough when the vehicle ahead of them starts moving. Another is Lane Following Assist (LFA), which automatically adjusts steering to assist the driver to keep in the center of the lane.
Another upgraded feature is Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) with pedestrian and new, optional cyclist detection. The optional FCA uses a sensor in addition to a camera to better detect potential collisions. This increases the detection range and types of targets that can be detected, and ensures the system works even in bad weather conditions. If the system senses a potential collision and the driver fails to react in time, it automatically applies the brakes. As another enhancement, FCA now comes as standard (camera based), including pedestrian detection-
Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (RCCA), also a first for the new KONA with the DCT, works to avoid a collision when backing up by applying the brakes if another vehicle is detected. This is an upgrade from the previously available Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning, which only provided a warning.
Another unique feature is Rear Seat Alert (RSA), which alerts the driver if someone or something is in the back seat when they prepare to exit the vehicle. Another safety feature primarily intended for the protection of children, Safe Exit Warning (SEW) is intended to prevent passengers from exiting the vehicle if it is not yet safe to do so. If the vehicle has come to a stop, but the radar detects an oncoming vehicle coming from the rear, it will display a visual and audio warning to alert the passenger of the danger.
Intelligent Speed Limit Warning (ISLW) uses the vehicles navigation or the front camera to determine the current speed limit and displays it in the cluster and AVN. If the driver exceeds the speed limit, a visual warning is shown.
In addition, the new KONA is now available with eCall, a feature that automatically alerts emergency services if the airbags are deployed or the e-Call button is being pushed.
Hyundai SmartSense Active Safety Features
Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA) [NEW]
Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist [NEW]
Smart Cruise Control (SCC) with stop and go [NEW]
Leading Vehicle Departure Alert (LVDA) [NEW]
Lane Following Assist (LFA) [NEW]
Intelligent Speed Limit Warning (ISLW) [NEW]
Safe Exit Warning (SEW) [NEW]
Rear Seat Alert (RSA) [NEW]
Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) (now with [NEW] optional cyclist detection)
Other Safety Features:
e-call [NEW]
Comfort & Roominess
Several new convenience features allow for a more comfortable and convenient experience, including second-row heated seats and a second-row USB port. The new KONA with manual seats has also been improved. Passengers in the front row can also now adjust their seat height for an optimized seating position while they ride.
New powertrain options for both sporty and eco-conscious consumers
The new KONAs powertrain lineup reaches new heights in terms of performance and sustainability. At the top of the lineup is an enhanced 1.6-liter T-GDI Smartstream engine with a 7-speed dual clutch transmission that delivers 198 PS. This powerful, sporty powertrain is available in both two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive variations.
For increased fuel efficiency, the new KONA will be equipped with 48-volt mild hybrid technology. This technology is applied to the 1.6-liter Smartstream diesel engine with 136 PS as standard and is available with a seven-speed DCT (7DCT) or six-speed Intelligent Manual Transmission (6iMT) as well as optional four-wheel drive. The 1.0-liter T-GDI Smartstream petrol engine with 120 PS can be equipped with 48-volt mild hybrid technology and 6iMT as an option.
First seen in the new i30 and the all-new i20, the iMTs clutch operates purely electronically instead of using a mechanical linkage. The iMT decouples the engine from the transmission after the driver releases the accelerator, saving fuel as the engine can switch off and the car enters coasting mode. The engine restarts in the same gear as soon as the driver presses either the brake or the accelerator pedals, thanks to the power provided by the Mild Hybrid Starter Generator.
When chosen without mild hybrid technology, the 1.0-liter T-GDI Smartstream engine can be combined with a 7-speed dual clutch transmission or a 6-speed manual transmission and optional four-wheel drive.
KONA Hybrid system
The new KONA is also available as a hybrid option, which was added to the KONA lineup in 2019. This powertrain features a 1.6-liter GDI engine and electric motor with a combined output of 141 PS, paired with a 6-speed dual clutch transmission and with two-wheel drive. The 32kW electric motor draws its energy from a 1.56 kWh lithium polymer battery.
Ride and handling enhancements for more comfort
The new KONA is retuned for a smoother ride compared to its predecessor in order to improve driving comfort, without degrading the KONAs sporty character. Next to springs and dampers, the stabilizer bars were modified for better ride comfort and isolation. The rear bump stop was also modified, bringing benefits for primary ride and lateral body control.
The new KONA also comes with improved tires on all sizes of wheels, resulting in less rolling resistance and more efficient driving. The 18-inch tires are upgraded from Conti Sport Contact 5 to Conti Premium Contact 6 to improve the ride comfort. This also means drivers can expect better fuel efficiency and lower CO 2 emissions while hearing less road noise than before. This creates an excellent balance between eco-friendly driving and sportiness. In addition, several parts of the vehicle have been updated to improve Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH), further increasing cabin comfort.
The steering is fine-tuned to match the new suspension character as well as to fit the new tires. The new KONA delivers comfortable yet connected steering that is more linear and well-balanced across the complete speed range.
This set up is applied to the whole KONA range, including the KONA N Line. The only exception is the KONA N Line paired with the 1.6 T-GDI powertrain and four-wheel drive, which received a specific steering tuning to match the character of the vehicle.
The all-new KONA N Line and new KONA will arrive to showrooms towards the end of the year, while the new KONA Hybrid will follow beginning of 2021. The new KONA Electric, which will carry over the powertrain and electric driving range of the current version, will be revealed soon.
* The vehicle specification and features in this press release is for European markets and they may vary depending on country/region.
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About Hyundai Motor Company
Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company offers a range of world-class vehicles and mobility services in more than 200 countries. Hyundai Motor sold more than 4.4 million vehicles globally in 2019, and currently employs some 120,000 personnel worldwide. The company is enhancing its product lineup with vehicles designed to help usher in a more sustainable future, while offering innovative solutions to real-world mobility challenges. Through the process Hyundai aims to facilitate Progress for Humanity with smart mobility solutions that vitalize connections between people and provide quality time to its customers.
More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at:
http://worldwide.hyundai.com or http://globalpr.hyundai.com
Disclaimer: Hyundai Motor Company believes the information contained herein to be accurate at the time of release. However, the company may upload new or updated information if required and assumes that it is not liable for the accuracy of any information interpreted and used by the reader.
MILAN Sustainability has a strategic role as a cultural lever to develop multilateral relationships and agreements, believes Prada SpA chairman Carlo Mazzi.
Keeping a focus on the topic of sustainability, despite the uncertainties connected to the coronavirus pandemic, Prada Group on Tuesday held the Shaping a Sustainable Multilateralism conference at Ca Corner della Regina in Venice, one of the Fondazione Pradas headquarters. This is part of Pradas Shaping a Future conferences and part of a two-day event promoted by the Soft Power Club, a new private organization whose goal is to stimulate diplomacy at a cultural level and multilateral relations between the public and private sectors to encourage social progress.
Mazzi, a founding partner of the Soft Power Club, said in a phone interview from Venice that the name of the organization hails back to American political scientist Joseph Nye, who popularized the term as the ability to attract and co-opt rather than coerce in politics. Its a reflection on the fact that power must be shared and legitimate, it cannot be imposed, said Mazzi. We thought we would use soft power because after a moment that was full of hope, as the world takes a step back [due to the pandemic], instead of seeing cohesion and sharing, we see sovereignty and repressive nationalism and power enforced through strength. The idea is to promote an apolitical and international representation on shared values such as art, culture and sustainability, he noted, underscoring how the European Union is seen as a global actor in redefining soft power.
Mazzi said the Prada Group was naturally connected to the Soft Power Club, in light of the sustainable goals it has set and promoted over the past few years. The club was formed during the COVID-19 pandemic so this was the first meeting, inaugurated in Venice, a unique and international point of aggregation. To wit, on Monday afternoon, a discussion was held on the problems of oceans a priority for the city of Venice and a key focus as climate change and the rise in sea levels are a paradigm for potential new disruption, he said.
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Earlier this year the Italian luxury company partnered with UNESCO on an education program for high school students worldwide to raise awareness of, and promote, more responsible behavior toward the oceans. This project is in line with the Agenda of the United Nations 2030 and 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The project between Prada and UNESCOs Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission will stretch over four months and start in the fall, as soon as schools reopen in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It is financed through a portion of the sale proceeds from the Prada Re-Nylon capsule collection, donated to UNESCOs IOC.
Ana Luiza M. Thompson-Flores, director of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, was one of the speakers on Tuesday, a panel that also included Italys Minister for Economic Development Stefano Patuanelli; Marzio Galeotti, professor of energy and environmental economics at the University of Milan; Matteo Lunelli, chairman of Fondazione Altagamma; Mariarosa Cutillo, chief of strategic partnerships, UNFPA, and Carlo Maria Ferro, chairman of the Italian Trade Agency, among others.
Prada is a signatory of the Fashion Pact and asked if he thinks companies are responding to the sustainability call in a concrete way, Mazzi was positive, saying that actions are being taken and companies are engaged with precise goals. Concrete actions are always moved by an idea. When there is a concept, a thought that is perceived and ideas are matured, an effective reaction follows. The strength of an idea, it has an incredible power, it can trigger a movement of radical change, Mazzi claimed.
For example, he said, the financial sector is aware of this trend and acknowledging it. Big investors such as BlackRock have decided not to invest in companies with a negative ecological impact. They have realized that progress is going in this direction and this is very effective. Without investments you remain isolated, he elaborated.
Mazzi said that, during the conference, Galeotti drew a parallel between the COVID-19 pandemic and sustainability, seeing the former as a test of a global problem global as much as the sustainability problem. Understanding the impact of COVID-19 [can help] find inspiration for the impact of social and ecological decay.
Asked if other fashion brands would likely join the Soft Power Club, Mazzi said: Why not? Already we started by sharing ideas and we expect there will be interest from fashion groups. He noted that fashion is a very important ambassador for Italy in the world, it represents a positive value for the country.
Globalization, continued Mazzi, was already suffering before the pandemic, hurt by tensions on trade and a new race for strategic position, hence the urgent need to recodify soft power as an instrument to spur global dialogue for an inclusive multilateralism. This is very much needed in this phase of resilient coexistence with the virus and, in perspective of a more equipped capacity to face future pandemics together with other challenges.
Prada last year hosted the Shaping a Sustainable Future Society conference in New York, the third edition of the Italian companys cultural conversations under the Shaping a Future moniker. It explored topics such as freedom, equality and justice within the workplace, and the impact of ethical assessments in peoples choices and behavior.
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The husband of missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew spent the night before she vanished at a budget hotel in Denver and left the room reeking of chlorine, a co-worker has claimed exclusively to DailyMail.com.
Suzanne, 49, was reported missing on Mothers Day, May 10, by neighbor Jeanne Ritter, 70, after her two daughters Mallory and Macy were unable to reach her on the phone.
Her bike was found the same day by a bridge close to her luxury $1.5 million Salida, Colorado home and she had not been heard from since May 8.
At the time, her husband Barry was 150 miles away in Broomfield, Colorado - just outside of Denver - working on a landscaping job for transport company RTD-Denver.
But the couple's home quickly became the focus of the police investigation, with CSI specialists seen carrying evidence bags into the property in photos taken by DailyMail.com two days after Suzanne vanished.
Last week, her 52-year-old husband claimed to have given 30 hours of interviews to police and accused them of botching the initial investigation.
A day later, Suzannes brother Andy Moorman, 58, accused Barry of refusing to take a polygraph test and said he doesnt feel that Barry is fully cooperating with the investigation.
Now DailyMail.com can reveal that a co-worker of Barrys took over his Holiday Inn hotel room on May 10 and found it scattered with wet towels and stinking of chlorine.
Barry Morphew, the husband of missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew (pictured together) spent the night before she vanished at a budget hotel in Denver and left the room reeking of chlorine, a co-worker has claimed
Last week, the 52-year-old claimed to have given 30 hours of interviews to police and accused them of botching the initial investigation. A day later, Suzannes brother Andy Moorman, 58, accused him of refusing to take a polygraph test and said he doesnt feel that Barry is fully cooperating with the investigation. Pictured: Barry grilling out at his home on July 18
DailyMail.com can reveal that a co-worker of Barrys took over his Holiday Inn hotel room (pictured) on May 10 and found it scattered with wet towels and stinking of chlorine. A manager confirmed to DailyMail.com that they do not use chlorine to clean guest rooms
Jeff Puckett, 49, of Salida, Colorado, said he was ordered to Denver by Barry that morning but didnt see him because he had already left due to a family emergency.
Speaking in an exclusive interview, Puckett told DailyMail.com: I got there Sunday night and the room smelled like chlorine real bad.
It was his room and hed taken a shower his towels were all over the floor.
A manager at the $92-a-night property confirmed to DailyMail.com that they do not use chlorine to clean guest rooms and have handed security footage from the weekend of May 9 to police.
Puckett also said he discovered a pile of mail in the room including a letter about property insurance and later turned it over to the FBI.
He said: I found some mail in the hotel room. His mail was in there and I gave it to the FBI. I thought it was kind of odd to have it there.
Some of it was from an insurance company, like insuring your property, that kind of thing.
DailyMail.com can also reveal Barry was granted guardianship of Suzanne in order to sell a property in their native Indiana on Tuesday after a 30-minute Zoom hearing.
Despite being told the landscaping work was urgent, Puckett told DailyMail.com that he arrived to find no tools and was left to wait around the hotel for two days never actually visiting the job site.
He said he returned to Salida on the Tuesday after Suzanne disappeared and has not heard from Barry since, although he was paid.
Jeff Puckett (pictured), 49, of Salida, Colorado, said he was ordered to Denver by Barry that morning but didnt see him because he had already left due to a family emergency. As a result, he says the experience has left him suspicious. Its kind of weird, he told DailyMail.com
DailyMail.com can reveal Barry was granted guardianship of Suzanne in order to sell a property in their native Indiana on Tuesday after a 30-minute Zoom meeting. Pictured: Barry grilling at his $1.5 million home on July 18
Suzanne, 49, was reported missing on Mothers Day by neighbor Jeanne Ritter, 70, after her two daughters Mallory and Macy were unable to reach her on the phone. Her bike was found the same day by a bridge close to her luxury $1.5 million Salida, Colorado home (pictured)
As a result, he says the experience has left him suspicious. Its kind of weird, he told DailyMail.com. My first thought was that this must be like an alibi. Thats what it felt like.
He added: 'I hope they find her alive but its been a long time.
All of Pucketts information has been passed to police by DailyMail.com.
The new revelations come a week after Barry gave his first interview in which he denied having anything to do with his wifes disappearance almost four months ago.
The 52-year-old, who refused to speak on camera or be recorded, also mooted several theories about what could have happened to her, including an animal attack or a stranger abduction.
In addition to searching his home, investigators also spent several days combing through a job site five miles away, where he had been working on the landscaping.
Although Barry said he continues to search for his wife, his claims sparked a family row, with Suzannes older brother Andy saying he has refused to take a polygraph test and that there is no evidence of any kind of animal attack.
Speaking to Fox 29, Andy said: He says, shes the love of my life, I could never do this. The problem I have with that is I dont feel like hes fully cooperating with investigators.
He should have taken a lie detector and a voice analysis, anything else they ask him to do. And hes gone kinda quiet.
The new revelations come a week after Barry gave his first interview in which he denied having anything to do with his wifes disappearance almost four months ago. The 52-year-old, who refused to speak on camera or be recorded, also mooted several theories about what could have happened to her, including an animal attack or a stranger abduction
Although Barry said he continues to search for his wife, his claims sparked a family row, with Suzannes older brother Andy saying he has refused to take a polygraph test and that there is no evidence of any kind of animal attack
Andy, an attorney based in Anderson, Indiana, said he has not heard from either of his nieces since their mother vanished.
The 58-year-old is now fundraising for a new search for Suzanne due to take place at the end of September and took part in a vigil for his sister on Sunday night during which he said he didnt expect to find her alive.
The new round of fundraising comes on top of a GoFundMe page set up by Barry and his nephew Trevor Noel, 36, of Evergreen, Colorado.
It has raised almost $33,000 so far with the funds due to be spent on searching for Suzanne although DailyMail.com can reveal that no organized searches are currently taking place.
Barry and other family members have also offered a $200,000 reward for information leading to Suzannes safe return.
Noel declined to comment when approached for comment by DailyMail.com at his home.
Since 1954, Japan has spent tens of billions of dollars in development aid, initially meant as war compensation, for the region. But it took more than two decades for Japan to normalize diplomatic ties with some of its wartime Asian foes. It restored ties with South Korea in 1965, and with China in 1972, though disputes over wartime history continue to affect Japans ties with its neighbors. Japan has yet to sign a peace treaty with Russia because of territorial disputes and has not established diplomatic ties with North Korea.
Insurers have backed down and agreed to cover a British mother's 10,000-a-day hospital bills as she fights for her life in a Turkish hospital - as her daughter thanks the Good Samaritans who raised 37,000 for a flight home.
Stephanie Uyar said her dream holiday turned into a 'horror movie,' after her mother collapsed at her husband's home and was given just 48 hours to live on August 18.
Since then Carole Fleming, 67, has been in the hospital with a blood disorder related to a potential bone marrow deficiency.
The British Consulate had said they will not repatriate the breast cancer-survivor while she is still alive, Stephanie claimed,
Her family say insurer Axa initially refused to pay the the hospital bills - due to a link to her previous illness.
The desperate daughter launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise 25,000 for a commercial air ambulance to bring the mother-of-two back to Britain and into the hands of the NHS.
Since MailOnline shared the family's appeal last night, they have raised over 37,000 - and Axa have agreed to start paying the medical bills.
Speaking today, Mrs Uyar, 36, said: 'This morning, the Doctors at Mugla Hospital told me it was now or never either we start Mum on the desperately-needed IVIG treatment, or she dies today.
'It was as simple at that.
British mother Carole Fleming, 67, (pictured in hospital) is fighting for her life in a Turkish hospital after coming down with a mystery illness
Carole's daughter Stephanie Uyar (pictured together in Turkey), launched a desperate fundraiser to try and pay for her mother's treatment and get her home
'When we first asked MailOnline for help, our GoFundMe page was stuck on 4,000 and nobody was listening to us.
'Less than 24 hours later, we've raised over 37,000 to give mum the lifeline she deserves.
'The money you helped us raise by donating so generously to our GoFundMe page means that she is starting her IVIG treatment as I write this from an uncomfortable hospital chair.
'We are truly humbled by the way that thousands of total strangers pulled together and did their bit to bring our beloved mum home.
'Your kindness in our darkest hour is an extraordinary testament to the human spirit, and has brought us more hope and comfort than we could ever fully convey.
'As wonderful as today's news is, we're not out of the woods yet. After the MailOnline story went viral, AXA promised to do their bit to bring her home but even with the treatment, she's not stable enough to fly on an air ambulance.'
Carole has given her thanks after thousands of pounds flooded in on Wednesday to help get her home to Britain
Carole Fleming (middle right) pictured with her daughter Stephanie (bottom left), was visiting in laws in Turkey, before she collapsed on August 18
Mrs Uyar said she feels like she's 'trapped in a horror movie'. Her mother's condition in intensive care in Mugla is so dire she 'cries blood' due to her body's inability to clot. Pictured: Ms Fleming with her son-in-law's mother Hilal
Ms Fleming's brother Ian, 55, claims medics in Turkey mistakenly believed his sister's illness was brought about by a medication related to her breast cancer - which she was recovered from last year.
The link to her previous condition meant her medical insurer would not cover the costs.
Earlier today her insurer, Axa, backed down.
Doctors backtracked when they took Ms Fleming off the medication and her condition got worse.
Ms Fleming was in Turkey visiting her daughter's husband Alper Uyar's family when she felt tired before collapsing on August 18.
She was rushed to hospital where doctors tested her blood. They found her platelet count was just 6,000 per microlitre of blood the minimum safe level is 150,000. This means she's unable to form clots, and needs regular transfusions just to stay alive.
Mrs Uyar has thanked 'Carole's angels' who raised 37,000 in the space of a day
She's been moved around several hospitals in Turkey. Her platelet count is now just 1,000 per microlitre.
Mrs Uyar said yesterday: 'In the last three weeks, there have only been two nights when I've not stayed by her side in a hospital chair.
'It's not even a duty, it's a reflex. After everything she's done for me the least I can do is be by her side.
'It's like I'm trapped in a horror movie. The things I've seen and witnessed in the last three weeks, I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy.
'No child should see their mother in a condition like that.
'To see the woman who's always been my rock, who's always been there to help me, to see her so vulnerable in a strange place. I'll have nightmares about this ward for the rest of my life.
'I've been trying to keep her mind off it by talking about EastEnders or gossiping about people we met on the beach, but it's hard to stay composed when I look up and see my mum like this.
'Her blood can't clot, so she has constant uncontrollable nosebleeds sometimes she even cries blood. At one point her tongue was just one huge blood blister, she could barely talk.
'Back on August 18 the doctors gave her 48 hours to live. But she's a fighter, and she's still here even though they don't know what's wrong with her yet. She's refusing to give up. She's told me she's not going to die in this hospital.
Stephanie now hopes her mother Carole will be able to fly home on Monday, where she can be passed into the care of the NHS
Ms Fleming was in Turkey visiting her daughter's husband Alper Uyar's family when she felt tired before collapsing on August 18. Pictured: Mr and Mrs Ulyar
'She'll make it home, somehow. I don't care what I have to do to make that happen, I'll do it.
'When the doctors said they couldn't start treatment without the money, I immediately asked if there was a form I could sign where they'd start it and if I didn't pay, I'd go to prison.
'I don't care how bad the prisons are out here. I don't care if it's 15 years, 20 years, 25 years I'd do that time in a heartbeat if it gave mum a chance of making it.
'She's been my best friend for my entire life. She was there when I met my husband we were on holiday in Turkey like best friends, and I tripped over outside Alper's shop, and he just caught me.
'It was like a movie I think she knew on the spot that I'd marry him.
'I might lose my mum and my best friend because of an insurance loophole, and that's what's hardest to come to terms with.
'It's not right that my mum could be taken away because of a form in an office somewhere.
'I just hope the insurance underwriters have a heart and realise what's at stake.'
Mr Fleming told how Turkish doctors mistakenly revoked her cover by telling the insurance firm the low platelet count was down to Carole's breast cancer medication.
Mrs Uyar (right and left with her husband Alper, mother Ms Fleming and brother Alex Haworth before her mother fell ill) was trying to raise 25,000 for a commercial air ambulance to bring the mother-of-two - who is currently in intensive care in Mugla - back to Britain and into the hands of the NHS
He raged: 'They said Carole's issues were a side-effect of hormone tablets she was taking for her breast cancer recovery.
'But when she stopped taking them nothing changed. If anything, she got worse.
'The doctors admitted they were wrong and the insurance company is looking into her case, but these things take time.
'Every hour counts. At the moment all they can do is keep up the blood transfusions, but she needs immunoglobulin therapy just to get her in shape to fly home.
'That costs 10,000 a day. So far we've dug deep to pay 7,000, but that kind of money just isn't possible.
Mrs Fleming was rushed to hospital where doctors tested her blood. Mrs Fleming (left) with her son-in-law's parents Hilal and Osman
'The doctors are ready and waiting to start, but they can't do anything until they know who's paying for it. That's just how it works.
'It's such a difficult situation if I was out in Turkey I would have lost my temper by now.
'Carole means the world to me. She helped raise me, she's more than just a sister.
'She's just an incredibly kind, incredibly warm, caring person.
'She spent her life helping disadvantaged kids into apprenticeships, and those success stories always gave her such a lift.
'After all she's done to help people, it's awful to think that she could die because of something like an insurance error.
Ms Fleming (right with Mr and Mrs Uyar) has been moved around several hospitals in Turkey. Her platelet count is now just 1,000 per microlitre
'Steph has been amazing throughout all of this, her and Alper are just such an incredibly warm, supporting people who would move heaven and earth to help Carole.
'She's going through hell, and probably feels like her mum is being unnecessarily ripped away.
'I'm trying to be strong for them, but I feel so helpless. So utterly helpless.
'There's nothing we can do from the UK. We're just sat here going around in circles while Carole is fighting for her life out in Turkey.
'We called the Foreign Office and they said there was nothing they can do but then told us they'd "repatriate" her if she died.
'We're the fifth richest nation in the world. It's not that we don't have the means to fly a citizen home.'
To donate to Mrs Uyar's GoFundMe appeal, click here.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: We are in contact with the family of a British woman who has been admitted to hospital in Turkey.
BIG BASIN REDWOODS STATE PARK, Santa Cruz County Californias oldest state park will stay closed for at least a year to protect the public as the state takes a cautious approach to reopening the beloved forested enclave that was badly burned in a recent wildfire.
Big Basin Redwoods State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains suffered extensive damage from the CZU Lightning Complex fires, and while many of its most majestic trees are expected to survive, the area is riddled with hazards that will take a long time to fix, said Chris Spohrer, a state parks district superintendent.
Spohrer made the comments after he helped lead Gov. Gavin Newsom, Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Peter Gaynor and a host of state officials on a tour through the burned park. The public wont be safe at Big Basin for the next 12 months or more, Spohrer said, partly because parks officials still need to figure out exactly which trees must be removed and which will remain. They hope that stress from high winds in the coming months will show them which trees are best positioned to survive.
Additionally, parks officials are concerned that flames from the CZU complex may have left the soil at Big Basin unable to retain much moisture, thereby greatly increasing the risk of floods and debris flows when winter rains arrive. Those events could damage the trails and roads in the park, thereby demanding even more resources to restore the park.
LiPo Ching / Special to The Chronicle
Driving into the beloved park near the town of Boulder Creek is a dramatically different experience than it was for generations of visitors who went to the site since its founding in 1902.
What was once a constant green wall of redwood, Douglas fir and oak is now increasingly brown as one approaches the park. The entrance is barely recognizable in many ways, with the park visitor center and headquarters, the nature museum and store, and the old lodge all reduced to piles of rubble. Burned vegetation is everywhere, as are fallen or felled tree trunks. Everything smells like campfire.
My heart really does break, Spohrer said, his voice breaking with emotion. The memories here. The generational commitment ... this is a really meaningful place to all of us.
In addition to Newsom and Gaynor, the Big Basin tour also included Thom Porter, the head of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection; new state parks director Armando Quintero; state Office of Emergency Services director Mark Ghilarducci; California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot; and others.
They arrived at the park several minutes past noon and began inspecting the damage with a handful of journalists observing at about 12:30 p.m. For the next 50 minutes, the group looked closely at the destroyed buildings and damaged trees while parks officials explained their significance. Newsom stood inside the hollow center of the Auto Tree, named for its ability to fit a vehicle backed into its center, and marveled at the giants apparent survival.
LiPo Ching/Special to The Chronicle
Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California
He and the other officials also walked through the badly damaged park amphitheater, where flames broke some of the log benches. And they walked to two of the most treasured trees, named the Mother and Father of the F orest, old-growth redwoods that are both still standing, though signs of fire are all around them. A portion of one nearby tree was still smoldering from the fire.
Newsom said it was an emotional experience.
If this is not a gut punch, then youre not truly conscious as a human being, he told a reporter.
Quintero, who was at Big Basin just a few hours into his first day as state parks director, said California could use the devastation at Big Basin to set a global example.
I think we have an opportunity to show the world what the parks of the future could look like, he said, suggesting that the state establish a new way of managing parkland for the next century.
J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
Senator Edward J. Markey turned back a primary challenge Tuesday from Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III, handing the Kennedy family its first-ever electoral loss in Massachusetts and demonstrating the growing strength of the progressive left.
Forging a coalition of younger and more liberal Democrats, the sort of voters who once formed the core of the Kennedy base, Mr. Markey was winning about 54 percent of the vote when Mr. Kennedy called him to concede.
By winning renomination in a generational clash and the marquee Democratic Senate primary of the year Mr. Markey, 74, proved that the ascendant left is not eager to simply throw out long-serving incumbents in favor of younger rivals, such as the 39-year-old Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Markey, who was first elected to Congress in 1976, was able to outflank Mr. Kennedy with progressives, leaving the heir of Massachusettss most storied political dynasty little opening.
Claiming victory, and wearing the same Nike Air Revolutions that became his signature as a late-in-life hipster, Mr. Markey elevated his millennial supporters and the Green New Deal they rallied around. Tonights victory is a tribute to those young people, he said, vowing that the age of incrementalism is over.
A women's livestreaming event is held in Yiwu City, East China's Zhejiang Province, on August 18. [Yiwu Women's Federation]
The Jinhua Women's Online Entrepreneurship Alliance was established at a large livestreaming event in Yinwu City, East China's Zhejiang Province, on August 18. The alliance was initiated by six female entrepreneurs from the province's Jinhua City and already has 85 participating companies.
The alliance will serve as a platform integrating the city's high-quality resources in the industries of the social commerce, livestreaming e-commerce, new retail services in communities and e-commerce platform management, and provide livestreaming training sessions and multi-channel network services.
At the opening ceremony, a large live broadcast event, including 15 on-site livestreaming rooms and 85 online livestreaming rooms, was held to help promote high-quality goods in eastern and western China.
Yang Chunxiao, largest retailer of agricultural and sideline products in the city's Pujiang County, participated in the live broadcast event to promote her products.
Yang got acquainted with live commerce after she attended a livestreaming training session together with cadres of the Jinhua Women's Federation in Yiwu.
She began to sell most of the agricultural products online after she completed the training session. She also established the Pujiang Women's Online Entrepreneurship Alliance, which recruited 300-plus members and achieved sales of nearly 30 million yuan (US $4.34 million) in more than four months.
Many female livestreaming hosts like Yang participated in the livestreaming on the site, seizing the opportunity to expand the online market for high-quality agricultural and sideline products in eastern and western China.
Lan Liqun, a broadcaster of the She ethnic group, promotes local specialties of Wuyi County, Jinhua City, during the women's livestreaming event in Yiwu City, East China's Zhejiang Province, on August 18. [Yiwu Women's Federation]
Tens of female live streamers participated in the event through the Internet. Nearly 70 percent of them were beginners to hold the livestreamed shows. It is the first time for them to live broadcast after they completed a seven-day livestreaming training course held by the Jinhua Women's Federation.
The alliance will establish a tutors' team of online entrepreneurship, motivate female live streamers and women who have started their businesses in the fields of social commerce, livestreaming e-commerce and new retail services in communities to get involved in online entrepreneurship.
It will also improve the training course system of online entrepreneurship and offer training sessions to women entrepreneurs, in a bid to help improve their operation technologies and enhance their competence.
Women's livestreaming demonstration bases will be built up in industrial parks, cultural and creative industrial bases, small commodity markets, breeding bases, homestays and agritainments, snack streets and enterprises in Jinhua. A series of targeted measures, including experience sharing meetings and cooperation with government departments, platform operators and colleges and universities, will also be taken to create a shared future for the members.
With the rapid development of the livestreaming economy, the Jinhua Women's Federation has held various training sessions for women to accelerate work resumption, poverty relief and economic development.
"Women's federations should serve women from their perspectives and help them solve problems," said Yan Xiaojun, President of the Jinhua Women's Federation, adding that livestreaming e-commerce is the common choice of the era and the general public.
A college student promotes agricultural products of Longnan City, Northwest China's Gansu Province, during the women's livestreaming event in Yiwu City, East China's Zhejiang Province, on August 18. [Yiwu Women's Federation]
(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)
Ken Pearson from Balgriffin battles the wind as he walks on Howth Pier with his children, Holly (10), Callum (7), Ella (3) and their dog Mylo, in the wake of Storm Ellen.
Storms Saidhbhin, Bella and Fleur could be blowing across Ireland over the next year after being included on Met Eireann's 2020/2021 list of storm names.
It marks the fifth year since Met Eireann and the UK Met Office formed the West group and named storms, with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) joining in 2019.
Last year, the name 'Maura', believed to be named after fiery Love Island star Maura Higgins, made headlines - but this year, some of the names include pronunciation aids.
The 2020/21 list includes the following names: Aiden, Bella, Christoph, Darcy, Evert (pronounced Eh-vert), Fleur, Gavin, Heulwen (pronounced Hail-wen), Iain, Julia, Klaas (pronounced Klaa-s), Lilah (pronounced Ly-la), Minnie (pronounced Minn-eh), Naia (pronounced N-eye-a), Oscar, Phoebe, Ravi, Saidhbhin, Tobias, Veronica and Wilson.
The storm naming campaign aims to help with raising the public's awareness of severe weather.
"The naming of storms by National Met Services provides a clear, authoritative and consistent message to the public and prompts people to take action to prevent harm to themselves or to their property," said Evelyn Cusack, the Head of Forecasting and Chair of the European Met Services' Storm Naming Working Group.
She said that names which are easily pronounced but less recognised are picked.
"The storm names also add an extra interest for people with particular excitement in a family when one of their names appears in the list. We mostly pick names that can be easily pronounced but some are less generally recognised," said Ms Cusack.
Punishing
"Perhaps, hopefully, we won't get as far as Heulwen, a striking Welsh girl's name, but for the non-Welsh among us we have included an aid to pronounce it just in case (Hail -wen).
"But although I would love in theory to be able to use the Irish name Saidhbhin if we get that far down the list it will have been a really punishing season."
The names are in alphabetical order, alternate between genders and following the National Hurricane Center conventions, names beginning with Q, U, X, Y and Z are not used.
For international storms, once they are named by any National Met Service globally, that name is retained if the storm moves into Irish waters.
A storm is named by a National Met Service when Orange or Red level winds are forecast to impact over a widespread area.
"Although it's too early to anticipate what weather this autumn and winter will bring, we are prepared with a new list of names to help raise awareness of severe weather before it hits," said Will Lang, Head of the National Severe Weather Warning Service at the UK Met Office.
The streets of Temple Bar were virtually deserted during the early stages of lockdown
AN immunologist from Maynooth University said he does not believe lockdowns work against Covid-19.
Professor Paul Moynagh, from the universitys Institute for Human Health said Ireland had already had a very severe lockdown and this had failed to rid the country of the virus.
Lockdowns have never eliminated a virus, Prof Moynagh told Newstalk Breakfast.
The best way forward, Prof Moynagh felt, was for the continuation of society solidarity - including the wearing of masks, washing of hands and of increased testing and tracing.
Read More
That system has to work really well, he said, referring to State testing and tracing.
Some of our high numbers were triggered by high numbers in meat factories.
To me, it's a red flag to say we should be mass testing facilities.
Covid-19 cases have risen across Ireland in recent weeks, with yesterday seeing 217 cases - the highest daily case since May.
However, according to yesterdays figures, there had been no deaths for 10 days.
The lower death rate could, Prof Moynagh felt, indicate older people may be protecting themselves.
But there could also be a possibility that the viral load leading to infections, had been decreased by mask wearing.
That may decrease the severity, he said. There is talk of building a narrative in terms of lockdowns.
I look at the trade off of lockdowns, to flatten the curve. Having done that and our lockdown was very severe and we ended it at a glacial pace...
I see very little evidence that lockdowns work. This narrative that lockdown is the solution - we never in history used lockdowns to eliminate a virus.
If our long term strategy is lockdown, we don't have a strategy for the virus.
Goya's donation of shelf-stable products including beans, coconut water, and other products will be included in meal kits that will be distributed directly to thousands of families by The Salvation Army. "We know time is of the essence during situations like these and thankfully through The White House and FEMA, we were able to immediately reach The Salvation Army," said Bob Unanue, President of Goya Foods. "We are honored to work with The Salvation Army and commend their quick efforts in providing families with essential food. We will always be available during times of crisis to aid our fellow Americans."
This donation is part of Goya Gives, a global program committed to promoting the overall well-being of communities through social responsibility, environmental initiatives, and company values. In response to the pandemic, the company has been distributing an on-going donation of millions of pounds of food to food banks across the nation, Puerto Rico and South America as well as 20,000 protective masks to health care providers. During Hurricane Maria Goya donated over one million pounds of food to the people of Puerto Rico, in addition to the starving people of Venezuela during governmental unrest, to the people of Haiti during the earthquake, and at home during Superstorm Sandy, and Hurricanes Isaac, Harvey, and Irene. Since 1936, giving back is the heart of Goya and has always been a part of the company's DNA.
To learn more about Goya Gives, please visit: www.goya.com
About Goya Foods
Founded in 1936, Goya Foods, Inc. is America's largest Hispanic-owned food company, and has established itself as the leader in Latin American food and condiments. Goya manufactures, packages, and distributes over 2,500 high-quality food products from Spain, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central, and South America. Goya products have their roots in the culinary traditions of Hispanic communities around the world. The combination of authentic ingredients, robust seasonings, and convenient preparation makes Goya products ideal for every taste and every table. For more information on Goya Foods, please visit www.goya.com.
About The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army annually helps more than 23 million Americans overcome poverty, addiction, and economic hardships through a range of social services. By providing food for the hungry, emergency relief for disaster survivors, rehabilitation for those suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, and clothing and shelter for people in need, The Salvation Army is doing the most good at 7,600 centers of operation around the country. In the first-ever listing of "America's Favorite Charities" by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Salvation Army ranked as the country's largest privately funded, direct-service nonprofit. For more information, visit www.SalvationArmyUSA.org or give at HelpSalvationArmy.org.
For more information, contact:
Natalie J. Maniscalco
845.659.6506 / [email protected]
SOURCE Goya Foods
Will O'Shea, 57, who was a data architecture and governance specialist in the Cabinet Office from April, lost his job after the tweet
One of Dominic Cummings' 'weirdos and misfits' was sacked after saying police should use 'live rounds' on Black Lives Matter protesters, it has emerged.
Will O'Shea, 57, who was a data architecture and governance specialist in the Cabinet Office from April, lost his job after the tweet.
Colleagues found and reported the July 5 post and he was booted out of Westminster the same month.
It was the second of Mr Cummings' intake to leave their role after making race-related comments, with Andrew Sabisky having quit Downing Street in February.
Mr O'Shea's tweet came in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in the US when thousands of protesters were also on the streets in the UK.
He had replied to a post about Metropolitan police officers being driven out of a London housing estate, saying: 'Time to get out the live rounds.'
The data specialist told a Guardian reporter - posing as a recruitment agent - he was 'let go because of my tweet'.
It was the second of Mr Cummings' (pictured yesterday) intake to leave their role after making race-related comment
But he later told the journalist over email he was never given a reason for being sacked.
Mr O'Shea said he can see why colleagues at the Government Digital Service in the Cabinet Office found his post racist, incendiary and offensive.
The department was already facing complaints from BAME staff over alleged racism and bullying.
He said he accepted they thought he meant police should be shooting black people in London, but added it was not meant seriously.
Mr O'Shea told the reporter: 'I can see how it was taken that way, and I am sorry for that.' He added: 'I didn't say ''shoot blacks'' and that was not what I meant or wished.'
His Twitter account has since been deleted in a bid to 'get rid of any of the things I had said'.
The aide, who has an MBA from Manchester University and speaks French and German, was among the 'weirdos and misfits' Mr Cummings' called for in January.
The 'unusual set of people' were wanted to work in 'the frontiers of the science of prediction', 'data science, Alternative Intelligence and cognitive technologies' and 'decision-making institutions at the apex of government'.
Mr O'Shea never met the PM's chief adviser, but claimed he was interviewed by data scientist Ben Warner in what has been used as the Covid-19 press conference room.
A government spokesman told MailOnline: 'Will O'Shea was not hired to work in No 10.
'He was employed by the Cabinet Office as an external contractor for the Government Digital Service on coronavirus.
'All standard vetting processes were carried out for a contractor role through a commercial framework.'
The sacking followed Mr Sabisky's resignation in February after he made comments about forced contraception of the 'underclass' and the IQs of black people.
The sacking followed Mr Sabisky's (pictured) resignation in February after he made comments about forced contraception of the 'underclass' and the IQs of black people
The government adviser suggested black Americans have a lower average IQ than whites and labelled public outcry over female genital mutilation a 'moral panic'.
Mr Sabisky also said 'women's sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men's' and reportedly advocated legally enforcing the uptake of contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies 'creating a permanent underclass'.
The PM came under growing pressure to sack the 27-year-old, who was apparently drafted in to Number 10 after Mr Cummings called for 'misfits and weirdos'.
Downing Street repeatedly refused to condemn the remarks but Mr Sabisky said he was stepping down due to 'media hysteria' and so as not to be a 'distraction'.
He tweeted: 'Hey all, The media hysteria about my old stuff online is mad but I wanted to help HMG not be a distraction.
'Accordingly I've decided to resign as a contractor. I hope no.10 hires more ppl w/ good geopolitical forecasting track records & that media learn to stop selective quoting.'
New Delhi: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Wednesday (September 2) issued an order stating refunds of over Rs 98,625 crore to over 26.2 lakh taxpayers between 1st April to 1st September. This also includes personal income tax (PIT) refunds amounting to Rs 29,997 crore issued to 24,50,041 taxpayers and corporate tax refunds amounting to Rs 68,628 crore issued to over 1,68,421 taxpayers during this period.
In a tweet, the I-T Department said, "CBDT issues refunds of over Rs. 98,625 crores to more than 26.2 lakh taxpayers between 1st April 2020 to 1st September 2020. Income tax refunds of Rs. 29,997 crore have been issued in 24,50,041 cases & corporate tax refunds of Rs.68,628 crore have been issued in 1,68,421 cases."
Notably, the CBDT order has been issued in exercise of powers conferred under section 138(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
According to the CBDT, "The data on cash withdrawal indicated that a huge amount of cash is being withdrawn by the persons who have never filed income-tax returns. To ensure filing of return by these persons and to keep track on cash withdrawals by the non-filers, and to curb black money, the Finance Act, 2020 with effect from July 1, 2020, further amended the Income-Tax Act, 1961 to lower the threshold of cash withdrawal to Rs 20 lakh for the applicability of TDS for the non-filers and also mandated TDS at the higher rate of 5 percent on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore by the non-filers."
Income Tax Department has already provided a functionality "Verification of applicability under section 194N" on its website for banks and post offices since July 1, 2020. Through this functionality, the bank/post office can get the applicable rate of TDS under section 194N of the Income-tax Act, 1961 by entering the PAN of the person who is withdrawing cash.
The department has now released a new functionality "ITR Filing Compliance Check" which will be available to scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) to check the IT return filing status of PANs in bulk mode. The Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) has notified the procedure and format for providing notified information to the scheduled commercial banks.
The salient features of using the functionality are:
Accessing "ITR Filing Compliance Check": The principal officer and designated director of SCBs, which are registered with the reporting portal of the income-tax department (https://report.insight.gov.in) shall be able to use the functionality after logging into the reporting portal using their credentials.
After successfully logging in, link to the functionality "ITR Filing Compliance Check" will appear on the home page of the reporting portal.
Preparing request (input) file containing PANs: The CSV template to enter PAN details can be downloaded by clicking on the "Download CSV Template" button on the "ITR Filing Compliance Check" page.
PANs, for which IT Return filing status is required, are required to be entered in the downloaded CSV template. The current limit of PANs in one file is 10,000.
Uploading the input CSV file: Input CSV file may be uploaded by clicking on Upload CSV button. While uploading, "Reference Financial Year" is required to be selected. Reference Financial Year is the year for which results are required. If selected Reference Financial Year is 2020-21 then results will be available for assessment years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. The uploaded file will start reflecting with uploaded status.
Downloading the output CSV file: After processing, CSV file containing IT Return Filing Status of the entered PANs will be available for download, and "Status" will change to Available. The output CSV file will have PAN, name of the PAN holder (masked), IT Return Filing Status for the last three assessment years.
After downloading the file, the status will change to downloaded and after 24 hours of availability of the file, the download link will expire and status will change to Expired.
Scheduled commercial banks can also use API based exchange to automate and integrate the process with the bank`s core banking solution.
Scheduled commercial banks are required to document and implement appropriate information security policies and procedures with clearly defined roles and responsibilities to ensure the security of information.
Industry Update
Appointment
2 September 2020
Evan Sheridan
Appointed Corporate Culinary Director
At Aparium Hotel Group in Chicago - IL, USA
As Corporate Culinary Director, Evan Sheridan will work alongside the Chefs, General Managers and Food & Beverage Development teams to assist in menu development, staff management and F&B programming across Aparium's eight hotels, maintaining the brand's standards within all venues of the properties. He will also play a role as a key team member for food and beverage operation strategies, development, and management with a specialization in the Culinary Arts. Sheridan brings more than 18 years of experience in the food and beverage industry to the role. Prior to joining Aparium, Sheridan was an integral culinary team leader at some of the country's most prestigious hotels and restaurants including the St. Jane Hotel, Sixteen Restaurant in Chicago and The Inn at Little Washington. Sheridan is a two-Michelin star recipient and has five years' experience leading teams in 5-star 5-diamond facilities. In 2018, Sheridan was nominated for a Jean Banchet Rising Pastry Chef of the Year award.
Aparium Hotel Group Aparium Hotel Group is a company founded and controlled by experienced professionals in hotel development, management, and marketing who hold the belief that great hotels are a destination sought out by travelers and a favorite place for locals - a philosophy Aparium calls Translocal Hospitality. more information
Recent Appointments at Aparium Hotel Group Harper Counts - Corporate Director of Sales 10 September 2021 Harper Counts joins the team as Corporate Director of Sales overseeing the sales teams both within the organization and across Aparium's portfolio of properties. Prior to joining Aparium, Counts was the Director of Sales and Marketing for The Gwen, A Luxury Collection Hotel, and will lend her expertise in the luxury market to boost growth at Aparium's award-winning luxury properties. read more
Max Wastler - Vice President of Brand 8 September 2021 Max Wastler joins Aparium as Vice President of Brand overseeing the image and experience of the Aparium brand as a whole and each individual brand within the portfolio of hotels and restaurants. Wastler brings nearly two decades of branding and marketing experience to Aparium having previously consulted on strategy and storytelling for companies such as J. read more
The Sunshine State, Florida has a new amendment that restores the right of ex-felons to vote. There is a little technicality that says all felons have to settle all court fees or they won't be allowed to vote.
Most convicted felons cannot vote, which makes the Florida amendment a big deal for those wanting to exercise their right of suffrage. Now with the law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and still agreed upon by the U.S. Supreme Court will pose a huge change, reported CBS News.
One of these convicted felons is Christine Vincent, who wants to function as a normal citizen. The passed law may cloud her chances. Instituting the law in Florida has not been seen as favorable, especially for those affected. For many, this law is very controversial, especially for former felons.
How much is owed by the felon can be hard to determine. Most of the records are somewhat the problem itself. Take Vincent, who comes from Broward and has three kids. She served two years committing Grand Theft, but she still has to pay $8,000 fees. The catch is that she thought it was already settled. A voting rights group called the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition told her that she owes the 8-grand but the local system cannot verify the exact amount, cited MSN.
She expressed that voting is a big deal to her and the right gives here equal footing to non-felons, and she is not seen in a convict persona. Hearing the De Santis edict made her feel a felon again, having to begin at step one all over again.
Also read: Joe Biden's Family Record Show Drug Usage, Drunk Driving, and Other Charges But No One Was Jailed
Jonathan Diaz, who is a voting rights attorney linked to the Campaign Legal Center, said that the process of the actual amount owed by felons is hard to settle. He expressed it more succinctly that a legal background is needed, noted WTOP News. To make a point, record-keeping is in disarray, which is aggravated by no digitization of existing documents. Another problem is the data is kept by the county, not in a singular database for single access.
Another ex-felon with such problems related to fees is Angel Sanchez, 38 years-old, chipping away at fees costing $1,698. These are court-ordered fees from a 12-year sentence by committing a gang-related crime. He is the exception because he worked in a burger joint and paid the legal fees with his earnings from there. But now, he is a graduate from the Miami School of Law.
When he checked on what he owed, the information indicated that all the fees for everything including court fees are all paid up.
Sanchez, who resides in Miami-Dade, is working with state institutions to fix the errors that have piled up since. In November, he can finally vote freely.
He is worried that if the issue is not cleared up, it will keep ex-felons from exercising their rights. He added that he is a productive member of society. He does not want to be called for voting fraud.
For Sanchez, it is all clear to vote but, other ex-felons may have a problem with court fees and fines till the state resolves everything.
Related article: Top Intelligence Office Tells Congress: No Security Briefings on US Elections
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To be re-elected, Donald Trump knows he has to distract the nation from the pandemic that he has flagrantly failed to control leaving more than 180,000 Americans already dead, tens of millions jobless and at least 30 million reportedly hungry.
So hes counting on the reliable Republican dog whistle. Your vote, Trump said in his speech closing the Republican convention last Thursday night, will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans, or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists, agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens.
We will have law and order on the streets of this country, Vice President Pence declared the previous evening, warning you wont be safe in Joe Bidens America.
Neither Trump nor Pence mentioned the real threats to law and order in America today, such as gun-toting agitators like Kyle Rittenhouse, a white 17-year-old who traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, last week during protests over the police shooting of a Black man, and then shot and killed two people and wounded a third.
Rittenhouse, perhaps not coincidentally, occupied a front-row seat at a Trump rally in Des Moines, Iowa, last January.
On Saturday night, a pro-Trump caravan that included members of the neo-fascist Proud Boys drove into Portland, Oregon, shooting protesters with pepper spray and driving into crowds. Someone wearing the hat of a far-right group called Patriot Prayer was shot dead.
Trumps reaction? Rather than condemn the violence, he tweeted GREAT PATRIOTS! in support of the pro-Trump agitators, and, The big backlash going on in Portland cannot be unexpected. ... The people of Portland wont put up with no safety any longer. Trump also retweeted a claim that this coup attempt is led by a well funded network of anarchists trying to take down the President.
For the first time in history, a United States president is openly justifying violence by some Americans against other Americans.
The threat to the nations law and order also comes from conspiracy theorists such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, the recently nominated Republican candidate for Georgias 14th congressional district and promoter of QAnon, whose adherents believe Trump is battling a cabal of deep state saboteurs who worship Satan and traffic children for sex. Trump has praised Greene as a future Republican star, and claimed that QAnon followers love our country.
The threat also comes from people such as Mary Ann Mendoza, a member of Trumps campaign advisory board, who was scheduled to speak at the Republican convention until she retweeted an antisemitic rant about a Jewish plan to enslave the worlds peoples and steal their land.
Clearly the threat also comes from hotheaded, often racist police officers who fire bullets into the backs of Black men and women or kneel on their necks so they cant breathe. Needless to say, there was little mention at the Republican convention of Jacob Blake, and none of George Floyd or Breonna Taylor.
And the threat comes from Trumps own lackeys, who have brazenly broken laws to help him attain and keep power. Since Trump first promised to hire only the best people, 14 Trump aides, donors and advisers have been indicted or imprisoned.
Trumps personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani who ranted at the Republican convention about rioting and looting in cities with Democratic mayors has repeatedly met with pro-Russia Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach, whom American intelligence has determined is spreading claims about corruption ... to undermine former Vice President Bidens candidacy and the Democratic Party.
In addition, federal prosecutors are investigating Giulianis business dealings in Ukraine, with two men arrested in an alleged campaign finance scheme.
Trumps Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, who had been a major Trump campaign donor before taking over the Postal Service, is being sued by six states and the District of Columbia for allegedly seeking to undermine the postal service as millions of Americans plan to vote by mail during the pandemic.
Not to forget Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who spoke to the Republican convention while on an official trip to the Middle East in apparent violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits officials of the executive branch other than the president and vice president from engaging in partisan politics.
In short, the real threat to American law and order is found in Donald Trumps above-the-law, race-baiting, me-first presidency. This nation is in serious need of protection from him, and from the bottom-dwellers whose behavior he incites and justifies.
Robert Reichs new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, came out in March.
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Prominent Hong Kong activist Nathan Law says Germany has a special responsibility to defend democratic values and freedom.
On the same day that the Chinese Foreign Minister visited Berlin, he came to the German capital.
He had a message for Germany: Less talk, more action.
(ANSA) - PISTOIA, SEP 2 - Three female care home workers were arrested Wednesday of mistreating elderly residents at the home in Pescia near Pistoia in northern Tuscany.
Carabinieri carried out the arrests.
Local prosecutors are leading the probe.
The three women were placed under house arrest.
They are suspected of verbal and physical abuse of clients.
The alleged abuse took place between June and August, police said.
Police said they had CCTV evidence of the abuse.
Police are interviewing residents.
Italy's care home shave been hard hit by COVID-19.
Several negligence probes have been opened.
Most of them are in the hardest hit region, Lombardy. (ANSA).
Hong Kong: CS visits testing centre
Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung today visited the community testing centre at Queen Elizabeth Stadium to inspect its operation and to give encouragement to the staff.
He was briefed by the Civil Service Bureau's Director of General Grades Hermes Chan on the manpower allocation as well as the centre's design and workflow.
Mr Cheung said he was pleased to learn that appropriate arrangements had been made for the centre's design and workflow in accordance with infection control and social distancing measures.
All staff and members of the public who were tested also followed the necessary procedures, ensuring that the entire testing process is safe, quick and convenient.
He also learnt that all community testing centres have been operating smoothly as a whole since the Universal Community Testing Programme began yesterday.
Mr Cheung thanked the healthcare personnel who are responsible for collecting specimens at the testing centres as well as government employees undertaking administrative support for their efforts, which facilitated the programme's smooth operation.
"After reviewing the first-day operation of the programme, the Government decided to increase the test quota for the public to make appointments," he said.
Mr Cheung also appealed to the public to actively participate in the programme and sign up for the tests.
"The more people that participate in the programme, the higher the chances of identifying asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in the community for early isolation and early treatment.
"It will help break the invisible transmission chain in the community and contain the spread of the third wave of the epidemic so that social and economic activities can resume gradually and people's daily lives can resume as normal."
This story has been published on: 2020-09-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-03 06:33:19|Editor: huaxia
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Video: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tells world leaders on Sept. 2, 2020 that the COVID-19 pandemic has become a game-changer for international peace and security, according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric. (Xinhua)
"It is a game-changer for international peace and security," says the UN chief, emphasizing that the process can play a key role in "promoting unity and aligning thinking" on how to beat back the pandemic.
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told world leaders on Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic has become a game-changer for international peace and security.
The world has "entered a volatile and unstable new phase" in terms of the impact of COVID-19 on peace and security, the UN chief told a virtual meeting with world leaders.
Tourists play water volleyball in the Red Sea in the southern port city of Aqaba, Jordan, on June 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Mohammad Abu Ghosh)
GAME CHANGER
Speaking at one of a series of international meetings among heads of state to enhance global cooperation in fighting terrorism and violent extremism, as part of the Aqaba Process, the UN secretary-general said the pandemic is more than a global health crisis.
The Aqaba Process is an initiative launched in 2015 in the Jordanian city of the same name by the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, to strengthen international cooperation against violent extremism and terrorism.
"It is a game-changer for international peace and security," said the UN chief, emphasizing that the process can play a key role in "promoting unity and aligning thinking" on how to beat back the pandemic.
The meetings, held via teleconference, covered security challenges emerging in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and ways to address them, in addition to means of unifying and integrating efforts among all stakeholders to counter the threats of terrorism and extremism.
This round of meetings reportedly saw the participation of the presidents of Nigeria, the Philippines, Kenya, and Bulgaria; and the prime ministers of Canada, Bulgaria, and Albania, in addition to UN and Interpol secretaries-general and NATO's deputy secretary general.
A medical worker wearing protective equipment takes a swab sample from a woman for a COVID-19 PCR test at a temporary screening center in front of the city hall of Paris, France, Aug. 31, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)
WARNING LIGHTS
Guterres told the virtual meeting that the coronavirus has exposed the basic fragility of humankind, laid bare systemic and entrenched inequalities, and thrust into the spotlight geopolitical challenges and security threats.
"The warning lights are flashing," he said, stressing that as the virus is "exacerbating grievances, undermining social cohesion and fueling conflicts," it is also likely to "act as a catalyst in the spread of terrorism and violent extremism."
Moreover, international tensions are being driven by supply chain disruptions, protectionism and growing nationalism - with rising unemployment, food insecurity and climate change.
A staff member of Indonesian Directorate General of Immigration has her temperature checked before COVID-19 tests in Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug. 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Zulkarnain)
GLOBAL SOLIDARITY
The pandemic has highlighted vulnerabilities to emerging threats such as bioterrorism and cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure.
"The world faces grave security challenges that no single country or organization can address alone," Guterres said, adding that "there is an urgent need for global unity and solidarity."
Recalling the UN's Virtual Counter-Terrorism Week in July, he reminded that participants called for a "reinvigorated commitment to multilateralism to combat terrorism and violent extremism."
However, a lack of international cooperation to tackle the pandemic has been "startling," Guterres said, highlighting national self-interest, transactional information sharing and manifestations of authoritarianism.
Students wearing face masks study in a classroom at a school in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sept. 2, 2020.(Photo by Huseyin Aldemir/Xinhua)
PEOPLE FIRST
The UN chief underscored the need to put people first, by enhancing information sharing and technical cooperation "to prevent terrorists exploiting the pandemic for their own nefarious goals" and thinking "long-term solutions rather than short-term fixes."
"This includes upholding the rights and needs of victims of terrorism... (and) the repatriation of foreign terrorist fighters, especially women and children, and their dependents to their countries of origin," he noted.
Photo taken on Sept. 1, 2020 shows a big screen displayed to create awareness on COVID-19 protective measures in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
POST-COVID REBUILDING
The secretary-general also addressed the Centenary Summit of the International Organization of Employers (IOE) on how private and public sector cooperation can help drive post-COVID change.
He lauded the IOE's "significant contributions" to global policymaking for economic and social progress, job creation and a mutually beneficial business environment, calling it "an important pillar of the International Labour Organization (ILO) since its earliest days."
"Today, our primary task is to defeat the pandemic and rebuild lives, livelihoods, businesses, and economies," he told the virtual summit.
In building back, he underscored that workers and small businesses should be protected, and everyone be given the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
A member of Chinese medical team in Ghana hands over medical supplies to an official in LEKMA hospital, in order to support the hospital's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, in Accra, capital of Ghana, Sept. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Zheng)
TRIPARTITE COOPERATION
ILO chief Guy Ryder highlighted the need for conscious policy decisions and tripartite cooperation to overcome transformational challenges, such as technological change and climate change, as well as COVID-19.
Ryder also flagged that employers must continue to collaborate in social dialogue and maintain their commitment to both multilateralism and the ILO.
The IOE represents more than 50 million companies and is a key partner in the international multilateral system for over 100 years as the voice of business at the ILO, across the UN, the G20 richest countries and other emerging forums.
A British mother has been found dead in her Ibiza Rocks Hotel room by her devastated sister after dying in her sleep during a girls trip to the party island.
Amy Connor, 23, was staying at the famous party destination in the resort town of San Antonio, with her sibling, Toni, 26, and cousin, Alison.
The group, from Coleraine in Northern Ireland, had been sunbathing before going back to their room to rest on August 20.
Speaking for the first time since her sister's tragic death, Toni recalled the horrifying moment she found Amy's lifeless body.
'We had been down to the pool and then came back up to the room for a while, so Amy got into the shower and then got into bed,' she said.
'I went and sat out on the balcony and ate some crisps and chilled and when I came back in, she was still in the bed. It was so surreal, it didn't make sense. It was just such a shock.'
Spanish police have not yet commented about what they believed caused Amy's death.
Amy Connor, 23, was staying at the Ibiza Rocks Hotel in the resort town San Antonio, where her body was found by her sibling, Toni, 26
Amy - right - was enjoying a holiday on the Spanish party island with her sister, Toni, left, when the tragedy happened
Ibiza Rocks advertises itself as 'the home of the pool party' and is known for its lively DJ sets featuring stars including Craig David, Rudimental, DJ EZ and Sonny Fodera.
Three weeks' ago it hosted a set by Fatboy Slim while Jane Park, who became the EuroMillions winner in 2017, was also a recent visitor.
Guests can watch performances by the pool from their balconies and there is also a rooftop with views out to the sea.
Toni, who is in her second year studying journalism at Ulster University, praised the staff at the hotel for their 'gob-smacking generosity in our time of need'.
She said: 'Trying to get home was an absolute nightmare, we had to fly into Majorca, then into Dublin and then from Dublin up home
'But the hotel staff were incredible, we couldn't have asked for better. They went as far as making us priority booking, they paid for our cases. I had given them my card to sort our travel home and I told them I didn't care what it cost just to get us home.
'They even offered to fly us via London but we would have had to stay overnight in London and they offered to pay for that hotel too but we just wanted to get home as quick as we could.
'They packed our cases, they looked after us giving us food and water, you name it they brought it to us, I was so gob-smacked at their generosity in our time of need.'
Toni said the local community have also rallied around the family and explained how Amy touched the lives of so many people in her short life.
She added: 'Amy is the kind of person if you met her once you'd definitely remember her, she was very out there, she's so friendly and outgoing and she knows everyone, so we have been overwhelmed by the amount of people getting in touch since the news.
'It's no exaggeration when I say I have had over 1,000 messages sent to me just on Facebook, there have been bunches of flowers and cards and everything sent to the house, people have been so generous.
'Amy was the kind of person who was friends with everyone, it never made a difference what side of the town they were from, she was just friends with everyone and that's what everyone loved about her.'
As well as her heartbroken parents Carol McKibbin and Arthur Connor, stepfather Campbell Kennedy, siblings Aaron John, Jean and Toni, Amy also leaves behind her three-year-old daughter Kaliyah.
'Kaliyah's been staying with me since,' said Toni. 'It's heartbreaking.'
Amy, left, with Toni in one of the last photos posted during their holiday trip to Ibiza
The Ibiza Rocks Hotel Resort - which has hundreds of rooms grouped around a central courtyard with a pool
Recalling Amy's fun-loving nature, Toni said the close-knit family are feeling the void left by their beloved sister and daughter.
She said: 'Amy was so kind, so bubbly she was always smiling, she loved to sing and dance in the car, I have millions of videos of Amy and she's singing a song in nearly every one, she was just the life and soul of every party. Even if something bothered Amy, she wouldn't let anyone really know it bothered her, she just got on with it.
'There are four of us, three girls and my older brother but us three girls, Amy, Jean and I would have always been with each other, we would have had video chats every morning, when she is not there, you definitely notice it, it's just not the same.'
The family are now planning to give Amy a send-off fit for a princess, as her sisters and friends plan to carry her coffin as they say their final farewell today.
She added: 'We ordered her a pink coffin with diamonds the whole way around it, it was specially made for her and is engraved to say Princess, so it will look gorgeous for her. They said they had never made a coffin like it before and I thought that sounds right, Amy was one of a kind.
'The girls are going to lift the coffin and we want to give her the best send-off possible.'
Toni earlier paid a tribute to her sister on Facebook, writing: 'I don't understand how life just goes on.'
Her mother Carol wrote: 'My baby girl... love you loads.'
Hundreds of friends have paid tribute to Amy, calling her a 'beautiful soul' who will be 'sorely missed'
Hundreds of tributes also poured in from Amy's friends, including one who wrote: 'I knew Amy as a wee teenager who used to come into my place of work at the time in Coleraine and she was always such a wee ball of energy.'
Another said: 'My heart is breaking for yous all no words will ever help but I believe your baby girl Amy will give yous all the strength to cope in the long difficult road ahead! Fly high with the angels Amy Connor.'
A third friend wrote: 'Amy, you were most beautiful soul. Honestly I'm so shocked that you have gone to heaven.
'Please look over your family. You will be sorely missed by all of us, my heart breaks for you all.'
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. Today, September 2, 2020, marks the 29th anniversary of the declaration of independence of Artsakh, formerly known as the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.
On this day in 1991, a joint sitting of lawmakers from the Nagorno Karabakh provincial council and the Shahumyan regional council proclaimed the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) within the borders of the former NKAO and Shahumyan region. The move was in line with the then-active legislation, particularly the April 3, 1990 law which entitled national autonomies to determine their status on their own.
On December 10, 1991, a few days before the official collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno Karabakh held a referendum, where the overwhelming majority, 99,89%, of the population voted in favor of complete independence from Azerbaijan. After this, Azerbaijan totally blockaded NKR and launched military aggressions.
The Artsakh Liberation War began when for the first time in September of 1991 Azerbaijan bombarded Stepanakert with Alazan rockets from Shushi. In 1994, at the request of Azerbaijan a trilateral (Azerbaijan, NKR, Armenia) ceasefire agreement was signed on May 12.
15 years after independence, in 2006, the people of Artsakh adopted the countrys Constitution through a referendum, again on September 2.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 23:15:00|Editor: huaxia
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HONG KONG, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Former Hong Kong lawmaker Leung Chung-hang on Wednesday started to serve his four-week jail sentence after the High Court rejected his appeal and upheld the conviction for participating in an unlawful assembly.
As a then member of the Legislative Council (LegCo), Leung stormed a LegCo meeting along with four other people in an attempt to take another oath of office on Nov. 2, 2016 after his first oath-taking in October was ruled invalid for insulting the country and advocating "Hong Kong independence" in the process.
During the violent incident, the defendants tussled with security guards and caused injuries to six of the guards.
After they were all given a four-week sentence on June 4, 2018, Leung was bailed and appealed against the conviction.
Chan Ka-shun, judge of the High Court, ruled Wednesday that Leung cannot be exempted from his violent acts even if he truly believed he was authorized to enter the meeting room, and dismissed his claim that the sentence was excessive. Enditem
Editors note: This part of a series of profiles on cannabis brokers, in which Insurance Journal explores why and how these folks got into the business, the ups and downs of insuring cannabis, as well as a few tips for those interested in a little professional development.
Isaac Bock, vice president of AlphaRoot, a New York-based broker focused on the cannabis space, has only been in insurance for the last five-and-a half-years, but it didnt take him long to find a specialty.
Bock was with Marsh before taking a position at Founder Shield (AlphaRoots parent company) as a senior account executive and then vice president. He began working on cannabis accounts as soon as he joined Founder Shield in 2017.
Beyond insurance, Bock is boning up on his cannabis education. Hes pursuing an M.S. in medical cannabis science and therapeutics from the University of Maryland. He is also a member of the TrailBlazers, a curated community of cannabis business and cultural leaders who work to advance the industry.
Bock spoke with Insurance Journal about his experience as a cannabis broker.
Insurance Journal: Why did you get in the cannabis and insurance space?
Bock: As a lot people in the insurance industry seemingly do, I fell into the industry. While at the University of Pennsylvania I originally planned on going into the legal industry but wanted to get some work experience and enjoy New York before going back to school.
A fellow lacrosse alum discussed opportunities at Marsh with me and convinced me to apply following graduation and I have been in it ever since. As far as the cannabis industry goes, the medicinal uses have always been of interest to me as a healthier alternative to many of the widely accepted pain relief medicines on the market today. The AlphaRoot brand is actually one of the main reasons I left Marsh due to my interest in the cannabis space.
IJ: Has this been a good financial decision so far?
Bock: Working in this industry has been a great decision for me personally on all fronts. I have always enjoyed working with companies in innovative industries and I believe the cannabis industry will soon become one of the largest in the country. While there have definitely been ups and downs from a production standpoint since working in this industry, I can say it has been net positive from a financial standpoint and can only continue to go up.
As the industry itself matures and the insurance industry begins to understand it more and more, the opportunities for growth will only continue to increase. Like any other young industries, you have to take a long-term view in order to be successful, which is how our team views any downs we experience.
IJ: Whats the hardest thing about the cannabis industry to deal with?
Bock: The cannabis industry is a very small place for now and as such it is more of a community than anything else. While this definitely makes it one of the most enjoyable industries to work in, it also proved to be one of the hardest aspects of it early on and even to this date.
As we work in an ancillary business line from the core aspects of the industry, it is continually hard to prove that we are part of the community, not just looking to exploit it. We have worked extremely hard to make ourselves a very active member of the cannabis community outside of just our job as an insurance brokerage, joining a number of communities to better ingrain ourselves. This has proven to be a successful approach for us thus far allowing us to place coverage for our large MSO clients and speak to them knowledgeably on all aspects of the business, as well as connect with those small shops/brands who are just starting out.
IJ: What insurance product is the most difficult to obtain for your cannabis industry clients? Why?
Bock: There is a bit of nuance in this question. As the cannabis industry has grown, the insurance industry has been catching up to it. At one point, it was a struggle to get even the most basic coverage for a company involved with cannabis. However, that is no longer the case as there are more carriers getting involved at this point. That said, more so than most industries, the insureds operations, where the operate and how they operate can diminish the number of markets very quickly.
One of the most common issues we have seen as of late is obtaining full limits for high value property at a single location typically above $30 million. There are a number of markets that can provide coverage for property at these locations, however, the overall capacity is rather low compared to more mainstream industries and can be capped as low as $2.5 million per location. This can be attributed to a number of carriers leaving the industry this year as well as COVID impacting the remaining carriers capacity to provide high limits.
Additionally, many carriers have stopped offering business income for the time being due to the disproportionately high number of break-ins cannabis companies have experienced during the social unrest that has gripped our country.
IJ: What two or three tips do you have for brokers entering the business of insuring cannabis?
Bock: Ingrain yourself in the industry. Do not just understand the insurance aspect, gain an understanding and appreciation for the cannabis industry as a whole. Be a teacher. Explain to your clients why each coverage is important specifically as it relates to their operations within the space.
Many cannabis companies that are just starting out may not have a ton of insurance purchasing experience, so it is important to educate them on how they should be structuring their risk management program as they continue to grow.
Topics Agencies Cannabis Market
A new international study published today [02 September] has shown that treating critically ill patients with COVID-19 with the steroid hydrocortisone improves their chances of recovery.
The study, led in the UK by Professor Anthony Gordon from Imperial College London with collaborators from the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre, found that patients receiving intensive care who were treated with a regular fixed dose of the steroid hydrocortisone for seven days had a better chance of recovery, compared with the patients who were not treated with the steroid. Patients in the UK were treated at 88 hospitals including Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust Hospitals.
This research is one of three studies, published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), that suggests steroids improve survival of the sickest COVID-19 patients. As a result, the World Health Organisation will be issuing new guidelines to include the use of steroids to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Professor Gordon, Chair in Anaesthesia and Critical Care at Imperial and a Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: "At the beginning of the year at times it felt almost hopeless, knowing that we had no specific treatments. It was a very worrying time. Yet less than six months later, we've found clear, reliable evidence in high quality clinical trials of how we can tackle this devastating disease."
The work was funded by the National Institute for Health Research and supported by the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre.
Professor Gordon added: "The studies published today show that we now have more than one choice of treatment for those who need it most. Steroids are not a cure, but they help improve outcomes. Having a choice of different types of steroids, all of which seem to improve patient recovery, is great as it helps ease the problem of drug supply issues."
NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said: "One of the distinctive benefits of having our NHS is that we've been able to mobilise quickly and at scale to help researchers test and develop proven coronavirus treatments. Just as we did with dexamethasone, the NHS will now take immediate action to ensure that patients who could benefit from treatment with hydrocortisone do so, adding a further weapon in the armoury in the worldwide fight against Covid-19."
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer said:
"These findings offer further evidence that corticosteroids can be an important part of COVID-19 treatment for severe patients.
"Both the REMAP-CAP and the Bristol University papers show the important work that has been done here in the UK by researchers in making further major contributions towards the international evidence. It is impressive to see so many UK participants willing to take part in studies, and able to volunteer due to the rapid recruitment response of the NIHR's Clinical Research Network. Research such as this will make the difference in controlling this virus."
Steroids are anti-inflammatory drugs, and evidence strongly suggests that they reduce the lung inflammation in patients with COVID-19 who are seriously ill and require oxygen support for their breathing difficulties.
In the hydrocortisone study, 403 patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 who required respiratory or cardiovascular organ support (such as mechanical ventilation or drugs to support their blood pressure) were enrolled between March and June 2020. The cohort included patients of mixed ethnicities in the UK, Ireland, Australia, the US, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada and France and patients were randomly assigned to different treatment regimes. One group were treated with a fixed dose of 50mg hydrocortisone four times a day for seven days, another group were treated with hydrocortisone only if their blood pressure dropped, and a third group received no hydrocortisone.
The trial showed that using the fixed dose of hydrocortisone led to a 93% chance of a better outcome (greater chance of survival and less need for organ support) than not using hydrocortisone. If the hydrocortisone was given only when the blood pressure was low, the chance of a better outcome was 80%.
A different study, called the RECOVERY trial, was also investigating whether another type of steroid, called dexamethasone, helped improve recovery of patients with COVID-19. The first results from the study, published in early June, suggested dexamethasone boosted recovery.
Because the dexamethasone study showed positive results, the hydrocortisone steroid study stopped recruiting patients on 17 June. These new results add to the previous study and provide additional support that steroids improve recovery in severe COVID-19.
The findings are published in JAMA alongside two further clinical trials which have also evidenced the benefits of steroids as a treatment for the severely ill COVID-19 patients. This journal edition also includes an overall analysis of the three independent studies, plus data from the original RECOVERY trial and three other smaller trials. It concludes that a range of steroids - all safe, cheap and readily available - can improve the outcomes of patients receiving intensive care.
Professor Gordon, from the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial, added: "This been an incredible international effort. We were all aware of the other studies and were happy to share our raw data before it was published. Only by collaborating were we going to make real advances and make them fast."
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The Pirates announced that they have designated right-hander Carson Fulmer for assignment. The club also reinstated righty Joe Musgrove from the injured list, reinstated outfielder Bryan Reynolds from the paternity list and optioned infielder/outfielder Jose Osuna.
The Pirates are already the third team since July for Fulmer, who has gone from Chicago to Detroit to Pittsburgh in the past month-plus. Fulmer was once a highly regarded prospect, but it hasnt translated to success in the majors for the 26-year-old, who owns a 6.57 ERA/6.33 FIP across 101 1/3 innings with the White Sox and Tigers. He hasnt appeared in a big league game with the Pirates, who claimed him from the Tigers on Aug. 24, and could soon leave the organization. Fulmers out of options, though, so its possible no other team will take a chance on him.
Musgrove, out since Aug. 11 with right triceps inflammation, is scheduled to start for the Pirates against the Cubs on Wednesday. Musgrove started 2020 poorly before his IL placement (6.75 ERA/6.83 FIP in 14 2/3 innings), but he was a capable starter for the Pirates from 2018-19 and could boost his trade value heading into the offseason with a strong finish. Musgrove nearly went from Pittsburgh to Toronto before Mondays trade deadline, but the two sides couldnt come together on a deal.
New York, Sep 2 : A team led by Dan Jacobson of the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently used the Summit supercomputer to analyse genes from cells in the lung fluid of nine Covid-19 patients compared with 40 control patients.
The computational analyses, published in the journal eLife in July, suggest that genes related to one of the body's systems responsible for lowering blood pressure -- the bradykinin system -- appear to be excessively "turned on" in the lung fluid cells of those with the virus.
Based on their analyses, the team believes that bradykinin -- the compound that dilates blood vessels and makes them permeable -- is overproduced in the bodies of Covid-19 patients.
They believe that related systems either contribute to overproduction or cannot slow the process.
Excessive bradykinin leads to leaky blood vessels, allowing fluid to build up in the body's soft tissues.
Much attention has focused on what's known as the cytokine storm, a severe reaction in which the body releases an excess of cytokines, a variety of small proteins that help regulate the immune system.
Jacobson's team thinks a bradykinin storm may instead be to blame for much of the viral pathogenesis.
If the team's disease mechanism model is accurate and substantiated by experimental analysis, it may mean that existing medicines could be repurposed to slow the pathogenesis of Covid-19.
This would require extensive clinical trials of drugs currently used to treat other bradykinin-related conditions.
"If we can block this pathogenesis in severe patients, we can keep the human response from going overboard and give their immune system time to fight off the virus so they can recover," Jacobson said.
The bradykinin storm could explain the wide variety of symptoms experienced by Covid-19 patients, such as muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, and decreased cognitive function.
Similar symptoms are also experienced by patients with other bradykinin-related conditions such as hereditary angioedema, a genetic condition that is characterised by episodes of severe swelling throughout the body.
"This is one of those rare times where you can really tie everything back to a eureka moment," said Jacobson.
"I was looking at data, and I suddenly saw some very distinct patterns happening in the pathways of the renin-angiotensin and bradykinin systems. That led us to do a deep dive of the gene families of the blood pressure regulatory system." The renin-angiotensin system, or RAS, and bradykinin pathway regulate blood pressure and fluid balance in the body.
Using the Summit and Rhea supercomputers at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, the team compared the genes of COVID-19 patients against a control group and analysed population-scale gene expression data -- 17,000 samples from uninfected individuals -- to see which genes were normally co-expressed, or turned on or off at the same time.
Summit is currently the most powerful supercomputer in the US, with a theoretical peak performance of 200 petaflops, or 200 quadrillion calculations per second.
Jacobson and his colleagues required the power of Summit to run 2.5 billion correlation calculations that helped them understand the normal regulatory circuits and relationships for the genes of interest.
With Summit, the team completed the calculations in one week rather than spending months doing them on a desktop computer.
The team also uncovered that an enzyme that forestalls the bradykinin cascade -- the angiotensin-converting enzyme, known as ACE -- was less expressed in Covid-19 patients.
At least 10 existing drugs are known to act on the specific pathways Jacobson's team studied, but large-scale clinical trials are needed to determine whether they might be effective at treating Covid-19.
The team also used the Compute and Data Environment for Science, or CADES, at ORNL to determine which genes in the RAS-bradykinin pathways have vitamin D binding sites.
The results of their analyses might help scientists determine through experimentation which parts of these pathways could potentially be influenced by vitamin D.
Because vitamin D helps regulate the RAS and vitamin D deficiencies have already been associated with more severe illness in COVID-19 patients, It is another molecule worth further study, said Jacobson.
Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
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South Korea said on Tuesday that a clear warning had been sent to North Korea by US President-elect Donald Trump's tweet dismissing Pyongyangs ballistic missile claims. North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the US, Trump tweeted. It wont happen!
Trumps tweet came a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un appeared to try to pressure the incoming president by announcing his country is in the final stages of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Kim also said his country had significantly bolstered its nuclear arsenal in 2016.
Washington has repeatedly vowed that it would never accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed nation, but Trump has not previously clearly stated his policy on the isolated Stalinist state.
President-elect Trumps message is significant since it is his first mention of North Koreas nuclear programme and can be seen as a clear warning, South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-Hyuck told a briefing.
Cho said the incoming US administration was clearly aware of the gravity and urgency of Pyongyangs nuclear threat thanks to South Koreas active outreach. US policy on the North would remain largely unchanged, he said.
They are maintaining an unwavering stance on the need for sanctions on North Korea, Cho said. In a New Years speech on Sunday, Kim did not make a specific reference to the incoming Trump administration. But he called on Washington to make a resolute decision to withdraw its anachronistic hostile North Korea policy.
Analysts are divided over how close Pyongyang is to realising its full nuclear ambitions, especially as it has never successfully test-fired an ICBM.However, it carried out two nuclear tests and numerous missile launches last year alone in pursuit of its oft-stated goaldeveloping a weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead.
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If you have the ability to have people wear masks and you have teachers able to be in a position where they can teach at a social distance that, I think is one thing, he said in July during an interview with WBTV in Charlotte. But it costs a lot of money to do that. If you dont have that capacity, I think its too dangerous to open the schools. So it depends.
"Now more than ever, we are reflecting on the meaning of home and creating healthy environments for our families," said Allison O'Connor, President and CEO. "Families are now focising on creating rooms that are required to be multifunctional environments so they can use them functionally to work from home,co- teach children, gather comfortably and alos find personal respite, all the while maximizing space. Our Fall 2020 Collection is crafted with this intention by American artisans and with the care and love families truly deserve today."
Showcasing the home furnishings brand's iconic design with a touch of vintage '70s inspiration, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams' newest collection amplifies the comfort and joy of family friendly living. Key introductions include new sofas, accent chairs, a raffia bedroom storage collection, a modern bar cart for home happy hours, and an Essential program of classic parsons dining tables that also functions well in WFH spaces.
Reflections On Home, the Fall 2020 Collection, offers soothing color and textural stories that capture a reverence for the beauty of nature through the lens of seasonal change from late summer to winter:
Meadow
Inspired by Piet Oudolf's beautiful meadows and outdoor landscape architecture capturing the "emotion" of nature with refined finishes and materials for a new traditional mood. With an autumnal color palette and warm brass accents, this is also expressed in muted velvets and boucle in white, reminiscent of Indian summers
Forest
Influenced by minimalist Japanese design and expressed in a deeply saturated color palette of camel, olive, navy, chianti, oxblood, and slate. Dark, rich wood is paired with cool concrete and layers of leather highlighted with brushed brass accents.
Light and Shadow
Presented in studies of afternoon winter light with soft neutrals, woven natural textures, matte stone, concrete and plaster finishes.
Winter
Embracing the crispness of winter's frost in shades of blue, beautiful Nordic colors, and cozy wool textures.
"This season, we have created beautiful pieces in earth-tone palettes with rich pairings like white oak and brushed brass accents mixed with camel, olive and navywelcome nature into your homes," said Bob Williams, President of Design. "And we are also really focused on creating pieces that can suit the many different uses our customers may have."
The new Essential parsons dining collection offers multifunctional dining and kitchen tables that can also serve as desks in WFH spaces. The collection includes rectangular tables in three sizes: 60", 76" and 96". It also allows customers to customize the tables to suit perosnal style and need. There are four metal finishes: pewter, polished stainless steel, brushed stainless steel, and brushed brass. Three top options are possible: gray quartz, white quartz, and white quartz with natural veining. To coordinate with the tables, MG+BW's classic modern Gage and Remy dining chairs will now be available with the same metal finishes as well as both bar and counter stool options.
Through the years, our design partners and brand followers have asked us to bring back beloved upholstery styles from past seasons. For this special reason this Fall, we're introducing the MG+BW Classics Collection, a specially curated assortment of customer and interior designer favorites, celebrating more than 30 years of timeless design the evolution of our signature style and our abilding belief in comfort for all.
For interviews or hi-res photos, please contact:
Samantha Jacobson
VP of PR and Special Events
646.272.8432
[email protected]
www.mgbwhome.com
SOURCE Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams
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Linkedin Norman Harsono and Yunindita Prasidya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, September 2, 2020 14:06 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c422e6d6 1 Business natural-resources,bank-indonesia,foreign-exchange-earning,rupiah,Vale-Indonesia-INCO,Medco-Energi-Internasional Free
Indonesian natural resource exporters are waiting to see what Bank Indonesias (BI) recently announced plan to require the companies to convert their foreign currency earnings into rupiah will entail. The central bank hopes the policy will help stabilize the rupiah.
The measure is expected to apply to companies that exported more than US$300 million worth of natural resources in 2019. It is unclear which companies meet the threshold because data on export earnings is limited, but some major mining companies, such as nickel matte producer PT Vale Indonesia and the countrys biggest privately-owned oil and gas producer PT Medco Energi Internasional, earn and spend US dollars.
Players in Indonesias top three resource-exporting industries, namely oil and gas, palm oil and mining, knew little about the central banks plan.
After we confirmed it with BI, they said it was not yet something of focus, even though there was such a plan, Bernadus Iramanto, finance director of PT Vale Indonesia, said on Aug 26.
To convert all proceeds from nickel matte sales to rupiah would be a burden of its own.
BIs plan comes as the rupiah fluctuates significantly against the US dollar during the COVID-19 pandemic. The instability of the currency may pose a risk to the countrys economic recovery efforts.
The rupiah fell to a low of Rp 16,575 against the US dollar in March, rebounded to Rp 13,878 in June and had sunk to Rp 14,766 on Wednesday.
Read also: BI to require natural resource exporters to convert forex earnings to rupiah
The date that the new foreign exchange (forex) requirement will be instated depends on the stability of the rupiah, according to a statement BI Governor Perry Warjiyo in August. He said there would be a foreign currency ceiling in companies bank accounts and that anything above the threshold would have to be converted into rupiah.
The government requires exporters of natural resources to keep their earnings in special bank accounts.
Oil and gas exports in 2019, at $12.54 billion dollars, accounted for 7 percent of Indonesias total exports that year, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data shows. Exports of mineral fuel, animal fat and vegetable oil, including the countrys top commodity, palm oil, made up more than a quarter of last years total exports.
Frankly speaking, we haven't been asked about our opinion of the plan, said Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI) executive director Hendra Sinadia. We need to look into its implementation so it doesn't hinder [business].
Hendra added that questions remained about how the plan would be implemented. He said coal miners used US dollars to sell their products at home and abroad, as well as to pay royalties.
As a good citizen, Medco will respond and follow these regulations appropriately, said Anthony Mathias, financial director at PT Medco Energi Internasional.
A director of PT United Tractors (UNTR), which owns Indonesias second-largest gold miner by output, PT Agincourt Resources, said the parent company had discussed the issue with Bank Indonesia two months ago but was awaiting more detailed guidelines.
UNTR, a major player in heavy machinery, mainly exports its gold.
We cant comment on the details yet, but in the broad sense, if were talking about gold, then 30 to 40 percent of our production cost structure is in dollars, said UNTR finance director Iwan Hadiantoro. BI assured us this would not negatively impact the company.
UNTR, which reports its finances in rupiah, booked Rp 118.4 billion in foreign exchange losses in the first half of this year, an increase from the Rp 70.5 billion forex loss it posted for the same period last year.
The Indonesian Oil Palm Association (GAPKI) declined to comment on the issue.
Not all exporters are worried about BIs plan, such as palm oil exporter PT Astra Agro Lestari, part of diversified conglomerate Astra International.
Astra Agro president director Santosa said the company regularly hedged its dollar transactions, including for loans from abroad, against the rupiah.
The company practically has no problem whatsoever, he said.
Astra Agro booked Rp 19 billion in foreign exchange losses in the January to June period of this year, an improvement from the Rp 28.8 billion forex loss it booked in the same period last year.
Moody's Analytics Asia Pacific chief economist Steven Cochrane raised concerns about the effectiveness of the policy, since it only applied to the largest resource exporters.
It sends a message to the market that BI sees stabilizing the exchange rate as a priority, Cochrane told the Post by email. On the other hand, the number of new COVID-19 cases is still on an upward trend in Indonesia, which will continue to be a dominant source of instability.
The Health Ministry announced 2,775 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the nationwide tally to more than 177,500.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Many Staten Island students will receive in-person learning partially each week and learn remotely the rest of the week under a blended learning model -- but how remote instruction will be delivered will differ by school.
Some will receive synchronous and asynchronous instruction for the start of the 2020-2021 school year. Synchronous learning, which refers to real-time remote learning, will take place for students at home through different channels, depending on the class and school.
To the surprise of many planetary scientists, the oxidized iron mineral hematite has been discovered at high latitudes on the Moon, according to a study published today in Science Advances led by Shuai Li, assistant researcher at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) in the UH Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).
Iron is highly reactive with oxygen--forming reddish rust commonly seen on Earth. The lunar surface and interior, however, are virtually devoid of oxygen, so pristine metallic iron is prevalent on the Moon and highly oxidized iron has not been confirmed in samples returned from the Apollo missions. In addition, hydrogen in solar wind blasts the lunar surface, which acts in opposition to oxidation. So, the presence of highly oxidized iron-bearing minerals, such as hematite, on the Moon is an unexpected discovery.
"Our hypothesis is that lunar hematite is formed through oxidation of lunar surface iron by the oxygen from the Earth's upper atmosphere that has been continuously blown to the lunar surface by solar wind when the Moon is in Earth's magnetotail during the past several billion years," said Li.
To make this discovery, Li, HIGP professor Paul Lucey and co-authors from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and elsewhere analyzed the hyperspectral reflectance data acquired by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) designed by NASA JPL onboard India's Chandrayaan-1 mission.
This new research was inspired by Li's previous discovery of water ice in the Moon's polar regions in 2018.
"When I examined the M3 data at the polar regions, I found some spectral features and patterns are different from those we see at the lower latitudes or the Apollo samples," said Li. "I was curious whether it is possible that there are water-rock reactions on the Moon. After months investigation, I figured out I was seeing the signature of hematite."
The team found the locations where hematite is present are strongly correlated with water content at high latitude Li and others found previously and are more concentrated on the nearside, which always faces the Earth.
"More hematite on the lunar nearside suggested that it may be related to Earth," said Li. "This reminded me a discovery by the Japanese Kaguya mission that oxygen from the Earth's upper atmosphere can be blown to the lunar surface by solar wind when the Moon is in the Earth's magnetotail. So, Earth's atmospheric oxygen could be the major oxidant to produce hematite. Water and interplanetary dust impact may also have played critical roles"
"Interestingly, hematite is not absolutely absent from the far-side of the Moon where Earth's oxygen may have never reached, although much fewer exposures were seen," said Li. "The tiny amount of water (< ~0.1 wt.%) observed at lunar high latitudes may have been substantially involved in the hematite formation process on the lunar far-side, which has important implications for interpreting the observed hematite on some water poor S-type asteroids."
"This discovery will reshape our knowledge about the Moon's polar regions," said Li. "Earth may have played an important role on the evolution of the Moon's surface."
The research team hopes the NASA's ARTEMIS missions can return hematite samples from the polar regions. The chemical signatures of those samples can confirm their hypothesis whether the lunar hematite is oxidized by Earth's oxygen and may help reveal the evolution of the Earth's atmosphere in the past billions of years.
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By PTI
ALIGARH: The resident doctors' association at the Aligarh Muslim University on Wednesday welcomed the release of doctor Kafeel Khan from detention.
Khan was released from Mathura jail in Uttar Pradesh around midnight after the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday quashed his detention under the stringent National Security Act and ordered his immediate release, saying his speech at the AMU did not promote hatred or violence and gave a call for national integrity.
Hamza Malik, president of the resident doctors' association at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, described the release of Khan as a "victory of justice".
Malik said Khan had always stood for humanitarian values as a doctor, maintained the high traditions of the medical profession and never indulged in divisive activities.
ALSO READ | Yogi government 'stubborn like a child', can frame me in another case: Kafeel Khan up on release from jail
Instead of incarcerating Khan, the government should have availed his services at a time when health amenities in the state "badly needed" cooperation from the medical fraternity, Malik said.
Former AMU students' union president Faizul Hasan said Khan's release was a "victory for truth and democracy".
Kafeel had exercised his democratic right to protest, but had never taken resort to undemocratic means, and always championed the spirit of unity and communal harmony, according to Hasan.
Khan was in jail since January after he delivered an allegedly provocative speech at the AMU during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Iraqi television says French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in Baghdad for an official visit following a two-day trip to Lebanon
French President Emmanuel Macron met Iraqi leaders Wednesday on his first visit to Baghdad where he stressed the war-scarred country must assert its "sovereignty" despite being caught up in US-Iran tensions.
Coming straight from a two-day trip to crisis-hit Lebanon, Macron is the most prominent world leader to visit Iraq since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi came to power in May.
The trip aims to "launch an initiative alongside the United Nations to support a process of sovereignty," Macron said on the eve of his Iraq visit.
In Baghdad, he voiced his support for his Iraqi counterpart Barham Saleh to help fight Islamic State group sleeper cells and resist foreign interference.
"Iraq has been going through a challenging time for several years, with war and terrorism" as well as "multiple foreign interventions," Macron said.
"You have a transition to lead. France will be by your side so the international community can help."
But there were few details on the much-vaunted "sovereignty" initiative. Iraqi officials told AFP they were not expecting new financial or military aid.
President Saleh said he looked forward to a longer visit by Macron in 2021, and Kadhemi said he hoped France and Europe as a whole could help "restore stability" to the rocky region.
"We do not want to be an arena for confrontations but a zone of stability and moderation", the premier said, adding that France and Iraq would sign energy agreements in the future and deepen military cooperation.
'Essential sovereignty'
Iraq was ravaged by waves of sectarian conflict after former dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in a 2003 US-led invasion, in which France did not take part.
The turmoil culminated in the Islamic State group capturing swathes of Iraq and Syria six years ago before the militants were beaten back with international support, including a US-led coalition which did include French forces.
Iraq has been caught for years between its two main allies Iran and the United States -- a balancing act that has become increasingly tortured since Washington's withdrawal in 2018 from a multilateral nuclear deal with Tehran.
France, one of the key remaining backers of the 2015 nuclear agreement, called for de-escalation after a US strike on Baghdad in January killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and prompted Iran to launch missiles against US troops in Iraq.
France has stressed its signs of support for Iraq in recent tumultuous months.
Top diplomat Jean-Yves Le Drian, who was the only minister to accompany Macron from Lebanon to Iraq, had also visited Baghdad in July and urged the leadership there to "dissociate itself from regional tensions".
Macron last week insisted that "the fight for Iraq's sovereignty is essential".
He said Iraqis, who had "suffered so much", deserved options besides domination by regional powers or Islamist extremists.
Unlike most foreign visitors, the French president will not stop over in Arbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, but will instead meet Kurdish president Nechirvan Barzani in Baghdad.
French mediator role
Earlier this year, in the aftermath of the Islamic State group's territorial defeat and as the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the last contingent of French troops deployed in Iraq as part of the coalition pulled out.
France is seeking to expand its economic ties with Iraq, despite the war-battered country's problems -- including being ranked among the 20 most corrupt countries in the world by watchdog group Transparency International.
Macron was also likely to discuss the fate of 11 French nationals who were condemned to death last year by Iraqi courts for joining IS.
The president's focus on sovereignty was also an indirect message to Turkey, one Iraqi official said, after Ankara launched a cross-border assault on Kurdish rebels in the north.
Tensions are high between France and Turkey over the conflict in Libya and a dispute over offshore gas rights in the eastern Mediterranean.
Macron's lightning visit follows intense talks in Lebanon -- his second since a colossal August 4 explosion at Beirut port killed more than 180 people.
Karim Bitar, a political science professor in France and Lebanon, said the French leader was focusing on Lebanon and Iraq -- which have ties with both Iran and Saudi Arabia -- as he believes Paris could play a mediating role if regional tensions escalate further.
"Macron is definitely trying to make a push for a France-facing Middle East," Bitar said.
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September 2, 2020 Action on COVID, not discussion on rev gov: Pangilinan INSTEAD of discussing a revolutionary government, Senator "Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Wednesday said government should work on improving its abysmal COVID-19 pandemic response. "Ang dapat na ginagawa ay ayusin ng gobyerno ang COVID response. As of September 1, nine months after the first COVID case was monitored, mahigit 224,000 ang confirmed cases at halos 3,600 na ang namamatay na Pilipino dahil sa COVID," Pangilinan said. "The COVID situation is horribly out of control. That's why the open discussion that needs to be done is on how to overhaul the government's COVID response which is marred with incompetence and corruption," he added. Pangilinan pointed out that the country's COVID tally for one day (3,446 additional cases for August 31, 2020) is equivalent to the total number of cases in Thailand (3,417 as of August 31, 2020). "Yan ang grade natin sa COVID response: bagsak, fail," he said. In his address Monday, President Duterte reacted to initiatives to institute a revolutionary government and said the issue should not be discussed secretly, but in public and including the military. Last August 22, around 300 individuals online and offline gathered at the Clark Freeport in support of a Duterte-led "revolutionary government." Pangilinan said discussions should center on stopping the spread of the disease, and addressing the consequent joblessness and hunger. "Pag-usapan ang mahalaga sa ating mamamayan, hindi yung walang kwentang rev gov," Pangilinan said. According to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, almost 1 in 2 adult Filipinos in the labor force is jobless in July 2020. The estimated number of jobless adults in July 2020 was 27.3 million, more than three times the 7.9 million in December 2019. Over 1 in 4 businesses (25.9 percent) has shut down since the pandemic hit the country, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said, citing his department's June 4 to 17 survey. The number of Filipinos who were hungry in May 2020 due to lack of available food nearly doubled while most areas were under COVID-19 lockdowns, an SWS survey noted. In a May 4 to 10 virtual survey, 16.7 percent of the respondents or 3.9 million families experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months -- a huge spike compared to the 8.8 percent recorded last December 2019, and the highest hunger rate registered under President Duterte's term. "Dagdag pa sa problema at hindi solusyon sa problema yang rev gov na yan," Pangilinan said. "Failed gov, hindi rev gov, ang kailangan pag-usapan."
ARIZONA Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced Tuesday that all driver's licenses in the state will be valid for another year as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
The executive action was taken, in part, to minimize in-person visits to the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division offices, the governor said in a news release. This is especially true for Arizonans over the age of 65, which is the age at which most driver's licenses in the state expire. The group is more vulnerable to coronavirus complications. Now, any license that was due to expire between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2020 will be valid for an additional year.
Arizona continues to focus on proactive steps to protect the health of our communities and keep our state moving in the right direction, Ducey said in a news release. "Todays commonsense executive order extends the deadline for drivers to renew their licenses by one year, helping reduce the number of in-person MVD visits during the upcoming months and protecting our most vulnerable.
The order states that all law enforcement and government agencies will be required to accept licenses due to expire as valid.
Ducey previously issued a six-month extension in March. That order ended Tuesday.
Arizona drivers can check their updated license expiration date at AZMVDNow.gov. Drivers can also order a duplicate license with the updated expiration date online to avoid going to the MVD.
This article originally appeared on the Across Arizona Patch
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They're one of the great success stories to come from Married At First Sight.
And ahead of welcoming their first child together, Jules Robinson and Cameron Merchant have snapped up a $1.8million property on Sydney's Northern Beaches.
The reality star couple wasted no time moving into their new property, after Cameron sold his one-bedroom boutique apartment in Kirribilli for $900,000.
Through the keyhole: Take a look inside Jules Robinson (right) and Cameron Merchant's (left) luxurious $1.8million family home in Sydney's Northern Beaches
The reality star couple wasted no time moving into their new property, after Cameron sold his one-bedroom boutique apartment in Kirribilli for $900,000 in May
The contemporary home features four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a large outdoor entertaining area for their baby to play in.
The main bedroom features a built-in robe and ensuite.
The property is mere minutes away from Cameron's parents, Margaret and Russell, and a short drive to Dee Why Beach.
Luxury: The contemporary home features four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a large outdoor entertaining area for their baby to play in
Perfect for a family? With an open plan design, the spacious property has a very homely feel
Cameron and Jules have been racing against time to finish renovating their new property before welcoming their new addition.
To get the job done, the reality TV couple have called in renovation experts, couple Mitch Edwards and Mark McKie, from The Block.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia last week, soon-to-be-father Cam said the couple have already picked out a name for the baby, if their bundle of joy should be a girl.
Makeover! Cameron and Jules have been racing against time to finish renovating their new property before welcoming their new addition
He said they decided during filming their season of MAFS in 2018.
'I mentioned it to Jules when we first brought up kids, and she loved it and we have gone with it.'
Cameron and Jules, who legally married in November 2019, have chosen to keep the sex of their unborn child a secret until birth.
Spurned by allies, Saudi rethinks chequebook diplomacy As plummeting demand has sapped its oil revenues, the kingdom is rethinking old alliances
From Pakistan to Lebanon, Saudi Arabia is scaling back its famed chequebook diplomacy, a longstanding policy of splashing petro-dollars in exchange for influence, which observers say has yielded few tangible gains.
For decades, the wealthy kingdom funnelled billions in aid to its allies -- and to its enemies' enemies -- in a bid to bolster its position as an Arab powerhouse and leader of the Muslim world.
But as plummeting demand has sapped its oil revenues, the kingdom is rethinking old alliances that Saudi observers say have swallowed their cash while offering little in return, at a time when its quest for regional supremacy is increasingly challenged by rivals Iran, Turkey and Qatar.
A swathe of regional countries, from Jordan and Lebanon to Egypt, Palestine and Pakistan, have been the top recipients of Saudi aid over the past decade, said Middle East expert Yasmine Farouk.
"The dual economic impact of the coronavirus and low oil prices, however, may lead Saudi Arabia to restructure and rationalise its aid," said Farouk, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"The country is already seeking to end the perception of being 'an ATM'."
The kingdom has contributed billions to Lebanon's post-civil war reconstruction, but it has voiced frustration over its failure to rein in Hezbollah, a powerful group backed by its arch-enemy Iran.
"Saudi Arabia will not continue to pay Hezbollah's bills, and the Lebanese have to shoulder their responsibilities towards their country," Saudi columnist Khalid al-Sulaiman wrote recently for the pro-government Okaz newspaper.
"It is no longer possible for Saudi Arabia to continue paying billions to Lebanon in the morning and receive insults at night.
"This situation is no longer compatible with the new Saudi foreign policy, as Saudi money does not fall from the sky or grow in the desert."
- 'Party is over' -
Saudi Arabia also appears frustrated with Pakistan after the longstanding ally pushed Riyadh to take a firm stand on the disputed region of Kashmir and threatened to take the issue to other Muslim forums.
Story continues
Such a threat is particularly disconcerting for Saudi Arabia, which is home to Islam's holiest sites and views itself as the leader of the Muslim world.
The kingdom recently recalled $1 billion of a $3 billion loan from cash-strapped Pakistan, and an expired multi-billion dollar oil credit facility to Islamabad has not been renewed, a diplomatic source told AFP.
"Pakistani elites have a bad habit of taking Saudi support for granted, given what Saudi has done for Pakistan over the decades," tweeted Ali Shihabi, a Saudi author and analyst.
"Well the party is over, and Pakistan needs to deliver value to this relationship. It's no longer a free lunch or a one-way street."
Riyadh's ties with Pakistan have historically been "very warm" but the relationship has been lopsided, said Saudi prince Talal bin Mohammad al-Faisal.
"It (has) only benefited one side in 'real world' terms," he tweeted.
"That side is Pakistan."
- 'Take their money' -
Pakistan and Egypt, another ally which has received billions in aid, rebuffed calls for ground troops to support the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen against Iran-linked Huthi rebels.
Further stirring consternation in Riyadh, a leaked 2015 audio recording showed Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi allegedly mocking Gulf powers including Saudi Arabia, saying they were rolling in money "like rice".
That sentiment was echoed in 2018 by US President Donald Trump when he hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office and held up a chart listing military hardware sales worth billions to Riyadh.
"Take their money," Trump told NBC News the following year, justifying backing the kingdom's rulers after journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder sparked global uproar.
With so many of its relationships rendered transactional, Riyadh is struggling to win respect and its once-leading role in the Muslim world is increasingly challenged by its rivals, observers say.
The Saudis are increasingly resentful of "ungrateful" allies, said Farouk.
States that have traditionally benefited from Saudi largesse, including Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine, have "already seen instances in which aid was frozen, decreased or cut off", she added.
ac/sls/kir/lg/gle
(Natural News) Millions of undergrads were told that everything would return mostly back to normal this fall if they just agreed to pay their tuition and sign their housing leases in good faith. But the reality is that once colleges and universities got their money and contracts in hand, they immediately pulled a bait and switch, and are now holding students hostage inside their dorms while not allowing for any social interaction or outside activity supposedly due to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).
If it sounds a bit far-fetched or extreme, take some time to read some of the accounts for yourself, as relayed by Jordan Schachtel from The Mass Illusion. Schachtel compiled dozens of reports from all across the country about what students, mostly in the South, believe it or not, are encountering now that they have returned to campus.
At the University of Alabama, for instance, a student actually described the situation as a bait and switch because the plan initially laid out by the school was to open up the classrooms for so-called hybrid learning. But once the tuition was paid, U of A decided to make virtually everything digital through Zoom.
Were being forced to pay to attend Zoom classes in our rooms all semester, this student told Schachtel. A few of my friends didnt even come back to town, and I dont blame them. Why would they when they can get the same education at home?
According to this student, he or she only has two in-person classes, and both meet one day a week in shifts. Only five students are allowed in the classroom at once, and they all rotate in weekly series, meaning each individual student only sees the classroom maybe once per month.
At Southern Methodist University in Dallas, students were told at the very last minute about a series of changes that have turned the campus into a prison. Face masks must be worn at all times when outside the dorms, and students are not allowed to visit other dorms under any circumstances.
The only group gathering that is allowed at SMU was a Black Lives Matter (BLM) march that was given permission by the university to blast through the middle of campus while everyone else was forced to sit muzzled, isolated and miserable inside their dorm rooms.
Texas universities are now very, very Soviet-like, says student
At The University of Tennessee at Martin, all classes are online with no opportunity for students to ever speak with a teacher or aide in person. Many doorways are locked or closed, including dining halls, and yet students are required to stay on campus, pay for on-campus housing, and buy a meal plan.
The entire University of Texas college system is even worse, requiring that all meeting rooms on campus be sanitized four times a day. All students must remain masked and six feet apart at all times, and are required to have their temperatures checked upon entry into any new building. Student identification cards also have to be swiped everywhere students go for contact tracing purposes.
The student who reported this to Schachtel says that she wants to fight back but feels helpless, not knowing who may be reporting her actions. She further described the on-campus environment as being very, very Soviet-like.
Another UT college student says that at first students were told they could have just one guest at a time inside their apartments or dorm rooms, only to have that changed at the very last minute to no guests whatsoever. Over the summer, the school system also installed spying and surveillance cameras inside all the hallways of buildings, specifically aimed at residents doors.
For more related news about the New World Order that is being ushered in under the guise of a plandemic response, be sure to check out Pandemic.news.
Sources for this article include:
JordanSchachtel.Substack.com
NaturalNews.com
Actress Kangana Ranaut on Tuesday alleged that filmmaker Karan Johar is the main culprit" of the Bollywood movie mafia. Kangana, who has been vocal for a while about alleged Bollywood mafia that promotes star kids over outsiders, posted her accusations against Karan Johar on her verified Twitter account, tagging the office of the Prime Minister of India.
Karan Johar the main culprit of movie mafia! @PMOIndia even after ruining so many lives and careers he is roaming free no action taken against him, is there any hope for us? After all is settled he and his gang of hyenas will come for me," Kangana tweeted.
Kanganas tweet came in response to a user who tweeted: Sushants GYM Partner is Exposing how Bollywood m@fia Karan Johar made Drive Movie just to Trap & block Sushant Singh Rajput from doing further projects in Bollywood."
Ever since Sushant Singh Rajputs demise, Kangana has reopened the conversation about nepotism and favouritism in Bollywood that is said to promote star kids over outsiders. In a series of tweets posted last week, Kangana had also alleged that drugs are a commonplace occurrence in B-Town parties.
If narcotics Control Bureau enters Bullywood, many A-listers will be behind bars, if blood tests are conducted many shocking revelations will happen. Hope @PMOIndia under Swachh Bharat mission cleanses the gutter called Bullywood," she had tweeted.
Recently, in an interview with Republic TV, Kangana talked about Bollywoods alleged drug nexus and claimed that 99% of people in the industry do drugs. She also alleged that a character artiste" spiked her drink and took advantage of her during her early days in the film industry.
The conviction of a father who spent 16 years in jail for the murder of his infant son has been declared a miscarriage of justice.
Yusif Ali Abdi, who was subsequently found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, has been given leave to seek compensation from the State after a Miscarriage of Justice application was today granted by the Central Criminal Court.
In December of last year Somali refugee Mr Abdi was committed to the Central Mental Hospital, having been found not guilty by reason of insanity of the murder of his son, 20-month-old Nathan Baraka Andrew Ali, in a retrial.
Mr Abdi was tried before the Central Criminal Court in 2003 for the murder of his son, when a jury rejected his insanity defence and found him guilty of murder by a majority verdict.
The Central Criminal Court trial heard that on the night of the killing, his wife Ms Amanda Bailey and Nathan visited Mr Abdi at his apartment at Clane. Mr Abdi removed his son from his mother's bed around 4am and took him to the living room, where he locked the door and a number of loud bangs were subsequently heard.
When Ms Bailey gained access to the room, the child's body was limp, his head was swollen and he had blood in his nose. Ms Bailey failed to find a pulse on her son and he was pronounced dead at 5.30am that morning.
Mr Abdi had spent 16 years in jail before his murder conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal on February 13, 2019, and a retrial was ordered, after the court heard he had been correctly diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2013.
Mr Abdi (47), with addresses at Charleville Road, Phibsboro, Dublin 7, and The Elms, College Road, Co Kildare, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder charge at the Clane address on April, 17, 2001.
Mr Abdi, whose father died in the Somali civil war, came to Ireland in 1997 and was granted refugee status in 2000. He married Irish woman Amanda Bailey and they had a son Nathan, who was born in August 1999.
In a victim impact statement in December, Ms Bailey told the court that she did not believe "for one second" that Mr Abdi could have known what he was doing.
A pathologist said that baby Nathan died from head injuries, which were most likely caused from his head impacting at least three or four times against a hard surface such as a wall or floor.
Four consultant psychiatrists gave evidence in the retrial that Mr Abdi was suffering from schizophrenia in 2001 and that he met the requirements for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
At the original trial, Dr Damian Mohan, a consultant psychiatrist at the Central Mental Hospital (CMH), was called by the prosecution and gave evidence that Mr Abdi was not suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.
However, Dr Mohan told the retrial that he now agreed with three other medical witnesses that Mr Abdi had a history of paranoid schizophrenia dating back to November 1999.
Dr Mohan testified that in 2019 he had the benefit of three admissions of the accused to the mental health facility following the 2003 murder conviction, which Dr Mohan did not have at the time of the original trial.
At this afternoon's proceedings, Mr Justice Alexander Owens said that the granting of the certificate for a Miscarriage of Justice was not about "pointing the finger of blame".
Mr Justice Owens heard the application under Section 9 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
The judge said that the new diagnosis by Dr Mohan amounted to a "newly-discovered fact" and that it had later become "undisputed fact" that Mr Abdi had been suffering with schizophrenia in 2001.
The judge said that the chronic illness varied in intensity and that the diagnosis had now moved to accept that.
"There are only two outcomes of a jury trial in my opinion: conviction or acquittal," said Mr Justice Owens, who added that because the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity could not be appealed it was to be regarded as acquittal.
Mr Justice Owens said that because acquittal was not available to the Court of Appeal, a retrial had to be ordered even though "it was clear the original verdict couldn't stand and was wrong in a fundamental aspect".
The judge said that the original trial had referenced behaviours by Mr Abdi, such as locking the kitchen door, to suggest that the defendant knew what he was doing was wrong.
"I suspect this is not the first time this has happened in an insanity case," said Mr Justice Owens, noting that in a special insanity defence, the onus of proof was on the defence.
The judge said that he saw no difference between a case relying on a diagnosis and one relying on forensic or scientific evidence that turns out to be erroneous.
Mr Justice Owens approved the certificate for the Miscarriage of Justice application and awarded Mr Abdi's defence team their costs.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 03:52:50|Editor: huaxia
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NICOSIA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- A group of 21 irregular migrants from Syria and Lebanon arrived on a boat on the southeastern coast of Cyprus, the police said in a statement on Tuesday.
It said the group included 10 men, four women, five children and two unaccompanied minors aged 17.
The migrants said that 12 of them came from Lebanon and nine from Syria.
This was the first time migrants who arrived in Cyprus said they came from Lebanon. It was not immediately clear whether they left Beirut before or after the August 4 explosion in the Lebanese capital.
After being processed at a local police station, all the migrants were taken to a quarantine area at a center hosting asylum seekers near the capital of Nicosia.
Cyprus is one of the European Union (EU) frontline countries where refugees from the war-torn regions of Syria and irregular migrants from Asian and African countries arrive in small groups. Enditem
New Delhi :
The ruling BJP will field candidates in 37 out of total 40 constituencies for upcoming Goa Assembly elections and will support contestants in remaining three seats in Catholic-dominated Salcette taluka.
BJP will contest 37 seats and support others in Vellim, Benaulim and Nuvem, BJP state unit president Vinay Tendulkar told reporters on Tuesday.
BJP has already begun shortlisting the nominees in various constituencies. 22 candidates will be announced this week and rest later, said Tendulkar.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is meeting party cadres in each constituency before deciding about the contestant.
Till now the core committee of the party has met cadres from 22 constituencies. Entire process of meeting cadres would be over by January 9. The core committee will hand over the names to election committee before forwarding it to party's central election committee, the BJP leader added.
BJP had won the 2012 Assembly elections in the alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
With PTI Inputs
For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Prince Harry and Meghan signed a production deal with Netflix on Wednesday, just six months after the couple left their official roles with the British royal family, the New York Times reported.
The big picture: An unnamed production company founded by the couple will create a series of documentaries, films, shows and children's programming for the streaming service. "As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us," the couple told the Times.
The two added that Netflixs "unprecedented reach will help us share impactful content that unlocks action."
Background: Harry and Meghan left the royal family earlier this year, allowing them to seek financial independence. Meghan, in particular, faced repeated battles with the press since joining the House of Windsor in 2018.
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: A group of over 90 former bureaucrats have written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B), the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), demanding strong action against Sudarshan TV for its proposed telecast of a communally charged series on recruitment of IAS and IPS officers in the country.
In the letter, the civil servants have called for a stronger administrative and legal action against the news channel for its communally charged, divisive and sensational series on the recruitment process.
Incidentally the Delhi High Court has already granted an interim stay on the telecast.
This series claims to be an expose of a conspiracy in the recruitment process that has resulted in a sudden increase in the number of Muslim officers selected for the two most prestigious services IAS and IPS in the country. Jamia Millia Islamia has been singled out in this context, the letter read.
It went on to add that it is completely perverse to allege that there is a conspiracy to infiltrate Muslim officers into the services, or to use terms like UPSC Jihad or Civil Services Jihad in this connection.
The country is already smouldering with hate speech against Muslims, including allegations of Corona Jihad and Love Jihad, which various courts have found to be false. This telecast will add further fuel to that fire, it said.
They also urged the authorities concerned to order lodging of first information report (FIR) under the relevant legal provisions.
A difference between English and Arabic versions of a trilateral statement after an historic flight from Israel to the UAE has been seized upon by Palestinians to suggest the Gulf state has overstated Israeli readiness to drop West Bank annexation plans.
The English version of a joint communique by the United Arab Emirates, Israel and the United States in Abu Dhabi on Monday said the accord had "led to the suspension of Israel's plans to extend its sovereignty".
But the Arabic version, carried by the UAE state news agency WAM, said "the agreement ... has led to Israel's plans to annex Palestinian lands being stopped".
The discrepancy was highlighted by Palestinians after President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner flew with US and Israeli delegations on the first Israeli commercial flight to the UAE to cement the normalisation accord, the first by a Gulf state.
"Compare yourself the two versions... suspension of extending sovereignty, not stopping annexation of Palestinian lands," tweeted Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation on Tuesday.
The UAE has portrayed the accord, announced by Trump on Aug. 13, as a means to halt Israeli annexation of occupied West Bank lands, where Palestinian hope to build a future state.
Jamal Al-Musharakh, chief of policy planning and international cooperation at the UAE foreign ministry, said the difference in wording was merely a translation issue.
"If anyone can think of a better synonym than 'Eeqaf' (stopping) for 'suspending', then please let me know," he told reporters.
"One of the prerequisites of the commencing of bilateral relations was the halting of the annexation, said Musharakh. The Emirati government did not respond when asked for further comment.
But Hanan Ashrawi, a senior PLO official, said it was a "forked tongue" attempt to influence public opinion in the Arab world.
"NO CHANGE IN MY PLAN"
"I don't think it is a problem of translation, I think it is a disingenuous way of trying to manipulate the discourse," she told Reuters.
"The Arabic translation is a way of misleading Arab public opinion by saying they have succeeded in stopping the annexation, while actually they suspended it."
In recent election campaigns Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to apply Israeli sovereignty to West Bank areas, including Jewish settlements, but said he needed a green light from Washington.
Speaking in Hebrew and using the biblical terms for the West Bank, Netanyahu told Israelis on Aug. 13 - the day the deal was announced: "There is no change in my plan to apply our sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, in full coordination with the United States. I am committed, it has not changed."
Keeping annexation hopes alive is widely seen as Netanyahu's attempt to placate his right-wing voter base. Settler leaders have accused him of repeatedly floating annexation, only to cave in to international pressure.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokewoman on Wednesday said it had nothing to add to the original Aug 13. statement, which said: "As a result of this diplomatic breakthrough ...Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President's Vision for Peace."
The White House declined to comment on the UAE trip communique, but a US source familiar with the matter said the White House was not responsible for the Arabic translation.
At the briefing to reporters in Washington after the announcement Trump said annexation was "right now off the table," and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman added: "The word suspend was chosen carefully by all the parties. 'Suspend' by definition, look it up, means a temporary halt. It's off the table now but it's not off the table permanently."
During his UAE trip this week Kushner also used the word "suspend".
"Israel has agreed to suspend the annexation, to suspend applying Israeli law to those areas for the time being," he told the WAM agency. "But in the future it is a discussion that I am sure will be had. But not in the near future."
When then Defence Minister AK Antony returned from Beijing in July 2013, he was fascinated by the infrastructure development in China. He was rather intrigued how China was able to build straight roads unlike the ones that he had seen back home in India that yielded to hurdles in the way. At that point, Antony was told by his South Block advisers that in communist China, unlike India, buildings or any hurdles are uprooted to make way for the roads or highways. While Antony understood the message, it is time that a democratic India came to terms with the adversary at its doorstep in Ladakh.
For the past four months, the Indian Army has been on the razors edge to defend the 3,488-kilometre Line of Actual Control (LAC) from Chinas aggressive Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) from pursuing its 60-year-old agenda of imposing the 1960 cartographical expansion map of the then Chinese Premier Chou En-Lai on the ground in Ladakh. The situation is critical as the Indian Army cannot hold back the PLA forever by staring at the adversary. And the fear is that one bullet could lead to a huge escalation on the LAC. It is not that the Chinese Western Theatre Commander Zhao Zongqi or his communist party boss Xi Jinping do not understand the consequences. It is Zhongguo, the Middle Kingdom, in action with its wolf warriors attributing the current friction to the undefined nature of the India-China border despite 15 years of Special Representative dialogue to sort out the issue and a plethora of agreements and protocols.
Also Read: Resisting China in Ladakh | HT Editorial
The fact is that actions of paramount leader Xi Jinping such as consolidation of Hong Kong, sinification of Tibet, subjugation of Uighurs in Xinjiang and domination of the South China Sea all point to Fortress China, with India bearing the consequences in Ladakh. Clearly under the mask of the coronavirus disease that originated in Wuhan, communist party chief Xi is grabbing all that he wants to believe belongs to China and is not averse to use of military force to achieve his objective.
Also Watch l After provoking at LAC, now China accuses India of violating consensus
While ASEAN nations look to the US to shoulder the burden in the South China Sea against big brother China, India will have to carry the cross alone as it is surrounded by ally states of the Middle Kingdom.
A weak US President after the November elections will confirm the rise of China as a global superpower with a divided Europe in no position to act against Beijing but only talk tall. The UN Security Council is the other talk shop.
The many ramifications of India being a front-line state against China with three neighbours - Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar - in a cosy relationship with Beijing is indeed disturbing. The Indian task becomes humongous with the Chinese United Front Work Department under XI Jinping making serious inroads into the country through individuals and organisations. This department, which reports directly to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, not only gathers intelligence but also ensures that potential critics of Beijing remain divided throughout the world. While the current government under Narendra Modi has the numbers in Parliament to deal with a resurgent Middle Kingdom, a weak government in Delhi on a future date will decimate the resistance to Beijing.
From the current events in Ladakh, it is quite clear that China wants to activate the entire LAC and provoke India into a reaction or cow down in submission through use of psychological warfare, spreading discontent through its ideological brothers and finally, use of brute military force. Xi Jinping clearly believes in taking all that the past rulers of the forbidden city had fantastically claimed.
Given the bleak scenario, it is important that the Modi government ensures that only the competent and meritorious are placed at the top in military, diplomacy, intelligence and a bureaucracy that works in silos. A democratic India is already handicapped in dealing with a single-agenda China and a seniority based leadership will only deepen the crisis. The last thing that India wants to see is a divided military that embarrasses the nation through leaks to settle personal scores, an intelligence organisation that prepares only reports and a diplomacy that does not have teeth. The saving grace is that some of Indias best minds are handling national security today at the apex level who respect rising China, but are not afraid of it.
For long, India has been sitting on the fence without taking any stand on global issues. This was valid in the past as India did not have the heft or the gravitas to get the global ear. Hence, it would often not take positions as it had to take into account politicians who were still living in the erstwhile Soviet era or a Cold war side-show called the non-aligned movement. Coronavirus has changed the world forever. India must change or bear the consequences.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-03 07:15:56|Editor: huaxia
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BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday that he is ready to work with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to join efforts with the international community to resolutely safeguard the victory of the Second World War as well as international fairness and justice.
Xi made the remarks in an exchange of messages with Putin to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. Enditem
Incumbent Senator Ed Markey (D., Mass.) has won the Democratic Senate primary in Massachusetts against Joe Kennedy III.
Markeys defeat of Kennedy marks the first time a member of the Kennedy family has lost a congressional race in Massachusetts. Markey, who has spent 44 years in Congress, has made a name as a progressive lawmaker who co-sponsored the Green New Deal legislation spearheaded by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.).
With 38 percent of votes tallied, Markey received 54 percent of the vote while Kennedy received about 45 percent.
No matter the results tonight, I would do this again with all of you in a heartbeat, Kennedy told supporters after conceding the race.
Kennedy has served as the U.S. representative for Massachusettss 4th congressional district, south of Boston, since 2013. In deciding to run for the Senate, Kennedy effectively chose not to seek reelection in his district.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi raised eyebrows when she endorsed Kennedy in the race, backing a newcomer against a seasoned incumbent who enjoyed the support of progressives. The endorsement drew the ire of Ocasio-Cortez, who publicly backed Markey.
An incumbent backed by Pelosi, Representative Richard Neal (D., Mass.), easily won reelection against primary challenger Alex Morse, the current mayor of Holyoke. Neal led Morse by about 20 points late on Tuesday.
Morse was backed by progressives, and faced allegations of sexual assault that were later found to be suspect.
More from National Review
EDWARDSVILLE Five Riverbend area lawmakers late Tuesday said Gov. J.B. Pritzker should have had more consideration of the businesses that will be hurt by the states tougher pandemic rules that take effect Wednesday.
Issuing the joint statement were state Sens. Christopher Belt, D-Centreville and Rachelle Crowe, D-Glen Carbon, and state Reps. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, and LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis.
The safety and wellness of residents of the Metro East and across Illinois will always remain our number-one priority, the lawmakers said in their statement. As we have continued to talk with local residents, families, business owners and employees, the damage caused by the coronavirus is very evident and is not solely on the physical health of those around us.
Many small and family-owned businesses across the region have suffered tremendously and have been forced to make very difficult decisions in order to keep their doors open, they said. We believe that in this decision process, more consideration should be given to these business owners and operators, who have already faced the economic brunt of this pandemic.
We must work to ensure that the Hospitality Emergency Grant and the Business Interruption Grant are adequately funded and provide immediate relief to the businesses such as restaurants and bars that will be affected by this decision, the lawmakers said in their statement. While this critical situation requires tough decisions, those who are affected should be allowed a seat at the table to make sure that the livelihoods of many residents we serve are given ample consideration in the process.
We stand behind our small businesses, who are the backbones of our local economies, their statement read. We all want to see our Metro East businesses and workers succeed, and we will continue to work together to get our region running again.
BASF and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill today announced the signing of a Master Research Agreement. It will facilitate easier collaboration between industry and academia on the journey to jointly address global challenges such as climate change, food security and scarcity of resources. The interdisciplinary approach will draw on the strengths of each organization to accelerate scientific discovery.
By connecting its deep scientific expertise to UNC-Chapel Hill's fundamental research capabilities, initially focused on biomedical, health and pharma applications, BASF expects to find new innovations for its customers in agriculture, health and personal care.
Teaming up with UNC-Chapel Hill, a leading global university located in close proximity to us in Research Triangle Park, NC, will not only improve the impact of our research activities, but also give us more access to technologies beyond our in-house expertise to solve societal challenges." Peter Eckes, President, Bioscience Research and Regional Research Representative North America, BASF
"We are eager to see the results of our partnership with the Master Research Agreement in place that will enable us to collaborate more quickly across areas of common interest to drive innovation."
The Master Research Agreement containing pre-agreed terms for intellectual property, publication and confidentiality will enable open scientific discussions and speed up the process of starting collaborations. Several research projects focused on plant science are already under way.
"Our partnership with BASF is a great example of the culture of collaboration that we have fostered at Carolina," said UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz. "Combining our scientific expertize and research capabilities through the Master Research Agreement will enable Carolina and BASF to solve the grand challenges of our time and produce results that will benefit the people of North Carolina, the nation and the world."
Algeria exports 6000t of cement to Lebanon
ICR Newsroom By 02 September 2020
A vessel with 6000t of cement left the port of Djen Djen, Algeria, yesterday, heading for Beirut, Lebanon.
Minister of Industry, Ferhat Ait Ali, and Minister of Solidarity, Kaoutar Krikou, were present during the departure. In a statement to the press, the two ministers focused on "the spirit of solidarity which animates the Algerian people towards the brotherly Lebanese people in this difficult circumstance that this country is going through". According to the same declaration, other actions of solidarity which will emanate from the public and private sectors are planned, according to Algerian newspaper Liberte.
Published under
NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sounded an alert and asked the security forces to remain vigilant amid growing India-China tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Sources on Wednesday (September 2, 2020) said that the Ministry of Home Affairs has directed the security forces to remain on high alert on the India-China, India-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders.
The Home Ministry sources said that the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) have been asked to increase patrolling and surveillance in the borders adjoining China.
The ITBP has been directed to remain alert on Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Sikkim borders. Besides this, the SSB and ITBP have been directed to increase vigil on India-Nepal-China TRI-Junction and the Kalapani region in Uttarakhand.
Some companies of SSB have been rushed to the India-Nepal border. Earlier these companies were engaged in Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi. The decision in this regard was taken during a high-level review meeting which was attended by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Secretary of the Border Management and the officials of ITBP and SSB on Tuesday.
According to the sources, instructions were issued after the crucial meeting to increase vigilance on Indias borders with China, Nepal, Bhutan. The Indian security forces have been asked not to move from the heights as they are within the country's perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) was blocked by the Indian forces after the Chinese tried to manoeuvre several heights near the southern bank of Pangong Tso, Rezang La, Requin La and Spanggur Gap on August 29-30.
The armed forces, guarding Indias borders, have been reportedly been asked to remain on high alert amid rise in tensions along the Line of Actual Control.
Following an unsuccessful attempt by the Chinese to change the status quo, the Indian Army has strengthened its presence on a number of "strategic heights" and enhanced deployment of troops and weapons at key points around the Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh.
On Tuesday again, China engaged in "provocative action" even as military talks were underway.
The developments show New Delhi is willing to change the rules of engagement along the border with China, with the Indian Army pushing back against Chinese troops seeking to open a new front along the LAC in Ladakh, besides strengthening its positions along strategic heights in the area.
Meanwhile, the military talks between India and China resumed on Wednesday. The Brigade Commander-level talks are being held in Chushul/Moldo to discuss the ongoing issues along the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake.
The military talks are being held to ease escalating tension triggered by a fresh confrontation between the two sides on the southern bank of the Pangong lake. The sources said the meeting on Monday and Tuesday did not produce any concrete outcome.
Italy's chief diplomat paid an unannounced visit to Libya on Tuesday to press for an end to the bloody civil war following cease-fire initiatives by the UN-supported government and rival parliament.
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio met with Fayez Sarraj, head of the Government of National Accord based in the capital Tripoli, before heading to eastern Libya to meet with Aguila Saleh, speaker of the rival Tobruk-based House of Representatives, Libyan officials said.
Sarraj's office said they discussed "points of agreement" with Saleh on implementing a permanent cease-fire and demilitarization of the city of Sirte and the nearby area of Jufra.
Previous efforts to secure lasting cease-fires have stalled.
The two sides also agreed on the need of an "effective" international support to the political solution to Libya's conflict, a statement said.
Libya was plunged into chaos when a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled long time ruler Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed.
The country has since split between rival east- and west-based administrations, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments.
Sarraj announced a cease-fire on 21 August and called for demilitarising the key city of Sirte and the nearby area of Jufra, which would mean the withdrawal of forces of military commander Khalifa Hifter.
Hifter's forces launched an offensive in April 2019 trying to capture Tripoli.
But his campaign collapsed in June when the Tripoli-allied militias, with heavy Turkish support, gained the upper hand, driving his forces from the outskirts of the city and other western towns.
The Delhi High Court refused to stay the streaming of Netflix movie Gunjan Saxena - The Kargil Girl on Wednesday.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher refused to pass an interim injunction order at this stage and stated that the plea should have been filed sooner as the film has already been released. The court has sought responses from Dharma Production and Netflix on the plea and posted the matter for further hearing on September 18.
Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, representing the Centre, argued that the movie has dented the image of the Indian Air Force as it showed that the force is gender biased, which is not correct.
The court was hearing a plea by the ministry of defence that alleged the movie the makers of the film sought the assistance of IAF in making the film on the actual life of an Air Force officer but kept the IAF in dark about the real intent of the movie i.e. to show them in negative light based on misleading and manipulative facts.
The court said it was of the view that former flight lieutenant Gunjan Saxena should also be made a party to the suit and issued notice to her, seeking her response.
The movie was released on Over The Top (OTT) platform on August 12.
The CNN Center in Atlanta, Ga., in a April 3, 2020, file photograph. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Trump Campaign: CNN Should Fire Joe Lockhart After He Suggested President Had Stroke
CNN should terminate the employment of a former Bill Clinton aide who suggested with no evidence that President Donald Trump suffered a stroke, Trumps campaign said on Tuesday.
Lockhart knowingly pushing a conspiracy theory about President Trumps health, the campaign said in a statement.
If another CNN employee said similar things about Barack Obama theyd be fired immediately, so the same standard should be applied here. That is, of course, unless CNN is complicit in the smear campaign in order to level the playing field against Joe Biden, somebody who truly has lost a step.
Lockhart wrote in a tweet earlier in the day, Did @realDonaldTrump have a stroke which he is hiding from the American public?
Facing backlash, the political analyst said he merely asked a question based on an unannounced trip to the hospital.
The speculation was based on anonymously-sourced reporting that claimed Vice President Mike Pence was on standby to assume presidential powers when Trump visited Walter Reed Hospital in November 2019.
Trump called the claim fake news and his doctor said in a statement that the president has not experienced nor been evaluated for a cerebrovascular accident (stroke), transient ischemic attack (mini stroke), or any acute cardiovascular emergencies, as have been incorrectly reported in the media.
Ronny Jackson, who served as Trumps doctor until late last year, said reports about Trumps health were full of lies.
I was consulted regarding this trip weeks in advance. This trip was neither urgent, nor emergent, nor did it have anything to do with his cerebrovascular or cardiovascular health, Jackson said in a video he released.
Vice President Mike Pence told Fox News that he was not placed on standby during Trumps visit to the hospital.
I dont recall being told to be on standby. I was informed that the President had a doctors appointment, he said. Ive got to tell you, part of this job is you are always on standby if you are Vice President of the United States.
CNN didnt respond to a request for comment.
Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
GROZNY, Russia -- Ramzan Kadyrov, the authoritarian leader of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, has appointed his eldest daughter as first deputy culture minister.
Kadyrov announced the appointment of his 21-year-old daughter to the post on Telegram on September 1, saying that it was his "firmly weighed decision."
"Despite her young age, she has a wealth of experience managing very complex and large projects, including those linked to culture," Kadyrov wrote.
Aishat Kadyrova manages the Firdaws fashion salon, which presented its collections in Paris, Dubai, Moscow, and Grozny.
In July, the U.S. State Department introduced new sanctions against Kadyrov for human rights violations in the region, including torture and extrajudicial execution. The new sanctions also targeted Aishat Kadyrova, her sister Karina, and mother Medni Kadyrova.
The EU Commission President was unusually public and very forthright when calling on Ireland to nominate a successor for Phil Hogan.
"As in the past, I will invite the Irish government to propose a woman and a man," Ursula von der Leyen said.
The signals in Dublin are that the Government here is leaning towards nominating one person, Simon Coveney.
Well-placed government sources point out that Ms von der Leyen has no legal power to oblige Dublin to send her the two names.
That is completely true - but it overlooks two things that the president of the European Commission could do rather easily.
Firstly, she could take her time processing this nomination; and secondly, she has total discretion over what portfolio the new Irish commissioner actually gets.
Ireland is now most unlikely to keep the trade commissioner's job held by Phil Hogan as this post usually goes to somebody serving a second term. But it can hope, with a smoothly managed nomination process, to get another heavy-hitting post that retains influence amid impending Brexit threats.
If Ms von der Leyen feels Ireland is trying to challenge her, the result could be a rather minor post. The nomination process also could take quite some time, which Ireland does not have to spare.
"If Ireland sends two names, as Ms von der Leyen asked, this process could be wrapped up by the end of the week. If Ireland only sends one name, but that person is a woman, it could also end well. But if Ireland only nominates a man, this could drag on and on for months."
That was the view of a senior Brussels official with 30-plus years of experience and a good knowledge of Ireland's relations with the EU.
It is well known that the former German defence minister, who took over the EU executive on December 1 last, is determined to bring gender equality to her 27-member team. She proposed the man and woman nominee formula last autumn as the new commission was being assembled, saying she would pick the most suitable person from each national pair of nominees.
Ireland quite reasonably ignored her request at that time and re-nominated Phil Hogan for a second term. Ms von der Leyen almost achieved gender parity with 12 women, including herself, to 15 men.
This time Ireland's nomination to replace Phil Hogan is far more visible and public. It comes as Ireland has created a major headache for the EU policy-guiding Commission at a time when it already has a plethora of crises to confront.
On the face of things, it would be wise to go with Ms von der Leyen's express wish. It would also avoid a gratuitous clash with the European Parliament. The second largest grouping in the parliament, the socialists, have openly urged Ireland to help Ms von der Leyen's campaign for gender equality by nominating a woman.
It is important to watch the role of the European Parliament in this, not least because the MEPs will publicly assess and vote on the Irish nominee.
Ms von der Leyen is also very careful in her dealings with the parliament. When the MEPs voted on her own ratification last July she had only nine votes above the required absolute majority.
And there is also pressure on the home front about gender equality. Of 10 Irish commissioners who have served since this country joined the EU in 1973, only one has been a woman: Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, who served with distinction from 2010 until 2014.
Another Brussels official said that all three people being linked to the nomination - Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, and MEPs Frances Fitzgerald and Mairead McGuinness - are high-calibre candidates with lots of senior political experience.
Of the trio, Ms Fitzgerald appears less advantaged, having only been elected to the European Parliament in May 2019. But Ms Fitzgerald is a very experienced politician, former Tanaiste and minister, whose work often took her to Brussels. It is not hard to envisage a scenario of her coming through the middle.
When the Public Regulation Commission decided to place our states energy future on the unstable foundation of renewable energy, it also decided New Mexicos low-income families deserved a 17% tax increase. Of course, the PRC and its supporters in the environmental community wont be shouting it through their solar-powered bullhorns, but its the truth.
Just last year, the University of Chicago released a study examining the impact of laws like New Mexicos Energy Transition Act, which is what forced the PRC into its decision. When comparing states with renewable mandates to those without, the results are clear: electric bills go up over 10% within seven years. If the mandate survives past a decade, that same electric bill increases 17%. Sadly, those massive cost increases might be too conservative.
As coronavirus continued to ravage the economy over the summer, leaders in California faced calls to roll back their own renewable mandates. The reason is simple: Their residential customers pay an astonishing 46% more for electricity than the national average. What about small- business owners? Their electric bill is 69% higher. We must ask ourselves why working families in California are begging for relief from the very mandates leaders in New Mexico are championing.
The reason the PRC was forced to pick a plan for New Mexicos power future is because the San Juan Generating Station near Farmington is slated to close in the next couple of years. Besides providing massive amounts of affordable power for decades, the generating station and its accompanying coal mine employed hundreds of New Mexicans who will now be out of a job. Environmentalists will tell you its market conditions forcing the closure, yet theyve spent hundreds of thousands on campaigns to force us to buy their just transition. Make no mistake, if the market deemed their renewable solution more affordable, they wouldnt need Santa Fe to mandate us to buy it.
About 150 miles to the southwest of the San Juan Generating Station is the former site of the now-closed Kayenta Mine. Environmentalists cheered when the mine closed last year, but they were nowhere to be found when the community had to pick up the pieces. Native American elders were forced to burn their own clothes to stay warm last winter because they no longer had the coal from the mine. The environmental movement abandoned that community in its moment of need, and it will abandon New Mexicos families as well.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has recently become fond of referring to New Mexico as a small, poor state. Perhaps supporting renewable mandates that only serve as a disguise for taxing the poor is part of the reason why.
Nationally, as many as 215,000 more people than usual died in the U.S. during the first seven months of 2020, suggesting that the number of lives lost to the coronavirus is significantly higher than the official toll, according to an analysis of CDC data by The Marshall Project and The Associated Press.
Survivors of the Christchurch mosque attack have demanded Australia pay for Brenton Tarrant's jail bill.
The terrorist was jailed for life without parole after he murdered 51 people and injured dozens more in a massacre at the Al-Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre on March 15, 2019.
Now, victims of the brutal attack want Australia to pick up the bill for incarcerating the 29-year-old in Auckland's Paremoremo Prison, which comes at a price of NZ$4,930 (AUD$4,512) per day.
John Milne's 14-year-old son Sayyad was killed by Tarrant in the racially motivated attack and he believes New Zealanders should not be charged for his actions.
Victims of Brenton Tarrant's (pictured) mosque attack in Christchurch want Australia to pay for his jail time
'I think Australia needs to pay the total cost for what we've spent already, they need to pay that plus ongoing. They need to cough up big time,' he told RNZ.
'There's a big bill out there for this now, he's Australian, not a Kiwi, we shouldn't have to pay for any of it.'
Tarrant grew up in the northern New South Wales town of Grafton before moving to New Zealand in 2017 and settling in the South Island town of Dunedin.
The first two years of his sentence alone will cost $NZ3.59 million ($A3.33 million), with the entirety of his time in jail set to cost tens of millions of dollars.
Manal Dokhan points at Tarrant during her impact statement in a hearing in Christchurch on August 26
Abdul Aziz chased Tarrant out of Linwood Islamic Centre following the attack and said the money being spent on his imprisonment could be much better spent.
'We can do a lot better things than spending it on that coward,' he said.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters wants Tarrant to serve his sentence in Australia and Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was open to the idea.
'I know all Australians and New Zealanders want to see this character locked up to never see the light of day again - I agree with that,' he told Sunrise.
'Whether he is held in New Zealand or Australia, we're open to that discussion.'
There would need to be some changes to legal arrangements between Australia and New Zealand for the transfer to happen because the two countries do not have a prisoner transfer agreement.
Abdul Aziz (pictured top right) embraces with the public after Tarrant's prison sentence was revealed on August 27
Flowers are seen laid outside the Al Noor mosque after Tarrant's racially motivated attack in March 2019
Such an agreement would allow New Zealanders jailed in Australia to also be sent home.
Another option would be for Canberra and Wellington to reach a one-off agreement just for Tarrant.
In either case, Tarrant would have to serve the same sentence of life without parole unless New Zealand consented to a discount which is extremely unlikely, ANU legal expert professor Don Rothwell told Daily Mail Australia.
Mr Morrison said he and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern would work through the issues involved.
'It has a lot of implications, these sorts of decisions. The Prime Minister of New Zealand and I will talk about those issues,' Mr Morrison said.
'Mostly, we're concerned about what the views of the families would be, of those affected, and we want to do the right thing by them.'
'There has been no request made for that (transfer), I should stress.'
Tarrant's sentence is the harshest penalty ever doled out by a New Zealand court and guarantees he will die behind bars regardless of which country he is in.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Ardern said Tarrant's crime was one that the country 'has never seen the likes of before and this is a sentence we've never seen before'.
'It gave me relief, to know that person will never see the light of day,' she said. 'The trauma of March 15 is not easily healed, but today I hope is the last where we have any cause to hear or utter the name of the terrorist behind it.
'His deserves to be a lifetime of complete and utter silence.'
A group calling itself the National Watch has charged President Akufo-Addo to honour his promise to have a committee probe the military brutalities recorded under his government.
According to the group, they have become skeptic because almost all the cases the president had ordered probes into it in the past have been left as 'dead issues'.
Naming some of the issues, the National Watch group cites the probe ordered into the Australia Visa scandal, the probe ordered into Maritime Authority CEO, Kwame Owusu's miss-use of public funds and issues of conflict of interest, probe ordered in April 2020 into lockdown brutalities visited on some Ghanaians, and many others.
In a press release from the group, they have taken a keen interest in incidences witnessed during the voter registration exercise conducted by the Electoral Commission recently as they charge the president to for once honor his promise to probe military brutalities.
NATIONAL WATCH wishes to urge President Nana Akufo Addo to clear the lingering skepticism about his Government's ability to honor the promise to set up a Committee to investigate military brutalities and physical preventions that characterized the recently ended Voters' registration exercise", a part of the release reads.
Find the full press release from the group below:
For Immediate Release
September 2, 2020
PRESIDENT AKUFO ADDO MUST FOR ONCE HONOR HIS PROMISE TO PROBE MILITARY BRUTALITIES
NATIONAL WATCH wishes to urge President Nana Akufo Addo to clear the lingering skepticism about his Government's ability to honor the promise to set up a Committee to investigate military brutalities and physical preventions that characterized the recently ended Voters' registration exercise.
The scepticism of NATIONAL WATCH stem from the outcomes of many cases the President had ordered probes into, almost all of which have ended up as 'dead issues'.
Some of these cases include; a probe ordered somewhere in 2018 into the Australia Visa scandal issues, another one also ordered in September 2018, following a petition by the Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo against the Audit Service Board Chair, Prof Edward Duah Agyemang about interference in the former's constitutional mandate, another probe ordered in March 2019 into the issue of Cedi depreciation, a probe ordered into Maritime Authority CEO, Kwame Owusu's miss-use of public funds and issues of conflict of interest.
Others were, Ahmed Suale's Assassination, a promise/probe into Ebony Reigns accident and death which according to President Akufo Addo was to mark a departure from the excessive carnage on our roads, Contract for Sale probe against Public Procurement Authority CEO ordered in August 2019, a probe into National Youth Authority procurement illegalities also ordered in September 2019, NPP Vice Regional Chair, Ekow Ewusi and other NPP party/Govt officials involvement in illegal mining and missing excavator issues and another probe ordered in April 2020 into lockdown brutalities visited on some Ghanaians etc, all of which ended up in unsatisfactory and or questionable ways.
Suffice to say that the President has in the face of the reported brutalities contradicted himself in his utterances about the suffered brutalities; he at one point claimed to be unaware of any recorded brutality during the registration exercise, at another time claimed the victims of the brutalities were only engaging in divisive politics, only to later assure of a probe, calling into question his sincerity and candour on the matter.
It is also worth recalling the NPP's General Secretary, John Boadu's insult on Volta region Chiefs, tagging them as political party agents.
That, together with the President's unhelpful conduct and utterances go to the heart of the matter that the Akufo Addo-led NPP Government are only executing, particularly the 2020 elections from a " Devilish Goebbelsian strategy" document; a 41-page campaign document titled "NPP Campaign 2020 Planning and Organization", compiled by the National Campaign Manager which promotes use of lies & communist inferior tactics.
Among other things, the 41-page document at page 10 states "Be consistent (even with lies)". It further notes on page 13 that: "Ethnicity matters - it affects political fortunes; issues of internal migration in BA, Western and Ashanti; fringe communities settler communities, Nasara and Zongo".
The above obviously formed basis for the senseless and plain wicked actions including demolitions/displacements, brutalities and physical preventions witnessed before and during the Voters registration exercise in Banda (Bono region), Asawase, Upper Denkyira East & West, Tema East/Tema Central, Ayawaso West Wuogon etc, which is inimical to Ghana's development and democracy, requiring Voices of Reason to rise and speak up.
God bless our homeland Ghana.
And make it great and strong.
Thank you
Group Spokespersons
Susie Afua Adoboe (Mrs)
0242567130
Nana Adubea Koranteng
0267790077
Kofi Adoli
0244882790
Koku Mawuli Nanegbe
0243388488
What was supposed to be a peaceful vacation for Piers Morgan and his wife turned into a disaster after some crooks burgled them.
Last month, Piers' wife, Celia Walden, revealed that thieves broke inside their French villa while they were sleeping.
In an article she wrote for Daily Telegraph, Celia divulged that the burglars, whom she called "depraved and despicable," took cash and jewelry from their Cote d'Azur holiday home.
Police said that the thieves just left and dashed out of the villa when they heard her wake up.
"But then I remembered something that made me feel sick: the up-turned handbag found in the sitting room had originally been on a chair in our bedroom," Walden continued. "They must have crept in there and stood inches away from us while we slept."
A few weeks since the incident happened, the culprits remain unknown and free. However, Piers himself made a move to find them.
The 55-year-old "Good Morning Britain" presenter pledged to hunt down the burglars the Liam Neeson way.
"And yes, I will find you. It will make 'Taken' look like a tea party," Piers said in reference of Neeson's movie while issuing the alarming warning. "I'm serious. We're gonna find you ... we're on to you."
Piers believed that those people planned everything by flying drones over their villa a few days earlier.
In addition, he said that his wife's jewelry was stolen on the scene.
Celia also made a terrifying discovery that the burglars stole money from her handbag, which she placed on a chair by their bed.
She then discovered her handbag on the sofa with her jewelry box opened empty beside it. Although the thieves took all the money inside her purse, they left nothing but credit cards and her driver's license.
Unfortunately, they also took the ring Piers bought for Celia for their fifth wedding anniversary.
Piers' Series of Unfortunate Events?
Before the robbery happened, Piers Morgan experienced a series of unfortunate events.
In July, he revealed on "Good Morning Britain" that he and his co-presenter Susanna Reid would be taking their summer breaks.
He then immediately jetted to Saint Tropez in the south of France to start his six-week break with his family.
However, the second day of their summer holiday turned into a nightmare after the broadcaster suffered from a sudden fall. The incident gave him a torn tendon in his right leg, which left him hobbling on crutches.
Despite Piers' horrifying accident, he posed with his three sons -- Spencer, 27, Stanley, 23, and Albert, 19 -- and shared their family photo on his Twitter account.
"Peg-leg. (Nothing like tearing a tendon on Day 2 of a 6-week holiday)," Piers captioned the post.
In May 2020, Piers shocked his 7.4 million Twitter followers after he announced that he would temporarily step back from working at GMB after developing "mild" coronavirus symptoms.
It all started when he showed COVID-19 symptoms during the April 21 episode of GMB. Piers also persistently coughed throughout the broadcast, raising concerns from his fans.
A few days later, fortunately, he confirmed that his COVID-19 test was negative.
READ MORE: Piers Morgan Receives NSFW Warning After Criticizing Meghan Markle Again
Sydney's wild west has been rocked by a spate of drive-by shootings in the last week as cops investigate whether the hits are linked to a war between rival bikie gangs.
Nine people including three children survived the latest targeted shooting after bullets peppered a packed house in St Johns Park, Fairfield, at 11.35pm on Saturday.
Several windows and cars on the property were damaged in the drive-by attack, while none of the nine people who were home were injured.
Detectives have established a crime scene and have appealed to the public for information regarding two dark-coloured sedans and a dark-coloured SUV, which were seen near the home at the time of the attack.
There have been six shootings in Western Sydney since August 26. Pictured: a police car at the scene of the shooting in St Johns Park on Tuesday night
The incident is the sixth shooting in Sydney's west and southwest since August 26.
Shots were fired in a unit with three people inside on Columbine Avenue in Punchbowl before 8.45 on Tuesday night.
No one was injured and several people were seen leaving the site in a silver car.
Police are investigating the crime scene and no arrests have been made for either shooting.
Police arrive at the scene on Columbine Avenue in Punchbowl after gunshots were fired in a unit on Tuesday night
There were another two shootings in the city on Monday night, with Mark Shammo shot in the legs and torso on Garrong Road in Lakemba at about 8.15.
The 29-year-old was taken to hospital for surgery on non-life threatening injuries after taking shelter in a home, while four men fled from the scene in a white SUV.
'We are definitely of the belief that this was a targeted attack,' Acting Superintendent Dennis Donohue told 9News.
'It's of great concern to us that this man was attacked in the private residence with other innocent members of the public.'
Mark Shammo is taken into an ambulance after being shot in the legs and torso on Garrong Road in Lakemba on Monday night
Later that evening two children were among nine survivors in a drive-by shooting in a home on Tarlington Parade in Bonnyrigg at about 11.30pm.
NSW police said a person was seen fleeing in a white hatchback following the attack.
Inquiries are continuing and no arrests have been made for either shooting.
Former Comancheros bikie Fares Abounader died in a hail of bullets outside his home at Wall Avenue in Panania before midnight on Saturday night.
Despite the best efforts of his family, a neighbour and emergency services the 39-year-old was unable to be saved and died at the scene.
'The shooting was very calculated and very deliberate and quite brazen,' Detective Superintendent Robert Critchlow said on Sunday.
'Despite the fact that the victim is known to police it doesn't change the fact he was a family man. His wife and young child were home at the time.
Police at the scene of Fares Abounader's fatal ambush shooting attack in Panania on Saturday night
'No-one deserves to be treated like this and murdered in such a callous fashion in front of his home.'
It is believed Mr Abounader was the victim of a targeted shooting as tensions continue to simmer between the Comancheros and Bandidos.
Mr Abounader was allegedly involved in the 2009 brawl at Sydney Airport, when Comancheros bikies clashed with their Hells Angels rivals.
Hells Angel member Anthony Zervas was killed and then-Comanchero boss Mick Hawi, who died in 2018, was charged with manslaughter.
Mr Abounader fled the scene after allegedly throwing a knife down a drain.
Police cordon off the area before forensic officers arrive at Knoll Avenue in Turella after a shooting last week
Lastly, Mohamed Saab was found with gunshot wounds to his shoulder, ribs and leg outside a home in Knoll Avenue in Turrella before 7am on August 26.
Neighbours swarmed the street as the 37-year-old father-of-two was hauled into an ambulance and taken to St George Hospital in a serious condition.
Many have been left shaken by the shooting of the well-known businessman who they say is a 'role model'.
Investigators are still piecing together what sparked the shooting, which they believe was targeted.
A dark sedan was spotted leaving the area moments after the attack.
'Some of the information that has come forward leads us to believe this was not a random incident,' Chief Inspector Chris Hill said.
As inquiries continue, anyone who was in the area or who has information has been urged to come forward to police.
Mohamed Saab (pictured) was found with gunshot wounds to his shoulder, ribs and leg outside a home in Turrella
A group named Suame Youth Forum (SYF) has lauded Majority Leader and MP for Suame, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu for his outstanding works in his constituency over the years.
The group in a statement copied to Peacefmonline.com said their MP despite his busy schedules has ensured that the constituency gets its share of the national cake in terms of development.
They described his achievements as "unprecedented" and "unmatched" after calling on Suame electorates to vote massively for him in the December 7, parliamentary polls.
Read below the full statement
The Executives and entire membership of Suame Youth Forum(SYF), a non-political group that seeks the development of Suame, would like to unequivocally Commend Hon Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, our enviable Member of Parliament for Suame Constituency for his unprecedented and unmatched achievements in the constituency.
These achievements of the able Legislator are seen in infrastructure, ongoing and completed town roads, creation of Suame Municipality, and many others. Suame Youth Forum (SYF) acknowledge him to be a kind-hearted and an impartial Legislator who has a genuine and lasting vision towards his Constituents.
First and foremost, we are very confident in the competency of the Hon. Member of Parliament due to the fact that road challenges is a key problem faced by many Constituencies throughout the country. Notwithstanding this countrywide challenge, we in Suame are very fortunate in this regard with the numerous completed roads and most recently Asphalt Overlays being done in our municipality. It takes a Legislator that can lobby for his Constituency to have such monumental benefits.
Again, most vicinities within the Suame Constituency have seen their drainages being constructed (for instance, Abusuakruwa, Agogoso, Maakro town drains, etc) as contractors are on-site working assiduously whiles those left have seen facelifts. There are evidential documents showing Contracts signed for most of the roads left to be constructed.
Moreover, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly has for ages strongly disagreed to the split of Suame from the Metro to form its own Municipal because of the massive benefits like revenue generations and others the Metro gain from Suame, this took the efforts of the indefatigable and development Oriented Legislator Hon Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu for Suame Municipality to be a reality which we are all benefiting from today. This in effect will give Suame the opportunity to also lobby for the national cake and afford an opportunity for the people of Suame to carry out their own developmental projects. This will indeed help promote rapid development in the municipality. As if that was not enough, the hardworking MP again lobbied for the building of an ultra-modern edifice for the Municipal Assembly to be used as an office for which work is ongoing as we speak.
Furthermore, in terms of education infrastructure, our Constituency is second to none because our fact-checking has laid the record bare. We have come to the realisation that the Hon. MP has also lobbied for education infrastructure projects in the constituency for which many have been completed. These are some few of the infrastructural projects completed;
1. Nuru Islamic Basic School (Suame) 6-unit Classroom + head teachers office & store
2. Nuru Islamic School 2-unit Kindergarten block
3. Methodist Primary School (Suame) 6-unit classroom + head teachers office, Library & store
4. Methodist Basic School (Suame) 2-unit Kindergarten block
Maakro M/A Primary
5. School 6-unit classroom + headteachers office & store reconstructed after demolition by rainstorm at Maakro.
6. Maakro M/A Schools 2-unit Kindergarten block
7.Allama Bil Qualam
8. Islamic School 3-unit block at Kotoko (Suame)
9. Bremang R/C School 6-unit classroom block + head teachers office, Library & store
10. Bremang R/C 2-unit Kindergarten block
11. Bremang M/A Basic School 6-unit classroom block + office & store
12. Bremang M/A 3-unit classroom block
13. Breman M/A(B) 6 unit classroom block
14. Breman R/C 8 unit classroom reconstructed
15. Kronum M/A Primary
16. School 6-unit classroom block EU-assisted project + head teachers office & store
17 Bremang R/C 6-unit classroom block + head teachers office, library and store
18. Maakro M/A School 6-unit classroom block + head teachers office, library, staff common room
19. Kronum M/A school 6-unit classroom block + head teachers office, library, staff common room
20. Kwapra M/A School project (part of Kronum cluster of schools) 6-unit classroom block + head teachers office, library and store
21. Kwapra M/A school (Presby) 6 unit classroom block + headteachers office, library and store.
22. Abusuakruwa M/A school. 6 unit classroom block + headteachers office, library and store.
23. Nkontwoma SDA/ MA school. 6 unit classroom block + head teachers office, library and store.
24 Anomangye M/A Basic School 6-unit classroom, headteachers office, library and staff room
25. Anomangye M/A Basic School B 6-unit classroom, headteachers office. Library and staff room (2nd storey)
26. Suame Salvation Army/M/A Basic School, 6-unit classroom, headteachers office, library/computer room, staff room
27. Suame Methodist (Middle) M/A Basic school, 6-unit classroom, headteachers office, computer room, staff room
28. St. Josephs Basic School 6-unit classroom, headteachers office library and staff common room (Adadiem)
29. NVTI 4 storey complex
30. Division school, 6-unit block
31. Suame Presbyterian M/A Basic School 6-Unit block
32. Maakro M/A Basic School C
The Hon. MP has exhibited a great interest in the education of his constituents and promoting the development within the constituency has immensely contributed to the road network of the constituency. Our fact checking unveiled some of such projects within the Suame constituency which have been completed under his leadership;
1. In collaboration with the Department of Urban Roads and constructed the New Suame to Ampabame road
2. Construction and tarring of Abrepo Junction to Kotoko Embasy Hotel road
3. In collaboration with the Department of Urban Roads and constructed bitumen-surface road linking New Suame and Socar Gas (Anomangye)
4. Bitumen-surfacing of Anomangye-Nkwanta-Anomangye road
5. Facilitated the tarring of some New Suame township roads in collaboration
6. Lobbied for the dualization of the Maakro-Afrancho section of the Kumasi Offinso road
7. Facilitated for the construction of the Akoko Specs Abusuakruwa road
8. Facilitated for the construction of Kronum Kwapra road
9. Facilitated the construction of Bremang-UGC-Okess road
10. Facilitated the construction of Abawa Ruth Nkontwima road
11. Lobbied for the construction of Abuohia Asuofia road
Given the shortness of time we have deliberately omitted talking about health facilities and transformers, street lights, toilet facilities, markets, computers, scholarships to about 800 students and many more that the MP has facilitated.
Finally, aside all these enormous contribution of the profoundly effective and efficient Legislator towards the development of the constituency, the constituents testify to the fact that he has a genial and amiable relationship with them all, this makes him an impartial leader and role model to many constituents.
Even in times where he is on a national duty, and his constituents call on him he respectfully attend to them without giving excuses. This affable and generous nature of the Hon. MP has indeed deepened the ties and genuine love between the constituents and his humble self.
To sum it all up, the Hon. MP Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has and is still contributing to the development of the constituency. In view of all the above mentioned, we respectfully call on all well-meaning Constituents of Suame to support our hardworking legislator for the honour he has bestowed upon us over the years. His achievement record is unmatched, incomparable, unparalleled, peerless and, above all, his love for all can't be overlooked or exchanged for anything.
It is for these and the many other considerations that we call on all well-meaning women and men of Suame constituency to ignore the effusions of the very few people who are driven by selfishness and bloated ego but join ranks and rally support and prayers for the Hon Osei Kyei-Mensah- Bonsu to win a massive and decisive victory for the NPP to continue his good works for Suame, Asanteman and Ghana.
Thank You.
Spokesperson
Bernard Kusi
0243967649
Louis Karikari Appau
0547668582
Abraham Frimpong
0272898929
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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NOVI, MI A Michigan man is facing fraud charges for allegedly stealing $3.1 million from a federal program meant to provide economic relief to small businesses during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Antonio George, 44, of Novi, is charged with one count of wire fraud. A criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Michigan alleges that he submitted false applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, which are provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider of the Eastern District of Michigan said law enforcement is going after those who would damage Michigan businesses by stealing from the PPP, which is available to keep businesses running and employees paid during the pandemic.
Small businesses across Michigan have received loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, and these loans have kept these businesses alive, Schneider said. Every dollar stolen from the program is a dollar stolen from struggling businesses in need.
To the scammers, if you think law enforcement isnt paying attention to the damage youre doing to Michigan business owners, youre dead wrong and we will be coming after you, he added.
The complaint against George alleges he obtained about $3.1 million after submitting fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of 19 companies. The applications allegedly included false and misleading documents about business operations and payroll expenses. For example, he allegedly submitted identical wage information and employee count records for two of the companies; one of them has allegedly not been operational since 2015.
The federal CARES Act was enacted on March 29 to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans suffering financially amid the pandemic. One source of relief provided in the law was up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and other expenses through the PPP. In April, U.S. Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding.
The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive loans for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. The PPP loans are forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within a set time period and use at least a certain percentage of the money toward payroll.
The case against George was investigated by the FBI and the SBAs Office of the Inspector General. Trial Attorney Patrick J. Suter of the Justice Departments Criminal Divisions Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Neal of the Eastern District of Michigan are prosecuting the case.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving pandemic relief funds can report it by calling the Justice Departments National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
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Sir John Majors warning, delivered before the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, that Britain may leave the EU was an interesting contrast with the previous speech he delivered to that institution.
He mentioned that earlier speech in passing today, saying that it was delivered 22 years ago and that it was misinterpreted. The first of those two statements is wrong, and I am not sure that I agree with the second.
He addressed the institute in March 1991 that is nearly 24 years ago, Sir John four months after he had won the Conservative leadership by hoovering up the votes of the Tory right, who thought he was the candidate who would stay true to Margaret Thatchers memory. Instead, he went to Germany and delivered a speech reputedly written for him by that arch-Europhile and future EU Commissioner, Chris Patten, which provoked some of his recent supporters into calling him a federalist.
He denies that he was ever federalist, yet after he had delivered his call for Britain to be in the heart of Europe, he held a press conference with the German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, and declared that the way ahead would be Britain, France and Germany all clearly in the centre of it, working for the future of the community.
Imagine David Cameron saying all that at a press conference today with Angela Merkel at his side. It would not happen.
Pundit Portillo tips Miliband
A poll this week said that only 13 per cent of voters think that Ed Miliband could be prime minister, yet within that minority there is the unlikely figure of Michael Portillo who in the 1990s was seen as a future saviour of the Conservatives.
Now a broadcaster, he drew gasps while giving a talk in Malton, in the profoundly Conservative part of North Yorkshire, when he predicted that Miliband will be the prime minister in 2015. He forecast that the Conservatives would get more votes than Labour but that Ukip will take at least 10 per cent, opening the way for a Labour-led government.
He also predicted that the referendum on Britains membership of the EU wont happen. I dont think there will be a Conservative majority, so there will be no referendum, he said.
Reputation is a spin of pride
Reputation is everything, Tony Blairs old spin doctor Alastair Campbell told the Festival of Marketing, and he treated them to an anecdote to illustrate his point.
He had flown into Gatwick from Croatia and was at the front of the queue to leave the plane when the double doors jammed. Now the other passengers are gathering behind me, he said, and I can read their minds: Come on then, Mr Spin Doctor, Mr Fixit, fix this then. Reputation all important, the greatest currency of all. I tweeted the official airport account: Just off flight BA-blahblahblah, double doors at ramp not opening, then to show I was down with the youth: Wtf! Almost instantly, a reply: Were on it. Within a minute or so, a man arrives, smiling and apologetic, presses some buttons, the doors open, I walk through, followed by grateful passengers muttering to each other: Wow, see what he did? Reputation intact. Phew.
Clegg scores Arsenal winner
Nick Clegg is understandably reluctant to talk about the rapist footballer Ched Evans, although his constituency is in the same city as Sheffield United, Evanss club when he was convicted. During his weekly LBC appearance, the Deputy Prime Minister was asked by Nick Ferrari: Whats going to happen when you have to shake his hand at a reception in Sheffield? Sounding put out, Clegg replied: Im an avid Arsenal supporter, so I dont go to United as much as I might do otherwise.
That got him out of a tight corner, but will not have won him any votes in Sheffield Hallam. Clegg went on to say Evans should not be training with the club.
By PTI
UNITED NATIONS: India at the UN has called for permanently removing the issue of Jammu and Kashmir under the "outdated agenda item" of the 'India-Pakistan question' from the Security Council's agenda, saying such "irrational exuberance" has no takers in a dignified world.
In a veiled attack on Pakistan, India said that there is a delegation that repeatedly attempts to rebrand itself as contributing to international peace, but unfortunately fails to recognise that it is globally known for being the fountainhead of international terror and the hub for terror syndicates.
During a virtual informal meeting of the plenary on the annual report of the Security Council, Pakistan's UN envoy Munir Akram had raked up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and said that the Security Council has also been found lacking in implementing its own resolutions and decisions on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
He added that the Council has met thrice during the last one year to consider the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
India, without naming Pakistan, said in a statement on Monday that "there is a delegation that repeatedly attempts to rebrand itself as contributing to international peace, but unfortunately fails to recognise that it is globally known for being the fountainhead of international terror and the hub for terror syndicates."
ALSO READ | We are not anyone's puppets: Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah's retort to Pakistan
"This delegation keeps pushing for discussions on an outdated agenda item in the Council, which for all matter needs to be removed from the Council's agenda permanently. Such irrational exuberance has no takers in a dignified world," India said on the 'Report of the Security Council for 2019'.
An August 3, 2020 summary statement by the Secretary-General of "matters of which the Security Council is seized" listed "The India-Pakistan question' among those items that have not been considered by the Council at a "formal meeting" during the period from January 1, 2017 to August 1, 2020.
The agenda item "India-Pakistan question' was first taken up by the Council at a formal meeting on January 6, 1948 and was last considered on November 5, 1965.
Pakistan, backed by its 'all-weather ally' China, has been repeatedly seeking to have a discussion on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in the Security Council.
The Council had held closed consultations on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir on August 16 last year after China asked for the "closed consultations" to discuss the matter.
That meeting had ended without any outcome.
In January this year, China, on behalf of Pakistan, had again made an attempt to raise the Kashmir issue under "other matters" during closed consultations in the Security Council Consultations Room.
Then too, China stood alone in the Pakistani corner to get the Security Council to focus on the Kashmir issue.
Last month, as India marked the first anniversary of ending the special status to Jammu and Kashmir and its bifurcation into two union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Beijing again called for a discussion on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in the Security Council under 'Any Other Business'.
ALSO READ | India rejects reference to Jammu and Kashmir in China-Pakistan joint statement
All these meetings ended without any outcome, as many other members of the Security Council have underlined that Jammu and Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti had told PTI that contrary to what Pakistan may claim, Islamabad has not been successful in trying to put Jammu and Kashmir on the UN agenda.
"Frankly, the attempt by Pakistan to try and internationalise, what is a bilateral issue, is nothing new," he had said.
Tirumurti had pointed out that contrary to what the Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mehmood Qureshi asserted, "there has been no formal meeting of the Security Council on the India-Pakistan issue even once for the past 55 years, let alone three times!" Pakistan, backed by China, has only been able to bring up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir informally and in closed door meetings under what is called "Any Other Business', a category where literally any item can be brought for discussion by anyone. These meetings have no records and there is no outcome."
Tirumurti had pointed out that even UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his statement last August, clearly referred to the 1972 bilateral Simla Agreement.
"Consequently, Pakistan has been singularly unsuccessful in making any inroads into the UN on Jammu and Kashmir. That is the reality," Tirumurti had said.
PHILIPSBURG:---The House of Parliament will sit in an urgent Plenary Public Session today, September 2, 2020. The Public meeting is scheduled for 11.00 hrs. and will be held in a virtual setting.
The agenda point is:
Position of the Parliaments Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten regarding the Caribbean reform entity (CRE)
Due to measures taken to mitigate the coronavirus (COVID-19), the House of Parliament is only allowing persons with an appointment to enter the Parliament building.
The parliamentary session will be held virtually and will be carried out live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 115, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1 www.pearlfmradio.sx, via the internet www.sxmparliament.org, and Parliaments Facebook page: Parliament of Sint Maarten
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see People Infrastructure Ltd (ASX:PPE) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 7th of September will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 6th of October.
People Infrastructure's next dividend payment will be AU$0.045 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of AU$0.085 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that People Infrastructure has a trailing yield of 3.1% on the current share price of A$2.77. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
View our latest analysis for People Infrastructure
Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. That's why it's good to see People Infrastructure paying out a modest 39% of its earnings. 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. The good news is it paid out just 20% of its free cash flow in the last year.
It's positive to see that People Infrastructure's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
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. That's why it's comforting to see People Infrastructure's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 64% per annum for the past three years. People Infrastructure is paying out less than half its earnings and cash flow, while simultaneously growing earnings per share at a rapid clip. Companies with growing earnings and low payout ratios are often the best long-term dividend stocks, as the company can both grow its earnings and increase the percentage of earnings that it pays out, essentially multiplying the dividend.
Story continues
People Infrastructure also issued more than 5% of its market cap in new stock during the past year, which we feel is likely to hurt its dividend prospects in the long run. 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. In the past two years, People Infrastructure has increased its dividend at approximately 46% 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 People Infrastructure for the upcoming dividend? People Infrastructure has been growing earnings at a rapid rate, and has a conservatively low payout ratio, implying that it is reinvesting heavily in its business; a sterling combination. People Infrastructure looks solid on this analysis overall, and we'd definitely consider investigating it more closely.
With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 3 warning signs with People Infrastructure and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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.
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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
EDWARDSVILLE Its been quite a year for Good Weather Gallery as it gratefully celebrates its first anniversary with a special exhibition and reception.
Join Good Weather Gallerys curator and owner Brooke Peipert, of Alton, in welcoming textile artist Denise Mandel for a solo exhibit, A Journey Through Interwoven Threads, by textile artist Denise Mandel & One-year Anniversary of Good Weather Gallery, featuring Mandels collection of loom woven work. The exhibit, hung in the gallery at 301 N. Main St., in Edwardsville, also will feature live music and for every $365 spent by an individual, they receive a mini bottle of Rondel Gold Brut Cava champagne.
Good Weather Gallery is excited to celebrate its one year anniversary alongside such a talented artist, Peipert said. Grab your mask and a friend and celebrate with us.
Mandels artist statement is, Weaving is the core of my existence as an artist. Things just come together when behind my looms. In the process of designing, prepping, execution and giving birth to a creation by cutting the warp threads, the interwoven yarns talk to me. Reflections of past, present, and even future moods and memories, occur. Natures seasonal events influence shapes plus color palette. Be it stars, rainbows, autumn leaves, snowflakes, flowers, etc. Animals frequently appear, too.
Navajo weaving of the Southwest influenced Mandel, of St. Louis, greatly when she started her career as a weaver in New Mexico.
For that, it will remain in my blood forever, she said. Compositional weft-face rugs and tapestries are my forte. Images result in one-of-a-kind Southwest, contemporary, dimensional and, or pictorial variety.
The public is welcome to attend in-person the opening reception of A Journey Through Interwoven Threads, by textile artist Denise Mandel & One-year Anniversary of Good Weather Gallery.
More Information If you go: What: "A Journey Through Interwoven Threads," by textile artist Denise Mandel, & "One-year Anniversary of Good Weather Gallery" When: 6-9 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 5 Where: Good Weather Gallery, 301 N. Main St., Edwardsville Info: The gallery celebration and opening reception for the exhibit is open to the public for in-person viewing. The reception will feature live music and for every $365 spent by an individual, they receive a mini bottle of Rondel Gold Brut Cava champagne. Social distancing in place and face covering in effect. Virtual exhibits and e-commerce are available at www.goodweaetherartgallery.com. To make an appointment call 618-477-9323 or email blpart.advocacy@gmail.com. All the shows can be seen at the gallery's website and its Facebook page. See More Collapse
When the pandemic started Peipert went virtual, but with the easing of restrictions Peipert has allowed exhibition opening and closing events for in-person attendance and viewing, with safety precautions being followed. In between openings and closings patrons can view exhibits by appointment. Virtual exhibits and e-commerce are available at www.goodweaetherartgallery.com. To make an appointment call 618-477-9323 or email blpart.advocacy@gmail.com.
All the shows can be seen at the gallerys website and its Facebook page.
Our shows will continue virtually, Peipert said. But openings and closings are open to the public and in-person viewing. We want our artists, visitors and patrons to stay involved as we move past this pandemic, and see our momentum continue.
Good Weather Gallerys most recent online exhibition was Respite, featuring original works by Eugenia Alexander and Greg Edmondson.
Alexanders artist statement is, Through my work, I use the rich African tradition of storytelling through fabric work telling stories of connecting the African Diaspora/African American to traditional African heritage specifically through Indigo Dying. As an African American, growing up not knowing my heritage I felt a sense of loss of where exactly my ancestors came from, what their traditions and heritage are. As I learned indigo dying from a master artist I started to feel more of a connection to my heritage and culture as if it was my ancestors passing this tradition down to me through indigo hand dying. I tell these stories of Blackness, Connection, and Search through my work.
Edmondsons artist statement is, For the past five years I have been an Artist-in-Residence in mostly isolated, immersive environments. The works presented here illustrate the significant and on-going shift in my practice that this experience has brought about. The generative systems that drove my earlier work have begun to give way to a more intuitive and color driven approach to making imagery. My interest in patterns of organic growth and decay has remained, but the strict set of instructions I had followed has eroded. This new work is still formal and abstract, but based in simple forms and complex color strategies. These new paintings straddle a line between intention and response constantly being nudged into unfamiliar territory by small discoveries made along the way.
Also, the artwork is available for purchase via www.goodweatherartgallery.com beginning the opening day of solo exhibits.
We have also began e-commerce, so work can either be purchased directly from the gallery or directly from our website, Peipert said.
Peiperts plan also is to continue the figure drawing sessions,which were gaining in popularity in the months before the coronavirus pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization.
Each show will be available to view virtually on Good Weather Gallerys website www.goodweatherartgallery.com and its Facebook page.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 01:54:15|Editor: huaxia
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A Palestinian woman teaches her child inside their house in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia, on Sept. 1, 2020. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
by Sanaa Kamal
GAZA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Ekhlass Mohammed from the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia decided to teach her four siblings at home when schools in the Gaza Strip have been shut down once again after a few weeks of reopening amid resurgence of COVID-19.
In addition to the ordinary curriculum, she also decided to teach them English, Arabic and maths using a computer.
The 22-year-old young woman told Xinhua that the new closure has "brought us back to zero point of the educational process."
"All of us must hold our responsibility towards our people and students, who would lose their school year if we did not take care of them," she explained.
When the new cases have been exposed, the Hamas-run government imposed a full lockdown on whole Gaza in order to combat the virus.
All schools, mosques, local markets and institutions were closed, while public gatherings have been prohibited in Gaza.
However, Hala Abu Ryash, a mother of four children from northern Gaza, said that poverty prevents her from buying mobile phones or laptops for her children.
She added that staying at home for a long period of time impacted badly on her and her children's psychology, saying that "nothing can replace traditional education."
So far, the Gaza Health Ministry has recorded 400 COVID-19 cases, including 290 cases from the internal community and four fatalities since the outbreak of the virus on March 5.
In light of the spread of the virus, the resumption of the educational process and the return to schools is linked to "the recommendations of the specialized committees," said Ziad Thabet, undersecretary of the Ministry of Education in the Gaza Strip.
In a press statement sent to Xinhua, Thabet said that distance education has its various tools and methods, such as self-learning cards, specific assignments and scientific projects, in addition to radio or electronic lessons.
To simplify the process, Nihaya al-Ramlawy, a teacher at a governmental school, had gathered all of her students in a Facebook group to teach them how they can use the electronic education to get their lessons.
The 36-year-old teacher told Xinhua that her decision was aimed at teaching children and continuing the teaching process without interruption.
But she added that not all students adhere to this mechanism, indicating that the lack of regular electricity is a direct reason for this.
More than half a million students attend schools in Gaza and more than half of them attend schools affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Near East (UNRWA).
Farid Abu Azra, head of UNRWA Education Program in Gaza, told Xinhua that they are working to promote a culture of distance learning among students at all levels, and a large team has been formed to work in this field in order to facilitate e-learning.
"We know very well that there are many difficulties that families face, including power cuts and the lack of mobile phones or tablets," Azra said. Enditem
Iran's envoy: US not entitled to use trigger mechanism
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New York, Sept 1, IRNA -- Iran's Ambassador and Permanent representative to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi said that the legal reasonings by the majority of UN Security Council member-states and the sum-up by its president is rigid and clear on the basis of which the US is notg authorized to use snapback mechanism of the past sanctions.
The following is the full text of Takht Ravanchi's speech at the UN General Assembly's meeting in New York on Monday:
Statement by H.E. Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi
Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
Before the United Nations General Assembly
On Agenda Item 27: "Report of the Security Council"
New York, 31 August 2020
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Mr. President,
I thank you for convening this meeting. I also thank the Indonesian Presidency of the Security Council for presenting the report of the Council.
According to the Charter, the Council "shall submit" an annual report to the General Assembly and the Assembly "shall receive and consider" it. The raison d'etre of such a strong obligation is nothing but to ensure that the Council is accountable to the Assembly where all Member States are represented and where the Council obtains its power from.
Therefore, by considering the annual report of the Council, the Assembly is in a position to evaluate the effectiveness of the Council's actions. This is of particular importance this year, given the conclusion of the current report that "in 2019, the international situation remained quite turbulent".
In certain cases, the Council's indecisiveness, indecision and ineffectiveness have undermined regional and international peace and security. In this context, I would like to give certain examples regarding the developments of our region, the Middle East. This is crucial as according to the Council's report, such situations drew the attention of the Council in 2019 and their impact remained severe.
Last year, parallel to the Israeli regime's unlawful construction and expansion of settlements, its inhumane blockade of Gaza and its other criminal measures towards the Palestinians, the Council's historic inaction and utter silence towards this crisis has also continued.
Moreover, last year, meddling and destabilizing activities of the U.S. in the Middle East continued, including through the occupation of parts of Syria, looting its oil and imposing unilateral sanctions against that country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, the U.S., on a number of occasions, intruded Iran's territorial waters and airspace. Furthermore, in early January 2020, its military adventurism heightened placing the region on the verge of an all-out war when the U.S.'s military forces, in a terrorist act at the direct order of the U.S. President, violated Iraq's sovereignty and horrifically martyred two regional anti-terror heroes, including Major General Qasem Soleimani, which was called by many international lawyers and scholars as a clear violation of the UN Charter and international law. Again, the Council was utterly silent.
In 2019, the United States also continued violating Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA. This is a gross violation of the U.S. obligations under the Charter's Article 25. It also brazenly continued threatening UN members either to defy that Resolution or face punishment.
In pursuance of this destructive policy, the U.S. now has placed the UN under maximum pressure to ultimately kill the JCPOA. Earlier this month, in violation of Resolution 2231, it first proposed a draft resolution to impose arms embargo against Iran, which was rejected by 13 members of the Council.
Later, on August 20th, through a letter to the Council, the U.S. attempted to purportedly initiate a process to re-impose the Council sanctions on Iran. The reaction of Council members was decisive. Through their letters, again 13 members, including the remaining JCPOA participants, as well as Iran and the EU High Representative and the Coordinator of the JCPOA Joint Commission, strongly refuted the legal merit of the U.S. letter.
Again, on August 25th, in an open VTC of the Council, the overwhelming majority of its members rejected the admissibility of the U.S. letter.
The arguments of the Council members, reflected in their letters and statements, are direct and straightforward: following its withdrawal from the JCPOA, the U.S. is not a "JCPOA participant", has no right to initiate a process to re-impose Council sanctions, and its letter cannot be considered as the qualified notification for the purpose of OP 11 of Resolution 2231, thus is void of any legal effect now and in the future, period.
Accordingly, the President of the Council, in its open VTC on August 25th concluded that, and I quote "it is clear for me that there is one member which has a particular position on the issues while there are significant number of members who have contesting views. In my view, there is not consensus in the Council thus the president is not in the position to take further action", end of quote.
Having failed to convince the Council members through deceptive justifications, pseudo-legal arguments and arbitrary interpretation of Resolution 2231 as well as political pressure and intimidation, now, the U.S. stubbornly argues that the sanctions will return on September 20.
Let's make it quite clear that the legal arguments presented by Council members are rock-solid and the conclusion of the Council President is unambiguous and conclusive: the U.S. is not in a position to initiate anything in the Council.
The U.S. policy regarding Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA challenges the relevance and accountability of the Council.
Therefore, in fulfilling its obligation under Charter's Article 15(1), the Assembly must pay due attention to the principle of accountability of the Council and its members.
Finally, to enable the Assembly to have a clear account of the overall situation of international peace and security while considering the Council's report, it is recommended that the introduction of the report be more analytical.
I thank you, Mr. President.
2050**2050
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New Delhi, Sep 2 : A day after Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote a scathing letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg complaining about his social media platform's bias against right of centre; it appears a similar letter was shot by Trinamool's Derek O'Brien, even earlier, making similar allegations of bias against the Trinamool Congress party.
With the 2021 elections tipped to be the mother of all battles in the state, where the BJP wants to unseat the Mamata Banerjee-led government that has been in power for two consecutive terms, Facebook seems to be the common enemy.
In the letter dated August 31, O'Brien wrote: "With the election in the Indian state of West Bengal just months away, your companies recent blocking of Facebook pages and accounts in Bengal also points to the link between Facebook and BJP.
"There is enough material now in the public domain, including internal memos of senior Facebook management, to substantiate the bias." He also said that the role of Facebook in the last two general elections was raised in the parliament of india in June 2019 by the Trinamool Congress.
"We, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), India's second-largest opposition party, have had serious concerns about Facebook's role during the 2014 and 2019 general elections in India," he said.
On Tuesday, Prasad in a 3-page letter to Zuckerberg complained about bias of its top management against the 'right of centre'. He claimed how some of them "are on record abusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior cabinet ministers".
-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Protests took place over deteriorating economic conditions last month in the capital and elsewhere in western Libya, which is controlled by forces loyal to the U.N.-supported government. Tripoli militias opened fire on demonstrators with rifles and truck-mounted guns and abducted some of the protesters.
The boss of one of Britains biggest housebuilders has insisted the rally in the property market has further to run after reporting a surge in demand for new homes.
David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt Developments, said house sales are bouncing back faster than expected after the lockdown was lifted.
The firm revealed the damage caused by the Covid-19 crisis to its bottom line, with profits slumping by 46 per cent to 492million in the year to the end of June.
David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt Developments, said house sales are bouncing back faster than expected after the lockdown was lifted
It built almost a third fewer homes over this period, after construction sites were temporarily shut down earlier this year to curb the spread of the virus.
It said it would not be paying shareholders a special dividend for the year, amid concerns over rising unemployment and the prospect of a No Deal Brexit.
But it also revealed it is selling homes at a much more rapid rate than it was a year ago, with orders for 15,660 homes, compared with 13,064 at the same point last year. Thomas said: We expect good demand in the long term.
The Government Help to Buy programme is providing a very accessible, very affordable way for people to get on to the housing ladder, and the stamp duty holiday through to March is providing some extra stimulus.
The upbeat comments came as Nationwide revealed house prices had jumped to a record high in August, after registering the biggest monthly rise in more than 16 years.
The average house price rose 2 per cent or almost 3,200 to hit 224,123.
It followed a 1.8 per cent increase in July and means house prices have already clawed back their losses during the lockdown.
Property experts attributed the recovery to the release of pent-up demand during the lockdown, a demand for more properties with more space, and the Chancellors stamp-duty holiday on homes worth up to 500,000.
But they have also warned house prices could be dragged down again over the autumn as the Governments furlough scheme ends.
Army trucks move towards Ladakh via LehManali Highway, in Manali. Chinese and Indian patrols regularly encounter one another along the disputed border, and both sides often accuse one another of border incursions, the report said.(PTI)
Washington: China has been using coercive tactics in pursuit of territorial and maritime claims in the South and East China Seas, as well as along its border with India and Bhutan, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are vital to global trade.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims over the area.
"China's leaders use tactics short of armed conflict to pursue China's objectives. China calibrates its coercive activities to fall below the threshold of provoking armed conflict with the United States, its allies and partners, or others in the Indo-Pacific region," the Pentagon said in its annual report on China to the Congress.
China has been fast expanding military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific region, triggering concern in various countries of the region and beyond.
"These tactics are particularly evident in China's pursuit of its territorial and maritime claims in the South and East China Seas as well as along its border with India and Bhutan," said the report titled 'Military and Security Developments involving the People's Republic of China 2020' that was released by the Pentagon.
In recent years, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has also increased patrols around and near Taiwan using bomber, fighter, and surveillance aircraft to signal Taiwan. China also employs non-military tools coercively, including economic tools during periods of political tensions with countries that Beijing accuses of harming its national interests, the report said.
Even as China settled 11 land-based territorial disputes with six of its neighbours, since 1998, in the recent years, Beijing has employed a more coercive approach to deal with several disputes over maritime features and ownership of potentially rich offshore oil and gas deposits, it said.
"Tensions with India persist along the northeastern border near the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China asserts is part of Tibet and therefore part of China, and near the Aksai Chin region at the western end of the Tibetan Plateau," the Pentagon said in its report to the Congress.
Chinese and Indian patrols regularly encounter one another along the disputed border, and both sides often accuse one another of border incursions, it said.
However, Chinese and Indian forces have regularly interacted since the 2017 Doklam standoff and generally kept disputes from escalating in 2019, it said.
After the 22nd round of India-China border talks held in September 2019, China and India agreed for the first time to coordinate patrolling at one disputed point along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh as a confidence-building measure to maintain peace at the border, the reported said.
The report, however, makes no mention of the latest border row between India and China in Ladakh.
India and China have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks in the last two-and-half months but no significant headway has been made for a resolution to the border row in eastern Ladakh.
Giving its assessment of India-China border in 2019, the Pentagon said that officials from China and India continued regular meetings regarding their disputed border, while low-level face-offs persisted between Chinese and Indian military personnel.
Chinese and Indian forces both continued construction and patrols in contested regions along the disputed border, but generally kept tensions from escalating in 2019, it said.
In October 2019, President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Chennai to discuss economic relations and the importance of the peaceful resolution of contentious issues, particularly regarding the border. This meeting was the second summit between Xi and Modi, the first of which occurred in April 2018 following the 2017 Doklam standoff, it said.
In August 2019, China submitted "early harvest" proposals regarding China-India border issues to India, which was the first time that China had approached India with resolution proposals, the report said.
Although India was not pleased with the proposals, the 22nd meeting of the Special Representatives of India and China occurred in December 2019 and reinforced both sides' shared intent to manage tensions in the border region, it said.
This story was originally published on September 2, 2020.
Pepe the Frog has become one of the most pervasive and controversial images on the internet, a cartoon totem of the alt-right and medium for countless offensive memes. But what most people dont know about Pepe is that he was actually born in the Mission.
Created by cartoonist Matt Furie while killing time in the offices of Community Thrift Store on Valencia Street, Pepe the Frog began as a member of a group of four literal party animals in the comic series Boys Club, originally published in 2006. The characters evolution from pizza-eating slacker to hate symbol, along with Furies quest to reclaim his character, is documented in a "Feels Good Man," a film available for rent on streaming services like Prime Video and iTunes. Its a story about internet culture, but distinctly rooted in San Francisco.
Matt was part of a community of cartoonists in the Mission during his time period, but its an echo of a community of cartoonists from the Weirdo era, Weirdo the comic book, says Feels Good Man director Arthur Jones. Robert Crumb and all those sort of people. San Francisco has always had transgressive publishing, back to City Lights and all the Beats.
Courtesy of Feels Good Man
The documentarys title stems from Pepes comic catchphrase, which now couldnt be further from what hes come to represent. Although theres no exact origin story for Pepes adoption as a meme, the internet caught wind of the stoney-eyed frog long before the rise of the alt-right. In the late aughts, Furie started hearing about odd fan dedications, like a song uploaded in 2008 to a then-nascent YouTube. Feels good man became a popular joke on workout message boards, cat memes, and was even placed over a photo of John Goodman (Feels Goodman). At first, it seemed innocuous enough.
I was interested in it as an internet phenomenon, but I didnt think too much about it, says Furie in the film. I didnt even know what a meme was. I still dont know if Im saying that correctly. It was through Pepe that I learned what a meme was.
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Pepes descent into darkness can be credited largely to 4chan, an internet message board known as a repository for vitriolic memes. The anonymous nature of the site made it a breeding ground for hate speech, with users competing for the most shocking posts. The stereotypical image of a 4chan user is a basement-dwelling outcast who subscribes to a dropout philosophy summed up by the acronym NEET (not in education, employment or training). The original viral image of Pepe, with downcast eyes and a grimaced lips, became a symbol for this particular brand of internet antisocial behavior.
The filmmakers interviewed several 4channers, most notably one named Mills, who gives a tour of his trash-filled basement lair that he boasts of as the pinnacle of NEET living. He spends much of his time there posting self-deprecating messages to 4chan, embracing his identity as an outcast.
Its really interesting if you look at 4chan and Instagram as mirrors of each other, says producer Giorgio Angelini. They follow similar logic. The reward systems are all the same, its just the inputs are different. For someone like Mills, his content creation isnt about going on trips, its about creating increasingly nihilistic, cynical content.
Another 4channer in the film referred to Pepe as the meme of the site, noting that itd be strange not to post it. But despite both users fascination with the frog, neither knew its comic book origins.
One of the reasons Pepe was so easily co-opted was most people dont realize that Pepe comes from anything, says Jones. Pepe could be changed, because people didnt know the backstory.
Theres a lot of characters like SpongeBob on 4chan or Reddit that are used in pretty messed up ways, adds Angelini. But ultimately, when you see it as a racist meme, you know its a perversion.
The depictions of Pepe became more and more shocking, from sexist and racist tropes to political imagery praising Nazis and terrorists. A gunman who killed six people at UC Santa Barbara in 2014 was memorialized with Pepe memes as a rallying cry for a beta uprising of disaffected men.
Then the most common image of Pepe evolved, turning his expression from a frown to a smug smile. This shift coincided with the announcement of Donald Trumps presidential campaign, and soon enough, Pepe was being posted with a tuft of Trump hair that the candidate retweeted himself, earning the allegiance of the 4chan community. Pepe even spawned his own form of cryptocurrency where rare Pepe memes are bought and sold for thousands of dollars. As a result of its ubiquitousness among the darkest corners of internet culture, Pepe was officially added to the Anti Defamation Leagues official registry of hate symbols in 2016.
Courtesy of Feels Good Man
Furie pushed back to reclaim his creation. He illustrated a children's book featuring a new gentler frog that explores forests and surfs. He then started a clothing line of goofy collared shirts, but Pepes snowballing popularity caused his distributors to rescind his contract, sticking him with thousands of dollars of unsellable merchandise. He launched a social media campaign called the Peace Pepe Database of Love where artists submitted positive art, then pivoted to killing off the character in a comic where the other Boys Club animals attend his funeral.
When all else failed, Furie lawyered up. With the help of a pro-bono intellectual property law firm, he successfully sued over 75 people, including everyone from an Islamophobic children's author to InfoWars host Alex Jones. Then when it seemed like Pepe was completely lost, the frog was adopted by protesters in Hong Kong as a symbol of peace rather than hate in 2019.
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In addition to the difficulty of finding 4channers willing to talk and immersing themselves in such a dark subculture, one of the biggest challenges of the film was presented by the coronavirus. The subject matter demanded the film be released before the 2020 election, but the pandemic derailed a run of screenings at 24 film festivals, which were the movies best shot at being purchased for broader distribution.
When talks with studios and streaming platforms didnt succeed, the filmmakers instead decided to self-release it. A cold email to Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League started a conversation that led to an actual theatrical release in 17 of the chains theaters (although not in SF). The movie is now available for rent on the major VOD platforms.
Although Pepe creator Furie sometimes seems to wish his character would just disappear, the lazy-eyed frog doesnt seem to be going anywhere, which may be the strangest part of this whole saga. Over the course of a decade, a silly comic born in a San Francisco thrift store somehow evolved into an international symbol of sadness, then hate, then liberation. For the Feels Good Man crew, Pepes rise and fall isnt just a story about a cartoon, but the internet as a whole.
Pepe has outlasted Myspace. Hes outlasted Tumblr. Hes something thats become an ur-meme. Hes been around as long as anything else on the internet that has been able to stay a thing. I find that totally strange, says Jones.
Reaearch has also shown that when job descriptions include a salary range, recruiters get over 30% more applicants. Photo: Getty
Money might not be everything when youre looking for a new job, but its certainly important. Although candidates place details of the job itself before salary information when looking at job listings, compensation information is still one of the top three things 61% of candidates expect to see.
However, a survey of over 14,600 professionals and employers found only 46% of recruiters always include salary information in job adverts.
As a job seeker, it can be frustrating to find an interesting role with no mention of the pay. It can also be off-putting if you suspect the compensation might be less than it should be. So should salary information be included in a job advert and are there any downsides?
As employees, we all want to be paid what were worth especially when it comes to taking a new job, says Derren Bevington, business director at the recruitment agency Michael Page.
READ MORE: How coronavirus can help you achieve switching careers
This means its important to be aware of the average UK salary for the role youre hiring for to check yourself against the competition and ensure the wage you are offering is fair, he adds.
In order to hire the best talent, you have to remunerate staff competitively. Being clear about the package on offer demonstrates a degree of transparency and that you are serious about hiring the best person for the role.
While a salary isnt the only thing which determines whether or not a candidate will apply for a job, people may look to move roles if they dont feel satisfied with the pay. By outlining a salary range, candidates will have the option to decide whether to apply, based on their financial requirements.
In the current market, more than ever, transparency is crucial, explains Bevington. Including salaries within job descriptions can provide a clear indication of what is on offer from a compensation perspective and the cultural components can be covered at the interview stage. This therefore means less screening time for companies looking to hire.
Story continues
Research has also shown that when job descriptions include a salary range, recruiters get over 30% more applicants.
Moreover, it makes it easier to see if a company is paying its employees less than it should be. And if a business doesnt pay fairly, it may be a sign of a toxic culture, as well as unrealistic expectations.
However, including pay details in a job advert can have some negative repercussions for employers.
When salaries are included within job descriptions, they can show that the company is not paying over and above the median, and therefore the value they attribute to the role, Bevington says.
READ MORE: How to talk about CV gaps with an employer
This may have a negative impact on existing staff who may have applied for the role, as the information is now in the public domain. In addition, posting salaries publicly may reveal to existing staff that they themselves are underpaid compared with new joiners.
Another downside is that applicants could potentially focus on the salary offered and disregard any other benefits of working for the company. If theyre drawn in by the pay, they may be blind to a companys culture not being a good fit for them. Most companies will want an ewagmployee who fits in well and isnt taking the job for the money alone.
Finally, including a salary in a job description does reduce the negotiating power of both the employer and the employee, Bevington says. For example, its possible a candidate would have taken the role at a lower salary if one hadnt been initially listed.
Agreeing a financial package when taking a new job can be complicated. If you think the salary offered by an employer isnt right, you can check using online salary comparison tools.
Phones have been a part of everyday life now, especially in the age of the internet. But finding yourself feeling anxious because your phone died or when you left your house at home could be a disorder.
Experts call the phone disorder "nomophobia." It is short for "no mobile phone phobia," and it is a rising trend in psychology nowadays, especially among young people. It was coined in 2010 by the UK Post office, according to Psychology Today.
This disorder is not yet recognized as a formal diagnosis, but researchers are examing how common it is among adolescents. One recent study in Portugal is also looking for the concerning link between nomophobia and other psychological disorders.
The study was published in the August-December 2020 edition of Computers in Human Behavior Reports. It used a questionnaire assessing phone use and psychopathological symptoms of 495 adults aged 18 to 24.
So far, researchers found positive correlation between the disorder and certain psychological problems.
This means if someone has a specific mental health condition like depression, they're more likely to also have anxiety from being away from their phone.
Conditions related with nomophobia have their own symptoms from insomnia to digestive problems.
Disorders Associated with Nomophobia
There are nine disorders associated with nomophobia, according to Best Life. Here they are and the percentage of test participants who experienced them.
Obsession-Compulsion - 39.4%
Interpersonal Sensitivity - 39%
Hostility - 38.4%
Psychoticism - 38.2%
Paranoid Ideation - 38.1%
Depression - 37.4%
Phobic Anxiety - 34.7%
Anxiety - 34%
Somatization - 32.2%
What Causes Nomophobia?
Nomophobia is considered a new, modern phobia, said Healthline. This means it likely came from higher reliance on technology and concern over what could happen if that technology isn't accessed all of a sudden.
This is why most existing information on the phobia suggests it is more frequently experienced by teenagers and young adults.
The specific cause for nomophobia is not yet found but experts believe there are several factors are at play.
One of these factors includes the fear of isolation. Getting cut off technology could mean getting less or no contact from people you care about. Some people will tend to feel lonely without it.
Another cause could also be the feat of being unreachable. Being away from loved ones gets some people anxious about missing an important message, and it can be habit that's hard to break.
How Is It Treated?
Therapists recommend different treatments for a person who faces significant distress in daily life.
Some of these therapies can also address the symptoms of nomophobia. Treatments may include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or exposure therapy.
CBT can help a person learn to manage negative thoughts and feelings. This can also work for someone who doesn't have their phone with them.
Exposure therapy, on the other hand, helps someone face these fears through gradual exposure to it.
Slowing getting sued to not having your phone around may seem frightening at first, especially if you need to stay in touch with loved ones through it.
But the goal of exposure therapy is to completely avoid using it, unless it's a personal goal.
For severe symptoms, medication may be in order. Be warned that this method will not get to the root cause of the problem. Usually, using medication alone can't help a person cope with nomophobia.
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Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, September 2, 2020 09:33 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c421986f 1 National immunization,vaccination,vaccine,COVID-19,COVID-19-children,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,UNICEFIndonesia,unicef,health-ministry Free
Almost one third of Indonesian parents and caregivers are doubtful about taking their children for routine immunizations during the COVID-19 pandemic for fear of contracting the coronavirus, a recent survey has found.
The survey, carried out by the Health Ministry in collaboration with UNICEF, collected responses online from nearly 7,000 parents and caregivers of children under the age of 2 in 34 provinces from July 4 to July 13.
The survey found that only half of the respondents had taken their children for routine immunizations in the past two months.
Prior to the pandemic, resistance to immunizations had already increased in Indonesia, and this was exacerbated by [immunization] vaccine doubts during the pandemic, UNICEF said in a statement on Monday.
The survey also showed a significant shift in parents and caregivers behavior in seeking immunization services.
Prior to the pandemic, according to the survey, around 90 percent of Indonesian children had availed of immunization services at community health facilities such as community health centers (Puskesmas) and integrated health services posts (Posyandu) as well as village delivery facilities (Polindes).
However, the majority of the respondents stated that they were now seeking immunization in private clinics and hospitals due to the closure of government healthcare facilities in their communities.
Read also: Let's get childhood immunization back on track
Respondents expressed concern about the high cost of getting immunization services at private healthcare facilities, services that would be free at public facilities.
The Health Ministrys disease control and prevention director general, Achmad Yurianto, said public health facilities should remain open and safe during the pandemic, and called on parents not to delay giving immunizations to their children.
If any health service facilities are temporarily closed, parents should ask local community health staff for information on the closest alternatives, said Yurianto, who is also the former national COVID-19 spokesman, as quoted in the statement.
The survey, however, also discovered high demand for immunization, showing that some parents and caregivers had looked for alternative service points.
The survey showed that parents who had studied the safe immunization guidelines applied by health authorities were more willing to take their children for vaccinations.
UNICEF argued that investment in safe immunization and expanding the outreach of health services were important and urgent in order to ease parents doubts.
During the pandemic, children must be protected against diseases that can be prevented by immunizations. We must do everything we can so that all children throughout the country can continue to receive this important service, UNICEF representative Debora Comini said.
The former partner of a notorious bikie says he's owed an apology after Queensland authorities said he boarded a plane with coronavirus - and then retracted it.
A health alert from the state on Tuesday claimed 48-year-old Shane Bowden was not contagious with COVID-19 when he flew from Melbourne to Brisbane the day before.
But Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk repeated claims the former Finks bikie was infected on the flight at a media conference on Wednesday.
Trudi McPhee, who has a teenage son with Bowden, told the Courier Mail her former partner was given 'the all-clear' by officials and would not have put the public in danger.
A Qld health alert on Tuesday said 48-year-old Shane Bowden (pictured) was not contagious with COVID-19 when he flew from Melbourne to Brisbane on Monday
Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, repeated claims the former Finks bikie was infected on the flight at a media conference on Wednesday
Trudi McPhee, who has a teenage son with Bowden (pictured), said he was given 'the all-clear' by officials and would not have put the public in danger
'They said he had COVID and they need to apologise to him but I don't think they have the balls to apologise to him, quite frankly,' said Ms McPhee.
The Premier doubled down on her point of view saying it was her 'understanding' that Bowden was positive when he arrived in the state.
She then admitted she would need to check the details with Health Minister Steven Miles.
The confusion started when Qld Health issued a release on Tuesday stating a public health alert was not issued for the flight he was on.
'New advice provided to Queensland Health is that he was not infectious while on the flight,' it stated.
The convicted criminal was released from a five-year prison stint in Victoria two months ago, and within 15 days was the victim of a drive-by shooting.
The former bikie was in Royal Melbourne Hospital recovering from a gunshot to his leg when he was first diagnosed with COVID-19, and was still being treated for the virus 72 hours before he boarded the flight.
Qld authorities are also investigating him for lying on his border declaration pass and are trying to determine if he committed an offence.
The former bikie was in Royal Melbourne Hospital recovering from a gunshot to his leg when he was first diagnosed with COVID-19, and was still being treated for the virus 72 hours before he boarded the flight to Brisbane
Ms McPhee previously told the Herald Sun the former bikie was desperate to leave Melbourne and was concerned he was being 'watched' while in hospital receiving treatment for COVID-19.
'He is a pretty wild man, he was already wanted by Queensland police he had told me,' Ms McPhee said.
'He didn't want to be in Victoria anymore.'
She thinks Bowden 'needs help' after he became consumed with the theory that people were watching him while he was recovering in hospital.
'He checked out of hospital because he was very scared, he was worried people were watching him all the time... He is obviously not thinking properly,' she said.
Ms McPhee said he made it clear to her that he wanted to head to the Gold Coast, but she had no clue how quickly he would leave.
Bowden is also being investigated for lying on his Qld border declaration form. Pictured: Motorists are stopped at a checkpoint at Coolangatta on the Queensland- New South Wales border in August
Bowden spent seven years in prison for the shooting of another Melbourne bikie in 2006, and was said to be part of the Fink's 'Terror Team'.
He temporarily joined the Mongols but was recently booted from the club, Ms McPhee revealed.
'He lived for the Mongols, whatever happened, why he got kicked out it is not my business. But, when things like this keep happening it is my opinion it is time to hang up your boots and find something else to do,' she said.
When he was released from jail in June, Bowden was 'happy' to be free and vowed to stay on the right side of the law, she added.
Bowden was picked up in a limousine after a five-year prison stint for a violent home invasion
An entourage of Mongols gang members travelled an hour and a half from Mebourne to meet Bowden with the limousine
The 48-year-old made a glitzy exit from jail - picked up in a limousine.
He was met by an entourage of fellow gang members on motorbikes, who travelled an hour and a half from Melbourne to meet Bowden, the Herald Sun reported.
He wrote in a social media post after his release and the subsequent shooting that he was excited to go back to Queensland.
'Can't [wait] to get back there as [soon] as I can get back X the border,' he wrote, according to the Courier Mail.
The alleged breach comes as Queensland confirmed two new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, out of 18,151 tests.
Victoria recorded 90 new coronavirus cases during the same period - and a further six deaths.
The state's parliament also voted to extend the government's emergency powers by another six-months.
The new fatalities include five males in their 80s and one male in their 90s, all linked to aged-care outbreaks.
The figures bring Victoria's coronavirus death toll to 576.
A young woman stands next to a bicycle on Saturday in Melbourne during the city's draconian Stage Four lockdown
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 19:06:54|Editor: huaxia
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BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will gradually resume direct inbound flights to the city from eight countries, including Cambodia, Greece, Denmark, Thailand, Austria and Canada, starting Thursday.
Priority will be given to flights from countries with low risk of cross-border infection, where nucleic acid tests have been conducted, Xu Hejian, spokesperson for the Beijing municipal government, told a press conference on Wednesday.
Negative COVID-19 test results before boarding will be prerequisite for passengers of Beijing-bound flights. Enditem
Philippines Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr (right) will revive the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) North Borneo Affairs which is dedicated to efforts to reclaim Sabah, which he described as the tropical island of Borneo. Reuters pic
KOTA KINABALU, Sept 1 The Philippines is reportedly planning to revive its claim on Sabah, after saying that its previous department in charge of the claim had been receiving significant bribes over the years to drop the matter.
The Inquirer reported that Philippines Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr will revive the Department of Foreign Affairs' (DFA) North Borneo Affairs which is dedicated to efforts to reclaim Sabah, which he described as the tropical island of Borneo.
As a matter of history there have been repeated offers to abandon our Sabah claim from aspiring presidential candidates since the late 1970s, usually Opposition because they are most in need of campaign funds but administration as well, Locsin tweeted on Sunday.
On Monday, Locsin again tweeted the Filipino public must know that what is on offer is huge so the temptation to betray is commensurately humongous.
Leaving it to diplomats is not enough to safeguard the national interest in the matter. Theres the additional temptation to feel welcome in the host country, he said.
Locsin recalled an old bureau within the DFA exclusively devoted to the issue, and said he will resurrect or revitalise it.
The Philippines has had a long-standing claim on Sabah, which officially became a part of Malaysia since its formation in 1963, based on the historical ownership of the Sultan of Sulu over what used to be North Borneo.
Locsin had last Thursday said that while it did not want to sour diplomatic relations with its neighbour, it would not give up on its claim.
While we have always endeavored not to let it affect our relations with Malaysia, well, its up to them. But we will certainly never give it up, Locsin had said.
As the successor in sovereignty of the Sultanate of Sulu, the Philippines has legal ownership and sovereignty over Northern Borneo, or what I call the tropical island of Borneo, he said.
Last week, the Philippines House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved a substitute bill requiring the printing of the countrys map, including its 200-mile exclusive economic zone and Sabah, on Philippine passports.
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Cagayan de Oro representative Rufus B. Rodriguez reportedly said the move was aimed at emphasising the Philippines victory in the West Philippine Sea issue over China in the International Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, and its legal and historical rights over Sabah.
Malaysias Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had said that Malaysia would never recognise or entertain such claims, and said it would fight to defend Sabahs sovereignty in Malaysia.
This comes as last week, the Philippines House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved a substitute Bill requiring the printing of the countrys map, including its 200-mile exclusive economic zone and Sabah, on Philippine passports.
Cagayan de Oro representative Rufus B. Rodriguez reportedly said the move was aimed at emphasising the Philippines victory in the West Philippine Sea issue over China in the International Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, and its legal and historical rights over Sabah.
Subsequently, Malaysia lodged a note verbale with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to reject the Philippines continued claim on Sabah.
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Frenkie de Jong has revealed that Barcelona are in turmoil with Lionel Messi's transfer saga set to reach a head this week.
Messi's desire to leave Barcelona after 20 years has developed into one of the most stunning stories of the summer with the Argentine superstar recently handing in an official transfer request and refusing to attend scheduled Covid-19 tests and pre-season training in a bid to push through a move to Manchester City.
Messi's father Jorge will meet with Barcelona's president Josep Bartomeu on Wednesday to demand his son be allowed to leave amid his bitter dispute with the club over a contract clause which he believes means he can move on a free transfer.
Barcelona are in disarray, says Frenkie de Jong, as superstar Lionel Messi looks to jump ship
De Jong said it's 'chaos' at Barcelona at the moment with 'strange things happening'
De Jong, who endured a tough first season with the Catalan giants, admitted the club are in disarray as the fallout from their humiliating 8-2 defeat against Bayern Munich rumbles on.
'Currently it's a mess at Barcelona, so many strange things happening. It's chaos,' the Holland international told NOS.
'I haven't talked to him (Messi) about this myself. Nor the club. So I honestly do not know how it is.
'But if Messi really leaves, it will be a huge blow to the team and the club.
'When I come back after these international matches, I will see what has happened at the club.'
Messi has told Barcelona he wants to leave with Manchester City frontrunners to sign him
Dutchman De Jong also revealed that Messi is still in Barcelona players' WhatsApp group
Manchester City are hopeful of bringing Messi to the Premier League, though it would not be financially feasible to get a deal done if Barcelona continue to dig their heels in with the 33-year-old's release clause set at an eye-watering 629million.
Barcelona insist Messi is still under contract and have urged him to stop pursuing a move away and commit to a new deal.
Despite enormous uncertainty around his future, De Jong has revealed that Messi is still in the Barcelona players' group chat.
Speaking to Fox Sports, he added: 'I hope that Messi is still there when I get back, but that is not something that is up to me.
'He's still in the group chat. I'm not someone who talks about it [his potential exit] with him, I'm sure he has many people around him doing that these days.'
The National Weather Service issued several tornado warnings for the Little Rock region of Arkansas, on September 1.
Tornado alerts were issued Greenbrier, Wooster, Plumerville, Heber Springs and Quitman on the Tuesday afternoon.
This footage, filmed by Chris Love, shows a swirling funnel-shaped cloud and debris flying through the air near Greenbrier, north of Little Rock.
Flash flood warnings and thunderstorm alerts were also issued for the region. Credit: Chris Love via Storyful
Australian farmer on his property in north-western New South Wales, Australia, on Oct. 3, 2019. (David Gray/Stringer/Getty Images)
Beijing Bans Barley Exports From Australian Grain Cooperative
Beijing has suspended barley imports from Australias top grain exporter claiming pests were found in multiple shipments, in what appears to be the latest trade strike by the Chinese regime against Australian exports.
West Australian grain handler CBH Group vowed to fight the extremely disappointing decision, which came just a week after beef imports from family-owned Queensland abattoir John Dee Warwick were suspended.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the federal government would get to the bottom of the situation.
We do respect the fact that Chinalike any other country would, like we wouldhas got quarantine inspection arrangements, he told reporters in Canberra on Sept. 2.
We will be working with the company once we are aware of all the facts to make the appropriate representations, he added.
Beijings General Administration of Customs publicised the decision on Sept. 1, saying quarantined pests were found in CBH barley exports multiple times.
But the grain cooperative insists there is no evidence to support the claim.
Barley harvest in Grenfell, New South Wales, Australia, on Nov. 12, 2007. (Greg Wood/AFP via Getty Images)
CBH is therefore extremely disappointed the suspension has been put in place and will continue to work with the Australian government to challenge the suspension, the exporter said.
Australian farmers were already reeling from an 80.5 percent tariff introduced in June on barley exports.
Cormann said CBH had an excellent track record but declined to speculate if diplomatic issues had sparked the ban.
The truth is, Australias grain products, Australias barley products, are highly regarded all around the world, he said.
If there is less opportunity to export high-quality Australian grain into China, there will be more opportunity to export grain into other markets around the world, he continued.
Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said relations between Australia and China were worsening.
Its a real issue that Australian ministers cant pick up the phone and seem to have no relationship with their Chinese counterparts, he told ABC radio.
China is the largest recipient of our exports, by a long way. It is a real concern that the Australian government dont seem to be able to manage the relationship.
The latest episode continues a long-running, Beijing-instigated trade dispute between the countries.
To date, the Chinese regime has imposed tariffs on Australian barley imports, banned imports from five Australian abattoirs, and issued travel warnings to Chinese citizens about visiting Australia; which targeted the valuable education and tourism sectors. Last month, the regime also launched an anti-dumping investigation into Australian wine exports.
The trade-related actions began intensifying in April when Foreign Minister Marise Payne called for an inquiry into the origins and early mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China.
The Australian government has been tightening its efforts to counter foreign interference in the country and diversifying its trade relationships.
Last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a constitutional power play, giving the federal government power to review, and veto, agreements between sub-national governments and foreign nations.
Dear Premier,
We, the undersigned, are senior medical practitioners of various specialities who practice in Victoria and are deeply concerned with the Victorian governments management of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) viral pandemic as a public health issue.
The purpose of this letter is to make you aware that not all medical practitioners are in agreement with the Chief Medical Officer and the Victorian government regarding the most effective way to control this disease. We believe that an alternative medical response is required that reflects what we know about the spread of the virus, those who have died from it, and the impact that the stage 3-4 lockdown restrictions are having on the physical and mental health of the general population.
For the sake of people in Victoria with other medical illnesses, it is vital that Stage 4 restrictions be lifted on schedule in mid-September.
This letter details our concerns and recommendations. We are ready to offer any assistance we can to help create and implement a revised, effective and just response to the Victorian situation; to this end we would be pleased to meet with you at your convenience to discuss the matter further.
Government Response to Covid-19 and Available Data
Focusing on the numbers of cases of COVID-19 is at best an unsophisticated way of looking at disease management. Factors such as the side effects of any policy, its cost effectiveness, the quality of life years lost, and the cost per life saved are fundamental when considering disease management. In addition, any policy to manage any disease must be reviewed in light of new data.
We believe that the governments initial response to handling COVID-19, via a stage 3 lockdown to flatten the curve, was reasonable in view of the limited information available at the time on the outbreak in China and the alarming number of deaths in Italy. The initial response, though arguably excessive, was still highly effective in preserving medical capacity and allowing time to co-ordinate a full medical response, with the community accepting that the social and economic consequences were reasonable and for the common good.
However, we now know that whilst COVID-19 is highly contagious, it is of limited virulence.
Whilst an accurate cause of death of a person can be difficult to determine, we are told that since March 2020, 565 Victorian patients have died either with or from the virus (31st August numbers). This compares with annual Victorian deaths of approximately 10,000 patients with cardiovascular disease and 11,000 with cancer. Accordingly, the COVID-19 deaths are a relatively small proportion of the 114 deaths per day that are normally seen in Victoria. In comparison, since the start of March COVID-19 has been associated with 3 of the 114 deaths per day.
Most of the 565 deaths have occurred in nursing homes which according to doctors currently working in this environment have described causal factors related not only to the virus but to other care related issues, including isolation, loneliness, and related diminished nutritional intake.
However, in Victoria we have had 541 LESS deaths this July compared to July last year. (3,561 deaths compared to 4,102 deaths in July 2019).
In Australia last year, 2019, in the month of July alone we had 71,000 new laboratory confirmed cases, and a total of 313,000 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza for the year. This is only a fraction of the actual total cases of influenza, as many cases go untested.
In August 2017 we had 99,000 new laboratory confirmed cases of Influenza and a total of over 250,000 cases for the year.
During 2017 and 2019 Influenza resulted in 25-30,000 hospital admissions and up to 2500 ICU admissions across Australia. Three per cent of hospital admissions were pregnant women and up to 18 per cent were under the age of 16.
The deaths from Influenza each and every year is between 3500 and 4000, according to the Australian Influenza Specialist Interest Group website and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This is despite recent excellent rates of vaccination in the vulnerable population and millions of vaccinations utilised each year. (2020,18 million, 2019 13.2 million, 2018 11 million, 2016 8.3 million)
The vast majority of deaths associated with COVID-19 have occurred in frail people over 80 years, many of whom also had significant co-morbidities. In Victoria more than 73 per cent of known COVID-19 deaths resided in nursing homes. (381 out of 524 and 30 out of 52 in NSW, as of August 30).
For people who are physically well and under 60 years of age, the mortality risk is extremely low. Contrary to what you have said, Mr Andrews, the virus DOES discriminate. See graphs below.
Since June 2020, the death rate has risen sharply in aged care facilities where the risk of transmission of COVID-19 has been unacceptably high. However, the government, and the doctors advising it, have not reviewed their policy in order to focus on this vulnerable segment of the population. Instead, stage 3-4 lockdowns for the whole community have continued for no apparent scientific reason.
Medical and Social Consequences
As medical practitioners, it is our collective experience that patients are presenting later to us with their medical complaints. Specialist referrals from GPs, and indeed GP workload, have fallen dramatically due to patients reluctance to leave home in fear of acquiring the virus. As a direct consequence of this delay, many will have poorer prognoses. This has especially been the case with consultants who treat cancer. A study in the UK estimated an extra 4000 deaths from not screening the four main cancers alone and not from lack of treatment.
In addition, it is our professional opinion that the stage 4 lockdown policy has caused unprecedented negative economic and social outcomes in people, which in themselves are having negative health outcomes. In particular, it has caused or exacerbated depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, as well as contributed to domestic violence, through an extreme and unjustified disruption to family, social and work life. Job losses, home schooling, the isolation of the elderly and single people and the restriction on the number of people who may attend funerals, are but a few examples of how the governments current response is harming the health of the general population.
In short, the medical, psychological and social costs of the lockdown are disproportionately enormous compared to the limited good being done by current policies, and are relevant factors to be taken into account by any responsible government.
Proposed Amendments to the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic)
We further note with much concern, that the proposed amendment to the Public Health and Wellbeing Act that would effectively allow the government to continue its current policy to manage COVID-19 even if there were to be zero cases over a period of time. This is unfathomable and certainly contrary to the objects of the Act, which require accountability, proportionality and collaboration to be fulfilled.
Specifically, the legislation explicitly mandates that the governments decisions on public health initiatives must be transparent, systematic and appropriate, with members of the public given access to reliable information in appropriate forms to facilitate a good understanding of the issue. In addition, the legislation acknowledges that decisions will be enhanced through collaboration between all levels of government and industry, business, communities and individuals.
Recommendations
For all these reasons, ordinary sensible people if properly informed, should inevitably conclude that the current government policy is ill focused, heavy-handed, and unjustifiable as a proportionate response to the risks posed by COVID-19 to the publics health.
As the virus is not going away soon, and an effective vaccine may not be available for a considerable period of time, if at all, we respectfully call upon the government to do the following:
The State of Emergency not be continued past September 13 with an agreement made for parliament to be allowed to openly discuss and debate appropriate medical plans to manage the current COVID-19 crisis. A panel of non-politically aligned medical and health-related experts be selected by a bi-partisan parliamentary group to provide the transparent and active role of informing and advising government decisions and responses to the epidemic. Ensure adequate measures, testing, and protection of the vulnerable, especially those in aged residential care environments and their families and carers. Clearly communicate to the public the medical evidence-base, objectives and timelines of any proposed future management plans, with open disclosure of the processes and negative consequences, to inform those discussions and decisions. A broader focus be given to the health and well-being of Victorians, by utilising all relevant available data and by calculating the costs and harms, including the social, economic, family, emotional, psychological and spiritual impacts on the community, of any decisions and plans to manage the COVID-19 crisis, thereby explaining and justifying the merits of these plans as a reasonable and proportionate response. To review regularly the outcomes of any management decisions and demonstrate a willingness to modify plans as new data and insights become available.
Thank you for your time in reading this letter. We look forward to your early response.
Yours faithfully,
100 Years Ago 1920: Gus Belman, a constable living at 6164 Kingsessing Avenue, Philadelphia, came here yesterday and after getting a good load of hooch, became obsessed with the idea that he could clean up the city. He started in at Todds restaurant, at Third and Market streets. Give me anything and give it to me quick or Ill clear out the place, said Belman when a clerk in the eating house asked him for his order. When Patrolman Rosen called him to task for his misconduct, Belman started to rave. The Chester police are a bunch of pikers and youre a piker if you arrest me, shouted Belman in the presence of a large crowd. He was jailed for the night and fined $10 and costs.
75 Years Ago 1945: With the purpose of helping veterans solve their readjustment problems, the Chester Veterans Information and Advisory Center will be opened officially next Tuesday morning at 10 oclock, with headquarters at 16 E. Fifth St. The new organization has sponsorship of the Chester Community Fund and War Chest, and will operate with a paid secretary and a volunteer staff.
50 Years Ago 1970: The Delaware County Republican Board of Supervisors (War Board) is planning to meet soon to fill War Board vacancies and possibly to restructure the boards makeup. Several county Republican leaders have said privately the board, currently at 12 members, may decide not to fill all the vacancies because of concern the board had become somewhat unwieldy because it had too many members in recent years at 15.
25 Years Ago 1995: The 50th anniversary of the surrender of Japan was marked by ceremonies yesterday by the World War II Commemorative Committees of Ridley Township and the Folsom Post Office. About 100 people gathered at the Herbert W. Best VFW post home to witness the presentation of the fourth and final WWII Commemorative Stamp awards to 18 veterans of the Pacific Theater of War.
10 Years Ago 2010: A Hillside Road resident complained at a recent Ridley Park council meeting about money spent on a ball field near Ridley Park Lake that is too small to allow adults to play. He said only young children can play on the field, and it is only used two months a year. Council President Bob Berger explained that the field floods on a regular basis, and this past winter, the backstop actually fell into the lake. He noted the field is 120 feet in size and men dont play on a field that size.
COLIN AINSWORTH
Due to concerns over COVID-19, the open community forum will instead be hosted as an online event. The candidates will be arriving Tuesday to Sauk County and will be part of the virtual meet and greet at 6 p.m. The public will be able to view the event, which will feature each finalist answering four questions compiled by county officials.
They will also undergo a two day assessment, Bretl said. The evaluations will include interviews and the chance to work with department supervisors on a hypothetical municipal project. McCumber expressed hope that the committee will be able to recommend a final candidate during its Sept. 10 meeting for subsequent approval by the full county board.
McCumber said he championed the concept of a county administrator when he ran for his seat in April. It shifts the county from its current structure of having an administrative coordinator.
It puts the board more in the position to be policymakers, McCumber said.
Requests for applications began in June, though McCumber said the county was careful to ensure it knew what it wanted in a candidate before it began seeking applicants.
Montell2099 and Trap Nation have shared a stunning live set from Auckland's Karekare beach and honestly it's one of the most amazing things we've seen in the age of virtual concerts.
Montell shared a little bit of an explanation of the video on social media after teasing it a few days earlier.
'New Zealand / Aotearoa is home, and we are blessed to be surrounded by the craziest landscapes,' he wrote. 'Im excited to finally release a video that weve been working on for the past couple of months. We wanted to showcase the beautiful country we live in, whilst also putting our art on display in a different way.'
An official press release dove further into the cultural significance, reading 'the immersive short film is an intersection between New Zealands natural environment and Montell2099s digital dimension.'
'Shot in Karekare, a small coastal settlement rich with native Maori history in Auckland, New Zealand, the film highlights Montell2099s cultural identity as sacred land becomes the visionarys stage'
When I was making the set I'd bring up pictures of the location to reference the vibe of the set, and try to imagine the songs playing out in that setting, Montell said. Since COVID hit and live shows took a back step, DJs all over the world have been doing different online stream videos. Playing off that we wanted to do something a bit out of the ordinary and beautiful. Essentially it's a music video but for a live set. Which I think is pretty cool
According to the press release, 'each point of the triangular light installation symbolizes the link between Montell2099s music and his Maori heritage; as he exchanges energy between earth and electronic music.'
Montell also thanked the crew behind the video on social media.
'I wanna say a massive thank you to Ben Dalgleish from Human Person (Creative Direction), Angus Muir (Lighting Design), Matt Clode (Filming, Editing), Dan Woolston, and all the team for their amazing work on this project. Hope you guys enjoy the video out now on Trap Nation.
Will see you at some shows soon'
Check the full 30 minute vid up top and Montell's post below!
Labour is calling on the government urgently to force through emergency legislation to stop no fault evictions to prevent hundreds of thousands of people being put at risk of losing their homes at the end of this month.
A ban on evictions during the coronavirus pandemic was extended by a month last week, amid fears that tenants who have fallen behind on rent during lockdown could be removed by landlords. And housing secretary Robert Jenrick said he would also require landlords to provide six months notice in most cases.
But shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire said that the delay had done little more than give renters a few more weeks to pack their bags.
She has written to Mr Jenrick calling for a change in the law in the coming days to protect them from automatic eviction and promising Labours co-operation to rush the measure through.
The Conservative manifesto for last years general election included a promise to end so-called Section 21 no-fault evictions, but legislation has not yet been put through parliament.
UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 January 2022 Surfers enter the sea as the sun rises over Tynemouth on the North East coast PA UK news in pictures 17 January 2022 Bonhams Danny McIlwraith holds a Nigerian polycrome carved wood mask during a photocall for the sale of the Jim Lennon Collection at Bonhams in Edinburgh PA UK news in pictures 16 January 2022 The moon rises above the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, Hampshire PA UK news in pictures 15 January 2022 Demonstrators outside Downing Street during a Kill The Bill protest against The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in London PA UK news in pictures 14 January 2022 Ecologist Emma Smart (left) and retired GP Dr Diana Warner outside HMP Bronzefield, in Surrey, following their release from the prison where Emma undertook a 26-day hunger strike during her incarceration. Ms Smart was sentenced in November, along with other members of Insulate Britain, to serve four months for breaking a High Court injunction by taking part in a blockade at junction 25 of the M25 motorway during the morning rush hour on 8 October last year PA UK news in pictures 13 January 2022 A TV presenter holds a copy of a newspaper outside 10 Downing Streetafter the Prime Minister apologised for attending a gathering of colleagues in the Number Ten garden in May 2020, while the UK was in strict lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic Getty UK news in pictures 12 January 2022 Fitness guru Derrick Evans after receiving an MBE during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 11 January 2022 A couple walk underneath an umbrella during wet weather on Westminster Bridge in central London PA UK news in pictures 10 January 2022 A jogger passes the Covid Memorial Wall in London AP UK news in pictures 9 January 2021 The sun rises over horses at Seaton Sluice in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 8 January 2022 Riders compete during the Veterans Men's race at the UK Cyclo-Cross National Championships 2022 in Ardingly, south of London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 7 January 2022 A dog looks out of a car window at the wintry conditions in Killeshin, Co. Laois PA UK news in pictures 6 January 2022 People walk through frost and mist alongside a frozen lake during sunrise in Bushy Park, London REUTERS UK news in pictures 5 January 2022 A skier jumps on the slopes at Allenheads in the Pennines to the north of Weardale in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 4 January 2022 Freshly-fallen snow covers houses in Corbridge, near Hexham in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 3 January 2022 Dean Morrison, 13, receives his Covid-19 vaccine from student nurse Anthony McLaughlin during a vaccination clinic at the Glasgow Central Mosque PA UK news in pictures 2 January 2022 Konastantinos Tsimikas of Liverpool with Chelseas Mason Mount during the Premier League match at Stamfrod Bridge Liverpool FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 January 2022 New Years Eve Lasers, drones and fireworks illuminate the sky in front of the Royal Naval College in Greenwich shortly after midnight in London EPA UK news in pictures 31 December 2021 Competitors in fancy dress run across the Pennine tops near Haworth, West Yorkshire, in the annual Auld Lang Syne Fell race which attracts hundreds of runners every year PA UK news in pictures 30 December 2021 Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 29 December 2021 The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket PA UK news in pictures 28 December 2021 Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queens Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London PA UK news in pictures 27 December 2021 A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London Getty UK news in pictures 26 December 2021 Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham PA UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip PA UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London Reuters UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester PA UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge. Getty UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year PA UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton PA UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent PA UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election PA UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire PA UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster Getty Images UK news in pictures 12 December 2021 People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds, PA UK news in pictures 10 December 2021 Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judges decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange PA UK news in pictures 9 December 2021 Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service PA UK news in pictures 8 December 2021 Margaret Keenan and Nurse May Parsons, a year after Margaret was the first person in the UK to receive the Pfizer vaccine PA UK news in pictures 7 December 2021 Snowfall in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK with disruptive winds, heavy rain and snow PA UK news in pictures 6 December 2021 A person tries to avoid sea spray on New Brighton promenade in Wallasey as the UK readies for the arrival of Storm Barra Getty UK news in pictures 5 December 2021 People release balloons during a tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin's former address in Solihull, West Midlands, where he was murdered by his stepmother PA UK news in pictures 4 December 2021 People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square Reuters UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 2 December 2021 Duchess of Cambridge inspects a Faberge egg at the Victoria and Albert Museum Getty UK news in pictures 1 December 2021 Meerkats at London Zoo with an advent calendar PA UK news in pictures 30 November 2021 Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week PA
In her letter, Ms Debbonaire wrote: Renters need urgent clarity on what the ministers plans are going forward and how any legislation will be passed in the time available.
The government has given itself only twelve sitting days before the extension ends on 20 September. The opposition stands ready to work with the government on both the drafting of the bill and its passage through parliament. In order to do this, we must have clarity in the coming days.
Ms Debbonaire called on Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg to take the opportunity on Thursday, in his regular statement to the Commons on upcoming business, to announce a timetable for fast-tracked legislation.
She called on Mr Jenrick to share any data the government has collected on the numbers of household potentially facing homelessness when the ban is lifted.
Commenting on the letter, she said: The government has been warned for months about the looming evictions crisis. People living in rented accommodation should not be paying the price for this governments incompetence.
Unless the government brings forward legislation to protect renters or extends the eviction ban again, hundreds of thousands of tenants are at risk in the lead-up to Christmas.
In addition to legislative changes, Labour has called for changes to Universal Credit and an uplift in housing support to prevent people falling into arrears, and called on the Government to keep their promise that no renter who has lost income due to coronavirus will be forced out of their home.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said: We remain committed to abolishing Section 21 and will bring forward legislation in due course to deliver a better deal for renters and a fairer more effective rental market.
The government has already taken unprecedented action to support renters during the pandemic by banning evictions, preventing people getting into financial hardship and helping businesses to pay salaries.
We are also giving tenants greater protection from eviction over the winter by requiring landlords to provide tenants with six months notice, in all cases bar those raising serious issues such anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse perpetrators, until the end of March.
ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nutriband Inc. (OTCQB: NTRB), a Nevada Corporation, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Pocono Coated Product's Transdermal and Health product manufacturing business effective August 31, 2020.
Pocono Coated Products was established in 2004 with a focus on the manufacturing of custom coated products and providing manufacturing and development services for 3rd party partners. One main area of focus for Pocono is on transdermal and topical product manufacturing,
Based on the Purchase Agreement, the value of the Nutriband common stock and cash used to acquire the business, Pocono's transdermal manufacturing business is valued at $7.5 million.
Following Nutriband's 2018 acquisition of 4P Therapeutics, the acquisition of Pocono's transdermal manufacturing business is a significant step in the development of Nutriband's growth and capabilities. Nutriband plans to consolidate the capabilities of both acquisitions to expand its business, enhance revenue stream opportunities, and advance in-house product development, specifically Nutriband's abuse deterrent technology for opioid-based transdermal medications, AVERSA.
The acquisition also includes the simultaneous acquisition by Pocono of Active Intelligence, LLC a veteran-founded company and the manufacturer of Active Intelligence kinesiology tape, a product that provides muscle support combined with soothing ingredients for aches or muscle pain. The product is designed to mimic the skin's elasticity, so the user still has a full range of motion during its use.
About Nutriband Inc.
The Company is primarily engaged in the development of a portfolio of transdermal pharmaceutical products. Its lead product under development is its abuse deterrent fentanyl transdermal system which the Company is developing to provide clinicians and patients with an abuse deterrent transdermal fentanyl product for use in managing chronic pain requiring opioid therapy. The product is combined with properties designed to help combat the opioid crisis by deterring the abuse and misuse of fentanyl patches.
The Company's website is www.nutriband.com and 4P's website is www.4PTherapeutics.com. Any material contained in or derived from the Company's or 4P's websites or any other website is not part of this press release.
About Pocono Coated Products
Pocono Coated products specializes in the manufacturing of various products such as tapes, topical patches and health products with a specific focus on coated products, materials and technologies.
The Company's website is www.poconoctd.com. Any material contained in or derived from the Company's or 4P's websites or any other website is not part of this press release.
About Our Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "expects," plans and words of similar import, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve both known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in its forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those including the Company's ability to develop its proposed abuse deterrent fentanyl transdermal system and other proposed products, its ability to obtain patent protection for its abuse technology, its ability to obtain the necessary financing to develop products and conduct the necessary clinical testing, its ability obtain Federal Food and Drug Administration approval to market any product it may develop in the United States and to obtain any other regulatory approval necessary to market any product in other countries, including countries in Europe, its ability to market any product it may develop, its ability to create, sustain, manage or forecast its growth; its ability to attract and retain key personnel; changes in the Company's business strategy or development plans; competition; business disruptions; adverse publicity and international, national and local general economic and market conditions and risks generally associated with an undercapitalized development stage company that does not have a product that can be marketed and the risks contained under "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2020 and under "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations" in the Company's Form 10-Q for the three months ended April 30, 2020, and the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date hereof.
For more information, contact:
Victor Roberts
Red Chip Companies
407-571-0909
[email protected]
www.redchip.com
Gerald Weigel
Public Relations Principal
Nutriband Inc.
Nutriband Office: 407-377-6695
Direct: 419-304-6300
[email protected]
SOURCE Nutriband Inc.
Related Links
https://nutriband.com
Joe Biden has launched a new campaign ad that depicts him as tough on rioters and looters after Donald Trump attacked him as weak on crime and disorder.
The $45million ad, which will run for a week on TV and online, recycles parts of the speech Biden gave in Pittsburgh Monday, denouncing violence 'by the left and right'.
The purchase is by far the largest of the Democrat hopeful's campaign so far, and the first time he has campaigned directly on the issue of law and order.
It also comes after Trump's visit to Kenosha on Tuesday, a city ransacked by rioters, as the president attempted to paint a vision of what 'Biden's America' might look like.
Joe Biden has spent $45million on a new campaign ad attacking Trump over lawlessness in America and painting himself as tough on rioters and looters
The ad was revealed just a day after Trump visited Kenosha, a city that was gutted by rioting, in an attempt to paint a vision of 'Biden's America'
Speaking over images of damage in the city, Biden can be heard saying: 'I want to make it absolutely clear: Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting.
'It's lawlessness, plain and simple. And those who do it should be prosecuted.'
Then, over images of violent right-wing rallies including the infamous Unite the Right march in Virginia, Biden adds: 'Fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames.
'He can't stop the violence, because for years he's fomented it. But his failure to call on his own supporters to stop acting as an armed militia in this country shows how weak he is.
'Violence will not bring change, it will only bring destruction. It's wrong in every way.'
He concludes the video by trumpeting his religious credentials - as a lifelong Catholic he quotes Pope John Paul II, saying: 'Be not afraid.'
The ad will air nationally on cable networks and locally in battleground states including Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Biden's new ad, which features images of the damage in Kenosha, is the largest spend of his campaign so far and the first time that he has campaigned directly on law and order
It comes as nationwide polls showed Biden with a lead of up to ten points over Trump, even after the Republican National Convention which typically gives candidates a poll boost
The huge spend - which eclipses the total amount Biden spent on all campaigning during the primaries - comes after a record-breaking round of campaign fundraising.
While the exact figure is not yet known, the New York Times reports that he raised $300million in August, which would be a Democratic Party record.
In response to the original Pittsburgh speech which pinned blame for city violence on Donald Trump, Trump Jr accused 'Biden voters' of causing the damage.
Trump Jr said Biden sat in silence for ten days in 'tactic acceptance' of the unrest, and only decided to denounce it when polling showed it was hurting his campaign.
He also claimed that Obama escaped blame for riots in Ferguson and Orlando during his presidency, and accused Trump's critics of having a 'double-standard'.
Asked to respond to Biden's comments, Trump Jr said: 'No-one said that about Obama when you had the Ferguson riots, or Orlando, or the numerous riots there.
'The reality is that Joe Biden said almost nothing about these things. He sat there.
'There must be tacit [sic] acceptance because these are Biden voters, these are Democrat voters, that are out there doing this.'
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is now the 10th most valuable company after a recent surge in stock by almost 10% saw it reach a peak value of $413 billion. This change in fortune comes asa result ofIntel, one of TSMC's main competitors, announcing that its next-generation chips are delayed until at least 2022.
The setback for the American company could make way for the Taiwanese chipmaker, which bumped huge organisations such as Johnson & Johnson off the top 10 and sat ahead of global brands such as Walmart and Nestle.
In his Daily Commodity Outlook, Desmond Leong from Tickmill said: "Asian stocks surged thanks to a continuing rally in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co."
With TSMC's value soaring, Taiwan's Taiex benchmark index was up to a 30-year high.While this high was short-lived asTSMCclosed trading at 2.47% up, this represented a 39% gain in the month of July to date.It was enough to ruffle feathers throughout the markets and reflected the steps being taken in light of Intel's announcement.
Intel had planned on launching its 7nm-based CPU product at the end of 2021.However, inits recent Q2 announcement, the American company explained thatthe rollout of the 7nm isdelayed by six months. Bob Swan, Intel CEO, said : "We now expect to see initial production shipments of our first Intel-based 7nm product, a client CPU in late 2022 or early 2023."
To add to this, a 'defect mode' has been identified in the 7nm process that has led to yield degradation issues, putting the process back by 12 months. This news saw Intel's shares drop 18% the next day.
This is one of several changes in fortune for Intel that has allowed TSMC to benefit. In June, Apple announced it was switching from Intel to TSMC for its supply of semiconductors for its Mac computers. To add to this, July saw Nvidia beat Intel to become the most valuable America-based semiconductor company. Nvidia is another TSMC client, having placed orders for 7nm and 5nm chips with the Taiwanese company in May.
The successes on the stock market that TSMC has seen is down to how well it is positioned, according to Quincy Liu, chairman of Shin Kong Investment Trust Co. He said: "TSMC's ability to make high-end chips for artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and smart manufacturing applications in the 5G era give it an invaluable role, allowing it to benefit from both the 'de-Americanization' and 'de-Sinicization' trends."
With Intel on the backfoot, it looks like TSMC could make further gains while the wait for the American company to release its 7nm chip.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was the victim of an ``attempted murder by poisoning'' and the aim was to silence him.
Testing by a German military lab determined that Navalny was poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.
After that finding was announced Wednesday, Merkel said there are ``very serious questions that only the Russian government can answer and must answer.''
Navalny is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critics.
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India has for the first time made it to the top 50 countries in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020 released on Wednesday.
India has moved up four positions since 2019 to become the third-most innovative lower-middle-income economy in the world, according to the report. India, at 48, also retains the highest rank in the central and southern Asia region.
India ranks in the top 15 in indicators such as information and communications technology (ICT) services exports, government online services, graduates in science and engineering, and research and development (R&D)-intensive global companies.
The report has attributed the improvement to universities, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology in Bombay and Delhi, and the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, besides its top scientific publications, stating that India is the lower middle-income economy with the highest innovation quality.
Switzerland is the worlds most-innovative economy followed by Sweden, the US, the UK, and the Netherlands, according to GII 2020. The two economies in North America, the US and Canada, rank in the top 20 in this years GII.
The covid-19 crisis hit the innovation landscape at a time when innovation was flourishing, the report pointed out. In 2018, R&D spending grew by 5.2%, significantly faster than global gross domestic product (GDP) growth, after rebounding strongly from the financial crisis of 2008-09. Venture capital and the use of intellectual property (IP) were at an all-time high.
The GII 2020 theme was Who Will Finance Innovation? One of the GII findings was that the money to fund innovative ventures was drying up. VC deals are in a decline across North America, Asia and Europe.
The impact of this shortage in innovation finance will be uneven, with the negative effects felt more heavily by early-stage VCs, by R&D-intensive startups, and in countries that are not typically VC hotspots. The report, which is in its 13th edition this year, is co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The index reviews 131 countries and their economy profiles, including data, strengths and weaknesses.
The report highlighted that the covid-19 crisis has already catalyzed innovation in many new and traditional sectors, such as health, education, tourism and retail.
The geography of innovation continues to shift, the GII 2020 showed. Over the years, India, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam are the economies with the most significant progress in their GII innovation ranking over time. All four are now in the top 50.
The top-performing economies in the GII are still almost exclusively from the high-income group, with China (at 14th spot) remaining the only middle-income economy in the GII top 30.
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Bulgaria Suspends Probe Into Poisoning Linked To Russians
By RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service September 01, 2020
SOFIA -- Prosecutors in Sofia confirm they've "suspended" an investigation into the 2015 poisoning of a Bulgarian arms dealer that had been focusing on three suspected Russian agents.
The suspects include a Russian military intelligence general alleged to have commanded a team accused by Britain in the 2018 Novichok attack against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
The suspension of the Bulgarian investigation comes after German doctors treating Aleksei Navalny in Berlin announced on August 23 that the Russian opposition leader had been poisoned with a substance similar to poison used in attacks against the Skripals and Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev.
Those charged in absentia in the Bulgaria case have been identified as Moscow residents Sergei Fedotov, Sergei Pavlov, and Georgy Gorshkov.
None have been questioned by the Bulgarian investigators.
The Britain-based open-source research group Bellingcat says it has confirmed that Sergei Fedotov is the false identity used by Denis Sergeyev -- a major general from an "elite overseas clandestine-operations" team that is part of Russia's GRU military intelligence unit 29155.
Siika Mileva, a spokeswoman for the Prosecutor-General's Office in Sofia, told RFE/RL on September 1 that the suspension of the case does not mean the investigation has been terminated. She said it is possible for the investigation to be reopened in the future.
Bulgarian authorities have previously said they believe Gebrev, owner of the Bulgarian weapons firm EMCO Ltd.; his son, Hristo Gebrev; and company manager Valentin Takhchiev were targeted in a poisoning attack "by intoxication with an unidentified phosphorus-organic substance."
Gebrev and the two other victims fell ill after being poisoned in Bulgaria in 2015 but survived.
Gebrev told RFE/RL recently that he has a copy of an August 26 order from the Prosecutor-General's Office to suspend the case.
Gebrev quoted excerpts from the order that he said were "not right." But he did not provide RFE/RL with a copy of the entire document.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria- suspends-probe-into-poisoning-linked -to-russians/30814492.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.
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Russia will conduct joint military exercises with Turkey, but has also ask them to do more regarding the security of Idleb writes Alsouria Net.
Russia announced that Russian and Turkish soldiers conducted joint military exercises in the Idleb governorate, for the first time, in order to secure the M4 international road.
On Tuesday, Russian news agency TASS quoted the head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation, Alexander Greenkivich, that units of the Russian military police and the Turkish armed forces conducted their first joint exercises in northwestern Syria in an area near Saraqib in the eastern Idleb countryside.
Greenkivich set several goals for the military exercises, among which were the elimination of what he called the militants, the evacuation of damaged military equipment, and the provision of medical assistance to the wounded in the attacks on Russian patrols in the region.
This comes after the joint Russian-Turkish patrols were subjected to repeated attacks on the international Aleppo-Lattakia M4 highway, specifically targeting Russian vehicles and inflicting material and human losses.
Local networks published pictures of the Russian vehicle that was hit, indicating that the Turkish forces had found missile launch devices while combing the area from where the shell originated.
Russia had criticized Turkeys performance in the ceasefire agreement areas in Idleb. The Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement two weeks ago, in which it called on Ankara to take measures to ensure order where Turkish forces are deployed and to stop criminal activities targeting pro-Russia armed groups.
Ankara accuses armed groups not affiliated with it of being responsible for targeting the joint patrols, with the aim of destabilizing the situation and sabotaging peace efforts in the region.
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.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 2) President Rodrigo Duterte was simply advocating for a free marketplace of ideas when he suggested public discussions on the proposal to establish a revolutionary government, his spokesperson said on Wednesday.
In an interview with CNN Philippines The Source, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque maintained the chief executive is not for and does not need the proposed change in government.
Well I think its because of his dedication to the free marketplace of ideas," Roque said on Duterte's remark. "If there are those who feel theres a need for a revolutionary government, they should be heard in a public debate, in a public discussion of the issue.
In his address to the nation on Monday, the President said he wanted the proposal to be discussed publicly and not in sub rosa or secrecy.
But as far as his personal conviction is concerned, he was clear: he does not need a revolutionary government because its a constitutional government," Roque stressed. "He will finish his term and go home to Davao.
The controversial movement surfaced in August, with the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee launching an event to express support for a Duterte-led revolutionary government. The group argued this will help fast-track the establishment of federalism before Dutertes term ends in 2022.
However, officials and netizens have slammed the political stunt, saying it is ill-timed especially with the country battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roque himself called the proposal strange and incomprehensible and echoed beliefs that it is unconstitutional.
In fairness, I dont know what they want." Roque said. "They claim to be supporters of the President, so why would they want to unseat a constitutional president? So I find it strange, the whole exercise to me is incomprehensible.
So far, there are no moves to tackle constitutional amendments in Congress after lawmakers stressed the need for the government to focus on the health crisis.
The House of Representatives, for its part, said it wont deliberate on any charter amendments for the rest of the year to concentrate on the pandemic battle and budget talks.
Filmmaker and journalist Indrajit Lankesh on Tuesday claimed that at least 15 people in the Kannada film industry were involved in drug trafficking.
He made the claim a day after deposing before the police to share the information about the alleged drug racket operating in the film industry.
"I have given (names of) around 15 people whom I know are into the drug business. I shared those names with the police," Lankesh told PTI.
Lankesh was questioned for nearly five hours by the Central Crime Branch on Monday for his statement that there were many people in the film industry who were into the drug business either as consumers or sellers.
Also read: Karnataka has declared war against drugs: Basavaraj Bommai
The filmmaker made the statement in the wake of the Narcotics Control Bureau busting a drug trafficking racket here and said some "prominent musicians and actors" in Karnataka were under its scanner.
The filmmaker said he wanted to expose the drug use in the industry.
"There are celebrities when they start smoking and start doing cocaine, they are the brand ambassadors of youth today. These people think it is cool..," he added.
Also read: It's true some actors consume drugs: Kannada filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh
Lankesh said he suspected that some of the parties organised in the 'Sandalwood' were hosted by drug mafias within the industry.
Lankesh did not rule out the possibility of the Mumbai underworld behind the supply of drugs to a section of people in the Kannada film industry.
Meanwhile, the police said they were probing the matter.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Eurostat is set to release the euro area producer prices data for July at 5.00 am ET Tuesday. Economists have forecast a 3.4 percent annual decline and a 0.5 percent monthly gain. Ahead of the data, the euro dropped against its major rivals. The euro was worth 1.1853 against the greenback, 125.89 against the yen, 1.0821 against the franc and 0.8885 against the pound as of 4:55 am ET. 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.
Three men were arrested and two juveniles apprehended for allegedly car jacking and robbing a cab driver to fund their trip to Haryana's Murthal to have its famous 'parathas' (flat bread) for dinner, police said on Wednesday.
But their trip was cut short as a quarrel broke out between them on whether to take a trip to Murthal or Shimla. Finally the five of them ended up having dinner in their car after picking up food from an eatery in west Delhi's Paschim Vihar, police said.
The three men have been identified as Pankaj (19), Sagar (20) and Abhijeet (19), all residents of Nangloi in outer Delhi, from where they were arrested, police said, adding that Sagar was previously involved in two others cases. After having their dinner, they parked the vehicle at a secluded spot in Nihal Vihar area, a police officer said.
On August 30, the accused booked the cab through an app installed in a phone that they had earlier stolen. The accused boarded the cab after it arrived at its pick up destination on Najafgarh road in Nangloi. However, on reaching Rajdhani Park, the five accused started beating the driver and overpowered him. They took away his two mobile phones as well as his wallet, threw him out of the car and drove off, according to the police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) A Koan said a case of robbery was registered at Nangloi police station and an investigation was taken up. On the basis of intelligence, Sagar and Pankaj were arrested. Both accused confessed to their crime and disclosed the names of the other three accused. Subsequently, Abhijeet was also arrested and the two juveniles apprehended, police said.
The police claimed to have recovered the robbed vehicle from a secluded spot in Nihal Vihar area. Other stolen articles have also been recovered, they claimed.
In the Centre-states tug-of-war over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation issue, states aren't willing to accept either of the two options offered by the Centre.
"Senior state government officials had a meeting with finance ministry officials. We were explained the two options. But the issue is the Centre is only explaining their position and not listening to why neither is feasible to us. If they want us to borrow, then we need FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) limits to be adequately raised," a senior state government official told Moneycontrol.
Another senior state government official said Centre is unwilling to consider the option of Centre borrowing the whole amount. "How can states borrow without their FRBM limits being raised? And it can't be raised as a token percentage, we need the limit to be sufficiently raised. Which the Centre will not pay heed to," the official said.
On September 1, senior officials of the central government met finance secretaries of the states to clarify the two borrowing options given to states to make up for the GST shortfall.
The finance ministry conveyed to the states that funds borrowed would be credited to states and not to the compensation kitty. Under the first option, repayment will be done through the compensation kitty. And in case the states agree to the second option, the principal would be repaid from the cess kitty but interest has to be borne by the states.
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
At the 41st GST Council meeting on August 27, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave states two options under which they could borrow from the market to make up for the estimated deficit of Rs 2.35 lakh crore in FY21, created due to the economic losses caused by COVID-19.
States could borrow up to Rs 97,000 crore, which is a shortfall arising out of GST implementation or the entire Rs 2.35 lakh crore, which accounts for the Covid-19 situation.
In case the first option is chosen, states would have to borrow Rs 97,000 crore through issue of debt under a Special Window coordinated by the Ministry of Finance. In case of the second option, the entire shortfall of Rs 2.35 lakh crore may be borrowed by states through the issue of market debt.
"The spirit of GST is cooperative federalism. The centre can't force us to borrow when it is legally bound to compensate us. Act of God or not," one of the sources quoted said.
When GST was implemented in 2017, the Centre had promised to compensate states for any revenue loss for five years from a pool created by levying cess over and above the GST on luxury and sin goods. This pool generated a surplus in the first two years and had a deficit in FY20 as well as in FY21.
By Steven Ralston, CFA
OTC:DYLLF | ASX:DYL.AX
READ THE FULL DYLLF RESEARCH REPORT
Deep Yellow Ltd. (OTC:DYLLF) (ASX:DYL.AX) is being developed to become a tier-one uranium producer of uranium ahead of the anticipated up-cycle. Ongoing annual supply deficits and the rationalization of capacity by the major producers, along with production cutbacks due to the pandemic, are hastening the inflection point in uraniums commodity cycle. Management is developing its Namibian uranium projects, one of which (the Reptile Project) has advanced to the PFS stage. Management is also seeking M&A opportunities to increase the companys reserves and to broaden Deep Yellows geographic diversification in terms of mining jurisdictions. Management is focused on becoming a tier-one uranium producer by becoming a secure and reliable supplier of uranium.
The uranium industry is setting up for an anticipated accelerated rise in uranium prices.
Supply/demand imbalances in the past have created three distinct commodity cycles in the uranium industry. Each cycle has begun with an increase in the price(s) of uranium and of uranium equities (both major established producers and junior mining companies), which has culminated in a rapid, exponential 1-2 year rally in uranium stocks.
Over the last five years (2015-2019), demand has been growing steadily. Over the next five years, global nuclear reactor uranium requirements are expected to grow in the 0.5%-to-2.5% range.
The majority of uranium is supplied to nuclear power plants through long-term contracts which are priced at a premium to spot market. Though currently these long-term contracts allow certain uranium producers to continue selling some of their uranium production profitably, about half of the uranium producers have operating costs that are above the current spot price.
Prior to the pandemic-related shut downs, over 53 million lbs. U 3 0 8 of capacity have been mothballed since 2013 through the shutdowns of unprofitable mines or by the intentional capacity rationalization by major producers (Kazatomprom and Cameco).
Story continues
The uranium industry is composed of many companies, from major established producers to more speculative junior exploration companies. Though larger producers tend to have greater resources to navigate periods of depressed market conditions, junior companies provide greater leverage to the rise in uranium prices.
Almost all uranium stocks should benefit from the anticipated growth of much needed primary supply driven by the expected upcoming fundamental supply deficit; however, certain groups of uranium stocks benefit differently from each stage of the up-cycle. Historically (observing the 2001-2007 up-cycle), current producers reacted well to the initial rise in prices (since their current production could immediately benefit from the increase in the price of uranium), and they significantly outperformed the price of the commodity, itself. However, extreme out-sized returns were enjoyed by junior mining companies that traded below $0.25 per share at the bottom.
Then, there was a mid-phase when the rate of increase of the spot price of uranium moderated to a single-digit rate. In this period, junior mining companies corrected about 50%, while producers corrected about half that amount (around 25%). During the latter phase, when the uranium spot price surged irrationally, junior mining companies that have become producers (and the commodity) exhibited solid triple-digit returns from the consolidation low that had occurred in the mid-phase. Surprisingly, in this late phase, out-sized returns were achieved by junior mining companies which announced, at that instant, they were entering the uranium space; on the other hand, these same junior companies later experienced greater that 95% declines as the cycle eventually unwound.
Deep Yellow Ltd. is unique among junior mining companies and is being positioned to provide a leveraged opportunity to participate in all phases of the expected upswing in uranium prices under a Dual Pillar strategy. The companys CEO, John Borshoff, achieved the same accomplishment as Founder and CEO of Paladin Energy by acquiring, developing and advancing both the Langer Heinrich mine into production within four years and, three years later, the Kayelekera mine in Malawi during the last uranium up cycle. Furthermore, Deep Yellows current flagship project, the Reptile Project, is in the exact same jurisdiction and shares the same palaeochannel network as Langer Heinrich mine. To be sure, Deep Yellow has uranium assets and management experience to walk the same path again during the next up cycle.
In October 2016, John Borshoff was appointed CEO and Managing Director of Deep Yellow, and the companys focus shifted from not only expanding the resource base through exploration, but also pursuing multiple projects in order to create a multi-jurisdictional uranium platform.
Deep Yellow was formed in 2005 with Paladin Energy later becoming a major shareholder from 2005 to 2017. Initially, the company focused on several Australian projects, but in October 2006, Deep Yellow merged with Raptor Partners Limited, a BVI registered company, in order to secure prospective uranium prospects in Namibia (EPL 3496, EPL 3497 and EPL 3498 and one other EPL application at the time, which was later disposed).
The Reptile Project consists of EPL 3496 and EPL 3497, which encompass 959.4 square kilometers. The advanced project contains both palaeochannel-calcrete and basement/alaskite uranium deposits with JORC-compliant resource estimates. Combined, these deposits represent approximately 71.0 million lbs. U 3 0 8 of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources and 88.3 million lbs. U 3 0 8 of Inferred Mineral Resources. A Scoping Study (SS) has been completed on the Tumas deposits (which represent 37.2 million lbs. U 3 0 8 of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources), and a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) was commissioned in January 2020. Management expects the PFS to be completed in December 2020.
Also within six months of John Borshoff being appointed CEO, in late-March 2017, Deep Yellow entered into a joint venture agreement with JOGMEC (Japan Oil, Gas and Metal National Corporation) regarding the NOVA Joint Venture (or NOVA JV). JOGMEC could earn a 39.5% interest in the project for AUD$4.5 million in exploration and development expenditures over a period of four years. The earn-in process has been completed with the latest of many exploration campaigns funded by JOGMEC. The NOVA JV consists of EPL 3669 and EPL 3670, which encompass 556.8 square kilometers. Deep Yellow continues to be the manager of the NOVA JV holding 65% interest in the project, which will be reduced to 39.5% on confirmation of the JOGMEC earn-in.
Namibia
Namibia is a mining-friendly jurisdiction and has become the worlds fourth largest producer of uranium. The government has effectively developed, supported and regulated the uranium mining industry. Namibia is a proven mining jurisdiction with well-developed infrastructure, including highways, formed roads, power grid and a deep water port (Walvis Bay).
The cost of exploration in Namibia is low. The shallow depth of Namibias palaeochannel calcrete-hosted uranium deposits is conducive to low-cost RC drilling. Metallurgical test work was anticipated to require diamond core sample material; however, comparative test work between RC and diamond drilling samples showed future work could be carried out using RC samples only, a significant cost savings. In addition, the location is primarily desert terrain, allowing for drilling large areas easily and rapidly.
Corporate Strategy
Confident in the impending up-cycle in uranium, management embarked on a Dual Pillar growth strategy consisting of both organic and inorganic growth initiatives. Organically, management is focused on exploring and developing Deep Yellows existing portfolio of Namibian projects (Reptile, Nova JV and Yellow Dune) from exploration to production. The companys primary focus in on advancing the Reptile Project through continued exploration with the resource having been increased and/or upgraded three times within the last few years. The latest drilling program at the Nova JV (Barking Gecko on EPL 3669) intersected very promising uranium mineralization in a large (4km long and 1km wide) anomalous zone, which wraps around a prominent domal feature. The best intersection was a 24-meter zone averaged 297ppm eU 3 0 8 and a maximum grade of 736ppm was obtained over 1 meter.
The second pillar of managements growth plan is to diversify the companys uranium portfolio by pursuing acquisitions/mergers in order to create a multi-jurisdictional portfolio of low-cost uranium projects. When utilities look to enter into an off-take primary supply contract with a producer, one of the many aspects considered is to ensure a secure and reliable supply of uranium is the ability to fulfill the contract. In the eyes of utility buyers, being a multi-jurisdictional uranium producer mitigates operational, geographic and political risks.
Through organic and inorganic growth initiatives, managements goal is to build a multi-project, low cost, Tier 1 uranium producer with the capacity to deliver 5-10 million lbs. of uranium annually.
Management
Utility buyers (and investors) look for assurance that management can effectively execute its strategy. Deep Yellow has a leadership team with a proven track record that has delivered in the past. Most significantly, under CEO John Borshoff, Paladin Energy acquired the Langer Heinrich Project from Aztec Resources in 2002 and within four years, commenced uranium mining operations in 2006. Paladin also acquired Kayelekera in Malawi (initially through a joint venture and later purchasing the entire project outright) and brought this mine into production in 2010. Moreover, most of Deep Yellows management team worked together at Paladin. Uranium mining projects face a multifaceted array of economic, environmental, regulatory, technical and geopolitical issues. In order to be successful, the management team of a junior uranium mining company needs the technical, regulatory, financing and geopolitical experience to navigate the necessary steps of exploration, environmental studies, metallurgical process design, mining lease application, permitting, mine construction and final fine-tuning of the process.
Reptile Project
Located in the Erongo Region of western of Namibia, Deep Yellows Reptile Project is held by Deep Yellows wholly owned subsidiary Reptile Uranium Namibia (Pty) Ltd (RUN). The Reptile Project consists of two EPLs (3496 and 3497), which encompass approximately 959.4 square kilometers.
In a little over three years, management has delivered a remarkable increase in the projects estimated resources through aggressive drilling campaigns targeting six palaeochannel-calcrete deposit areas: Tumas 1, Tumas 1 East, Tumas 2, Tumas 3, Tubas and Tubas Red Sands, of which Tumas 3 is currently the most significant. The most recent total Measured and Indicated Resources at the Tumas 1, 2 and 3 deposits are 37.2 million lbs. at 324ppm (0.0324%) eU 3 0 8 . These three deposits were the subjects of the Scoping Study completed in December 2019 and are the topic of the ongoing Pre-Feasibility Study, which is expected to be completed by December 2020.
In addition, at a later date, the company intends to pursue a second type of uranium mineralization at the Reptile Project described as basement/alaskite. Usually referred to as uraniferous leucogranites, alaskite (a local term) dyke-like formations were formed by molten granite intruding into sedimentary rock. It is postulated elevated uranium grades occur when high-grade metamorphism causes a partial melting of basement rocks, which enhances the transportation and enrichment of uranium ore, such as at Rossing South.
Alaskite Alley, a north-south trending zone of occurrences of uraniferous leucogranite, currently supports two mines (Rossing and Husab), where the primary mineralization of the ore bodies is usually found in sheets of uranium-rich, granite-hosted alaskite (pegmatitic alkali-leucogranite). Rossing and Husab are almost due north of the Reptile Project, and Alaskite Alley appears to cut through the western part of Deep Yellows EPL 3496 tenement, in which Deep Yellow has discovered three small uranium deposits (Ongolo, MS7 and INCA). This prospective area has been relatively unexplored and currently is not a priority undertaking; however, it does represent a potentially substantial opportunity to discover additional uranium resources within EPL3496.
Valuation
Broadly speaking, the public uranium companies can be grouped into three segments: producers, development companies and exploration companies. Producers are actively mining and generating revenues. Exploration companies are prospecting and/or drilling to establish mineral resources. In between these two segments are the development companies that already have established resources and are advancing through the process to bring a mine in operation, generally from the point of initiating a Pre-Feasibility Study to the actual construction of a mine. The comparable companies to Deep Yellow fall into this category.
Further, the comparable companies have been narrowed through quantitative factors, particularly those with a market capitalization over $30 million and trading above $0.10 per share. This process captures a range of well-funded junior uranium development companies. Currently, the P/B valuation range of these comparable companies is between 0.61 and 6.05. With the expectation that DYLLF will attain a second quartile P/B ratio of 4.2, our comparable analysis valuation price target is US$0.68.
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The one problem with Philip Roth's tour de force 2004 novel, "The Plot Against America," is that it's too feel-good.
I know this is a strange accusation to make about an alternative history about a fascist United States. In Roth's version of the 1940 presidential election, Americans choose the Nazi-sympathizing aviator Charles Lindbergh, who goes on to institute insidious and then overt programs of authoritarianism and anti-Semitism. The nation is riven and people are killed.
But in the end, everything is set right. In 1942, Lindbergh goes missing while flying his airplane, a special election is called, and Franklin D. Roosevelt is re-elected against Lindbergh's vice president, Burton K. Wheeler. The United States enters the war against the Axis, and history continues, more or less, on the track that we know.
It's a sober, unsettling story, but it ends on a note of optimism in America's ability to right itself too easily, I would argue, given everything we saw before it.
Earlier this year, HBO aired "Plot" as a six-part series, adapted by David Simon, who is not known as one of TV's great optimists. His best-known series, "The Wire," was a five-season lament for American cities. His website is titled "The Audacity of Despair."
Simon's confident, chilling adaptation stuck largely to Roth's story, with few changes. The biggest was to that ending, which he reimagined in ways that get more unsettling and relevant as our own election season goes on.
The final sequence begins on Election Day, 1942, which, because history has a sense of humor, was Nov. 3, just like this year's. On the soundtrack, Frank Sinatra croons "The House I Live In (That's America to Me)." Citizens line up in the Weequahic High School gym in Newark. They go into the booths and cast their ballots. The citizenry is turning out. America is showing its best side.
As Old Blue Eyes keeps singing ("A certain word / Democracy"), a few discordant notes begin to sound. A man with an FDR pin is told he is "not on the list" at the precinct where he has voted for 20 years and is hustled out by police. More officers wheel away a voting machine, telling puzzled onlookers, "It's broken." In a country field, men open a car trunk, unload ballot boxes marked with the number of an election district in which we just saw lines of Black voters and burn the contents.
We cut to that evening, in the living room of the Levins, the Jewish family the story was told through. A host on the radio reports on the first returns from precincts on the East Coast. Herman Levin (Morgan Spector) a mainstream FDR supporter who believes the system is ultimately good and self-correcting leans in toward the set. "We are seeing some conflicting results early on," the announcer says.
Then the screen cuts to black. It's like another notorious HBO ending, except we're not wondering if Tony Soprano is dead, but if democracy is.
"Plot" premiered in March, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was exploding in America. Maybe as a result, for all its focus on the dangers of demagogy and state-sanctioned racism, it got less attention than other political parables like "The Handmaid's Tale" have in the Trump years. It was as if viewers decided: Yes, yes, we've heard about all that, but we've got other problems now, like finding masks and toilet paper.
But I have thought about those closing five minutes over and over since they aired. I have especially thought about them lately, amid headlines about whether the president would discredit or reject the election results; whether the pandemic might be leveraged to suppress turnout; whether the gutting of the U.S. Postal Service would cripple mail-in voting and whether that was exactly the point.
Simon's klaxon doesn't pierce through just because of an endangered election. It also sounds a larger systemic critique that marks all of his work. The conclusion of his "Plot" is not, as in Roth's telling, that the biggest bad apple has been eliminated and the rest of a small bad bunch can be dealt with.
It's a story in which America comes to realize that democracy is merely a choice, not an inevitability. That choice, Simon argues, must always be made and remade, and there is no reason to assume it will always come out the same way.
This global focus the belief that corrupt systems are more dangerous and influential than wicked or heroic individuals is a theme of Simon's work, from "The Wire" to "Show Me a Hero." (The latter miniseries, also worth a second look today, was about a subsidized housing program in 1980s Yonkers and the racist backlash it aroused very much the kind of suburban freak-out that the current president, a real estate developer in the 1980s, has been trying to goad now.)
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This outlook has particularly informed Simon's writing about the police. And one thing that becomes clear, rewatching "Plot" amid protests over police violence, is that it is also very much a story about the power of the police as the arm of the state, and how easily that power can turn to menace.
You see this in the third episode, when the Levin family takes a long-planned trip to Washington, D.C. The Levins get lost driving to their hotel, and they're guided there by a motorcycle officer, though Herman's wife, Bess (Zoe Kazan), doesn't trust him. But they have little choice. Outsiders in a country that they once believed welcomed them, they must drive on in the dark, relying on an officer who can choose to bring them to safety or not.
Later, when they're evicted from their hotel, plainly because they're Jewish, it's the police who show up to toss them out as Herman rails at the injustice and Bess urges him to keep quiet. "You ought to listen to your wife, Levin," an officer tells him.
One of the powers of police and of government as a whole, the episode suggests, is the discretion to offer and withhold protection.
As protests rise and the country spins apart, the police take sides more blatantly and politically, letting right-wing mobs run rampant, cracking down on protests and looking the other way while brownshirts attack demonstrators (who are later blamed in media reports for the violence).
The police provide the muscle of the Lindbergh state, not just through their own force but also by deciding who is allowed to wield it who is looked on as a threat for gathering in the streets and who is welcomed for showing up with a weapon. (After mobs of his supporters carry out violence, the president addresses the nation but pointedly refuses to condemn them.)
The Lindberghist police, the self-deputized brutes in the streets and their allied politicians have enjoyed the spoils. Should it be a surprise that, as the election approaches, they take action?
They have an ally in the White House who applauds them and maximizes their power. They've seen that the rules of democracy and due process are crepe paper. Why assume they'll just forfeit their authority because of norms? Why not make one last grab for all the marbles?
The arguments on the opposite side ring familiar too, especially between solid-citizen Herman and his hothead nephew Alvin (Anthony Boyle), who enlists in the Canadian army to kill Nazis, is involved in an espionage operation that may or may not have led to Lindbergh's disappearance and finally ends up working with gangsters.
Herman's acts of resistance were limited to attending rallies and listening to the anti-Lindbergh broadcaster Walter Winchell the 1940s equivalent of immersing in Twitter and MSNBC. To him, Alvin is a thug and a disgrace. To Alvin, Herman is useless. "All you people ever do is talk," Alvin says. He spits, they fight and it all ends in a lot of broken furniture and no resolution.
Even as Canada is keeping its borders closed for international travelers till the end of September, the air bubble with India will be enhanced as it will now continue into the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the number of evacuation flights operated for Indian nationals stranded in Canada due to the Covid-19 pandemic, under the Vande Bharat Mission, will cross 100 in September.
The air bubble was introduced in mid-August with the two national carriers, Air India and Air Canada, flying back and forth between the two countries. Under Phase 6 of the Vande Bharat Mission, 56 more flights will be operated till October 24 between Toronto and Vancouver and destinations in India. With 73 flights already taking passengers back to India since May 20, when they first left Vancouver, the total will cross 100 by the end of the month. More than 13,000 Indian citizens, including international students, have been repatriated so far, according to Indias high commissioner in Ottawa Ajay Bisaria.
Canada is keeping restrictions in place with regard to international travellers, only permitting citizens and permanent residents into the country, with some exemptions like for immediate family members of those allowed into the country. Minister of public safety and emergency preparedness Bill Blair announced these will remain till the end of September to limit the introduction and spread of Covid-19 in our communities. These measures were introduced in March when the initial coronavirus cases were reported in the country.
Also Read: 153 stranded Indians depart from Thailand for New Delhi in Air India flight
Those entering Canada will have to undergo a mandatory quarantine of 14 days and no exemptions are being made for those who have recovered from Covid-19 or have tested negative for it. The guidelines in this regard explained that this was being done because its not yet certain how long the virus is contagious and a negative test doesnt prove that a traveller is Covid-19 free.
Also Read: Canada abandons clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine after China blocks shipment
The Air India flights to India will head to New Delhi and connect multiple destinations including Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Cochin, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Amritsar.
Belarus Opposition Leader Rejects Western Help
By Henry Ridgwell September 01, 2020
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has told VOA the country's political crisis is "absolutely an internal affair" as she appeared to reject any idea of imminent Western intervention or help.
Speaking Monday from Vilnius, Lithuania, Tsikhanouskaya said, "The Belarusian people have a responsibility for what's going on. We think that we have to solve this problem by ourselves."
"But if it happens that we will need one day the help of other countries, help in organizing this, maybe mediation or negotiation, of course any country that would like to help us with this question is invited," she added.
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Belarusian cities in recent weeks to demand the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko, who refuses to step down. Lukashenko claimed victory in elections August 9. Opposition parties, along with the United States and the European Union, say the poll was heavily rigged.
More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported. At least four people were reported to have died during the demonstrations.
Now Tsikhanouskaya is trying to coordinate a roadmap for Belarus' future from her new base in Vilnius.
"First of all, we'll start negotiations, when [authorities] release all political prisoners, who are innocent and still in Belarusian jails," she told VOA. "We are fighting for free, fair and transparent elections, which means that every citizen of Belarus will be able to participate in those elections. A more pertinent question would be whether Mr. Lukashenko has the moral right to participate in the new elections after all those crimes he committed."
Tsikhanouskaya was briefly detained and fled to neighboring Lithuania following the election, fearing for her and her family's safety. She refused to elaborate further on why she left Belarus.
"I had big reasons to make this step. I can't talk about this now. Maybe some [time] in the future I will talk all about my story, but now I can't comment on it."
Tsikhanouskaya ran for the presidency after her husband, Sergei Tsikhanousky, a prominent YouTube blogger, was arrested in May and barred from taking part in the election. Several other opposition figures also were arrested, and their wives joined the political opposition movement.
Tsikhanouskaya praised the hundreds of women who have taken part in the protests in recent days, many wearing white and red, the traditional colors that have become emblematic of the political opposition to Lukashenko's rule.
"It's difficult for me, because I want to be with them," Tsikhanouskaya said. "And you know why? Because I do not fully feel that atmosphere. Observing it from here, it looks scary to me and they seem afraid, but people who are there tell me that they are inspired."
"We don't want our women to be snatched off the streets. I hope that [the riot police] are not going to lower themselves to that level. But we are such a force. We, the women of Belarus, are such a force. I am worried about them, but they are so strong," she added.
The Kremlin has invited President Lukashenko to Moscow in coming days. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week he has a police reserve force ready to intervene in Belarus.
"Mr. Putin has to understand that if he does something against us Belarusians, it will seriously damage the relationship between the Russian and Belarusian people," Tsikhanouskaya said. "And because we are allied nations, we are considered almost brothers, it is not in the interest of either Belarus or Russia."
Many outside observers have compared the crisis in Belarus to the revolution in Ukraine in 2014, when Russia invaded the country following the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych. That revolution was marked by the presence of European Union flags among the anti-government protesters, and opposition calls for U.S. and other Western help.
Tsikhanouskaya's explicit rejection of outside support for Belarus' opposition stands in contrast to events in Ukraine. Her role in any future government, and the fate of the growing protest movement, remain highly uncertain.
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Around 870 doctors in Covid first-line treatment centres all over the state of Kerala have resigned due to a pay cut, according to a TOI report.
They were all among the 1080 MBBS graduates from government medical colleges in 2020 and were on Covid duty temporarily. They were promised 42,000 per month, but got only Rs 27,000.
PTI (Representational)
From the amount, Rs 8,400 was deducted in the name of the governments salary challenge, apart from TDS and professional tax. Now, we are getting only Rs 27,000, said Dr Ousam Hussain KP.
He is the state president of Kerala junior doctors association 2020-21.
PTI (Representational)
The association has written to the chief minister and health minister for assistance.
This affects our healthcare system badly. At a time when the country is trying to fight off the pandemic, we need every doctor possible and with so many resigning, it is a big blow to the effort. One could blame them for not doing their duty, but doctors are human too, and need money to survive.
PTI (Representational)
They too have families and one understands their frustration. One hopes a compromise is reached and a middle ground can be worked on,
McDonald's will be chased for millions of dollars after a franchisee was found to be denying workers toilet and drink breaks.
A former worker at the fast food giant, Chiara Staines, won a landmark case in the Federal Court against Brisbane franchisee Tantex Holdings on Monday.
Ms Staines was denied ten-minute paid breaks on all but three occasions while working at a McDonald's restaurant in Brisbane between May 8, 2017 and June 15, 2019.
Tantext Holdings was ordered to pay $1,000 in compensation to the former worker and all Australian McDonald's employees will now be legally entitled to paid water and toilet breaks.
The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union are now working to compensate hundreds of thousands of other workers who claim they weren't allowed breaks.
Chiara Staines (pictured) said it is 'just amazing' that her successful case against Tantex Holdings resulted in all workers across the country being entitled to drink and toilet breaks
A Queensland McDonald's franchisee has been ordered to pay a worker $1000 in compensation after a worker was routinely denied drinks and toilet breaks (stock image)
'At the moment we are concerned with the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of workers who may be interested in compensation,' Union secretary Josh Cullinan said.
'I am yet to meet the mystical worker that gets all their ten-minute paid breaks and I have spoken to thousands of McDonald's workers.
'I think these workers are owed hundreds of millions of dollars, that's beyond doubt.'
In making his decision in the Federal Court on Monday, Justice John Logan said 'The right to access the toilet or a drink of water was, in my view, a workplace right'.
Justice Logan also said Tantex general manager Chris Crenicean had threatened McDonald's employees who lobbied for their entitled breaks.
'It was unconscionable absolutely to deny workers an ability to use the toilet when required or to drink water as needed,' he said.
'That is so, irrespective of whether they are children, although it is hardly edifying that the threat of such denial was made to a group which, on the evidence, necessarily must have included children.'
Mr Cullinan said on top of the $1,000 in compensation, Ms Staines had been paid $800 by McDonald's for the time she was not paid.
The Queen Street Mall restaurant in Brisbane (pictured) where Ms Staines worked is owned by franchisee Tantex Holdings, which runs five more locations in Brisbane
Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Staines said it was 'just amazing' that her case would benefit other fast food workers across the country.
'It's what we were hoping for, it's incredibly common for McDonald's and other fast food workers to not allow for breaks. So hopefully this will put an end to that,' she said.
Ms Staines said she was 'glad' her legal battle, which began almost two years ago, had finally come to an end.
'It was such a relief, it really was. This whole thing has been going on since the end of 2018 and the beginning of court proceedings were early this year,' she said.
Ms Staines said she was 'glad' her legal battle, which began almost two years ago, had finally come to an end. She has since quit her job at McDonald's and is now studying child care
Reflecting on her time at McDonald's, the former worker said her bosses would often deny going to the toilet or make her wait.
'If you were desperate, you could go (to the toilet) but usually they would make you wait until there were fewer customers,' she said.
She has since quit her job at McDonald's and is now studying child care.
Mr Cullinan said 'McDonald's workers have long been exploited'.
'When the major McDonald's franchisee, Tantex, stole rest breaks from workers, they broke the law.'
'Our actions finally returned their penalty rates in February but the theft of rest breaks are common across the McDonald's network. Until now, those employers have not been held to account.
'This is the first time that a Union, and workers, have successfully sued McDonald's in Australia but it will not be the last.'
Retail and Fast Food Workers Union secretary Josh Cullinan (pictured) said 'McDonald's workers have long been exploited' and the union would work to chase the millions of dollars
With the backing of the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union, Ms Staines brought a case against the franchisee Tantex Holdings earlier this year.
McDonald's staff have been entitled to paid ten-minute drink breaks under McDonald's Australia Enterprise Agreement 2013, which was approved by the Fair Work Commission on July 24, 2013.
According to the enterprise agreement, all employees are entitled to a 10-minute drink break when they work a shift between four to nine hours.
If they work more than nine hours, staff are entitled to two 10-minute breaks.
This is in addition to a meal break if working longer than five hours.
Tantex's general manager Christopher Crenicean responded to a union campaign with a lengthy rant (pictured) in Facebook group for their fast food employees in January
Earlier this year, RAFFWU launched a campaign against Tantex, accusing the company of breaking the enterprise agreement by denying toilet breaks.
Tantex's general manager Christopher Crenicean responded with a lengthy rant in Facebook group for their fast food employees to which Justice Logan deemed threatening.
'On your shift, this ten-minute break would be the only time you would ever be permitted to have a drink or go to the toilet. So I hope to God you don't get thirsty on your next shift because we just wouldn't be able to allow a drink. Fair is fair right?' Mr Crenicean wrote in January.
'But as we go above and beyond for our people and we like to treat you guys much better than this, we allow ALL our employees regardless of shift length to have a drink of water as you require and go to the bathroom as you require.'
'Are we really such bad guys? It actually works better in our favour to follow this legislation and keep you all working non-stop,' he said to finish off the message.
HONG KONG, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC) today announced the appointment of Kelvin Yip to the role of General Manager of Carrier Business, effective immediately. Kelvin will guide HGC towards close cooperation among local mobile operators and fixed-line network operators, strengthening the group's leading position in the local fixed-line network infrastructure sector.
In overseeing local network infrastructure development, Kelvin will be actively pursuing closer cooperation with local mobile network operators. With HGC's installed fixed-line infrastructure to provide high speed, reliable and low latency fixed-line network, the benefits of 5G mobile networks services can be fully realised, supporting the needs of innovative technology and applications.
Kelvin joined HGC as Deputy General Manager of Carrier Business in 2018, bringing with him over 30 years' experience in the mobile network industry. Kelvin has held key engineering positions at a number of leading mobile network operators and telecom equipment manufacturers, handling projects involving radio frequency network planning, radio cell site construction, base station installation, telecom equipment maintenance and operations. As an active player gone through the evolution of mobile network technology from the first generation 1G to the latest 5G, his understanding and foresight when it comes to the local mobile network and operator market are unparalleled.
Having made an invaluable contribution to HGC over the years, the former General Manager of Carrier business, Wong Wing Kwong, will be taking on an expanded role, responsible for growing overseas business. He will be working closely with the International Business team to explore potential business opportunities in countries and regions across the globe. This aim is to expand HGC's global network footprint and broaden the scope of business, cementing the company's position as the major international fixed-line network service operator in Asia and around the world.
Andrew Kwok, Chief Executive Officer of HGC said, "Both Wong Wing Kwong and Kelvin have played leading roles in major local 5G projects, allowing us to gain a leading addressable market share in the mobile network operator sector. On behalf of the entire HGC team, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to them. Leveraging their in-depth experience and professional networks in the telecom industry, our group will be able to create more opportunities to cooperate with operators and carve synergetic partnerships. Their contribution, combined with HGC's comprehensive network, and our ICT total solution supported by subsidiary Macroview Telecom, ensures we are well placed to seize the opportunities presented by the 5G and digital era."
Kelvin Yip, General Manager of Carrier Business, HGC expanded, "Fixed-line operators play a significant role in the mobile network market. We will continue to cooperate with local mobile network operators, with the aim of providing high-quality and reliable fixed-line services in order to build a stable and high-density 5G network. We are laying the foundations for long-term development in the region, and transforming Hong Kong into a world-class smart city."
About HGC Global Communications Limited
HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC) is a leading Hong Kong and international fixed-line operator. The company owns an extensive network and infrastructure in Hong Kong and overseas and provides various kinds of services. HGC has 23 overseas offices, with business over 5 continents. It provides telecom infrastructure service to other operators and serves as a service provider to corporate and households. The company provides full-fledged telecom, data centre services, ICT solutions and broadband services for local, overseas, corporate and mass markets. HGC owns and operates an extensive fibre-optic network, five cross-border telecom routes integrated into tier-one telecom operators in mainland China and connects with hundreds of world-class international telecom operators. HGC is one of Hong Kong's largest Wi-Fi service providers, running over 29,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in Hong Kong. The company is committed to further investing and enriching its current infrastructure and, in parallel, adding on top the latest technologies and developing its infrastructure services and solutions. HGC is a portfolio company of I Squared Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment manager focusing on energy, utilities and transport in North America, Europe and selected fast-growing economies.
To learn more, please visit HGC's website at: www.hgc.com.hk
SOURCE HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC)
Maintaining the balance of power among European states has always been a fraught affair, but it was especially so in the years when mercantilism made fragile alliances during the religious wars of the 17th century. This was a time when merchants made excellent diplomats, not only because they traveled extensively and learned foreign tongues and customs, but because they spoke the universal language of trade.
German merchant and diplomat Philipp Hainhofer from Augsburg was such a figure, traveling from court to court to meet with Europes renowned dignitaries. As he did so, he would ask them to sign his album amicorum, or friendship book, also called a stammbuch. Each signer would then commission an artist to create a painting accompanying their signatures, Alison Flood writes at The Guardian.
There are around 100 drawings in his autograph book, known as the Groe Stammbuch, which took more than 50 years to compile. After Hainhofers death in 1647, his friend August the Youngerwho helped collect the hundreds of thousand of books in the Herzog August Bibliothektried to acquire the book but failed. Now it has finally landed in the huge library, one of the worlds oldest, almost 400 years later, after a purchase at a private auction this week.
Friendship books were commonly used at the time to record the names of family and friends. Students used them as yearbooks, and Hainhofer began his collection of signatures as a college student. He gradually gained a select clientele as his career advanced. Signatories, the History Blog points out, include Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, another HRE Matthias, Christian IV of Denmark and Norway, Cosimo II deMedici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and many others.
Hainhofers Groe Stammbuch is, as you can see, a beautiful work of artor almost 100 collected works of artin its own right. The elaborateness of the illustrations directly corresponds to the signatorys status and rank in society, as Grace Ebert notes at Colossal. It is also a fascinating record of Early Modern European politics, trade, and diplomacy, a fine art all its own.
via Colossal
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Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness
New Delhi: Attacking the Centre over the slump in GDP, the Congress on Tuesday said that the economy was ruined from the day demonetisation was announced and it continued after the Modi government introduced one erroneous policy after another.
"The ruining of the country's economy began with demonetisation. Since then, the government introduced one erroneous policy after another," former Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Tuesday.
Congress leader and general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, too accused the government of being responsible for the slump in the economy.
Rahul Gandhi had spoken of an economic tsunami six months ago, while the government announced a package just for show and look at the condition now, Gandhi Vadra said in a tweet in Hindi.
In a separate tweet, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said: "Modiji, at least now accept that what you hailed as masterstrokes were actually 'disaster strokes' -- demonetisation, faulty GST and lockdown".
The country's economy suffered its worst slump on record in April-June, with the GDP contracting by 23.9 per cent as the coronavirus-related lockdown weighed on the already declining consumer demand and investment.
Mumbai, Sep 2 : Actor Amit Sadh says he will be less active on social media for a couple of days or prehaps weeks because he is set to start shooting for his upcoming web series, Zidd.
Amit took to Instagram and shared a note for his fans and followers, sharing that he has reached Patiala and is set to commence the shoot soon.
He wrote: "Because I love you guys so much, I think it's very important for me to tell you that I will be less active on social media for (a) couple of days/weeks. As you know I am prepping for Zidd and I have reached Patiala and very soon we will start the shoot!" He shared that he wants to give full attention to his work.
"The bond that I share with all of you means the world to me. At this point my work and role needs all my attention and I hope your life, your work 100 percent attention and I will come back whenever I can with some news to share about my life or work. Till then sending love and good wishes for whatever you are doing in life. Keep moving forward," he wrote.
Democratic nominee Joe Biden looked to shift the focus of the US presidential race back to the coronavirus and President Donald Trumps handling of the pandemic during a Wednesday campaign event on safely reopening the countrys schools.
The health crisis, in which more than 184,000 Americans have died, has been overshadowed in recent days by civil unrest in Portland, Oregon, and Kenosha, Wisconsin, where a white policeman shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back last week, triggering protests.
Biden's event was part of his campaign's effort to make the Nov. 3 election in part a referendum on the Trump administration's response to the outbreak and came as millions of students are starting a new school year either virtually or under restrictive conditions.
"If President Trump and his administration had done their jobs early on in this crisis, American schools would be open. And theyd be open safely," Biden said after receiving a briefing from health experts in Wilmington, Delaware.
Biden and his Republican opponent have offered duelling arguments over which candidate can keep the country safe.
Each has accused the other of fostering the sometimes violent protests over racial injustice and police brutality that have rocked the nation for months after the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis police custody.
Trump, who visited Kenosha on Tuesday, has sought to leverage the volatile climate surrounding the protests to his political benefit, casting himself as a "law-and-order" president holding the line against chaos.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows his approach has yet to boost his national standing. The poll released on Wednesday showed that most Americans do not see crime as a major problem confronting the nation and a majority remain sympathetic to anti-racism protests.
Read More
By contrast, 78pc of Americans said they remain "very" or "somewhat" concerned about the pandemic. The poll showed that 47pc of registered voters support Biden compared with 40pc who said they will vote for Trump.
Biden plans to travel to Kenosha on Thursday, where he will hold a community meeting, his campaign said.
Trump on Wednesday flew to North Carolina, a state which, like Wisconsin, is an election battleground. In remarks to supporters in Wilmington upon landing, he argued that the country was "rounding the turn" concerning the pandemic and stuck to his law-and-order theme.
Speaking later to a group of veterans while commemorating the end of World War Two on September 2, 1945, Trump said, "American warriors did not defeat fascism and oppression overseas, only to watch our freedoms be trampled by violent mobs here at home."
While the event ostensibly was part of the president's official business and not campaign-related, Trump used the occasion to take several shots at Biden.
Relief for schools
Reopening schools amid the pandemic has been a top priority for Trump, who has argued it was necessary to boost the economy and give relief to working parents. His campaign on Wednesday criticised Biden for being overly cautious on the matter.
"(Biden) always casts things as an either-or situation. Either we can open up or we can be safe," Trump spokesman Tim Murtaugh said. "The president disagrees with that. It can be both. For the economy and schools, we can both be open and be safe.
At his event, Biden called on Trump to bring congressional leaders together to negotiate a new aid package to assist state and local governments, which have struggled to provide services for students amid an economic downturn due to coronavirus lockdowns. Congress has been in an impasse over another round of virus-related funding.
"Get off Twitter and start talking to congressional leaders of both parties," Biden said.
Earlier in the day, Biden's team announced that his campaign and the Democratic National Committee had raised $364.5 million in August, shattering the record for the most money raised in a single month during a presidential campaign. The Trump campaign has yet to release its figures for the month.
In a desperate attempt to rid of her backyard tree of invasive lanternflies, columnist Helen Ubinas wrapped her tree in duct tape. Read more
Well, so much for the column I was going to write. That one has been rescheduled for after I work through some trauma.
There I was, minding my own business at my makeshift pandemic home office, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw it.
A spotted lanternfly, just hanging out on my desk, like we were in the same writing group or something.
Ive been warring with its insidious ilk for a while now, as Ive chronicled on social media.
In what I admit was not my finest Insta moment, and in a fit of all-consuming rage, I duct-taped the tree full of lantern flies in my back yard.
This year has already taken so much. No way was I just going to stand by while the equivalent of a corona cockroach with no natural predators (or boundaries), which by some estimates can jump from three to nine feet, and whose poop actually kills trees takes over.
I may have come to terms with the fact that I cannot control the ugliness infesting our world, but you cannot come for my pandemic safe space.
Mock me all you want as my husband did before I warned him I had enough duct tape to also attach him to the tree but my method sorta worked.
Ive since bought the bands of sticky tape that seem to work much better, but are also dangerous to other benign insects and birds. So thats gotta go.
But for a minute, I was feeling victorious. Behold, the great pest pulverizer!
And then this louse of a lanternfly decides to come through with some straight-up disrespectful Sup, stupid human? vibe.
Now, this is the moment for a confession and apology. I may have sneered a little when I first read Ann L. Rappoports essay in The Inquirer about how killing spotted lanternflies was the relief she needed in 2020.
Seriously? I thought. Were up against dual national emergencies of a pandemic and a presidential election, and killing some bugs is supposed to help?
Except (and this is where I apologize), damned if she wasnt right about how, in a world where our collective efforts to fight and fix the coronavirus, climate change, racism, and any number of abuses of power havent really amounted to measurable change, here was something we could actually measure.
We may still be working on smashing the patriarchy. But in the meantime, we can smash some bugs.
I dont know what fresh hell brought me to the backyard in the middle of a workday probably a Trump tweet, or another endless Zoom call, or the ongoing pandemic that is holding us hostage. Or all of the above and whatever is coming next.
But one day I found myself out there grunting like Serena Williams at the top of her game as I crushed fly after fly after fly.
Every stressful day since, even if just for a few minutes, I take aim with anything and everything: a shoe, a magazine, my dogs hair brush, my bare hands.
War is not for the squeamish, comrades.
Well, mostly. When I posted that picture of my duct taped tree, allies offered helpful tips. Some of which I took, some of which, Im sorry, I just couldnt. If I had to capture them in a plastic bottle, I knew Id be cleaning up my own throw-up right after.
But this is where I went wrong, where we often go wrong when dealing with an enemy: I got cocky.
I saw the tape covered in their carcasses and thought I was winning.
Until one of them had the audacity to penetrate my bubble, to violate that tacit agreement of civility thats already been infected in the non-bug world.
I may have upended everything in and around my desk as it tried to flee. But I eventually killed it and two others that were clinging to my window screen like they had something to say about their boy ending up on the wrong side of my shoe.
And yeah, I know what I sound like. Consumed. Obsessed. A little loca.
But consider this for a moment: What if a lanternfly isnt just a lanternfly? What if its a reminder that we must remain vigilant, from whatever insidiousness were battling?
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But the real reason this is stupid is that "good vs. evil" is as much a political ideology as "Colonel Mustard" is a way to go camping. It just doesn't make sense. They're not connected.
Donald Trump could never exist in The West Wing universe because that's a reality in which people start with moral principles and then fill in their political ideologies to fit those principles instead of our world, which works the other way around. Seriously, try and imagine Donald Trump in The West Wing. It's impossible. He would never get elected. He'd say one hypocritical thing, Josiah Bartlet would toss him in a verbal cement mixer, then Trump would get booed off the stage.
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But he's our President now, and that's partly because his only opposition thought that just "being the good guy" was enough to beat him. It's the same strategy that Joe Biden is using now, and it's infuriating to see. Yes, the Democrats might still win this time around, and that might lead them to think their way of thinking was correct, but they'd be wrong, and there's no better person to explain their logical fallacy than Josiah Bartlet:
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My point in this isn't to say that The West Wing shouldn't ever air a reunion special. I mean, if you like the show, then you like the show. But it makes me cringe that Michelle Obama would attach herself to it, especially in an effort to get people voting. If there's one lesson that Democrats should have taken from the past four years, if not that past 20, it's that real life isn't The West Wing.
Also, you want us to sit through a staged theatrical production of a single-cam TV show? Blegh.
Support Dan on Twitter and he will talk about his life with you in lieu of getting a therapist.
Top Image: NBC
The has arrested an alleged contraband dealer and detained another in connection with the drugs trafficking case linked to the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, officials said on Wednesday.
The arrested man has been identified by the federal anti-narcotics agency as Zaid Vilatra. Indian currency worth Rs 9,55,750 and foreign currency (USD 2,081, 180 British Pounds, 15 dirhams), which the NCB claimed are "proceeds of drug peddling", have been recovered from him.
"Zaid disclosed that he runs an eatery in Bandra which was not giving any pecuniary gains since lockdown. He also disclosed that he is into drug peddling especially bud, through which he used to earn a substantial amount of money," the NCB said.
According to the NCB, the best quality of bud is sold for about Rs 5,000 per gram.
Zaid came under the scanner after the agency arrested two people -- Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora -- in another narcotics case on August 27-28 in Mumbai and recovered a bud consignment from them.
Lakhani had "linkages" with Zaid, the NCB claimed.
The agency has also detained a Bandra resident identified as Basit Parihar after interrogating Zaid.
Parihar is "learnt to have linkages" with the narcotics case registered against Rajput's live-in partner Rhea Chakraborty, 28, and others.
Rhea is the main accused in the death case of the 34-year-old actor that is being probed by the NCB, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on money laundering charges and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The role of Rhea's brother Showik and his purported links with the people nabbed by the NCB are under the scanner of the agency and he is expected to be summoned for questioning soon, the officials said.
Some more drug peddlers based in Maharashtra, Delhi and Goa are also under the agency's scanner, they said.
A special NCB team from Delhi, headed by deputy director (operations) K P S Malhotra, is camping in the western metropolis to take forward the probe.
The team also includes agency officers from Mumbai and has been constituted by NCB Director General Rakesh Asthana.
The agency filed a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after the ED shared with it a report following the cloning of two mobile phones of Rhea.
According to the officials, the mobile phone chats and messages indicated procurement, transportation and consumption of drugs and these leads were shared by the ED with the NCB and the CBI.
Rajput was found dead at his duplex flat in Bandra on June 14.
(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.)
Does the danger make you think twice about living in Chicago? The victim was 100% targeted, said Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan, as if to assure skittish residents that the restaurant slaying wasnt a random act. Not that his assertion would help much. How are Chicagoans supposed to keep accepting reassurances that the city is strong and recoverable when every week adds to the tally of dead and wounded?
Think back a few Tuesdays to the afternoon on fashionable East Oak Street when four gunmen jumped out of two cars and opened fire at Carlton Weekly, the rapper known as FBG Duck, killing him. Police said Weekly was a member of a Gangster Disciplines faction that had been feuding with another gang. As of Monday afternoon, police hadnt disclosed a motive for the pancake house slaying. Does it matter anymore?
- Steve Manteaw says the NPP and NDC have done Ghana more harm than good
- He has accused the two parties of using their intelligence to loot and share Ghana's wealth
- Dr. Manteaw also described NPP and NDC as thieves
- Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in
Former Chairman of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), Dr. Steve Manteaw, has described both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as thieves.
Speaking on Adom FM in Accra, Dr. Manteaw said the two main political parties in Ghana have created a loot and share system to milk the country of its resources.
the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) only come to power to use their intelligence to create, loot, and share from the country's coffers, he fumed.
Expert on revenue management in the extractive sector, Steve Manteaw. Source: Peacefmonline.com
Source: UGC
READ ALSO: Mahama's name popped up over 1000 times at NPP's manifesto launch - NDC alleges
Speaking on corruption in Ghana, Dr. Manteaw said the NPP has disappointed in its fight against corruption.
According to him, the government has not done enough to fight the canker in the country.
"This government has not really inspired confidence in the fight against corruption. We have not seen any serious commitment to tackle it," he said in an interview on Adom FM.
The expert on revenue management also accused President Akufo-Addo of doing little to save the public purse.
Dr. Manteaw also told Myjoyonline.com in April 2020, that the government could have adequately mitigated against the drastic economic hardship in Ghana by cutting down on the number of its appointees.
READ ALSO: Team of Nigerian doctors carries out successful brain surgery in Lagos
YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Minority Leader of Parliament Haruna Iddrisu has said, a future government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will not respect the Agyapa deal.
Iddrisu, at a press conference, monitored by YEN.com.gh on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, said the decision of the finance minister to endorse the transaction is in clear violation of article 181 (5) of the Constitution.
"... which requires that side documents, together with the agreements, be laid before Parliament, and, as we speak, we did not have any documentation defining the terms and conditions and the prospectus to guide a decision on this matter," he quoted the Constitution.
APC flagbearer Hassan Ayariga has vowed to end corruption if voted into power | #Yencomgh
Got a story you think we should know about? Get interactive via our Facebook page!
Source: YEN.com.gh
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2
Trend:
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry expressed its attitude towards the biased article published in the electronic version of the Russian Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper on September 1, 2020, Trend reports citing the ministry.
The Russian newspaper published an article entitled "Syrian fighters in Azerbaijan are preparing for a blitzkrieg in Armenia" and presented information that was completely untrue. The author of the article, Vladimir Mukhin misled the readers without referring to any reliable source and without citing convincing facts. We categorically reject the false fabrications indicated in the article that allegedly "there is already a de-facto Turkish military base in Nakhchivan, reinforced by combat aircraft," and about "the transfer of about 500 Syrian militants to Azerbaijan, mainly Turkomans, said the ministry.
All the arguments in the mentioned article, especially those concerning the alleged transfer of militants from Syria to Azerbaijan, are clear disinformation and in no way reflect reality, noted the defense ministry.
Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense officially declares that there are no military bases of foreign states or any other illegal armed group on the territory of the country. The professionalism and combat experience of the personnel of the Azerbaijani army, as well as the military equipment and combat resources in service, are sufficient to quickly complete any combat mission to liberate the lands occupied by Armenia and restore the country's territorial integrity. The Azerbaijani Army demonstrated this during the April 2016 battles, as well as during the combat operations conducted in 2018 in Nakhchivan and in 2020 in fighting off the Armenian attacks in the direction of Tovuz district, the ministry said.
We would recommend "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" to focus its attention on the amendments to the Armenian law "On Defense", which have been submitted for public discussion by the Armenian community. This law allows Armenia, which has big problems with mobilization resources, to create so-called armed militias on a voluntary basis, where people under 70 can sign up, the defense ministry added.
It is possible that, referring to this law, Armenia will thereby legitimize the issue of manning its army with mercenaries and terrorists deployed from hot spots in the Middle East, in particular from Syria and Lebanon, under the guise of a militia, said the ministry.
The defense ministry also added that Yerevan, interested in spreading such misinformation, deliberately creates fertile ground for aggravating the situation in the region, escalating the conflict and openly involving a larger number of parties in it.
DUBLIN, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Wellness Tourism Market - Forecasts from 2020 to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
Global wellness tourism market was valued at US$641.298 billion in 2019. Unlike medical tourism, which involves the treatment of already diagnosed conditions, wellness tourism services focus on the prevention of diseases by emphasizing a healthy lifestyle and improved quality of life. The growth of this market has been driven by the rising middle-class population and the consumer's desire to adopt a wellness lifestyle. The increasing affordability of flights and travel options is also boosting the number of travelers across the globe which, in turn, is also fuelling the demand for wellness tourism services worldwide.
According to the data provided by the Global Wellness Institute, the number of international and domestic wellness trips represented 17 percent of all tourism expenditures in 2017. Tourists are increasingly opting for spa therapies and other wellness activities while on a trip to the foreign land. Hectic work schedules and sedentary lifestyles have resulted in a decline in physical activities among people, leading to a rise in lifestyle-related problems. Governments in various countries are also taking necessary steps and measures to ramp up the overall growth of the travel and tourism industry which will also fuel the global wellness tourism market growth during the next five years. For instance, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) is developing wellness-focused tourism in lesser-known destinations such as Beppu and Misgui. Global wellness tourism market players are adopting various growth strategies in order to expand their market share worldwide which will also propel the global wellness tourism market till the end of the forecast period.
However, the recent COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has severely impacted the overall travel and tourism industry which, in turn, has negatively affected the market growth of wellness tourism. The ban on international as well as domestic flights coupled with the temporary shutdown of services such as spas and restaurants in order to reduce the spread of this novel virus has restricted the growth of the wellness tourism market.
Secondary wellness traveler accounts for substantial market share
By type of traveler, the secondary traveler segment accounted for a significant market share in 2019. A secondary traveler is the one who seeks to maintain wellness while taking trips for leisure or business. The primary wellness traveler, on the other hand, is the one whose trip is primarily motivated by wellness purposes. An increasing number of people suffering from anxiety and depression are taking trips specifically for wellness services including spa treatments and wellness activities.
Asia Pacific to witness the fastest regional market growth
Geographically, the global Wellness Tourism market has been segmented as North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific regional market for wellness tourism is poised to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The booming travel and tourism industry in countries like India, Thailand, and Malaysia is the major driver of the wellness tourism market in this region. The presence of global hotel and resort companies in this region along with the continued expansion of the hospitality industry is also contributing to the market growth of wellness tourism in this region.
Rising disposable incomes and shifting preference towards wellness activities in order to relax, especially among millennials, is also fuelling the growth of this regional market. Supportive government policies and measures to attract more and more international tourists will continue to spur the market growth of wellness tourism in Asia Pacific during the forecast period. For example, in 2016, a National Medical & Wellness Tourism Promotion Board was introduced in India to promote tourism focusing on wellbeing.
The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) collaborated with the Association of Malaysian Spas (AMSPA) in June 2019 to create favorable conditions for members to promote wellness tourism in Malaysia. North America holds a significant market share throughout the forecast period on account of high disposable incomes and living standards which supports the high demand for wellness services in the region. Growing concerns regarding anxiety, depression, and obesity is encouraging North American customers to opt for different wellness services, thus positively impacting the overall regional market growth.
Recent Developments:
October 2019 : Beauty and wellness firm VLCC Group entered into a strategic partnership with Minor International which owns 523 popular hotel and resort chains under brands such as St. Regis, and Marriott Hotels & Resorts among others.
: Beauty and wellness firm VLCC Group entered into a strategic partnership with Minor International which owns 523 popular hotel and resort chains under brands such as St. Regis, and Marriott Hotels & Resorts among others. May 2019 : London -based investment firm Centricus acquired the Capri Palace Hotel & Spa.
: -based investment firm Centricus acquired the Capri Palace Hotel & Spa. February 2019 : InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced the acquisition of one of the world's leading operators of luxury hotels, resorts, and spas, Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, for $300 million from Pegasus Capital Advisors.
: InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced the acquisition of one of the world's leading operators of luxury hotels, resorts, and spas, Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, for from Pegasus Capital Advisors. July 2018 : Malaysia -based Evolution Wellness Holdings acquired the integrated wellness resort brand- Fiveelements Pte. Ltd- to its portfolio.
: -based Evolution Wellness Holdings acquired the integrated wellness resort brand- Fiveelements Pte. Ltd- to its portfolio. May 2018 : Accor Hotels Acquired Mantra Group to expand its business in the hospitality industry, especially in Asia Pacific region.
: Accor Hotels Acquired Mantra Group to expand its business in the hospitality industry, especially in region. February 2018 : Tavistock Development Company partnered with Signet LLC to create innovative wellness performance and medically integrated fitness facility in Lake Nona, Orlando . The facility aims to provide a wide range of health and wellbeing programs and services for the entire community.
Competitive Insights
Prominent key market players in the global wellness tourism market include Four Seasons Hotels Limited, PRAVASSA, Canyon Ranch, Rancho La Puerta Inc., Accor, Hyatt Corporation, Red Carnation Hotels, InterContinental Hotels Group, and Hilton. These companies hold a noteworthy share in the market on account of their good brand image and product offerings. Major players in the global wellness tourism market have been covered along with their relative competitive position and strategies. The report also mentions recent deals and investments of different market players over the last two years.
Key Topics Covered:
1. Introduction
1.1. Market Definition
1.2. Market Segmentation
2. Research Methodology
2.1. Research Data
2.2. Assumptions
3. Executive Summary
3.1. Research Highlights
4. Market Dynamics
4.1. Market Drivers
4.2. Market Restraints
4.3. Porters Five Forces Analysis
4.3.1. Bargaining Power of Suppliers
4.3.2. Bargaining Power of Buyers
4.3.3. Threat of New Entrants
4.3.4. Threat of Substitutes
4.3.5. Competitive Rivalry in the Industry
4.4. Industry Value Chain Analysis
5. Global Wellness Tourism Market Analysis, By Type of Traveler
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Primary Wellness Traveler
5.3. Secondary Wellness Traveler
6. Global Wellness Tourism Market Analysis, By Location
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Domestic
6.3. International
7. Global Wellness Tourism Market Analysis, By Service
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Lodging
7.3. In-Country Transport
7.4. Food & Beverage
7.5. Shopping
7.6. Others
8. Global Wellness Tourism Market Analysis, By Mode of Booking
8.1. Introduction
8.2. Online
8.3. Offline
9. Global Wellness Tourism Market Analysis, By Geography
9.1. Introduction
9.2. North America
9.2.1. North America Wellness Tourism Market, By Location
9.2.2. North America Wellness Tourism Market, By Service
9.2.3. North America Wellness Tourism Market, By Mode of Booking
9.2.4. By Country
9.2.4.1. USA
9.2.4.2. Canada
9.2.4.3. Mexico
9.3. South America
9.3.1. South America Wellness Tourism Market, By Location
9.3.2. South America Wellness Tourism Market, By Service
9.3.3. South America Wellness Tourism Market, By Mode of Booking
9.3.4. By Country
9.3.4.1. Brazil
9.3.4.2. Argentina
9.3.4.3. Others
9.4. Europe
9.4.1. Europe Wellness Tourism Market, By Location
9.4.2. Europe Wellness Tourism Market, By Service
9.4.3. Europe Wellness Tourism Market, By Mode of Booking
9.4.4. By Country
9.4.4.1. UK
9.4.4.2. Germany
9.4.4.3. France
9.4.4.4. Spain
9.4.4.5. Italy
9.4.4.6. Others
9.5. Middle East and Africa
9.5.1. Middle East and Africa Wellness Tourism Market, By Location
9.5.2. Middle East and Africa Wellness Tourism Market, By Service
9.5.3. Middle East and Africa Wellness Tourism Market, By Mode of Booking
9.5.4. By Country
9.5.4.1. Saudi Arabia
9.5.4.2. UAE
9.5.4.3. Israel
9.5.4.4. Others
9.6. Asia Pacific
9.6.1. Asia Pacific Wellness Tourism Market, By Location
9.6.2. Asia Pacific Wellness Tourism Market, By Service
9.6.3. Asia Pacific Wellness Tourism Market, By Mode of Booking
9.6.4. By Country
9.6.4.1. China
9.6.4.2. Japan
9.6.4.3. South Korea
9.6.4.4. India
9.6.4.5. Australia
9.6.4.6. Malaysia
9.6.4.7. Thailand
9.6.4.8. Others
10. Competitive Environment and Analysis
10.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis
10.2. Emerging Players and Market Lucrativeness
10.3. Mergers, Acquisitions, Agreements, and Collaborations
10.4. Vendor Competitiveness Matrix
11. Company Profiles
11.1. Four Seasons Hotels Limited
11.2. PRAVASSA
11.3. Canyon Ranch
11.4. Rancho La Puerta Inc.
11.5. Accor
11.6. Hyatt Corporation
11.7. Red Carnation Hotels
11.8. InterContinental Hotels Group
11.9. Hilton
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/uqsipl
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]
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Two unidentified women were seen consoling each other at a police checkpoint on Jan. 14, 2019, after a report of an active-shooter situation that morning at a UPS facility in Logan Township, South Jersey. Read more
Police who fatally shot a gunman who had taken his ex-girlfriend and another woman hostage at a UPS facility in Logan Township, Gloucester County, last year were justified in doing so, the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office announced Wednesday.
William Owens, 39, of Sicklerville, was shot by seven members of the Gloucester County SWAT Team outside the UPS Mail Innovations facility on Birch Creek Road.
The investigation into the January 2019 shooting found that officers shot Owens after he fired a handgun at one of the two women he took hostage, the office said in a statement.
Director Thomas J. Eicher of the attorney generals Office of Public Integrity and Accountability concluded that the use of force was justified because the officers reasonably believed their actions were immediately necessary to protect the hostage and others from death or serious bodily harm, the office said.
Authorities said the names of the officers are not being released because threats have been made against them.
The investigation included witness interviews, video footage of events leading to the shooting and forensic evidence from the scene. There was no video of the police shooting itself, officials said.
About 8:30 that morning, Owens, a former UPS employee, went to find his ex-girlfriend, who was working at the facility, authorities said. He approached her outside, then followed her into the building, armed with a 9mm handgun, investigators said.
Once inside, he grabbed her, fired the gun into the air, and announced that he was taking her hostage. He pistol-whipped a security guard and said he was going to kill his ex-girlfriend, and threatened to kill everyone in this building, the Attorney Generals Office said.
Owens then took a second employee hostage, pointed his gun at various other people, saying he would kill everybody, and fired at least two additional shots while inside the building, causing employees to flee in terror, the office said.
During a lengthy standoff with police officers who tried by phone to negotiate a surrender, Owens kicked and pistol-whipped his ex-girlfriend and terrorized both hostages, including repeatedly pointing his gun at their heads, state investigators found.
The two women were eventually able to escape. But when the ex-girlfriend, bleeding from the beatings she endured, ran out of the facility, Owens followed her and fired his gun at her, authorities said.
Thats when the SWAT officers fired their weapons, killing Owens, who was declared dead at the scene. An autopsy revealed that he had 29 gunshot wounds. No one else was shot, authorities said.
From todays Down in Alabama podcast:
Its been a long period of adjustment for many, but relief is finally here for some: This week, buffets were allowed to reopen in Alabama.
Not all will choose to go back to serving buffets. Those that will have to practice caution. And we urge diners to practice caution as they return to the world of all-you-can-eat pizza or fried chicken.
Also, instead of going away, Alabama Powers fee for customers who have solar panels is going up.
And an Alabama state senator has stepped down.
The podcast is short and free. Listen to it by clicking on the player above or subscribe by looking for Down in Alabama on the device of your choosing. Get this and other AL.com newsletters here.
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Marvel boss Kevin Feige reportedly did not learn about Chadwick Bosemans illness until the day of the actors death.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Feige, who has been the president of Marvel Studios since 2007, received an urgent email regarding Boseman on 28 August, containing no further information.
Feige reportedly didnt get to read the email until an hour later, at which point Boseman had already died.
The Independent has contacted Marvel and Feiges representatives for more information.
Bosemans death came as a shock for many. The actor had not publicly discussed his diagnosis with colon cancer.
Chadwick Boseman during the 2019 American Music Awards on 24 November 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for dcp)
In a statement announcing his death, his family said he was diagnosed with stage-three colon cancer in 2016. The illness then progressed to stage four.
Boseman was 43. Among his accomplishments, his portrayal of TChalla/Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe had earned him worldwide acclaim.
A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much, his family said in a statement. ...It was the honour of his career to bring King TChalla to life in Black Panther.
Feige has previously paid tribute to Boseman, saying in a statement: Chadwicks passing is absolutely devastating. He was our TChalla, our Black Panther, and our dear friend.
Each time he stepped on set, he radiated charisma and joy, and each time he appeared on screen, he created something truly indelible. He embodied a lot of amazing people in his work, and nobody was better at bringing great men to life.
He was as smart and kind and powerful and strong as any person he portrayed. Now he takes his place alongside them as an icon for the ages. The Marvel Studios family deeply mourns his loss, and we are grieving tonight with his family.
(Natural News) If you needed anymore evidence as to why it is vital to reelect President Donald Trump so he can continue draining the fetid, filthy swamp that helps the D.C. establishment maintain its illegal power over Americans, this should do it.
During the presidents grossly unjust and completely partisan impeachment by unhinged deep state Democrats that began last fall, the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine, came under increasing scrutiny by Republicans and allies of the president because it was a den of corruption.
Led during the Obama regime by Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, the embassy was used as a political operation by the former president and his then-vice president (and now Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden) to exploit Ukraine, which was in dire need of U.S. assistance because Russian-backed rebels had begun a separatist movement.
Though Yovanovitch was fired by the president last summer, it appeared that those who were assigned to the embassy and who served with her were just as corrupt.
As Just The News reports:
Officials at the U.S. embassy in Kiev ordered the monitoring of 13 prominent Americans social media accounts during the early days of the Ukraine scandal in spring 2019 and later were informed their activities potentially violated the Privacy Act, according to State Department memos made public on Tuesday.
The memos, released under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, show those targeted for monitoring included President Trumps eldest son, Don Jr., the presidents personal lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Fox News personalities Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Lou Dobbs. This reporter was one of the 13 individuals on the list targeted.
Emails show that Yovanovitch and a top assistant, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent, were kept apprised of the monitoring, an email reveals.
According to the records, officials with the U.S. embassy utilized search terms that showed they were interested in social media posts regarding the ambassador, that Left-wing billionaire snake George Soros, and the scandal surrounding Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as the sons association with Burisma, an energy company that hired Hunter Biden to be a board member for several hundred thousand dollars per year.
Key thing is to get up to ramming speed from the get go, Kent wrote March 27, 2019, in an email discussing the efforts to monitor social media.
That same day, according to Just The News, Yovanovitch got an email that updated her on the monitoring operation.
Thanks Ambassador I just wanted you to be aware as we are really trying to help them and recognize how hard everyone is working in this especially trying time, an official whose name was redacted wrote. The good news is our social media team back here is now helping to provide them with the reports they want when Kyiv is asleep/offline through existing PD tools so this should greatly help.
By April 1, the embassys staff appears to have been told by officials in Washington to end the surveillance. (Related: Schiffs phony baloney impeachment recommendation blames Trump for everything DEMOCRATS have done in Ukraine.)
Thank you so very much for alerting everyone to this issue. We appreciate you shutting down the automated report, an email with the subject line Ukraine Twitter report read.
The following month, someone with Digital Media Associate for EUR/PD Keniya-Trusant Group gave the State Department a brief about the legal perils of targeting American citizens.
Going to chime in here so regarding the influencers, there are some legal implications of making a list of Facebook influencers of Twitter influencers since they are technically private citizens (even though theyre publicly on the internet) and we cannot compile them into a list and monitor what they are saying using a third-party application without their knowledge, the email said.
To see what theyre saying, you unfortunately need to use the old school way and manually go to their feeds and view that way. Cumbersome but its in compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974.
Just The News John Solomon added to the list of persons illegally monitored: In addition to the Fox hosts, this reporter, the presidents son, and the presidents personal lawyer, the other figures whose social media were targeted include Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton, radio host and former Trump White House adviser Seb Gorka, One America News personality Jack Posobiec, and Fox News personalities Sara Carter and Dan Bongino.
Sources include:
JustTheNews.com
NaturalNews.com
Vikas Singh, the lawyer hired by Sushant Singh Rajputs father KK Singh, said that the late actors family was forced by the Mumbai Police to sign statements written in Marathi. He added that they had no clue of what was being written.
In a press conference on Wednesday evening, the senior advocate said, The family has never given any statement of Sushant dying by suicide. These statements were recorded by the Mumbai Police in Marathi. The family also objected, Please dont write in Marathi if you want us to sign. They were forced to sign a statement written in Marathi. They had no clue of what was being written.
According to him, the statement has not been shared with the family. We have not been supplied that statement. We dont know what was recorded by the Mumbai Police, we know what we said, he said.
On being asked if the statement was read out to Sushants family in Hindi before their signatures were taken, the lawyer said, It was just written in Marathi, thats it. There was nothing read out to anybody. Even if you read out in Marathi If I write something in a language you dont know and I then read out whatever I want you to hear If I dont know Marathi, how will I check if what you are telling me is what is written. Its simple logic!
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Sushants death on June 14 was initially investigated by the Mumbai Police. On July 25, his father filed an FIR in Patna against Rhea Chakraborty, accusing her of abetment to suicide. After a turf war between the police forces of Maharashtra and Bihar, the case is now being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
When asked if Sushants family suspects foul play in the case, the lawyer said, After the events that have unfolded after the registration of the FIR, the family has doubts that it could be murder as well. But we are leaving it to the investigation. We hope that the CBI will get to the bottom of this.
As the CBI continues its probe, a parallel investigation is being run by the Enforcement Directorate and Narcotics Control Bureau, who are looking into the money laundering and drugs angles, respectively.
If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist. Helplines: Aasra: 022 2754 6669; Sneha India Foundation: +914424640050 and Sanjivini: 011-24311918
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Duch, the Khmer Rouge commander who oversaw the torture and death of thousands of men, women and children in the 1970s, has died ten years into a life sentence.
Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Comrade Duch, died on Wednesday at the age of 77 at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh.
He was serving a life sentence for crimes against humanity for his role in the Khmer Rouge Maoist regime that controlled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.
During its reign, Duch ran a prison and presided over the torture and executions of over an estimated 12,000 men, women and children.
According to AFP news agency, a doctor's letter confirming his death indicated that Duch had symptoms of "acute respiratory distress".
Journalists in Phnom Penh saw his body taken to a local temple where it was cremated early Wednesday afternoon.
Duch, whose trial took place in 2009, was the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face a United Nations-backed tribunal that had been assembled to deliver justice for the regimes brutal rule.
It is blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people, nearly a quarter of Cambodias population at the time.
In July 2010, the tribunal found him guilty of mass murder, torture and crimes against humanity at Tuol Sleng prison, a former Phnom Penh high school.
The site is now known as the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide, a memorial to the atrocities committed inside.
In 1975, Duch was installed as commander of the top-secret Tuol Sleng prison, code-named S-21. Duch was one of the few ex-Khmer Rouge who acknowledged even partial responsibility for his actions, and his trial included his own graphic testimony of how people were tortured at the prison.
The torture and executions that took place at Tuol Sleng were routinely recorded and photographed. When the Khmer Rouge were forced from power in 1979, the thousands of documents and film negatives left at the prison became proof of the regimes atrocities.
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"I respectfully and strictly followed the orders," Duch said in one of his final public statements to the court.
20 years in hiding
Born in 1942, Duch was a maths teacher before he joined Pol Pots movement in 1967, three years before the United States started carpet-bombing Cambodia to try to wipe out Northern Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong inside the border.
The former Khmer Rouge commander managed to disappear for almost two decades in north-western Cambodia, until a chance discovery by a British journalist in 1999, which led to his arrest on 10 May 1999.
The tribunal is still running today, with long-stalled cases against naval commander Meas Muth and alleged high-ranking member Yim Tith in process.
Apart from Duch and Khieu Samphan, the only other top-ranking cadre to be jailed was "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, who died last year at the age of 93.
"I feel relieved that I have got some justice," said Norng Chan Phal, a 51-year-old survivor, who was incarcerated at S-21.
In the streets of Phnom-Penh, 25-year-old Chamroeun told Reuters that he did not know much about this period of Cambodias history.
"People just dont want to think about bitter memories from the past, it's just old people who talk about their stories, he said.
General Secretary of the Mexican Labor Party Alberto Anaya Gutierrez (Photo: VNA)
He praised the working spirit of the doctors from Vietnams Central Acupuncture Hospital, who did not flinch amid the pandemic, standing side by side with their Mexican colleagues in the fight for the health of the people.
The General Secretary also congratulated and thanked the Management Board of the Central Acupuncture Hospital for maintaining effective cooperation with the Mexican Labor Party over the past 20 years and looked forward to further strengthening and expanding this partnership.
Mr. Alberto Anaya Gutierrez congratulated Vietnam on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the August Revolution and the National Day, and expressed his admiration for the Communist Party and people of Vietnam during the process of fighting from the founding of the country to now, especially the achievements in the innovation cause.
Mr. Alberto Anaya said that the success in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is a new symbol of the solidarity between the Communist Party and the people of Vietnam, of the sense of discipline and the medical level of the country of Vietnam.
On behalf of the delegation of Vietnamese doctors from the Central Acupuncture Hospital, Dr. Ho Quang Minh, project coordinator, sincerely thanked the General Secretary and promised to continue working with the friendly spirit of the people of the two countries./.
Production of the first new armored vehicle that will replace the Army Vietnam Era M113 armored personnel carrier is now complete, manufacturer BAE Systems announced today.
The first Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, or AMPV, rolled off BAE's production line as part of a 2018 low-rate initial contract to deliver up to 450 of the vehicles to the Army, according to a BAE news release.
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"This vehicle is going to replace a vehicle that has been in the Army since 1965," Bryan McVeigh, the head of Army's Project Manager for Mounted Armored Vehicles, said in a short video on BAE's website.
Delivering the first AMPV marks the first time the defense industry has produced a brand-new tracked combat vehicle to the Army since the 1980s, Bill Sheehy, AMPV program director for BAE Systems' Ground Vehicles product line, said in the video.
"The AMPV is designed to meet the Army's missions for the Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCT) and lay the foundation for the future of the battlefield," Sheehy said in the release.
The AMPV program has suffered from multiple delays. First, manufacturing problems caused BAE to delay the vehicles' delivery from March until July. Then COVID-19 resulted in the delivery being delayed through August, according to Defense News.
The program suffered funding cuts as the Army has searched for savings across all of its programs to fund its future modernization effort. The Army requested $193 million for the program in the fiscal 2021 budget, compared to the $445 million the service budgeted in fiscal 2020 and the $673 million the program received the previous year.
The Mission Command vehicle variant will be the first vehicle delivered. It's set to play a significant role in the Army's ABCT Network Modernization Strategy, according to the release. It's equipped to assist digital mission command with increased protection, power and cooling capabilities, and providing room for growth for future command, control, communications and computer capabilities.
Other variants in the AMPV family include:
--General Purpose vehicle: designed to operate throughout the battlefield to conduct resupply, maintenance as well as other transportation missions.
--Mortar Carrier: provides immediate heavy mortar fire support to the ABCT.
--Medical Evacuation vehicle: provides immediate treatment or evacuation on the battlefield to either ambulatory or litter casualties.
--Medical Treatment vehicle: designed to serve as an "operating room on tracks" for soldiers suffering from life-threatening injuries.
"The AMPV family of vehicles provides significant power, mobility, interoperability, and survivability improvements for the ABCT," Jeremy Tondreault, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems' Combat Mission Systems, said in the release. "The AMPV has demonstrated outstanding survivability and force protection as well as flexibility and growth for the future."
-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.
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Even though COVID-19 numbers are decreasing, Fort Bend County Judge KP George advised community members to stay vigilant about the virus as personal protection equipment (PPE) was handed out on Friday, Aug. 28.
Vehicles lined up for the distribution drive-thru in the Cinco Ranch Branch Library parking lot to receive PPE kits. The line moved quickly though. Each kit contained 50 surgical masks, antibacterial hand wipes, hand sanitizer and soap and an instructional flyer on preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
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The distribution event was the third of four the county is holding on Fridays as summer winds down and students prepare to head back to their campuses. George said the PPE would be helpful for many families and individuals.
There is a big need for PPE and any kind of sanitation stuff, and thats the very reason why Fort Bend County decided we need to do a large-scale distribution so that people could grab this and take it home, George said.
The pandemic is still around nearly six months later, but George said the hospitalization rates dropping is a good sign that offers some relief. As of Aug. 28, the county remains in the red high community risk alert level. George said he would be studying the data and speaking with health officials to consider lowering that level soon.
Looking overall at the situation, he said the county has done a good job managing the pandemic and that per capita, it does more COVID-19 testing compared to most Texas counties. Testing, George said, is the only way that communities can see how deep the problem extends and what areas are being most affected so that the county can address the virus most effectively. He urged those with symptoms to still get tests, especially considering the vulnerability of older generations that tend to be more susceptible to the virus.
Things are maybe going in the right direction, but this is not the time I mean, we cannot let our guard down because we need to continue to do what we are doing with wearing masks, washing your hands, wearing gloves in case you need it, social distancing. This (is) all working. Very simple, he said, pointing out that until a vaccine is ready, those measures will help to keep people well.
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As the event got started in the morning, families were receiving a few kits, depending on how many members they had. George wanted to encourage people to share the materials they dont think they will need with their neighbors or other people they interact with: find someone that can use them, and dont throw them out.
One positive aspect George mentioned is that the pandemic has brought us to the knees and caused people to be thankful for things in life that matter like smelling the roses, spending time with family and trying to change peoples lives for the better. He said people can speed through life with decades going by and then look back at what has happened, how they missed it.
To him, some people have been minimizing the thousands of deaths that have occurred in the United States as a result of COVID-19 by saying that its a small percentage of the overall population. George said anyone that says that has not had a parent die from it.
While he said even though some people, even politicians, downplay the pandemics impact because it has become a political issue, he has learned from others that have gone out of their way to serve police officers food when their restaurants were near closing down or a nurse he met that had not been home in several days because she kept working.
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Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers and his staff, along with the office of emergency management and the fire marshals office, worked to organize the kits. Meyers said aside from the drive-thru site at the library, they had delivered kits to 55-plus communities for older residents that might not want to go out.
He believes with the high rate testing and being proactive with helping the elderly, Fort Bend County has been working hard to combat COVID-19.
The last distribution event is slated for Friday, Sept. 4, at Corners Center, 15700 Old Richmond Road, Sugar Land. It will run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. or until the supplies run out.
tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
28 August 2020, North Rhine-Westphalia, Duisburg: Steam comes from an extinguishing system on the site of the Thyssenkrupp steelworks. Photo: Jonas Guttler/picture alliance via Getty Images
The German government on Tuesday revised its economic forecast for 2020 and 2021, revealing a more optimistic prediction for the remainder of the year, but a gloomier outlook for the next year.
Economy minister Peter Altmaier said that the government expects a decline of 5.8% for this year, compared to its April forecast of a 6.3% contraction in 2020. The revision puts the 2020 GDP almost on par with the 5.7% GDP contraction in 2009, at the height of the financial crisis.
For 2021, the government predicts GDP growth of 4.4%, significantly lower than the 5.2% predicted in its Spring forecast.
The recession in the first half of the year was less severe than we had feared, Altmaier said at a press conference on Tuesday, in Berlin. He added that the economic recovery post-lockdown is going faster and more dynamically than we dared hope.
We have achieved a lot, Altmaier said. In comparison with many other European industrial countriesthink of Great Britain where the recession twice as bad as in Germany, think of many other countries around us with very serious collapses... in comparison to this we have succeeded in preserving the substance of our economy and keeping jobs.
Altmaier also said that Germany can and will avoid a second nationwide lockdown like in March and April, and would take targeted and regionally limited measures to combat rises in infection rates.
The German labour bureau said on Tuesday that number of unemployed had risen by 45,000 in August, from July, to 2.95 million.
While the bureau said that an increase in the number of jobless was normal for August due to some employment and apprenticeships ending before the summer vacation ING analysts note that it is still the worst August performance since reunification and that the unemployment increase since the start of the coronavirus crisis is now higher than during the 2008/9 recession.
The labour office said that applications for the countrys short-time work scheme were to 170 000 in August, a peak of 8 million in April.
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READ MORE: Coronavirus: German firms slowly wean off short-hours scheme
The Ifo institute said this week that the number of companies still participating in the furlough schemes, known as Kurzarbeit, had declined to 37% in August, from 42% in July.
However, companies in the industrial sector was still in the doldrums, with 80% of metal producers still on short-time hours, and 65% of companies in the automotive industry.
The government recently agreed to extend the Kurzarbeit furlough scheme by an extra year, until December 2021, to help companies avoid layoffs and enable them to keep their staff on standby until the economy revives.
Europes largest economy contracted by 9.7% in the second quarter of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019, as the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns drove economic activity to a record quarterly low.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: German economy shrank by 9.7% in second quarter as pandemic peaked
In the April to June quarter, investments excluding construction fell by 19.6%, exports by over 20%, and private consumption by 10.9%. The only growth was in government consumption, which saw an 1.5% quarter-on-quarter increase.
As a whole, Berlin has earmarked over 1tn to help Europes largest economy recover from the pandemic. As the pandemic took hold in Spring of this year, the government released its constitutional debt-brake law, and will borrow around 218bn this year.
The debt-averse government is set to keep borrowing next year too to help the economy weather the ongoing damage from the pandemic.
"Next year we will continue to be forced to suspend the debt rules and spend considerable funds to protect the health of citizens and stabilise the economy," Olaf Scholz, the finance minister and Angela Merkels vice-chancellor, said in an interview in August.
WASHINGTON: The Latest on the 2020 presidential campaign (all times local):
2:15 p.m.
Joe Biden says the police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, who shot Jacob Blake in the back on Aug. 23, leaving the 29year-old Black man paralyzed, needs to be charged.
The comment by the Democratic presidential nominee came after he was asked about remarks by his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, that the officer should face charges.
Biden also says officers should be charged in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.
Biden plans a visit Thursday to Kenosha, where there have been multiple nights of unrest following Blakes shooting. Biden says there have been overwhelming requests that he come to the city.
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1:50 p.m.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden says the issue of safely reopening Americas schools is a national emergency.
He says that if he were president, hed have the Federal Emergency Management Agency guarantee access to disaster relief for K-12 schools.
Biden says during a campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware, that President Donald Trump still doesnt have a real plan to handle the coronavirus pandemic.
The Democrat says this is an emergency and Donald Trump and his FEMA should treat it as one.
FEMA officials said this week that the agency would no longer pay for cloth face masks and disinfectant in schools.
Biden says that as president, hed declare the issue of school reopening a national emergency and direct FEMA to authorize access to emergency assistance for K-12 schools.
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1:40 p.m.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden says hell mark the 19th anniversary of the the Sept. 11 attacks by visiting Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where one of the hijacked planes crashed into a field, killing all passengers and crew onboard.
The White House hasnt announced President Donald Trumps plans for Sept. 11. He visited the Shanksville memorial for a commemoration in 2018.
A 2,200-acre memorial marks the spot in rural Pennsylvania where Flight 93 went down on Sept. 11, 2001. Three other planes hijacked that day were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks.
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12:30 p.m.
The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has announced the moderators for the upcoming debates between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
Chris Wallace of Fox News will moderate the first debate on Sept. 29 in Cleveland.
Steve Scully of C-SPAN will moderate the town meeting debate on Oct. 15 in Miami.
NBCs Kristen Welker will moderate the final debate on Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The commission also says USA Todays Susan Page will moderate the vice presidential debate on Oct. 7 in Salt Lake City with Vice President Mike Pence and Democrat Kamala Harris.
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11:26 a.m.
Joe Biden raised at least $360 million for his election effort in August, a record-shattering sum that will give the Democratic presidential nominee ample resources to compete in the final two months of the campaign.
Thats according to a person with direct knowledge of the fundraising effort who requested anonymity to discuss internal campaign details.
Bidens campaign declined to comment. President Donald Trump has not yet released his fundraising figure for the month.
The money was raised in conjunction with the Democratic National Committee. While candidates face a $2,800 limit, Biden can raise far more than that through a joint fundraising committee with the DNC that allows him to collect individual checks worth upward of $600,000.
Associated Press writer Brian Slodysko.
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11 a.m.
Joe Biden is traveling to Wisconsin on Thursday as the swing state becomes the focal point for a political debate over violence at protests there and elsewhere in the nation.
Bidens campaign says the Democratic presidential nominee plans to travel to the state with his wife, Jill.
The visit comes two days after President Donald Trump toured Kenosha, Wisconsin, the site of recent protests following the shooting of an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake, left paralyzed after being shot in the back seven times by an officer. Trump used the opportunity to drive home his campaign message of law and order by expressing support for law enforcement and blaming domestic terror for the looting and arson thats taken place in the city during the protests.
The president and his allies are hoping to use the violence at recent protests against Biden, and have charged that if the Democrat were elected such incidents would become the norm.
Biden has repeatedly denounced the protest violence but has expressed sympathy for protesters concerns over systemic racism and a commitment to enact police reforms if elected.
It will be Bidens first visit to Wisconsin in nearly two years. It comes after Biden decided against accepting the partys nomination in Milwaukee, where the Democratic National Convention was to have been held. Instead, the convention was mostly virtual amid the coronavirus pandemic.
__
By Bill Barrow.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Germany has been holding urgent talks with western allies on what action to take following its conclusion that Vladimir Putins opponent Alexei Navalny was poisoned with novichok.
Western diplomats say there is a strong argument for punitive measures, and the need for a re-evaluation of relations with Moscow, after toxicology results from a military laboratory gave unequivocal proof that the Russian leader was targeted with a nerve agent.
German medical staff at the Charite Institute who treated Navalny after he arrived from Russia in a coma had sought advice from Porton Down, the UKs defence research laboratory, following early signs that the poisoning had similarities with the Salisbury attack in 2018.
The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said: I am deeply concerned that Alexei Navalny was poisoned by novichok, a nerve agent previously used with lethal effect in the UK. It is absolutely unacceptable that this banned chemical weapon has been used again, and once more we see violence directed against a leading Russian opposition figure.
The Russian government has a clear case to answer. It must tell the truth about what happened to Mr Navalny.
We will work closely with Germany, our allies and international partners to demonstrate that there are consequences for using banned chemical weapons anywhere in the world.
The British health secretary, Matt Hancock, added that the UK will stand ready to offer all the support thats available to help Germany, to investigate and take action as necessary.
The US deputy secretary of state, Steve Beguin, confirmed that talks had been held between western allies.
We find the reports of Mr Navalnys poisoning to be credible. It is completely unacceptable that this should happen to a leading democracy campaigner, he said.
In Berlin, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said in a statement: It is now clear: Alexei Navalny is the victim of a crime. He was meant to be silenced. This raises very difficult questions that only the Russian government can answer, and has to answer.
The German foreign minister, Heiko Maas, added that consultations would be held with the European Union and Nato partners about what had happened and what the response would be to the next steps taken by Russia.
Sergey Lagodinsky, a German Green MEP and former fellow student of Navalnys at Yale University, said: Im impressed by the clear framing of the governments response. The confirmation that a banned nerve agent was used to poison a Russian opposition politician brings this case on to an international level. We need an international investigation.
Western allies imposed sanctions on Russia following the assassination attempt in March 2018 on former intelligence officer Sergei Skripal, which left him and his daughter Julia critically ill. That attack, however, took place on British soil with a holder of UK citizenship as a victim. Those sanctions followed evidence that the UK presented after an investigation by British security agencies and police.
Mr Navalny is a Russian citizen and his alleged poisoning took place in Siberia. The Russian government, western officials acknowledge, cannot be forced to carry out an investigation into what happened to him.
One route under consideration is referring the matter to the inter-governmental Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). However, it is far from clear whether the OPCW is in a position to carry out such an investigation.
The Kremlins spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said that the Russian government had not received any information from Germany that Navalny was poisoned with novichok.
Burma China Seeks Myanmar's Assurances on Moving BRI Projects Ahead; Offers Aid for Rakhine
Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Yang Jiechi, a member of Chinas Politburo, pose for a photo after their meeting in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar, on Tuesday. / Myanmar State Counselors Office / Facebook
YANGONDuring his recent visit, Chinas top diplomat sought reassurances on the implementation of his countrys ambitious backbone infrastructure projects in Myanmar and announced a 200-million-yuan (39.33-billion-kyat) grant for western Rakhine State.
Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Myanmar, Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC)s Central Committee and director of the committees Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission, made a stop in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar, before heading to Europe. Yang, who is widely considered the highest-ranking diplomat within the CPC, met separately with Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint on Tuesday.
In his meetings with the leaders, the senior foreign policy official urged Myanmar to maintain its efforts to implement Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects, for which agreements were reached during Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to Myanmar in early January.
During Xis trip, the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), New Yangon City urban development and Cross-Border Economic Cooperation Zone projects were branded as the three pillars of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), itself a part of the BRI. Xi also called for both sides to deepen result-oriented Belt and Road cooperation and move from the conceptual stage to concrete planning and implementation of building the CMEC.
The Kyaukphyu deep seaport is a planned trade hub that would give China direct access to the Indian Ocean and allow its oil imports to bypass the Strait of Malacca, between peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. In Yangon, the multibillion-dollar New Yangon City project is also a part of the CMEC plan, though the government recently decided to reduce the size and cost of the first phase. The two sides also agreed to implement three economic cooperation zones along their shared border in Kachin and Shan states.
In January, the countries signed a concession agreement and shareholders agreement for the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone, a letter of intent on the New Yangon City project, and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to accelerate negotiations around the Ruili-Muse Cross-Border Economic Cooperation Zone. However, none of the projects have yet moved to the actual implementation phase.
The head of the China desk at the Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP), Daw Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, said, As the election is getting nearer, his trip is aimed at checking the status of Chinas strategic projects in Myanmar. Before the election, China wants to make sure the CMEC projects get off the ground.
Despite the agreements signed during the Chinese presidents trip to Myanmar, the projects that are most important to China have not been able to move forward, Daw Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee said.
In other countries, the implementation of BRI projects normally moved forward very quickly. Here, the government is very cautious and the process is still slow. That is the major reason [Yang] came to Myanmar, she added.
In a statement, the Myanmar State Counselors Office said Yang announced the provision of a 200-million-yuan grant to the Myanmar government for uplifting the livelihoods of people in Rakhine State.
During the meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Yang reaffirmed Chinas commitment to lend its continued support to Myanmars initiatives in addressing the challenges in Rakhine, to facilitate the Rohingya repatriation process, and to promote closer cooperation and coordination in the international arena.
Myanmars State Counselor expressed her deep appreciation to China for its consistent support at multilateral meetings, according to the statement.
Since 2017, China has officially played a mediation role between Myanmar and Bangladesh. More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh since August 2017 to escape military operations that the UN has called a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. The Myanmar military denies the allegations, insisting the crackdown was a response to coordinated attacks on security posts in Rakhine State by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.
Despite allegations that the treatment of the Rohingya and the militarys operations amount to genocide and war crimes, Beijing has continued to offer strong support to Myanmar.
The two also sides agreed to collaborate on the maintenance of peace and stability along the border, to combat illegal activities including gambling at the border, and to enhance cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. China also vowed to provide continued constructive assistance to the Myanmar governments national reconciliation and peace processes.
Moreover, the State Counselor and the Chinese diplomat discussed Chinas debt service suspension for Myanmar to ease the impact of COVID-19 on the countrys economy. However, no details of this discussion were released.
Yang also met with the commander-in-chief of Myanmars armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, on Wednesday, but neither side has yet announced details of that discussion.
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Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020
New forms of terrorism rooted in conspiracy theories could emerge after the coronavirus pandemic, the EUs terror chief has warned.
Gilles de Kerchove, the EU counter-terrorism coordinator, said that while terrorists inspired by Isis and al-Qaeda remained the biggest security threat, a major change in society was underway.
In an interview published in the CTC Sentinel journal, he voiced concern about the potential future rise of new forms of terrorism, rooted in conspiracy theories and technophobia.
We have already seen small-scale acts of violence caused by a belief in conspiracy theories for example, against telecom masts and given the amount of disinformation online, we could see more serious examples of this in the future, he added, referring to vandalism by people believing 5G technology is harmful.
I am also concerned about increasingly violent ecologist and animal rights groups.
His comments were published on Tuesday, as a new wave of Extinction Rebellion protests started and after a weekend that saw large demonstrations by conspiracy theorists.
Thousands gathered in Londons Trafalgar Square on Saturday to protest against lockdown restrictions, vaccines, 5G and supposed establishment plots.
Speaking to Raffaello Pantucci, a senior associate fellow in international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), Mr De Kerchove said coronavirus had sparked a rise in conspiracy theories that have no direct link to existing extremist ideologies.
In June, the UKs extremism chief told The Independent conspiracy theories must be tackled before they can be used to spark violence and terrorism.
Sara Khan, who leads the Commission for Countering Extremism, said the coronavirus pandemic was seeing wacky claims move into the mainstream and have real-world consequences.
Weve always treated conspiracy theories as being something harmless, wild and wacky but I think thats been a mistake, she added.
Conspiracy theory about 5G and Covid-19 sparks online panic
We need to classify them based on harm and the types of behaviours they encourage. If they are inciting hatred, violence or justifying terrorism or inciting violence thats not harmless.
We need a better and more sophisticated policy response.
Mr De Kerchove also raised concerns about growing far-right extremism and said left-wing extremism was also thought to be rising.
Left-wing violent extremists are responsible for a large number of non-lethal attacks, he added.
Depending on how the economic crisis develops in the wake of the health crisis we are currently facing, inequality is going to be exacerbated, and this might inspire more violent left-wing extremism that could have the potential to become more lethal and more geographically dispersed than it currently is.
The Belgian official stressed that it was not at the same level of intensity as right-wing violent extremism, warning that groups were strengthening international links and becoming unified around a theory that white people are being replaced in the west.
Structured right-wing violent extremist groups often know exactly how far they can go in their statements and in their activities to remain just within the limits of what is legal, Mr De Kerchove said.
In the meantime, they leave it to fanboys on the internet to take action by themselves, without any risk to the organisation.
He said that coronavirus may have increased the potential for terrorists to stage mass-casualty attacks, because of a perception that police and security services are distracted and increased vulnerability to radicalisation during lockdown.
We must prevent the current health and economic crisis from becoming a security crisis as well, Mr De Kerchove said.
Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou
Given the increase in lone-actor attacks in the west, we should pay more attention to mental health issues in our policy response.
He cited the upcoming release of hundreds of terror offenders from prisons in the UK and other countries and potential return of Isis members as other potential threats.
It came after Europols annual Terrorism Situation and Trend report said the UK had reported the highest number of far-right terror attacks and plots in Europe in 2019.
It said one attack in Stanwell a day after the Christchurch shootings was carried out and three were foiled in the year.
Britain also saw one Islamist attack at Fishmongers Hall and two others thwarted in 2019, as well as a separate single-issue plot.
No other EU country recorded more than two planned or attempted far-right terror attacks.
Islamist attacks remain the deadliest and most frequent, but last year the head of UK counter-terror police called far-right extremism the fastest-growing terror threat.
Of the 26 attack plots foiled in Britain since March 2017, 17 were classified as Islamist, eight far-right and one left, anarchist or single-issue terrorism.
In the past week, four major carriers permanently scrapped change fees for travel within the United States. The bigwigs are, namely United Airlines UAL, Delta Air Lines DAL, American Airlines AAL and Alaska Air Group ALK. This strategic move is part of the airlines efforts to attract passengers as coronavirus continues to take a toll on air-travel demand. Notably, Southwest Airlines LUV never had a policy to charge for ticket changes.
American Airlines also hit the headlines when management announced that it will have to make approximately 19,000 of its employees redundant in October unless the current the payroll-support program, which expires on Sep 30, 2020, is extended. United Airlines also warned of trimming its pilot workforce in absence of more federal aid due to lackluster travel demand. Delta's intention to furlough 1,941 of its pilots due to suppressed demand was mentioned in the previous weeks write-up.
Recap of the Past Weeks Most Important Stories
1. United Airlines permanently cancelled change fees on all Economy- and Premium-class tickets for domestic travel with immediate effect. Additionally, all customers can fly standby for free on a flight departing the same day of their booked flight beginning Jan 1, 2021. To offer flexibility in ticket changes, the carrier is also extending the waiver for new tickets issued through Dec 31, 2020. This option is valid for all tickets issued after Mar 3, 2020 on both domestic and international travel.
United Airlines carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), currently. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
2. Delta and American Airlines followed suite in permanently scrapping change fees. On the removal of change fees, Deltas CEO Ed Bastian stated, We want our customers to book and travel with peace of mind, knowing that well continue evaluating our policies to maintain the high standard of flexibility they expect. Meanwhile, management at American Airlines stated that customers flying to any of the 50 U.S. States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean belt, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will not have to pay fees for ticket changes when traveling in the main cabin (except Basic Economy), Premium Economy, Business Class and First Class.
Story continues
3. In a SEC filing, American Airlines authorities announced that it will have to furlough approximately 19,000 of its employees in October as air-travel demand remains suppressed. Following this news, shares of the company dipped 2.2% at the close of business on Aug 25. Per the airline, these furloughs can be avoided if the payroll-support program is extended.
In the same vein, Chicago-based United Airlines reportedly warned that it will have to lay off 2,850 pilots in the Oct 1-Nov 30, 2020 time frame in absence of additional federal relief following the expiry of the existing payroll package.
4. Hawaiian Airlines, the wholly owned subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings HA, became the latest airline to announce a probable headcount cut on or after Oct 1, 2020. Per a Sec filing, Hawaiian Airlines officials informed approximately 414 U.S.-based employees in its Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) work groups about their potential job losses. The carrier further stated that 28 more employees represented by ALPA will receive individual intimation at a later date. Additionally, the carrier expects to issue similar notices to employees in its International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and Transport Workers Union work groups due to coronavirus-induced soft travel demand.
5. Alaska Airlines, the wholly owned subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, announced plans of adding seasonal routes to Jackson Hole, Wyo to capitalize on the improvement in leisure air-travel demand following the easing of restrictions. From Dec 17, 2020 to Apr 11, 2021, Alaska Airlines will operate flights five times a week from Seattle and San Diego to Jackson Hole. Further, beginning Dec 19, 2020 through Apr 10, 2021, the carrier will operate twice a week from San Jose to Jackson Hole.
Performance
The following table shows the price movement of major airline players over the past week and during the past 6 months.
The table above shows that most airline stocks have traded in the green over the past week, leading to the NYSE ARCA Airline Indexs gain of 1.5% value to $59.42. This coronavirus-ravaged industry was boosted by positive updates on the vaccines under evaluation to combat the disease. Over the course of the past six months, the NYSE ARCA Airline Index has depreciated 28.2%.
Whats Next in the Airline Space?
Investors keenly await updates on further federal relief for airlines.
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Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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Oti Mabuse says she feels 'empowered' by the Black Lives Matter movement. (Chloe Mallett/Hearst)
Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse has said she feels empowered by the Black Lives Matter movement and finally comfortable to show off her natural hair.
The 30-year-old professional dancer admitted sharing her afro hair on social media had been a thing for her that she has finally felt able to do.
Mabuse told Red magazine: There were so many people saying theyd never seen my real hair, as I had never wanted to show that side of myself before. It was really only close friends and the Strictly pros who had seen me like this.
Read more: Boxer Nicola Adams confirmed for first ever Strictly same-sex couple
Oti Mabuse won Strictly with Emmerdales Kelvin Fletcher last year. (Chloe Mallett/Hearst)
It was a thing, you know? You need to feel comfortable opening up about what you look like, before you decide whether or not you want to share that with other people.
The South African dancer said the Black Lives Matter movement had been empowering.
She said: Being the first black South African woman to do things in my industry has been an asset. I have so many opinions about [racism], but theyre personal. I dont feel I can represent everyone because people have different experiences. Whats great is that now we feel empowered to share how we feel.
Read more: Strictly winners Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse reunite for new dance venture
The Strictly star who won the show with Emmerdales Kelvin Fletcher last year also revealed that after her sister, Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse, set her up with her now-husband as a dance partner Maurius Lapure, she refused to try out with anyone else.
Oti Mabuse shows off her natural hair on the cover of Red magazine. (Chloe Mallett/Hearst)
She said: When I said I wanted to become a professional dancer, Motsi suggested a few boys I could trial with as dance partners. Marius was the first and only try-out I had. I cancelled all the others. I was like, This is the one.
Read the full interview with Oti Mabuse in the October issue of Red, on sale 2 September.
Although Amal Karzais My Key was named the winner of the inaugural U.S. Key Colors Competitionan international biennial contest for picture book creators founded in 1996 in Belgiumthe spotlight was also on this years two runners-up: Susie Ohs Soomi's Sweater and Emma Wards Doriss Dear Delinquents.
Selected from a pool of 156 entries, the two runners-up were announced in a livestreamed ceremony on Aug. 17. Both Oh and Ward, who is from New York and Michigan respectively, will receive publishing contracts from Clavis. Their books are slated to publish in the fall of 2021.
The Key Colours Competition has been held in other international markets since 1996 and was created to encourage young authors and illustrators to create picture books. Many bestselling author-illustrators were discovered through the competition, including Guido van Genechten, Anita Bijsterbosch, and Francesca Pirrone.
The jury for the U.S. Key Colors Competition, which was composed of book professionals from diverse backgrounds, included Clavis CEO and Publisher Philippe Werck; Emma Kantor, deputy childrens book editor at Publishers Weekly; Meghan Goel, children's book buyer and programming director at BookPeople; and international bestselling illustrator and author Guido van Genechten, who won the 1998 Belgian Key Colours Competition for his picture book Rikki and whose Little White Fish has sold more than 600,000 copies in 20 countries.
Ohs Soomis Sweater, about a girl named Soomi who receives a beautiful sweater that begins to unravel, earned praise from the jury, which called the book a sweet and very child-centric story that presents a small issue, which for a childs point of view can feel important and big. The main characters very supportive friends try to help, but finally, its a creative solution of the mother that solves the issue. The illustrations are sweet and stylish and set up a nice atmosphere, without many details, and a feeling of less is more.
Wards Doriss Dear Delinquents, a simple counting and alphabet book about 26 small and naughty, was praised for its artwork, with the jury saying, the crocodiles are fun to look at, with sharp teeth and funny dresses. There is a lot of humor and fun.
For more information about the Key Colors Competition, visit clavis-publishing.com/keycolors.
The coronavirus pandemic has put the spotlight on struggling health services in southeast Tunisia, with residents and doctors in a Covid-19 hotspot deploring a lack of equipment and medics.
The North African country had managed to contain its outbreak by moving early and imposing strict measures in March, but cases have been on the rise since it reopened its borders on June 27.
Gabes province, and especially the town of El Hamma, some 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of the capital Tunis, has become one of the country's virus epicentres.
More than 800 of Tunisia's almost 4,000 coronavirus cases and 11 of its 80 deaths have been recorded in Gabes region -- mostly from El Hamma -- in August alone, according to the health ministry.
Most cases have been asymptomatic, but residents of the agricultural town of some 100,000 people fear they will be unable to access treatment if needed.
"Our hospitals need to be hospitalised, urgently!" Fethi, a resident in his thirties of El Hamma, where a lockdown has been reimposed, told AFP.
The local hospital has no intensive care beds, and the army set up a field hospital in mid-August to screen suspected cases.
Those in need of hospitalisation are usually sent to regional capital Gabes, around 30 kilometres away and home to more than 400,000 people.
But the situation there is only marginally better.
The main regional hospital in Gabes has just two respirators for Covid-19 patients, and two intensive care doctors for the whole hospital -- but the pair only treat non-coronavirus cases.
'We have nothing'
"We have no intensive care staff for Covid patients," said Hamida Kwas, head of respiratory medicine at Gabes regional hospital.
It has just 16 intensive care beds, and all eight beds in the regular coronavirus ward are occupied.
The main regional hospital in Gabes has just two respirators for Covid-19 patients. By FETHI BELAID (AFP)
Hospital director Hechmi Lakhrach said he fears a "catastrophe".
Health ministry officials are aware of the lack of resources, equipment and staff, but "nothing has been done", he said.
Public health has declined in Tunisia over the past two decades, faced with poor management and corruption, and eroded by an increase in private facilities. Many trained doctors go abroad to work.
Services are also unequally distributed: 13 of Tunisia's 24 provinces have less than one intensive care bed per 100,000 inhabitants, according to a study on the marginalisation of Tunisia's central and southern regions.
Kwas said staff and equipment shortages were "exhausting us morally and physically. We are really afraid of not being able to go on".
Donations from individuals and companies have improved some of Tunisia's facilities, particularly since the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
But even hospitals that have benefited are still sometimes inadequately equipped.
At the Gabes hospital, donations allowed the creation of screening rooms for suspected coronavirus cases.
But these are not in use due to lack of equipment, said Imen Rejeb, head of the emergency department.
She said suspected coronavirus cases were being hospitalised in the Covid-19 ward alongside confirmed cases, risking contamination.
"We have no oxygen supply ... no respirators, no nurses. We have nothing," Rejeb said.
/nwsys/www/images/PBC_1243990
Research Announcement:
Moody's - Pandemic-induced recession
lowers remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean
Mexico, September 02, 2020 --
Severe impact of the pandemic on US' Latino labor market risks a prolonged recovery in
remittances, the pullback will exacerbate recessions in Latin America and the Caribbean
Remittances recovery will depend on US income support measures as well as the legal status
and education levels of migrant diasporas
About 75% of remittances going to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) come from the US, which
is undergoing its worst recession since the Great Depression. The pandemic-induced recession
is having a disproportionately negative impact on the US' Latino labor market, half of which is
foreign-born and heavily employed in the services sector. In a new report, Moodys Investors Service
examines the impact of lower remittances on growth and external positions in LAC as well as the
prospects for a recovery in US remittances to the region.
Although extraordinary unemployment benefits coming from the US government have helped to
temporarily preserve incomes, Moodys projects total remittances to LAC will decline by about 4%
this year country experiences will vary significantly as foreign-born Latinos and their Caribbean
counterparts cope with higher unemployment.
In LAC, Central America and the Caribbean are the most economically vulnerable to the decline in
remittance inflows, says Moodys associate analyst Gabriel Agostini. Mexico is the regions largest
recipient with nearly $40 billion in remittances last year. While remittance inflows to Central America
and the Caribbean are nominally smaller, they are substantially higher in relative terms representing
nearly 10% of GDP for each region, Agostini continued.
After reaching 19.3% in April, well above the 14.7% national average, Latino unemployment is likely
to remain stubbornly high. Elevated unemployment limits prospects for improved remittance flows
in the near future which will depend on the US economic growth and the income support measures
that played a pivotal role in replacing lost income this year. Additionally, LAC immigrants' legal
authorization in the US and the education credentials will also influence the speed of recovery in
remittances.
If the US government resumes unemployment benefits, or if the development of an effective
coronavirus vaccine allows for a quicker US economic recovery, we would expect remittance flows to
more quickly return to pre-pandemic levels.
The report also quantifies the impact on remittances under an alternative scenario that contemplates
prolonged pandemic and a delay in the US government extending income support measures. Under
this downside scenario, US remittances to LAC countries could fall by 10% relative to last year.
Subscribers can access the report at:
http://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?
docid=PBC_1232424
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A LIMERICK TD has accused the Government of not offering full supports and assurances for staff and students with underlying health conditions, as schools commence their reopening.
Maurice Quinlivan, Sinn Fein, said the Department of Healths roadmap offers very little guidance on how children with health conditions can be supported.
While small in percentage terms, in real terms many children will see their lives profoundly affected, and they are just as much entitled to a decent education as anyone else.
There is very little guidance on how they will be supported and it appears that much of the responsibility will fall on special education teachers. These teachers will be pulled from pillar to post as it stands under the government's plans and will be very stretched in attempting to provide education remotely on top of their existing duties, he stated.
The Dail reconvenes this week following the highly-anticipated reopening of schools. The Government has come under intense scrutiny by teachers, parents, students and the public over the level of communication and clarity on guidance to ensure safety in the classrooms.
I know that there are parents who want to keep their at-risk children safe, but are worried that they will lose out educationally if they keep them at home. I am also aware that many teachers and staff are deeply concerned that if they are at high-risk, but not at very high-risk, that they must attend.
Deputy Quinlivan said unions have contacted the Department in relation to instances of staff with medical conditions.
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Board Funds Body Cameras for OC Sheriffs Department
The Orange County Board of Supervisors decided at a Sept. 1 meeting to move forward with funding a body-worn camera program for the California countys Sheriffs Department.
The supervisors unanimously voted to informally adopt the funding in a preliminary budget that will be finalized on Sept. 15.
Now was the time for all the right reasons, for evidentiary value, for oversight, for transparency to move towards implementation of body-worn cameras, said Sheriff Don Barnes at the meeting.
Barnes said the department already had some of the necessary infrastructure in place from the in-car camera system used for decades.
The total cost of the program is projected to be between $5 million and $7 million annually, according to Barnes. However, 80 percent of that cost would be paid for by the municipal agencies and other partners that contract with the department.
Barnes requested $1.9 million in funding to start the program and create 13 new positions in the Sheriffs Department. The body camera program is slated to officially begin in January 2022.
Supervisor Doug Chaffee, former mayor of the City of Fullerton, oversaw the first police body camera program in Orange County in 2014.
What we found is that [the body camera program] de-escalated situations, both the officer and those involved in the altercation, he said at the meeting.
It tended to be more polite and get things done in a more appropriate way. It also cuts down on litigation.
The supervisors addressed the topic of body cameras during a discussion about the countys new $7.5 billion fiscal year budget, which is $706 million more than the 20192020 budget.
County CEO Frank Kim called the budget austere. He said there would be no mandatory layoffs or furloughs for county employees, despite a $290 million budget shortfall caused by a decrease in revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The challenge in this budget is to develop one that provides the basic services that our residents require while managing the significant economic impacts that have rippled their way throughout our funding streams that has affected our ability to provide the level of services that we would have otherwise presented, Kim said.
In a typical year, the Orange County budget is approved in June. However, the board decided then to adopt a temporary budget instead, and wait for potential federal and state funding to help fill any gaps.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors also voted on Sept. 1 to dedicate $25.5 million to fund body-worn cameras for Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department deputies. The county will launch the program over the next year.
A male pedestrian has died after he was hit by a car on a busy dual carriageway in Brisbane's east during the Wednesday morning peak.
The incident happened about 6.45am on Meadowlands Road in Carindale and, despite the efforts of paramedics, the man was declared dead at the scene.
A 650-metre stretch of Meadowlands Road was closed between the intersections with Bedivere Street (pictured) and Baynes Street. Credit:Google Maps
According to the Queensland Traffic Metro Centre, the incident closed the westbound lanes of Meadowlands Road between Baynes Street and Bedivere Street.
Traffic diversions remained in place as the police service's forensic crash unit investigators examined the scene. A tow truck was also called to remove the vehicle involved.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A new bipartisan Ohio Senate bill would allow the state to seek federal approval for canceling testing, as schools seek to recoup learning losses from a sudden switch to remote learning.
The bill would also continue a freeze on state report cards, yearly performance assessments that can have heavy consequences for school districts. The legislature canceled state testing and froze the report cards in the spring, as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered schools across the state.
The bill would remove state tests for this school year and would prompt the state to ask for a waiver on fulfilling federal testing requirements. If the state does not receive that waiver, Department of Education officials would need to figure out which tests to administer to meet federal requirements.
The legislature would give districts breathing room to figure out just how much of a dent the coronavirus pandemic made in student progress. The bill also continues a freeze on states EdChoice Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers for public school students in certain districts to attend private schools.
The bill currently sits in the Senate education committee.
Some schools have reopened fully to in-person classes, but others are either operating in hybrid models and about 24 percent are opening remotely. The hasty switch to online learning in the spring left some students without connection to districts, as officials discovered the extent of the states digital divide. Attendance rules were relaxed and focused on content completion, and teaching was asynchronous -- meaning that students werent having real-time interaction with teachers.
After having months to prepare, remote instruction looks closer to an in-person school day, with structured bell schedules and more resources to keep students connected.
Time will need to be dedicated to getting students back on track before advancing to new content, making this a difficult year to meet normal grade level standards and benchmarks, Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper said in testimony. Furthermore, given that there are still a lot of uncertainties about when the learning environment will return to normal, conditions are not optimal for either learning or testing.
The Ohio Federation of Teachers represents 55 unions with about 22,000 members. Croppers testimony supported both the report card and testing freezes, as well additional provisions in the bill like suspending teacher evaluations and flexibility for the states graduation requirements and Third Grade Reading Guarantee.
Cropper, in a phone interview with cleveland.com on Wednesday, said the state should use this opportunity to reassess the requirements it places on districts. Schools provide much more than just teaching, she said, noting the spotlight the coronavirus placed on some of these services, like food and mental health services.
We have to understand the hierarchy of needs, Cropper said. If basic requirements arent being met, we can be the best teachers in the world and theyre not ready to learn because theyre hungry or because theyre being shifted around from house-to-house. Part of the schools responsibility does have to be how to meet those needs so we can teach them, so we do have to wrap that into an accountability system.
What does the future of state testing look like now?
To help with district concerns about learning loss, the Ohio Department of Education created an online portal with benchmark assessments that teachers can use in the classroom. The tests, designed to figure out student progress toward state testing standards, were created from a state pool of questions.
Chris Woolard, the senior executive director of the Center for Performance and Impact at the Ohio Department of Education, said the state wanted to offer some support on assessments that didnt come from a third-party vendor and were aligned with the goals districts need.
He said although testing hasnt been at the forefront of district leaders minds, as fall begins there have been some more logistics questions about how testing will work.
All testing through the portal is voluntary, and districts do not need to share the data from these assessments.
The Ohio Department of Education cannot waive state testing on its own, which is why the legislature would need to pass a measure to seek a federal waiver. In the spring, President Donald Trumps administration waived all standardized testing requirements for students K-12 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
There has not been a similar move for the fall, as the Trump administration continues to push for students to be back in schools. Several states have made progress toward asking for these waivers, but might not have much luck. Previously, the assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy analysis at the federal Department of Education said it was not the departments inclination to grant those waivers again, EdWeek reported.
What about the EdChoice provisions?
The bill in its initial draft would freeze the indicators that would make a district eligible for EdChoice vouchers. The states EdChoice program uses a number of performance assessments and test results to determine whether students in that district should be able to receive tax-funded vouchers to attend private schools.
School choice advocates say this gives families a financial boost to make decisions about whats right for their students. But public school advocates say the vouchers are based on a flawed system and drain districts of resources -- without funding, it can be difficult for leaders to make the changes necessary for students to excel.
Last spring, legislators put a hold on the districts where EdChoice vouchers were available, but allowed current students receiving EdChoice vouchers to keep them. Siblings of students who received EdChoice scholarships and students who had previously opted out of taking the vouchers are also eligible.
The bill would extend the provisions for the 2020-2021 school year.
The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the Jammu and Kashmir Languages Bill 2020 which will make five languagesUrdu, Hindi, Kashmiri, Dogri and Englishthe officials language of the region.
Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar, flanked by Union minister Jitendra Singh, told reporters about the decision at a cabinet briefing.
We have decided to introduce the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill 2020 in Parliament, under which five languagesUrdu, Hindi, Kashmiri, Dogri and Englishwill become official languages. This has been done based on demand by the people, said Javadekar.
The I&B minister said more details of the bill would emerge once it is brought to the parliament.
Union minister Singh thanked the Prime Minister for the step.
I want to thank the Prime Minister for giving his consent for the inclusion of Dogri, Hindi and Kashmiri in addition to the other two existing languages as official languages for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Suffice to say that it is not only a fulfilment of a long-pending public demand of the region but also in keeping with the spirit of equality which was ushered after August 5, 2019, said Singh.
The Centre, on August 5, had announced the nullification of Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
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Army officials at Fort Benning, Georgia have gotten serious about enforcing COVID-19 restrictions by handing down punishments under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and administrative discipline to more than 60 soldiers, posting some of those actions on social media.
The most recent violation of Benning's COVID-19 restrictions occurred Aug. 24, when a second lieutenant received a general officer memorandum of reprimand for "wrongfully traveling to Petersburg, Virginia," according to a Force Health Protection UCMJ Summary posted on the Facebook page for Maneuver Center of Excellence.
"We remind all soldiers assigned to Fort Benning that a violation of General Order #5 could result in UCMJ or administrative adverse action," the post states.
That order lays out a series of restrictions, ranging from standard COVID-19 guidelines such as wearing masks and observing social distancing, to limiting personal travel according to a July 17 memo posted on the post's Maneuver Center of Excellence Facebook page. Travel restrictions dictate troops must stay within 150 miles of Benning, but can get approved for travel up to 250 miles at the brigade command level.
Benning began posting these UCMJ summaries of unnamed soldiers in late August. Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe assumed command of MCOE and Benning July 17, and established General Order #5 soon after.
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Donahoe also tweeted about the latest summary on Tuesday.
"Team let's think through our actions during the upcoming long weekend. I hate signing these things," Donahoe tweeted. "Do the right thing."
More than 60 Benning soldiers have received UCMJ punishment "or adverse administrative actions" for violating COVID-19 rules since March, he said in a statement to Military.com.
"Personnel who violate the general order are subject to UCMJ or adverse administrative action, and we are publicizing a few of these actions to ensure our soldiers understand that there are consequences to violating the orders," he said. "This information is meant to deter others from poor judgement and behavior. We chose the timing as a deterrence to bad behavior and poor decision-making over the Labor Day weekend. We're trying to prevent a mid-September spike. We are serious about mitigating the spread of COVID-19."
Donahoe set a strong tone regarding the importance of the COVID-19 restrictions during a July 22 speech he made after taking command.
"Our mission here on Fort Benning is too valuable to the Army to let that slip away," Donahoe said in a July 22 Army news release. "So, what we do every day, is we build the next generation of leaders. We build the next rifleman, the next tank crews, the next scouts, that are gonna go out to the Army.
"And that's an incredible task that the Army's chartered us with doing. ... And the only way we can do that is by remaining a healthy force to do that with."
Donahoe also said he understands that following strict COVID-19 restrictions can be stressful, describing his previous assignment with U.S. Forces Korea.
"I didn't leave that installation from the 6th of February to the 6th of June," Donahoe, said in the release. "So, I understand how we can get a little stir crazy and we want to get out."
Benning has posted the UCMJ punishments of five other soldiers found to have violated COVID-19 orders.
On May 1, a private first class received a Field-Grade Article 15 for wrongfully failing to obey curfew hours of 10 p.m. to 5a.m. and was punished with reduction to E2, forfeiture of $971 in pay, 45 days extra duty and 45 days restriction. The reduction and forfeiture were suspended.
On June 6, another second lieutenant received a general officer memo of reprimand for traveling to Auburn, Alabama to drink at a bar.
On June 13, a staff sergeant received a field-grade Article 15 administrative punishment for wrongfully traveling to a prohibited place, and received a reduction in rank to E-5, 45 days extra duty and an oral reprimand.
On June 28, a sergeant received a company-grade Article 15 for traveling off post for nonessential activities, and was punished with forfeiture of $674 in pay.
On Aug. 3, a staff sergeant received a company-grade Article 15 for traveling outside of the mileage radius and was punished with forfeiture of $879 in pay and seven days extra duty.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Gen. Donahoe's name.
-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.
Related: Army Replaces Fort Hood CO, Names 4-Star to Lead Vanessa Guillen Murder Investigation
WASHINGTON - Pressed by Democrats to quickly negotiate a new coronavirus relief package, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday the administration remains willing to work on a bipartisan agreement to help small businesses, the unemployed, children and schools. Democratic leaders in Congress are holding it up with hardened positions, he said.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 1/9/2020 (506 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
FILE - In this July 16, 2019, file photo an American flag flies on the Capitol Dome in Washington. The U.S. budget deficit climbed to $2.81 trillion in the first 10 months of the budget year, exceeding any on record, the Treasury Department said Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
WASHINGTON - Pressed by Democrats to quickly negotiate a new coronavirus relief package, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday the administration remains willing to work on a bipartisan agreement to help small businesses, the unemployed, children and schools. Democratic leaders in Congress are holding it up with hardened positions, he said.
Let's move forward on a bipartisan basis on points we can agree upon," Mnuchin urged at a hearing by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. The president and I want to move forward."
Mnuchin made the case that the economy's recovery has strengthened in recent weeks, citing improved consumer spending, growth in manufacturing and a rebounding housing market. It's the failure of some states to reopen activity that is holding back the economy, he said.
But Democrats insisted that dire economic conditions persist for many. Millions of Americans are now facing eviction, debt and hunger," said the panel's chairman, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. As the pandemic drags on, states, cities and businesses are warning that more layoffs may be coming."
The subcommittee's Democratic staff, meanwhile, said it has identified lapses pointing to possible fraud and abuse in a signature piece of the administration's relief effort, the $660 billion-plus small business loan program including more than $1 billion awarded to businesses that received multiple loans.
File-This Thursday, June 6, 2019, photo shows the U.S. Treasury Department building at dusk, in Washington. The Treasury Department is projecting government borrowing of $947 billion in the current July-September period, which would be a record for the quarter but down from the all-time high of $2.75 trillion in this year's second quarter. Treasury officials announced Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, that the government also plans to borrow $1.22 trillion in the October-December period. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
The staff investigators said in a report that a lack of government oversight and accountability for the program may have led to billions of dollars being diverted to fraud, waste and abuse, rather than reaching small businesses truly in need.
With bipartisan agreement, Congress enacted an unprecedented $2.3 trillion pandemic rescue package in March. Now the Trump administration and top congressional Democrats have been in a months-long stalemate over new relief legislation, with the two sides trillions of dollars apart. Lawmakers left Washington for the August recess without an agreement.
The impasse left millions of jobless people without a $600-per-week pandemic bonus unemployment benefit that had helped families stay afloat, left state and local governments seeking fiscal relief high and dry, and held back a more than $100 billion school aid package.
An estimated 27 million people are receiving some form of unemployment benefits, according to the Labor Department, though the figure may be inflated by double-counting by states.
Mnuchin identified additional spending on aid to small businesses as the area where Democrats and Republicans are most likely to agree. In sometimes sharp exchanges, he and Democrats on the panel disagreed over the state of the economy and traded blame for the impasse over new rescue legislation.
Mnuchin pinned the blame on a refusal to compromise by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. While touting the economy's partial recovery, he acknowledged that we have more work to do."
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, during a hybrid hearing, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)
Still, Mnuchin showed some openness to negotiating and even agreed, under prodding from Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., to phone Pelosi right after the hearing.
He said he doesn't support the Democrats' position for $2.2 trillion in spending in the next package, which contrasts with Republicans' stance of $1 trillion. He added, however: What's more important is ... getting money to American workers, American families, kids. There are tremendous areas of agreement, and that's what we should be doing right away."
I would publicly say I am willing to sit down at the negotiating table with the speaker with no conditions whatsoever any time," Mnuchin said.
After talking with Mnuchin Tuesday evening, though, Pelosi released a statement saying, Sadly, this phone call made clear that Democrats and the White House continue to have serious differences understanding the gravity of the situation that Americas working families are facing.
Under questioning from Democrats on the panel, Mnuchin again denied any involvement in the hiring of new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
Democrats are looking into how DeJoy was hired as they scrutinize a series of operational changes at the Postal Service that have resulted in widespread mail delays and fears that the agency will not be able to handle an expected surge in mail-in ballots this fall as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Democrats also want to learn more about Mnuchins role. The Treasury chief met with members of the Postal Service Board of Governors while the selection of the new postmaster general was underway.
Mnuchin said he knew DeJoy, a former supply chain CEO and a top Republican donor, from the 2016 Trump campaign. But he said he had not seen or spoken to DeJoy before he was hired to lead the Postal Service this spring.
I had no specific conversations with him about that job until the (search) committee updated me that he was one of the finalists, Mnuchin said. I was quite surprised when I found out that he was a candidate. Again I had no involvement in that process whatsoever.
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The Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program was a key piece of the government's economic aid program responding to the pandemic. The nation's small businesses received a gut punch in the spring as huge swaths of the economy were shut down, millions lost jobs and consumers curtailed spending.
Economists generally credit the small business program with helping prevent the job market meltdown from becoming worse. The loans are forgivable if businesses use the money to keep employees on the payroll or rehire workers who have been laid off.
The program ran from April through early August, awarding about 5 million loans totalling some $520 billion.
The program is supporting an estimated 51 million jobs, representing 80% of small business payroll in all 50 states and six territories," the Treasury Department and SBA said in statements when asked for comment on the congressional report. We worked around the clock and launched the program in record time, under one week, because Americans needed immediate economic relief. Any program of this scope and size will encounter issues, and we have moved quickly to respond as they arise."
___
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
Independents from rural Ireland have pledged to vote against legislation empowering the closure of pubs because wet pubs are already closed and must be allowed to reopen.
The new law is absolutely scandalous, involves an attempt at a police state, is draconian, and deliberately aimed at driving rural publicans out of business because of a hell-bent obsession with ending their livelihoods, they claimed.
And a massive demonstration by rural publicans from all over Ireland to Leinster House is now planned for Tuesday next, although organisers pledge to observe social distancing.
People in rural areas being forced to travel to food pubs in towns and cities in order to get a drink will likely spread Covid-19, not contain it, the Dail group says.
Expand Close Independent TDs for Kerry Michael Healy-Rae, left, and Danny Healy-Rae (Aine McMahon/PA) / Facebook
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Deputies demanding the immediate reopening of rural pub include the Healy Rae brothers, Mattie McGrath, Michael Collins, Carol Nolan and Richard ODonoghue.
Mr McGrath said the proposed law gave too many powers to Gardai, with members of the force not wanting them, a claim echoed by Michael Healy Rae.
Allowing rural pubs to reopen would spread the people out more and reduce the chance of infection, he claimed, adding: NPHET does not have a monopoly on being right.
Michael Collins of Cork South West claimed the authorities were trying to frighten people into a police state, and said the 7,000 inspections of food pubs currently open showed small infringements with only thirty.
Ireland was the only European country to keep its pubs closed, he said, with Mr McGrath alleging a Government-imposed apartheid between rural and urban pubs.
Danny Healy Rae said the legislation allowing for immediate closure orders to be imposed by Gardai was absolutely scandalous and would criminalise, victimise and penalise publicans before they even open at all.
He added that pubs were not where the virus is coming from, because pubs are closed. Its coming in on planes and from different places.
Mr Healy Rae promised to give them hell in the small time he was allowed on the debate.
Mr ODonoghue, a new Independent TD for Limerick City, said rural closures were telling me to go 15 miles for a drink.
By forcing people in rural Ireland to go to towns and cities is putting people at risk of catching Covid-19, he added.
Mattie McGrath denied being alarmist, saying it was alarming legislation, going on to attack as ridiculous the 9 meal requirement for a drink in open premises.
He said he had asked NPHET if it was behind this stipulation and they had denied making that stupid regulation.
Michael Healy Rae said past and present politicians appeared hell-bent on closing down family-run pubs in rural Ireland, where the selling of drink is in their blood over generations.
Publicans knew best how to run their own houses and could demonstrate it if allowed even a trial run of opening, he said. The problem with social non-distancing was a Dublin phenomenon, he said, because with rural pubs had far few customers and were trying to survive.
Mr ODonoghue said rural Ireland was saying: "Were as entitled to go for a drink, the same as you are, with creameries, post offices and other community gathering places already stripped away.
Mr Collins said: Theres an agenda here to get rid of rural pubs. Mr McGrath noted that off-licences had drink flowing out of them, and not a word about it,.
Danny Healy Rae said of rural publicans: They cant live on wind.
The doctor, who according to Rhea Chakraborty had allegedly treated Sushant Singh Rajput after a depressive episode in 2013, has said that his only consultation with Sushant happened in 2014, and it was for insomnia.
In his statement to the Mumbai Police, accessed by India Today, the doctor said, In 2014, Sushant Singh Rajput visited my clinic in Andheri. He did not have any prior appointment to see me. That time the clinic was crowded and lot of people were present inside. Sushant then told me that he couldnt provide all the details of his ailment then and if needed he will come and see me again. He told me that he was suffering from sleeplessness and insomnia. So, I screened and examined Sushant and didnt find any serious issues then. For sleeplessness and insomnia, I prescribed some medication and gave him a future date for appointment.
The doctor said that Sushant never came for the follow-up appointment. He also highlighted his methods, which include asking the patient if theyre having suicidal thoughts. He said, While treating or examining any patient, I ask for detailed information from them. During primary examination, I ask them whether they have any suicidal thoughts. Whether they fear anything or have any kind of phobia. Whether they are getting proper sleep and if their appetite is normal. Only after that, as needed, I prescribe medicines to the patients. The patients are also asked to regular follow up visits. If required, I also refer them to other psychiatrists also.
Also read: Rhea Chakrabortys lawyer explains how Sushant Singh Rajput could look jovial during Paris trip
Rhea Chakraborty in an interview to India Today had mentioned Harish Shettys name, when she recalled Sushant telling her about having a depressive episode in 2013 and visiting the doctor.
She said that during their 2019 Europe trip, when Sushants mental health deteriorated, he had told her about having experienced depression in 2013. When I asked him what is happening, he told me that in 2013, he had a depressive episode and met a psychiatrist called Harish Shetty. He told me that the same doctor advised him to take Modafinil, [the medicine that] he took on the flight. He told me that he was fine after that. After that, now he was feeling more depressed and anxious. Then we cut short the trip and returned.
Previously, Susan Walker, Sushant and Rheas psychiatrist, had told journalist Barkha Dutt that Sushant was suffering from bipolar disorder.
Sushant died on June 14. The case is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Enforcement Directorate. Rhea has been accused by Sushants father of having abetted his suicide and misappropriating his funds.
If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist. Helplines: Aasra: 022 2754 6669; Sneha India Foundation: +914424640050 and Sanjivini: 011-24311918
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A former United Nations employee has been charged in the U.S. with making false statements to cover up the drugging and sexual assault of multiple women in Iraq.
Karim Elkorany, 37, was arrested on Wednesday at his residence in West Orange, New Jersey on two counts of making false statements to federal agents, and appeared in Manhattan federal court later in the day.
From 2013 to 2018, Elkorany worked as a spokesman for the UN Childrens Fund and later the UN mission in Iraq.
Prosecutors say that between 2009 and 2016, Elkorany sexually assaulted or attempted to sexually assault at least five women while the victims were unconscious after consuming alcoholic drinks that he had prepared.
The United Nations headquarters in New York is seen in a file photo. Former UN employee Karim Elkorany, 37, was arrested on Wednesday at his residence in West Orange, New Jersey on two counts of making false statements to federal agents
Some of the women say that when they regained consciousness, Elkorany admitted that he'd had sex with them, and some experienced genital or anal pain after awaking, prosecutors say.
In one instance, in November 2016, one victim said that after dining out with Elkorany, she returned to his apartment and lost consciousness, but regained consciousness intermittently to find Elkorany sexually assaulting her, according to the indictment.
The woman reported her allegation to the UN, which initiated an investigation, and in November 2017, two FBI agents interviewed Elkorany outside his New Jersey residence.
Elkorany denied the allegation in the interview, and said that he had not used drugs on the woman, or provided her with drugs, according to the indictment.
A Kurdish flag flutters in front of the Quru Gusik refugee camp on the outskirts of the city of Arbil in Iraq's Kurdistan region in 2013. Prosecutors say that between 2009 and 2016, Elkorany sexually assaulted or attempted to sexually assault at least five women
'When questioned by the FBI, Elkorany compounded his alleged unconscionable conduct by making false statements to the special agents investigating the assaults,' Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement.
The case is being prosecuted by the Offices Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel C. Richenthal, Amanda L. Houle, and Lara Pomerantz are in charge of the prosecution.
It was not immediately clear whether Elkorany had an attorney to speak on his behalf.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison on each of the two counts.
Patna, Sep 2 : Anupam Kumar Suman, the former Municipal Commissioner of Patna has jumped into the Bihar Assembly election scene and hinted at contesting against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Suman was said to be one of the closest bureaucrats to Nitish Kumar. The Gujarat cadre senior IAS officer was appointed in Bihar after a special request by the ruling party. He held various top posts in the Bihar government, including that of the principal secretary in the state secretariat.
Suman resigned from the post of Commissioner, Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) on August 3, 2019, after the state government held him responsible for last year's flood in the capital city that flashed scenes of top ministers, including Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi marooned by rising waters.
"I resigned from the post on August 3 last year, while the flood happened in the city a month later. The state government held me responsible for the choked drainage system leading to the flood," Suman said.
A year after his resignation, Suman attacked Nitish Kumar for the pathetic condition of the PMC. "The officers of the PMC do not have power to take decisions. Hence, no one wants posting in this department," Suman added.
He hinted that he may contest elections against Nitish Kumar in the same way Arvind Kejriwal did against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi in 2014 parliamentary election.
Suman is associated with a party called 'Plurals' led by Pushpam Priya Chaudhary. The party plans to contest all 243 seats in Bihar.
-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 16:28:14|Editor: huaxia
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ULAN BATOR, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported two new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its total tally to 306, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Wednesday.
"A total of 484 tests for COVID-19 were conducted across the country on Tuesday and two of them were positive," Amarjargal Ambaselmaa, head of the NCCD's Surveillance Department, said at a daily press conference.
The latest two cases are Mongolian nationals who returned home on a chartered flight from Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan on Sunday, said Ambaselmaa.
Meanwhile, one more patient has recovered from the disease, taking the total number of recoveries in the country to 296, she said, adding that the remaining 10 COVID-19 patients are in stable condition.
All confirmed cases in the country were imported, and no local transmissions or deaths have been reported. Enditem
These days, a lot of single people depend on online dating apps for their love' life. Now, Pakistan has blocked access to Tinder and several other dating apps as the government thinks the app has immoral and indecent content. Not only this, regulators also threatened to shut down YouTube for the same reasons.
Press Release: PTA has blocked access to five dating/live streaming applications i.e. Tinder, Tagged, Skout, Grindr and SayHi. pic.twitter.com/gFJxsgcn6m PTA (@PTAofficialpk) September 1, 2020
Banned dating apps include Tinder, Grindr, SayHi, Tagged, and Skout. This decision was taken by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority or PTA as according to them these apps failed to "moderate... content in accordance" with the laws of Pakistan.
The PTA also said that the apps have negative and immoral/indecent content that is not good to be consumed by the people of Pakistan.
Since the platforms did not respond to the notices within the stipulated time therefore the Authority issued orders for blocking of the said applications. PTA (@PTAofficialpk) September 1, 2020
So, amid Coronavirus when peoples dating life is almost zero, Pakistan has created another problem for its citizens.
Shahzad Ahmad, director of digital rights group Bytes For All opposed the moral policing thats been done by the PTA. He said, "If adults choose to be on an app, it is not for the state to dictate whether they should use it or not.
He also expressed how he thinks that this ban is a completely ridiculous move and that people will look for alternatives.
Also, last week PTA asked YouTube to immediately block all videos that are immoral and objectionable.
Heres what people have to say about the dating app ban-
Kiya he ghattiya mulk hai yeh..! Sindhustani | (@Sindhustaani) September 1, 2020
Khud se na set ho to dusro ki setting na hone do Pro.Fool buddy (@ColFool_) September 1, 2020
Instead of moral policing, let's work on accessibility and Internet for all. Prioritise please Muntaqa Peracha (@muntaqa) September 1, 2020
This last tweet is a joke.
What do u want them to fix in dating apps as per the local laws?? I would really love to know. Sadia Sheikh (@iSadiaSheikh) September 1, 2020
PTA quickly becoming a laughing stock.
Tells us everything about our priorities as a nation Shahaan (@Shahaan__) September 1, 2020
@PTAofficialpk PTA, wale Tinder py koie live streaming nahi hoti, Tinder py koie vulgarity nahi hoti, me 3 years sy use kar raha hu, Tinder stranger sy texting communicate karne k ek official app hai, jo k All word me use ho raha hai, Bas Pakistan me ban, Please unban Tinder Shazaib Mughal (@ShazaibMughal13) September 1, 2020
Pakistani people are not too pleased with the decision and are now worried about their dating life. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.
The widow of the first PSNI officer killed by paramilitaries has backed Arlene Foster's call for harsher sentences for those who murder public servants.
Kate Carroll was speaking after the First Minister said it was "morally indefensible" that Northern Ireland has the most lenient tariff across the UK and Ireland for such crimes.
Mrs Carroll, whose husband Stephen was gunned down by the Continuity IRA in 2009, told the Belfast Telegraph that it was time for tougher mandatory minimum sentencing here.
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"It's traumatic enough for relatives to see their loved ones go to work every day with a target on their back," she said.
"Steve had one on his back - and, as we know, one day that target was hit.
"After all the devastation and heartache that losing someone you love so much brings, that grief is then compounded when the killers get lenient sentences.
"They still have a life ahead of them when they get out, unlike the brave people they have deliberately put in the ground."
Sentences for murderers should be tough enough to reflect the damage wreaked by their actions on victim's relatives Kate Carroll
Judges are bound by sentencing guidelines, which are different in each part of the United Kingdom and also in the Republic of Ireland, and must take into account mitigating circumstances, such as early guilty pleas, co-operation with police and remorse, as well as aggravating factors, such as intent and excessive violence.
Mrs Carroll was struck by tragedy again four months ago when she lost her only son.
Shane Carroll, a father of 10, died suddenly, aged 48-the same age Mr Carroll was when he was killed.
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Banbridge-based Mrs Carroll (70) said her son, from a previous relationship, never recovered from the trauma caused by the death of the man he called Dad.
"Sentences for murderers should be tough enough to reflect the damage wreaked by their actions on victim's relatives," she said.
Mrs Foster said she had raised the issue with Justice Minister Naomi Long following the conviction last month of Crossmaglen man Aaron Brady for the murder of Garda officer Adrian Donohoe in Co Louth, and she is calling for urgent reform.
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She also said it was "deeply worrying" that while Brady is facing a minimum 40-year sentence in the Republic, the starting tariff in Northern Ireland is less than half that at 15-16 years.
Kyle Black, whose 52-year-old prison officer father David was murdered by IRA dissidents in 2012, said it's "particularly reprehensible" for people to kill public servants, who are there to serve the community.
"Anyone who goes out of their way to kill them should be properly punished," he said.
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"There has to be a deterrent there for people who continue to engage in that sort of activity.
Although no one has been convicted in connection with his dad's murder, the 27-year-old DUP councillor said nothing will ease the pain of his brutal death.
"No level of sentencing will take away the grief, but at the same time there has to be an appropriate punishment for those who have inflicted that pain on victims' loved ones" he said.
"We must send a clear message via tougher sentencing."
A PSNI spokesman said: "All public servants play an incredibly important role in protecting and serving communities and we welcome the appreciation shown for their lives in the debate.
"We await the outcome of the Department of Justice's sentencing review."
The Department of Justice was approached for comment.
HIGHLAND PARK, N.J. - "Work from home" was over. Time to return to the office. So a little after 8 a.m., with a lunch she'd packed the night before and her college-age daughter next to her, Susan Liebell backed her Hyundai Sonata out of the driveway, turned down a neighborhood street and phoned her mom.
"I have to go to work today," Liebell, 54, announced over the phone.
It sounded so routine. Liebell had been commuting for 17 years to her teaching job at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. But this was different. This was her first time going back to the office since the coronavirus shut everything down in March. She'd been imagining this day for weeks, through sleepless nights and anxious discussions, while hunkering down at home for most of the spring and summer. She'd even volunteered to return to campus when the university asked. Over the summer, she told herself this could work if everyone took the safety precautions and no one expected things to be like they used to be.
But now, as she drove to work, the safe distance she'd fought so hard to maintain between herself and the pandemic was rapidly collapsing.
"I'm going to focus on the driving since I haven't done it in a while. I've got to go, Mom," Liebell said on the phone.
The coronavirus has fundamentally changed how people work - whether it's behind masks and Plexiglass or at home and over Zoom. Today more workers are doing their jobs at home than in traditional office settings, with an estimated 42% of the U.S. labor force working from home full time, eight times as many as before the coronavirus shutdowns, according to Stanford University's Institute for Economic Policy Research. But pressure to return to offices and classrooms has grown as the pandemic drags on.
Some workers - including many teachers and white-collar workers, who avoided being called back early on in the pandemic - face a difficult decision: Do they go back? It's a question that has polarized the nation. Some say they're being asked to return before it's safe. Others worry how the economy will recover without a rapid return to normalcy.
Liebell made for an unlikely candidate for going back. Risk-averse and detail-oriented, she viewed the national response to the pandemic as "one giant dumpster fire." She was careful to avoid getting sick, masking up and rarely leaving her house. Her politics leaned toward liberal - while in college, she worked for Mario Cuomo, then New York's governor - so she wasn't doing this to make a political stand, to prove President Donald Trump and others who have played down the risks of the coronavirus right.
But she felt trapped by the reopening debate - between calls to wait for a vaccine and the need to limit the economic pain. She understood why her colleague Ann Green, who teaches English and has family at high risk for the coronavirus, felt that going back meant "putting our lives on the line."
But Liebell, a political science professor, didn't have health problems putting her at higher risk for coronavirus complications. She felt guilty staying home while supermarket cashiers and nurses took risks. And the summer's Black Lives Matter protests convinced her that the students needed her back on campus.
"Maybe if I wasn't teaching two classes about politics and race, I wouldn't have gone face-to-face," she said in the car.
The university wasn't forcing her to return. And "nobody has patted me on the back, either," she said. She still had her pay and benefits cut by 10% because of the pandemic. Professors had the option of working remotely this fall, which a quarter of the school's 300 faculty members, including Green, took. Some students, too, didn't feel safe going back. Liebell agreed to return when she was allowed to teach one class in an outdoor tent - the first time the university had tried such a thing.
But there were things Liebell couldn't control. She didn't know whether students would be as religious about masking as she was. She worried about social distancing on a crowded campus. She worried about off-campus parties. Driving along Interstate 95 to Philadelphia, she and her daughter talked about how going back meant trusting others to an unusual degree. Julia Liebell-McLean, 20, had been expecting to return to Georgetown University this fall - but now her school was fully online.
"I understand the decision," Liebell-McLean said. "It'd be really stressful to feel you're responsible not just for yourself but others."
Liebell said a colleague at St. Joseph's warned her to be ready to teach remotely, doubting anyone could keep the virus under control.
"We have to stop talking about this," Liebell said suddenly to her daughter. "This is making my stomach hurt."
Liebell dropped her daughter off downtown to visit a friend and continued to campus. Traffic was lighter and parking easier than she remembered. She tied on her face mask - made from old holiday fabric, sewed in the pandemic's early days, selected for this day because the red matched her shoes. She affixed a name tag to her dress, worried students might not recognize her behind a mask.
The usual crush of first-day students was missing. She thought the Starbucks across from campus looked empty.
"Hello, Maurice. How are you?" she called to the security guard whom she'd normally stop to talk.
She noticed that the students and staff walking past her all wore masks.
"This is bizarre," she said to herself. She'd grown accustomed to seeing people wearing masks in her neighborhood, but it felt jarring here.
She walked into the political science department, past closed office doors and frozen-in-time notices about spring 2020 courses. The hallway's motion-detection lights triggered above her. She knocked on the door of Hope Charney, the department's administrative assistant.
"Hi, Hope. It's Susan."
"I put all of your papers under your door," came the reply from behind the closed door.
And the university-supplied face shield and extra student face masks?
"They're in the conference room across the hall."
Liebell flung open the windows in her second-floor office. Fresh air - and less risk of catching the virus. She struggled to remember her computer password. She printed materials for class. And although she had thought all summer about how to deal with navigating the small copy room and welcoming visitors in her office, she was alone.
"The weirdness of no one else being here," she said. "Oh, I didn't even check my email."
Her first class in this new world was at 11:15 a.m. She walked across campus until she saw the white party tent in a parking lot. Twenty-six desks were spaced out over the asphalt. Her desk sat in a corner. School social-distancing guidelines called for her not to stray. No roaming as she lectured.
"Can you hear me?" she asked the 20 students in front of her. Noise from a campus construction site competed with her voice. She felt muffled by her mask. "This is weird. Don't let me go on without hearing me."
She noticed there was no clock in the tent. She asked a student to tell her when she had 10 minutes left. She noticed a student's mask dipping below his nose. She got his attention. He pulled it up. And then she launched into a welcome speech that she hoped fit this peculiar moment.
"Welcome to Political Science 117," she said. "Welcome if you're fearful. Welcome if you're glad to be away from your parents. Welcome if you're missing your family. I know we've all had an extraordinarily challenging summer."
"We really want to avoid going all online," she continued. "But unless everyone does what they need to do, this won't work."
Then she slipped into professor mode, asking questions and prodding her students into a discussion of rights and the social contract. The virus was briefly in the background. And class was over.
"You guys were great," Liebell said. "I'll stand here and anyone can come within six feet of me to ask questions. Thanks for a great first class."
Sweat sheened her face. Her mouth was parched. The bottom tie of her face mask had come undone. She dropped a bottle of hand sanitizer on the asphalt, shattering the lid.
Time for her next class. It was in a traditional classroom. Seventeen students.
"John, can you open the windows?" she asked a student. "I'm not Dr. Fauci, but what I've read is that the more air that circulates the better. So we're going to have open windows. Even in winter."
Welcome to Politics 270.
She was excited to teach this class, especially with race sitting at the center of the national conversation.
"It's hard to talk about race," she told the class, trying to draw them out.
Especially behind face masks.
But they tried. When class ended, two students stayed behind to talk with her. She felt a little uncomfortable with how close they stood. Was it six feet? She'd figure out how to deal with this in the future.
"Liz, so glad to see you," she said to Liz Sweeney, a 21-year-old senior.
"I'm really excited to be taking this class," Sweeney said.
Liebell felt lightheaded. It was tough projecting her voice through the mask. She didn't feel like she could drink water during class, because it would require removing her mask. She planned to test how her voice carried in a face shield or an N95 mask. Those might be easier. She wanted to connect with her students. That was the whole point of going face-to-face.
She stopped by her office - grabbing notes and books, just in case the university suddenly closed and everything went online - and left campus at 2:30 p.m., picking up her daughter before making the 1-hour drive home.
"So," Julia asked, "how was it?"
It was Day 1 after months of nervous anticipation and doubt. But Liebell felt like teaching was possible, that she had made the right decision in coming back. It had been her choice, and she didn't doubt that other professors who decided to teach remotely had made their own right decisions. Returning wasn't easy. Being back wasn't like it had once been. And it could so quickly fall apart.
"I think it went really well," Liebell said. "Bizarre. But it was a start."
A white couple in Florida have been arrested for opening fire on an unarmed black family who were returning a U-Haul van at a strip mall because they thought they were trying to steal gas.
Wallace, 77, and Beverly Fountain, 72, have each been charged with three counts of aggravated assault following the shooting incident at the strip mall they own in Tallahassee on August 27.
They are accused of firing their guns at two black men and a 10-year-old child who were returning a U-Haul at a rental drop-off located at the strip mall.
Police say the couple incorrectly assumed the black men were linked to recent vandalism and theft of gas at the strip mall.
Wallace, 77, and Beverly Fountain, 72, have each been charged with three counts of aggravated assault following the shooting incident at the strip mall they own in Tallahassee on August 27
The two men who were fired at, Kendrick Clemons and Charles McMillon Jr., told the Tallahassee Democrat that they were just returning the U-Haul they had rented when they heard the gunfire.
They say Clemons had driven the U-Haul to the drop off spot and McMillon followed behind in his GMC truck to give him a ride back.
The men, who also had McMillon's 10-year-old son with them, said they were sitting in McMillon's truck ready to leave when they saw the Fountains coming towards them armed with their guns.
They say the couple pointed their guns at them and shouted: 'Don't move'.
McMillon said he quickly reversed and sped off as they heard gunshots ring out.
The victims are now filing a lawsuit against the Fountains and also the U-Haul company.
The Tallahassee police officer who arrested the couple was parked nearby when the incident unfolded.
In the arrest report, the officer wrote that he saw the U-Haul pull into the parking lot, followed by the truck.
The two men who were fired at, Kendrick Clemons and Charles McMillon Jr., said they were just returning the U-Haul they had rented when they heard the gunfire. They also had McMillon's 10-year-old son with them
They are accused of firing their guns at two black men and a 10-year-old child who were returning a U-Haul at a rental drop-off located at the strip mall. Police say the couple incorrectly assumed the black men were linked to recent vandalism and theft of gas at the strip mall
'The driver then parked the GMC by the U-Haul and based on their interactions, I assumed both parties knew each other and the gentleman driving the GMC was picking up the driver of the U-Haul,' the officer wrote.
'Their actions were normal, nothing out of the ordinary.'
The officer heard gunshots a short time later and saw the truck speeding away as the people inside motioned behind them.
The arrest report details how the officer then spotted the armed couple walking towards the truck as it left.
The officer demanded the couple drop their weapons and they initially refused to obey the comands, according to the report.
'The male and female could be heard saying that the occupants were possibly stealing fuel and that the male could not hear my verbal commands,' the arrest report says.
'Both the male and the female were not obeying my commands at first, however, they eventually placed the firearms on the ground and laid on the ground, away from the firearms.'
Kendrick Clemons (left) and Charles McMillon Jr (right) are now filing a lawsuit against the Fountains and also the U-Haul company following the shooting incident
The couple have since been released on pre-trial supervision and were ordered to surrender their guns within 24 hours. In a Facebook post, McMillon slammed the judge's decision to release the couple
After the couple were detained, they told police that people had recently been cutting fuel lines and siphoning gas from vehicles at the U-Haul location.
They claimed they were conducting surveillance when they saw the victims and believed they were planning to steal gas.
The couple say they fired warning shots in the air to scare them off. They denied pointing their guns at the victims.
Beverly admitted to police that she never saw the victims trying to steal gas.
The couple have since been released on pre-trial supervision and were ordered to surrender their guns within 24 hours.
In a Facebook post, McMillon slammed the judge's decision to release the couple.
'Who cares about that when my son had to witness something like that and how this has significantly affected him. I don't care about their age and them not being in trouble in the past,' he said.
'My son is only 10. I was only turning my U-Haul rental in. The fact that these people had ammunition, multiple firearms, multiple loaded magazines is crazy as hell on what their intentions really were if the police wasn't right there.
'They were basically given a slap on their wrist as in what they did was okay. The system is crazy and messed up. If I would have done the same thing, my BLACK A** would at the least have to bond out.'
Author Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, pictured, told The Washington Post: 'Melania and I both didn't use White House emails.'
Melania Trump regularly used private email accounts while in the White House to discuss state visits and government hires, a former friend has claimed.
Author Stephanie Winston Wolkoff told The Washington Post: 'Melania and I both didn't use White House emails.' The first lady is said to have used a private Trump Organization email account and an email from a MelaniaTrump.com domain as well as iMessage.
Winston Wolkoff's upcoming memoir, 'Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady,' is the first book to come from a former member of the first lady's inner circle.
On Tuesday Winston Wolkoff admitted recording her conversations with Melania, but defended doing so, saying she did it for 'protection'.
Winston Wolkoff was an unpaid White House adviser to the first lady until February 2018, when her contract was terminated as questions about inaugural spending arose.
In 2018 The Washington Post reported that Ivanka Trump sent hundreds of emails about government business from a personal email account to White House aides, Cabinet members and her assistant.
Ivanka dismissed any comparison to the use of private email by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which prompted an FBI investigation and inspired the 'Lock Her Up' chant at Donald Trump's 2016 campaign rallies.
Use of personal emails is allowed but it is illegal to discuss anything classified.
Messages allegedly sent by Melania are said to show her discussing government hires, state visits and schedules, the Easter egg roll and her Be Best initiative.
Former chief White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter said: 'It's total hypocrisy. They got elected acting as if Hillary Clinton ought to be in jail for using the wrong email.'
Probed on the existence of tapes Winston Wolkoff, a former Vogue events organizer, told MSNBC: 'Melania and the White House had accused me of criminal activity, had publicly shamed and fired me, and made me their scapegoat.
'At that moment in time, that's when I pressed record.'
On Tuesday Winston Wolkoff admitted recording her conversations with Melania, pictured with her husband on the South Lawn of the White House on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention last week, but defended doing so, saying she did it for 'protection'
Previous revelations to come from her bombshell book include details on how Melania reportedly prevented Ivanka from appearing in key photos of the inauguration ceremony.
The 50-year-old first lady allegedly nicknamed her 38-year-old stepdaughter 'princess,' calling her and her husband Jared Kushner 'snakes.'
She is also said to have laughed during the 2016 campaign after the infamous 'Access Hollywood' tape came out and revealed Donald Trump saying he liked to grab women 'by the p****.'
Wolkoff claims the first lady also scoffed at Michelle Obama's time in office. She reportedly once said 'Did Michelle Obama go to the border? She never did. Show me the pictures!'
Previous revelations to come from her bombshell book include details on how Melania reportedly prevented Ivanka from appearing in key photos of the inauguration ceremony. The 50-year-old first lady allegedly nicknamed her 38-year-old stepdaughter 'princess,' calling her and her husband Jared Kushner 'snakes'
The book also claims Melania ignored Michelle's choice to highlight American fashion designers and decided to wear whoever she wanted like Karl Lagerfeld.
Melania also allegedly told Wolkoff she wouldn't move into the White House until the shower and toilet used by the Obamas in the presidential residence were replaced - claims he new book.
The upcoming memoir is the first book to come from the first lady's inner circle
The first lady's spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham has dubbed the book 'wildly self-aggrandizing' revenge from a woman who joined the ranks of the president's enemies.
Its release comes days after Melania and Ivanka exchanged what appeared to be an icy stare at the Republican Convention where the president formally accepted the nomination to run for a second term.
Winston Wolkoff has said it was 'the worst mistake of my life' to work for Donald Trump and his family.
'When it really counted, Melania wasn't there for me,' Ms Wolkoff wrote her book.
'She wasn't really my friend. In fact, I wish I had never met her,' the author says about the first lady, a former fashion model.
Wolkoff's memoir recounts her friendship with Melania and her work with her, including on the presidential inauguration and in the East Wing.
It traces her friendship with the first lady, going back to their days when Wolkoff worked for Vogue and the then-Melania Knauss was a struggling model dating a New York real estate mogul.
The two women evolved into a friendship that included monthly lunch dates and New York society events.
But that friendship crashed and burned, starting with Trump's election.
David Wolkoff, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Melania Trump and Donald Trump pictured in 2008. The two women had a falling out over Wolkoff's work for the inauguration and reports on how much money she was paid for the gig.
tephanie Winston Wolkoff, Melania Trump and Rachel Roy pictured in 2017. Wolkoff's memoir recounts her friendship with Melania and her work with her, including on the presidential inauguration and in the East Wing
Pamela Gross Finkelstein, Judith Giuliani, Melania Knauss Trump and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff pictured in 2006. The two women evolved into a friendship that included monthly lunch dates and New York society events. But that friendship crashed and burned, starting with Trump's election
The two women had a falling out over Wolkoff's work for the inauguration and reports on how much money she was paid for the gig.
Wolkoff left the East Wing in February 2018 after news reports showed that her firm, WIS Media Partners, received a $26 million payment for its work on the inaugural.
The firm in turn spent $24 million on subcontractors, a person familiar with the inaugural planning told DailyMail.com at the time. The source said Wolkoff provided 'the whole look and feel the creative vision' for 18 or 20 inaugural events.
Her personal take from Trump's inaugural committee was reported to be about $500,000 while the rest went to other producers working on the event.
Melania Trump dismissed her from the East Wing with an email.
'I am sorry that the professional part of our relationship has come to an end, but I am comforted in the fact that our [friendship] far outweigh[s] politics,' the first lady wrote. 'Thank you Again! Much love.'
IAF chopper crash: Probe report likely to be submitted to Air headquarters next week
Bird menace due to garbage threatens safety of Rafale: IAF to Haryana
India
oi-Briti Roy Barman
Chandigarh, Sep 02: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has requested Haryana government to address garbage disposal method around Ambala Air Force Station that is leading to bird menace, which threatens safety of newly inducted Rafale aircraft.
"Air Force Station Ambala has very high concentration of birds and this has potential to cause very serious damage to the aircraft in case of collision," the demi-official letter reads written by the Director-General Inspection and Safety of Indian Air Force, Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, addressing Keshni Anand Arora, Chief Secretary, Haryana.
"Air Force Station Ambala has very high concentration of birds and this has the potential to cause very serious damage to the aircraft in case of a collision. Bird activity over the airfield is related to the presence of garbage in the area around."
"Several measures have been recommended to reduce the same and Air Officer Commanding Air Force Station Ambala has met Joint Commissioner and Additional Municipal Commissioner of Ambala through Aerodrome Environment Management Committee meetings conducted on 24 Jan 2019, 10 July 2019 and 24 Jan 2020," the letter also states.
The letter read, it is necessary that large and small birds are kept away from the airfield to protect the fighter aircraft.
The IAF has sought the immediate implementation of Solid Waste Management (SWM) scheme to reduce the activity of large birds in the aerodrome zone of 10 km around Ambala airfield.
Sushant Singh probe: BJP leader seeks dope test on actors
"This would involve instituting of littering penalty, improvement in garbage collection and setting up of a suitable SWM plant at a suitable distance from the airfield," the letter states.
IAF also asked for prohibition and control of pigeon breeding activity around the air force station.
Notably, the official induction ceremony for the Rafale aircraft will be held this month in Ambala where the Defence Ministers of India and France are expected to be present.
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Story first published: Wednesday, September 2, 2020, 10:45 [IST]
The National Election Authority (NEA) has announced that 52 nominees will battle for 26 seats in the run-off round of the Senate elections. The polls will be held on 6 and 7 September for Egyptians abroad, and 8 and 9 September for resident nationals.
Of the 74 individual candidates who won seats in the first round, the NEA said 68 were affiliated with the Mostaqbal Watan (Future of Homeland) Party.
In the run-off round 52 candidates will compete, 24 affiliated with Mostaqbal Watan, four with the Islamist Nour Party, three with the Guardians of the Nation Party, two with the Peoples Republican Party, one with the Congress Party, one with the National Movement Party, and one with the Ittihad (union) party, said the NEA statement.
The remaining 16 independent candidates are without any party affiliation.
Al-Ahram political analyst Amr Hashem Rabie says independents made a relatively strong showing in the first round. While 16 independents qualified for the run-off round, three independents, all of them Copts, won seats in the first round: Rafaat Kamal Zaki Soos and Hadi Louis Bibawi Morgan in Cairo, and Nashaat Metri Guindi in Alexandria.
No female candidates will contest the run-offs.
In the first round 20 women won seats as candidates on the National Unified List led by Mostaqbal Watan Party, says Rabie, but given that the law stipulates 10 per cent of the Senates 300 seats be occupied by women, the president will be obliged to appoint the remaining 10.
Run-offs will be held in 14 of Egypts 27 governorates: Qalioubiya, Damietta, Kafr El-Sheikh, Menoufiya, Beni Sweif, Qena, Sohag, Luxor, Aswan, Giza, Assiut, Matrouh, Port Said and Ismailia.
In the first round Mostaqbal Watan won all the individual seats in nine governorates: Daqahliya, Fayoum, Minya, Beheira, Sharqiya, New Valley, Suez and North and South Sinai. Mostaqbal Watan also won the majority of seats in the governorates of Cairo, Qalioubiya, Gharbiya, Giza, Beni Sweif and Alexandria.
While the National Unified List led by the pro-government Mostaqbal Watan Party won the 100 seats reserved for party lists unopposed, there was also little competition for the 100 seats reserved for individual candidates, says Rabie. He argues that the National Unified List candidates might as well be considered as appointees rather than elected delegates.
People knew in advance that the National Unified List would win, it was standing unopposed after all, and so they did not bother to turn out. This explains why just 14 per cent of Egypts 62.94 million voters cast their ballots during the four-day voting period.
And even of those who did vote, 15.42 per cent ballot papers were spoiled.
On 26 August the NEA announced that 53.99 million eligible voters had not turned out to vote in the first round.
Rabie believes the turnout could be higher in the run-off round even though the competition will be confined to 14 governorates because the battle between independent candidates is usually competitive, attracting larger numbers of voters.
In Qalioubiya governorate the Mostaqbal Watan candidate Abu Serri Imam faces an uphill battle against independent candidate Khaled Irman. In Damietta another fierce battle is raging between the Mostaqbal Watan candidate Ahmed El-Balshi and National Movement candidate Hamdi Shalabi.
In Kafr Al-Sheikh four candidates affiliated with the Islamist Nour Party are pitted against Mostaqbal Watan candidates.
Campaigning for run-offs began on 20 August and will continue until 5 September.
Once the 26 seats in the run-off round are filled, it will be up to the president to appoint the remaining 100 senators.
The results of the run-off round are due to be announced on 16 September. The Senate will
Include 300 members, a third elected via individual candidacy, a third through the closed party list system, and a third appointed by the president.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 3 September, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 2, 2020 / Compare-autoinsurance.org (https://compare-autoinsurance.org/) has launched a new blog post that explains how drivers can purchase an online car insurance policy.
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Story continues
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To the Editor:
The Promised Land?
In 1965, my husband, Robert P. Levine, went off to Mississippi to work as an attorney for President Kennedys Commission for Civil Rights Under Law. Among the incidents he recorded was a run-in with Sheriff Rainey and Deputy Price, later accused in the killings of Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney.
Thirty-one years later, he wrote an article looking back on 1965 to see what had been accomplished and asked, Were our efforts as lawyers successful? Did the deaths of Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney mean anything?
In that 1989 article, he came to two different conclusions.
In the public sphere buses, water fountains, waiting rooms there was progress.
On the other hand, The promised land we dreamed of in 1965 is not around the corner, or even in sight ... Mississippi may not be burning in 1989, but America, with all its prosperity and economic success, seems to be well on its way to establishing a permanent underclass made up of Blacks and other minorities. Maybe thats what James Cheneys mother meant when she wondered if her sons death made any difference at all.
Unfortunately, his 1989 summary is even truer in 2020 than it was when he wrote it. The pandemic has revealed this to the nation, pulling back a curtain on the disparity in rates of infection and death.
Our nations neglect of health care, housing, food security, and a living wage has indeed created that permanent underclass of Blacks and other minorities. Many of these are the very people who continued to drive our buses, collect our garbage, and work in our hospitals throughout the virus emergency.
Perhaps Robert, who died in 2013, would be most shocked by the efforts of people, 55 years later, to stifle voting. The right to vote was a battle he thought wed won.
It turns out in 2020 that we cant take anything for granted when it comes to voting. From the Supreme Court to local districts, safeguards have been rolled back.
What can we do? Be sure you are registered to vote, then make sure you get yourself and others out to vote on Nov. 3, or send in your absentee ballot as soon as you receive it, following all the directions carefully.
If you have time, work to facilitate voting elsewhere. We can do this. We can gather momentum to move forward, not backward.
Betty Krasne
Kent
A bow hunter in Oregon was killed on Sunday by an elk he was tracking.
Mark David, 66, wounded a 5x5 bull elk while hunting on private property near Tillamook on Saturday.
Mr David set off to find the elk before nightfall, but were unable to track it, according to Oregon State Police.
The next day, the hunter and the owner of the land continued the search for the elk. They found the wounded animal around 9:15am, and Mr David attempted to kill it with his bow.
The elk charged the hunter and managed to gore him in the neck.
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"The landowner attempted to help David but he sustained fatal injuries and died," Oregon State Police said in a statement.
After the attack, the elk was killed and its meat was donated to the Tillamook County Jail once police finished their investigation of the incident.
Though rare, elks do occasionally cause injury to humans.
Last year, two people were hurt after an elk charged at a woman in Estes Park, Colorado.
A bull elk attacked a woman, knocking her to the ground and poking her with its antlers near the town's visitor centre.
Luckily, her injuries were minor and she did not require medical attention.
Elk mating season - called an elk rut - generally happens between early September and mid-October. Male elks are especially aggressive during this season, as they are competing for mates. This often includes getting into fights with other male elks.
Hoboken Parking Utility enforcement officers said they are required to issue parking tickets every 20 minutes and can be punished if they fail to meet those goals.
Last month, The Jersey Journal reported that Jersey City parking enforcement officers are expected to issue a parking ticket every 30 minutes, and can be disciplined if they fail.
Now, one former and two current Hoboken parking enforcement officers said parking employees in the Mile Square City have only 20 minutes to issue a ticket.
This is a quota, one officer said. Thats three tickets an hour.
The Hoboken officers, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Jersey Journal that discipline warnings, write-ups, or multiple-day suspensions for failing to issue tickets fast enough is commonplace. The pressure sometimes forced officers to make up a ticket, the former officer said.
We have to produce or else we get suspended, one parking employee said.
In a statement, Hoboken spokesman Vijay Chaudhuri said that no quota exists.
Since at least the (former mayor Dawn) Zimmer administration, there has never been a quota system, Chaudhuri said. Any claim to the contrary is false. Like other municipalities across the state and country, parking personnel enforce illegally parked vehicles, with an emphasis on safety hazards for pedestrians and other motorists.
Finding a parking spot in Hoboken is a notoriously difficult task. In 2018, as the city considered raising meter rates, a city spokeswoman said there were more cars parked on the street than there were spaces.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the Mile Square City suspended street sweeping so residents could park for longer periods of time. But despite recommendations from the city council, other parking rules, including meter limits, remained in effect.
The two current employees interviewed said that Hoboken stopped enforcing meters at the outset of the pandemic, but the public was never informed, meaning motorists would still pay for parking. In an email, Chaudhuri said that meters stayed in effect to (provide) for the turnover of parking spots that are available for critical needs.
Alexander Shalom, senior supervising attorney for the ACLU, said last month that ticket quotas are illegal and that over time, they can have devastating financial effects for those without the means to pay. Theyre not the sort of thing that should be issued willy-nilly, he said.
In 2015, the New Jersey Civil Service Commission heard a case involving a Hoboken parking officer, Melissa Walker, who was appealing her termination from the agency. According to commission records, Walker was suspended on four separate occasions for violating the Twenty Minute Policy.
At the hearing, a former Hoboken Department of Transportation director explained the policy: it was practically unheard of for a (parking officer) to go more than 20 minutes without finding a parking violation, he testified, in the words of the Commission members. There was no quota, the director said, but officers who couldnt find parking violations in time had to contact their supervisors, who would decide whether to relocate the (officer) or provide other suggestions.
The commission ultimately ordered Walker reinstated, but upheld her suspension. A judge ruled that failing to write a ticket every 20 minutes, and failing to inform supervisors when she couldnt, constituted grounds for discipline.
But the officers interviewed by The Jersey Journal said that even when they contact supervisors to tell them they are unable to find violations, they are sometimes met with disbelief and can be punished anyway.
Theyll yell at you, one officer said. Theyre going to say, Its impossible. You know your route. Youre hiding something.
That officer recalled receiving a suspension for going 28 minutes, 29 minutes without giving a ticket.
Youve got to be kidding me, the officer added.
WATERLOO Waterloo council has struck a deal to lop six floors off a proposed highrise that neighbours and planners did not want built near suburban homes.
The developer sought 12 storeys before taking the planning dispute before a provincial tribunal. A compromise reached with city hall calls for a denser, six-storey apartment building, attached to a seven-storey apartment building already in place at 508 Beechwood Dr.
This has satisfied residents who live nearby in a complex of bungalows and villas.
The unsightly, 12-storey monstrosity and the resulting impact of increased shade over most of our units throughout the year has been largely mitigated, Jerry Huiskamp, director of the condo board at the Village in Beechwood West, told city hall by email.
Other neighbours are still fuming. Margie Warren complains the compromise exchanges height for width without addressing her concerns about extra traffic.
This seems to be another example where lip service is given to appease the neighbours but our input is not valued or respected, Warren told city hall by email. I am feeling like a tiny ant stepped on by city council!
Jennifer Lieberman argues that Beechwood Drive and McCrae Park will be overwhelmed by traffic from an additional 800 people who will move into this new development and into three others proposed nearby.
She dislikes the look of the proposed building, saying it lacks brownstone features proposed earlier by the city to smooth the transition from nearby townhomes to apartments.
The homeowners in the neighbourhood feel as though the city they love and contribute taxes to does not care about them, Lieberman said. They feel powerless to stop whats coming. A number of them are planning to move.
The provincial tribunal has the final say. It gave partial approval to the compromise Aug. 27. Full approval is expected at a hearing Oct. 9.
It is a compromise that we can make work, Coun. Sandra Hanmer said in support of the proposal in her ward. I know that people are still upset and concerned. It is difficult when things are not exactly as one might want it to be.
She hopes people feel they have had input.
Council unanimously rejected 12 storeys last year. City planners said the height did not fit the suburb but the development fits with Waterloos goal to put more people into existing space.
Mayor Dave Jaworsky supports the compromise, saying critics must recognize that an owner has the right to build on land not owned by neighbours or the city.
Waterloo has seen several controversies erupt over plans to intensify suburbs. Intensification is consistent with the public desire to stop spreading onto farmland, Jaworsky said. Unfortunately, it means changes in the neighbourhoods.
The city tries to manage that tension, he said.
A planner who has represented the developer declined to comment on the compromise.
The team produced and studied new active photocatalysts based on natural aluminosilicate nanotubes with cadmium sulfide quantum dots stabilized on their surface synthesized by self-assembly.
Co-author, Chief Research Associate of the Bionanotechnology Lab (Kazan Federal University) Rawil Fakhrullin explains, "Quantum dots are semiconductor nanoparticles up to 10 nanometers in size with unique optical properties. They have found applications in many industries, including photonics, sensor technology, and biomedicine. A joint study has shown that the use of natural aluminosilicate nanotubes as carriers for quantum dots of cadmium sulfide makes it possible to create efficient and low-toxic photocatalysts that are active under visible radiation."
The studied photocatalysts are nanotubes with an inner diameter of up to 20 nanometers, on the surface and inside of which about 50 nanoparticles of cadmium sulfide, doped with ruthenium as a co-catalyst, are formed. This inert metal is used in electronics and as a catalyst and anti-corrosion additive.
"We have developed a method for self-assembly of nanoparticles on the surface of natural nanotubes, which was used to synthesize quantum dots of cadmium sulfide. Its application made it possible to increase the quantum yield of the reaction of hydrogen evolution from aqueous solutions to more than 9%. We chose ruthenium as a co-catalyst. It is known that the addition of small amounts of ruthenium leads to an increase in the activity of such photocatalysts tens and hundreds of times. Its use made it possible to prevent side processes of charge redistribution and reactions that reduce the amount of evolving hydrogen. It is interesting to note that the stability of these photocatalytic systems is greatly influenced by the ratio of sulfur to cadmium in a sulfide nanoparticle; upon reaching a certain value, the stability of the system sharply decreases," says Russian Oil and Gas University employee Anna Stavitskaya.
Dr. Fakhrullin opines that photocatalysts are one of the most promising areas of modern chemistry. They use the most affordable source of energy - sunlight.
"Photocatalysts can be used to decompose water into oxygen and hydrogen, which will make it possible to obtain safe and environmentally friendly fuel in unlimited quantities. With the help of photocatalysts, it is possible to create self-cleaning surfaces (for example, windows that do not need to be washed), easily sterilizable medical instruments that will disinfect light, and also purify water from organic contaminants and pathogenic microorganisms. Heterogeneous catalysts used for photocatalysis should not only have the ability to accelerate the reaction, but also be stable and not cause toxic effects on living systems. This can be achieved by the simultaneous use of ruthenium, quantum dots and halloysite nanotubes," says he.
In this paper, the results of a study of the effect of a system based on natural halloysite nanotubes and quantum dots of cadmium sulfide synthesized on its surface in situ on the nematode organism (distribution of nanomaterials in organs, body length, and reproductive capacity) are presented.
"Investigation of nanostructured photocatalysts in vivo in nematodes showed no acute negative effect. The developed photoactive nanomaterials were not detected in tissues outside the intestinal tract of soil nematodes, which is a good indicator for nanosystems, many of which penetrate into organs and tissues and negatively affect the body," concludes Fakhrullin.
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Greece lashed back at Nicola Sturgeon's 'harsh' quarantine move today as thousands more holidaymakers face chaos.
The Greek tourism minister pointed out that the country's infection rate is 'well below' the threshold set by the UK government.
Scotland dramatically declared that from 4am tomorrow arrivals from the popular destination must self-isolate, while Wales is placing restrictions on incomers from the island of Zante after a rash of cases.
Boris Johnson is now under massive pressure to follow suit, with a crunch meeting due to happen later.
But the moves have sparked fury as the infection rate in Greece as a whole is still well below the mark used by the UK government to trigger inclusion on the quarantine list, of 20 cases per 100,000 population in a seven-day period.
It raises questions about how holidaymakers can judge whether to travel to destinations, with complaints that the goalposts keep being shifted.
Greece's tourism minister Harry Theoharis insisted the country has 'a much lower number of infections compared to most other countries in Europe'. The rate per 100,000 of population over the past seven days is just 14.3 - well short of the government's alert level.
'We have put in place a comprehensive set of protocols and measures,' he told BBC Breakfast. 'We take targeted measures where we see concentration (of cases).
He added: 'We feel that this is a bit harsh.'
The rate of coronavirus cases per 100,000 of population in Greece over the past seven days is just 14 - well short of the government's quarantine threshold of 20
Around 190 passengers on a Tui Airways flight landing at Cardiff were asked to self-isolate for 14 days and - in the first example of state-sanctioned testing - they will be swabbed within 48 hours and again after eight days (stock photo of a Tui jet)
Nicola Sturgeon tweeted today to explain that her decision was due to 'a number of positive cases' in people returning from Greece over recent days
UK ministers are today holding an emergency meeting with Welsh and Scottish officials about the rules on Greece, while Portugal is on the brink after cases rose above the mark set by the government.
Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething said he would be pressing the UK Government to consider the potential risk in Greece following six clusters amounting to more than 30 cases of Covid-19 in the last week.
The cases had come from four flights, two of which landed in England.
Tour operator Tui has said it will no longer offer holidays to the resort of Laganas on Zante.
Mr Johnson now faces increasing pressure to put Greece on the UK's quarantine list after Scotland and Wales imposed restrictions on Britons returning from the holiday hotspot.
Nicola Sturgeon's government is mandating two weeks of self-isolation for anyone arriving from 4am on Thursday, while her Welsh counterpart Mark Drakeford has singled out the party island of Zante.
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Around 190 passengers on a Tui Airways flight from Zante to Cardiff last night were asked to self-isolate for 14 days and - in the first example of state-sanctioned testing - they will be swabbed within 48 hours and again after eight days.
'There are concerns from our public health teams that the current advice and control measures for returning travellers are insufficient,' Mr Gething said.
He added that all passengers on a flight from Zante to Cardiff on Tuesday night would be told to quarantine and would be given two Covid-19 tests, one within 48 hours and another eight days after their return.
'In addition, I have pressed for an early meeting with the UK Government and devolved nations [today] to consider the latest assessment of risk by the Joint Biosecurity Centre,' he said.
'There is an obvious need for us to consider the potential for changes to the regulations in Wales which would require travellers arriving in the UK from Greece and possibly elsewhere to self-isolate on their return.'
Andrew Flintham, managing director of Tui UK and Ireland, said: 'Laganas is a popular resort with young people who traditionally holiday in large groups of friends.
'The health and safety of our colleagues and customers is our primary concern and recent cases shows that some customers are not following social distancing and Covid safety measures.
'It is therefore the right thing to do to protect and reduce a now identified potential risk to others by no longer offering holidays to this specific resort.
'The recent cases in Wales have highlighted a demographic of customers that have recently returned from Zante and subsequently tested positive. As the only airline that flies between Cardiff and Zante it has allowed us to understand trends that may also be seen in other areas of the UK.'
Trips to all other resorts in Zante will continue as normal.
Scotland's chief medical officer Gregor Smith said: 'There is a compelling public health risk around importation of the virus, especially given the number of imported cases linked to the Greek islands.
'The flow of travel between Scotland and Greece, and the behaviour we have seen from some of those travellers, means that on public health grounds there is a strong case - supported by public health directors - to remove Greece from the exemption list.'
The move came as holidaymakers scrambled to return from Portugal amid growing concerns restrictions could be reimposed to arrivals from there.
With thousands of Britons having travelled to Portugal since the country was exempted from quarantine measures on August 22, rising cases there were prompting airlines to increase capacity as holidaymakers hurried to return in case restrictions are reimposed.
There were 22.3 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Portugal in the seven days to August 31, up from 14.5 a week earlier, according to figures calculated by the PA news agency based on data collected by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Despite the changes in Wales and Scotland, the Department for Transport in London said there were no plans to amend travel arrangements with Greece.
Greece's current infection rate is 13.7 per 100,000 people, while the UK Government's threshold for its quarantine list is 20 cases per 100,000.
But there are grave fears that these relatively low numbers belie how rife the contagion is on Greek party islands popular with young Britons.
Rory Boland, travel editor at Which?, criticised the Government's approach to quarantining countries, claiming it was damaging the travel industry and leaving holidaymakers confused.
He said: 'Yet again haphazard announcements and rumours around quarantine have sparked chaos and confusion for holidaymakers, with many facing an unenviable choice between paying extortionate prices for last-minute flights home or the disruption caused by two weeks in isolation on their return.
'When the dust settles on what has been a disappointing summer for so many people, it's clear that a reassessment of the Government's approach to managing the threat posed by coronavirus to holiday travel will be needed.
'The travel industry will also need greater Government support to make it through the tough months ahead while major reforms will be needed to restore confidence among holidaymakers who have often been left out of pocket and with nowhere to turn for support when the pandemic has left their travel plans in tatters.'
Authorities impose new restrictions on the island of Zante as fears grow holiday destinations could become new covid hotspot Local restrictions have been put in place on the islands of Zante/Zakynthos amid fears of a rise in coronavirus cases. These include:
Suspension of any kind of live events and celebrations such as parties, trade fairs, religious ceremonies, open markets etc.
Prohibition of operation of all food/catering sector-related shops, services and facilities from midnight - 7am the next day.
A ban on gatherings of more than 9 people, either indoors or outdoors;
A limit of 4 people per table in any restaurant, except for cases where the party consists of family members, where the limit is 6 people;
Mandatory use of face masks in indoor and outdoor public spaces. Advertisement
Seven of those on Tui's August 25 flight to Cardiff were infectious at the time of flying and all 193 passengers have been told to self-isolate, the Welsh Government said.
One traveller claimed that the flight was full of 'selfish covidiots', with passengers not wearing their masks properly and disregarding the rules.
Education Minister Kirsty Williams told the Welsh Government's weekly press conference that a statement about other flights coming into Wales would be made on Tuesday.
'The Welsh Government is deeply concerned by the reports from people who were on that flight about the lack of appropriate measures to keep everybody on that flight safe,' she said.
'My colleague Vaughan Gething, the health minister, is in discussion with all relevant parties and will be making a statement later today about other flights that may be operating out of Greece and into Cardiff Airport.'
On Tuesday, Public Health Wales said one further person with coronavirus had died in Wales, bringing the total number of deaths there to 1,596.
There were a further 51 positive cases of Covid-19 reported, bringing the number of cases to 18,063.
Dr Christopher Williams, incident director for the Covid-19 outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: 'All passengers are being followed up by their local Test Trace Protect teams.
'They should all self-isolate at home, as they may become infectious, even if they have no symptoms. Anyone with symptoms should book a test without delay.'
Stephanie Whitfield, who was on the flight in question, claimed the 'inept crew couldn't care less' after passengers took off their masks and mixed freely with friends and families on board.
The flight left all 193 people on board facing two weeks self-isolation and comes amid fears that Zante could be a new coronavirus hotspot.
Mrs Whitfield, from Cardiff, who was on the flight with her husband, told the BBC: 'This flight was a debacle. The chap next to me had his mask around his neck.
'Not only did the airline not pull him up on it, they gave him a free drink when he said he knew a member of the crew.
'Loads of people were taking their masks off and wandering up and down the aisles to talk to others.
'As soon as the flight landed, a load of people took their masks off immediately. The flight was full of selfish 'covidiots' and an inept crew who couldn't care less.'
According to Dr Gwen Lowe, consultant in communicable disease control for Public Health Wales, there have been about 30 cases in the last week linked to Zante, and confirmed in people who were on different flights and staying in different locations.
She also admitted: 'These are confirmed positive cases and we're expecting that number to rise.'
The Foreign Commonwealth Office updated its advice for Britons travelling to Zante, or Zakynthos, after an increase in local restrictions to combat the virus.
TUI has defended itself over the claims and insisted that all passengers wore masks and complied with Covid protocols 'for the duration of their flight'.
A statement said: 'The health and safety of passengers is always our priority and we are concerned to hear of Mrs Whitfield's claims.
'Our crew are trained to the highest standards and in line with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) guidelines.
Passengers on board a TUI flight from Zante to Cardiff all have to self-isolate after seven tested positive for coronavirus
'Passengers are informed prior to travel and via PA announcements on the flight that they have to wear masks throughout and are not allowed to move around the cabin. Masks can only be removed when consuming food and drink.
'A full investigation is now underway as these concerns weren't reported during the flight or before today.'
Tourists now face several restrictions on what they can do on the island, including the suspension of live events and celebrations such as parties, trade fairs, religious ceremonies and open markets, as well as the prohibition of all food and catering sector-related shops, services and facilities from midnight to 7am the next day.
Several Britons who visited Greece in recent weeks have reported cases of the virus.
Last week, 11 teenagers from Plymouth tested positive for the coronavirus, with up to 30 infected in total after returning from Zante.
Plymouth's director for public health Ruth Harrell said that some of the teenagers went gone on a 'night out in Plymouth's bars and restaurants' before they were aware of the risk.
A shocking photo has emerged showing a woman performing a sex act in the street in the Upper West Side, in another alarming indication of how one of New York City's wealthiest neighborhoods is being overtaken by crime and homelessness.
In a disturbing picture shared on Twitter, the woman can be seen crouching down while apparently performing oral sex on a shirtless man near W 79th Street and Broadway around 9pm on Sunday.
She also appears to be undressed from the waist down, with her pants around her knees.
The photo comes as little surprise to many New Yorkers who have witnessed a surge in crime and homelessness in their neighborhoods, prompting them to leave the city after an initial wave of people fled as the coronavirus pandemic began.
Wealthy New Yorkers relocated Upstate or to Long Island, while many Americans fled cities to states with more space such as Vermont, Idaho and Oregon.
The trend has left 13,000 empty apartments for rent in Manhattan as of mid-August - the highest number in 14 years - triggering a surge in inventory and slump in rental prices.
A woman was seen performing oral sex on a man on the streets of the Upper West Side on Sunday evening. A witness said she had pulled her pants down to relieve herself during the encounter
The photo was shared on Twitter by Save the Upper West Side, an online community group which has been calling on public officials to restore order to the streets
The neighborhood, home to some of Manhattan's wealthiest residents, has recently been overtaken by crime, homelessness and public drug use. Pictured: W 78th and Broadway, where the incident reportedly took place
A witness who took the photo told DailyMail.com the woman had removed her pants to relieve herself on the sidewalk during the encounter.
'It was vile, but [this] has become the norm for that area,' Upper West Side resident Mike G said.
'It was Sunday night. Not much foot traffic. There were probably one or two others that walked by.
'I don't usually take pictures of others' misfortunes, but this was a level of degeneracy I haven't seen out in the open in the neighborhood yet,' he added.
The photo had been shared on Wednesday by 'Save the Upper West Side', an online group of more than 13,000 members that has been lobbying to restore order to the streets.
Upper West Side residents say three hotels that are housing hundreds of homeless people during the coronavirus pandemic have turned the area into a spectacle of public urination, cat-calling and open drug use
Encampments have also popped up on the sidewalks and the city's homeless outreach resources have been too overwhelmed to dismantle them
Residents say the area has been turned into a spectacle of public urination, cat-calling and brazen drug use
'Is oral sex the compassion needed? Quality of life no longer exists on the UWS. Would you want children to see this on Bway btw 78-79 as you walk around?' the group said in a tweet.
A representative of the group told DailyMail.com: '9pm on a summer evening on the UWS - hardly imaginable a few months ago.
'Usually children [are] enjoying an ice cream cone after an evening at the playground. Now open prostitution. The change in the neighborhood since the use of hotels as shelters in undeniable,' the person added.
Homelessness in New York City has been escalating since March and has been made worse by residents fleeing and the NYPD budget cuts, which dissolved its homeless outreach unit.
Early last month it was revealed Mayor Bill de Blasio had quietly moved about 13,000 homeless people from shelters into luxury hotels in the area in a bid to avoid a virus outbreak, subsequently bringing crime and lawlessness to the neighborhood.
Residents of the typically wealthy district have since complained that the program has led to an increase in crime, random violence, drug use, public urination and open prostitution.
Some locals even claim sex offenders have also moved into the streets.
In Manhattan's Upper West Side residents have complained and threatened to sue the Mayor after homeless people were moved into three luxury hotels in the area to protect them from COVID-19
As shootings spiral, there is also a growing homeless problem with encampments popping up all over Manhattan. 13,000 homeless people have also been moved into hotels around the city
U-Haul trucks and other moving vehicles were seen out in abundance on Manhattan's troubled Upper West Side over the weekend
At the same time, encampments have also popped up on the sidewalks and the city's homeless outreach resources have been too overwhelmed to dismantle them.
A crime report released by the NYPD on Wednesday also showed gun violence in the city increased by a staggering 166 per cent across all boroughs except Staten Island last month.
The city recorded 242 shootings, up from just 91 in August 2019.
The number of murders also rose 47 per cent, from 36 to 53 last month. Burglaries were also up by 22 per cent and robberies increased by four per cent.
The growing issue has raised concerns about the future of New York City when the pandemic is over, with many fearing it will not be able to return to its former glory.
The city has begun taking steps to reopen the economy since the end of the lockdown in May however, some local businesses have continued to suffer under the current coronavirus restrictions.
Some of the city's finest restaurants are also considering shutting down for good as they struggle to cope with a slump in customers.
A mover puts belongings into a moving truck following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Manhattan on September 1
Americans have been fleeing to states with more open space such as Vermont, Idaho and Oregon as they looked to relocate amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data shows
While many Americans opted for the more rural states, those in New York and New Jersey moved to Sunbelt states like Texas and Florida between March and August, the data shows
A Pew Research Survey published on July 6 found that around one in five Americans had relocated during the outbreak of COVID-19 or know someone who has
Restaurants and bars have been able to resume business by offering outdoor seating to diners, however owners have complained the move has not been enough to keep them afloat.
Renowned French chef Daniel Boulud, the owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Daniel in the Upper East Side, told The Wall Street Journal some businesses won't survive if city continues to delay reopening indoor operations.
Governor Andrew Cuomo had told residents at the start of the summer that indoor dining, which was initially expected to resume on July 6, will be postponed until officials decide it was safe - but he is yet to announce a new date.
Many New Yorkers have also fled the Big Apple amid the pandemic, either moving to suburban towns outside the city or have left the state altogether.
Over the weekend, as August came to an end, U-Haul trucks and other moving vehicles were seen out in abundance on the Upper West Side.
The seeming exodus came just days after it was revealed residents in the area are planning to sue the city over the homeless hotel program.
Long lines were seen outside of a number of U-Haul stations in the neighborhood on Saturday and Sunday, with moving vehicles lining residential streets and discarded furniture stacked on sidewalks left by locals seeking pastures new.
The candidate must also thread a narrow diplomatic needle that displeases neither the U.S. nor China, whose bitter conflict over a growing array of issues including technology and the pandemic is testing their fragile economic truce. The Trump administration has actively sought to undermine the WTOs ability to function, saying it has infringed on American sovereignty and enabled China to become a big economic player globally at the expense of U.S. jobs and manufacturing. Adding to the unpredictability factor, President Donald Trump -- who has called the WTO the worst trade deal the U.S. has ever signed -- is up for re-election in November, so Americas tolerance for a candidate who looks too favorably on China might be tested. Meanwhile, China has engaged in a multi-year campaign to expand its diplomatic influence by installing key personnel at the top levels of international decision-making bodies.
Seven Iran-Backed Paramilitary Members Killed In Monday Israeli Strikes On Syria
Radio Farda September 01, 2020
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday that seven Iran-backed paramilitary fighters were killed in the Monday Israeli strikes on Syria, which also killed one civilian and three Syrian regime members.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the casualties in war-torn Syria, seven non-Syrian militiamen of Iranian-backed militias and Hezbollah were killed in Israeli rocket attacks on their positions in the southern province of Daraa.
The attacks began on Monday night, and included rocket attacks from Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and air raids on areas close to the Damascus International Airport in the south of the capital.
The official government news agency of Syria, SANA, confirmed on Monday that Israel had carried out strikes on certain Syrian military positions and published footage of its air defense against Israeli rockets. SANA also announced three casualties from the strikes, including a civilian, with seven additional fighters requiring medical attention. casualties sustained by paramilitary fighters allied with Syria and Iran were not mentioned in the report.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday said a "decisive decision" had been taken to retaliate, adding that Hezbollah was "not in a hurry".
Israel usually does not acknowledge its airstrikes on Syria, and Israeli officials have yet not made any comments about the Monday attacks, but on Wednesday, Israel said it had launched airstrikes against Hezbollah observation posts in Lebanon after shots were fired from across the border.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently warned Iran about trying to establish a military presence in Syria.
Iran's Armed Forces' spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi two months ago claimed that over the years, only eight members of the Iranian military have lost their lives in Syria, and refuted claims that hundreds of them have been killed.
Iran signed an agreement with Syria two months ago to equip the Syrian military against Israeli attacks with its own homegrown air defense systems.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates recently made a deal to establish full diplomatic relations, with direct commercial flights from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi beginning on Monday.Iran considers the deal a threat against its own security, and the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Tuesday called it a betrayal of the Islamic world, Arab nations and Palestine, adding, "Of course, this betrayal won't last long but the stigma will stay with them. I hope the Emiratis soon wake up and compensate for what they have done".
With reporting from AFP
Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/seven- iran-backed-paramilitary -members-killed-in-monday-israeli -strikes-on-syria/30815493.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.
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Three companies claiming to own more than 1.1 million barrels of Iranian fuel offloaded by US authorities from four fuel tankers bound for Venezuela last month have challenged the seizure in US federal court, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Last month the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced US authorities had taken possession of a multimillion-dollar shipment of gasoline aboard four tankers the Lina, the Pandi, the Bella and the Bering after the ships owner, Giorgios Gialozoglou, agreed to surrender the cargo.
The United States says the tankers were carrying Iranian gasoline bound for Venezuela on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which the United States considers a terrorist organization. Washington is engaged in a so-called maximum pressure campaign built around economic sanctions aimed at isolating and weakening the Iranian and Venezuelan governments.
Oman Fuel, registered in the United Kingdom, as well as Sohar Fuel and Mobin International, based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), challenged the seizure in a filing Wednesday in a federal court in Washington, Reuters reported.
The two companies claimed they had already sold the fuel to a company called Citi Energy, based in the UAE, and that they had not yet been paid because of the fuels forfeiture.
The DOJ last week said the firms were front companies for Irans IRGC and announced it seized control of the companies websites last week. The United States maintains the plan to transport the fuel was organized by Mohammad Madanipour, a businessman with alleged connections to the IRGC.
In June, authorities in Cape Verde arrested a Columbian businessman named Alex Saab Moran, whose lawyers told Reuters he had acted as Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduros envoy to Tehran. Moran is said to have arranged the fuel purchase as well shipments of humanitarian supplies from Iran.
Iran has increasingly lent support to Venezuela as both OPEC members have come under intense pressure from the United States government.
The Donald Trump administration has openly called for Venezuela's regime to be overthrown. It is also attempting to coerce Irans government to stop supporting militias in Middle Eastern conflict zones and to renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal, which the United States pulled out of unilaterally in 2018.
The US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams is taking over for Brian Hook, head of Iran policy at the State Department.
The army of the two countries held Brigade Commander-level talks in Chushul with a focus on bringing down tensions in the Pangong lake area
New Delhi: Days after China's "provocative actions" in Pangong lake area in eastern Ladakh, the situation in the region remained sensitive on Wednesday while army commanders from both sides held another round of talks to defuse tensions, government sources said.
The army of the two countries held Brigade Commander-level talks in Chushul with a focus on bringing down tensions in the Pangong lake area, they said, adding similar dialogue on Monday and Tuesday, each lasting over six hours, did not produce any "tangible outcome".
Sources said India has achieved tactical gains in eastern Ladakh in the last few days by occupying a number of strategically important hill tops and locations.
On Monday, the Indian Army said the Chinese military carried out "provocative military movements" to "unilaterally" change the status quo on the southern bank of Pangong lake on the intervening night of August 29 and 30 but the attempt was thwarted by the Indian troops.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Tuesday said the Chinese PLA was engaged in "provocative action" again on Monday when the ground commanders of the two sides were holding talks to ease the situation following China's attempt to change the status quo in the Pangong lake area two days back.
"The situation in the area remained sensitive," said a source.
The two sides were earlier engaged in a confrontation on the northern bank of Pangong lake but it was for the first time such an incident occurred on its southern bank, they said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday carried out a comprehensive review of the situation in eastern Ladakh at a high-level meeting attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.
It was decided at the nearly two-hour meeting that the Indian Army will continue to maintain its aggressive posturing in all sensitive areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to effectively deal with any Chinese "misadventure", the sources said.
They said the Indian Army has further bolstered its presence around the Southern Bank area of Pangong lake by deploying additional troops and bringing in more weaponry including tanks and anti-tank guided missiles.
A battalion of the Special Frontier Force was also deployed in the area.
The sources said the Indian Air Force (IAF) has also been told to enhance its surveillance on increasing Chinese air activities along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
There have been reports that China has deployed J-20 long-range fighter jets and several other key assets in strategically located Hotan airbase which is around 310 kms from eastern Ladakh.
In the last three months, the IAF deployed almost all its frontline fighter jets like Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar and Mirage 2000 aircraft in the key frontier air bases in eastern Ladakh and elsewhere along the LAC.
The fresh attempt by China to change the status quo in the Pangong lake area is the first major incident in the area after the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15 in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed.
China also suffered casualties but is yet to make the details public. According to an American intelligence report it was 35.
India and China have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks in the last two-and-half months but no significant headway has been made for a resolution to the border row in eastern Ladakh.
One of the worlds fastest-moving efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine is falling behind rivals, its advance appearing to be stymied by political tensions between China and Canada and concerns its shot may not work as well as others.
CanSino Biologics Inc., the Chinese company which in March started the worlds first human tests on an experimental coronavirus shot, has yet to kick off critical final-stage trials on the vaccine it developed with the Chinese military. Meanwhile, rivals like U.S.-based Moderna Inc. and Britains AstraZeneca Plc as well as Chinas Sinovac Biotech Inc. and Sinopharm are well into this last phase of testing, administering their vaccines on thousands of people to find out if they work.
With its Phase III trials yet to begin, CanSino hasnt had the opportunity to assuage concerns from earlier-stage data, which showed the immune response generated by its shot varied greatly among participants. Its setbacks offer a look at both the scientific and political incertitudes companies are battling as they race to produce a vaccine against the virus that has already killed more than 850,000 people worldwide.
Just a few months ago, the Tianjin-based biotechnology firm was positioned at the vanguard of global vaccine trials thanks to a partnership with the Canadian governments main research agency, which permitted the company to conduct tests in the North American country. CanSino was supposed to send its vaccine candidate Ad5-nCoV, developed with Canadian technology to Canada so that final-stage tests could begin there as early as in the fall. The vials never arrived.
Chinese customs hasnt approved shipments of CanSinos vaccine to Canada, the National Research Council of Canada said in an Aug. 26 email. The development appears to be part of a pattern of retribution against Canada since it arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co., on a U.S. handover request in December 2018. In recent months the relationship between the two countries has only worsened.
Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said its clear the blocking of CanSinos vaccine to Canada isnt just a bureaucratic glitch because the company appears to have shipped to countries friendly to China.
This is part of Chinas COVID-19 diplomacy, he said. Its unfortunately part of the overall difficulties were having with China.
Global ties
For CanSino, the international collaboration is vital because late-stage trials require large-scale testing in place where there is an active outbreak, something no longer possible inside China, which has largely stamped out local transmission. The company, in response to questions, pointed to recent stock exchange filings and declined to comment further.
In a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing, it said it hadnt started enrolling participants for Phase III trials as of Aug. 18. In another Aug. 27 statement, it said the collaboration between the National Research Council of Canada and the company wasnt terminated.
Since Mengs arrest, China has jailed two Canadians on espionage charges, halted billions of dollars in Canadian imports, and put four other Canadians on death row. Further denting relations between Beijing and Ottawa, Canada also suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in response to a new security law imposed there by China.
Chinas General Administration of Customs didnt respond to a request for comment. In its email, the National Research Council of Canada said that while the CanSino-Canada partnership had been reviewed earlier by the Chinese government, after it was signed Beijing introduced changes regarding the export of vaccines. Canada was ready to begin preliminary trials in June but, due to the delay, the research council is turning its focus to other partners, it said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the developments on the CanSino vaccine as unfortunate.
After hitting an all-time high of HK$271.4 on July 31, CanSinos stock went on a steady decline in August, shedding nearly 40 per cent, as news emerged that the vials it was supposed to ship to Canada for trial never left China. The stock lost as much as 11 per cent on Wednesday, but is still up 140 per cent since the beginning of this year.
CanSino, meanwhile, has had other struggles. With most of the vaccine front-runners now having published their early human testing data, there have been some concerns that the antibodies triggered by CanSinos shot as part of a vaccine-induced immune response could be lacklustre compared to those stimulated by rivals, said Brad Loncar, chief executive officer of Loncar Investments in the U.S.
That could well be why the company has appeared slow in striking deals with countries to run phase III trials, said Loncar, who has holdings in the Chinese vaccine developer.
Of all the data that Ive seen of companies that have published human stage data, I would say CanSino was one that I would be most nervous about the Phase III, Loncar said. The antibody levels in general, when you compare them to what other companies have put out there, like Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech and even from the other Chinese vaccine makers like Sinovac and Sinopharm, I just think that the data hasnt validated CanSinos position as a front-runner.
While analysts have noted the varying standards used in measuring vaccine-induced immune response by different groups, CanSino suffers from one particular challenge: Its vaccine uses a genetically-engineered human adenovirus, which causes the common cold and to which a lot of people already have immunity. That pre-existing immunity has shown to blunt the vaccines ability to generate the kind of antibodies that can bind to the spikes on the surface of the coronavirus to prevent it from entering human cells.
Russia trials
Meanwhile, other Chinese vaccine makers have had more success on Phase III trials. Beijing-based Sinovac has started vaccinating people in Brazil and Indonesia while more countries are signing up to be part of the companys multi-centre late-stage tests. State-owned China National Biotec Group is testing the two candidate vaccines it developed in the United Arab Emirates and has secured approval for further testing in Peru, Argentina and Morocco.
As for CanSino, in addition to the delayed Canada trial, one of the companys founders Qiu Dongxu said at a forum in July that the company is talking to Russia, Brazil, Chile and Saudi Arabia for final stage of testing. Of these, only Russia appears to have materialized so far, with local pharmaceutical firm PetroVax agreeing to run a small trial that wont see the 625 participants receiving the shot until end of September.
A large scale phase III seeking to enrol 40,000 people is planned for Pakistan, according to an online clinical trials database. The trial has not yet started and will be headed by researchers from both Chinas Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Canadian Center for Vaccinology.
CanSinos vaccine still warrants further testing since it isnt yet known how strong an immune response the vaccine can shore up if its administered twice, a strategy that has been tested by almost all front-runners but CanSino. Trials in Canada could potentially find out the effect of a booster shot if the vials ever make it to Canadian shores.
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ENDEAVOUR EXPECTS MINING ACTIVITIES TO RESUME AT BOUNGOU IN THE COMING WEEKS
Successfully integrated Mining contractor mobilized Improved site infrastructure
Abidjan, September 1, 2020 Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV) (OTCQX:EDVMF) is pleased to announce that mining operations are expected to recommence at its Boungou mine in Burkina Faso in the coming weeks, following the mobilization of a West African mining contractor and completion of infrastructure and operating improvements.
The Boungou mine has been processing stockpiles since early 2020 while the operation was being prepared for the restart of mining activities. A resumption of mining will provide higher grade mill feed which will contribute to increased production. Given the expected restart of mining operations in the coming weeks, the Boungou mine is now expected to achieve the top half of its 2020 production guidance of 130-150koz at an AISC of $680-725/oz.
Sebastien de Montessus, CEO of Endeavour, said: We are pleased to have made significant progress at Boungou, including the completion of key site infrastructure upgrades, development of a comprehensive security plan and mobilization of a local mining contractor. We are confident that with the steps taken we will be able to restart mining operations in the coming weeks, which will position us to meet the top half of our full year guidance for the operation. We are also excited that we will soon recommence near-mine exploration at Boungou as we believe that the area is highly prospective and we are confident that we will be able to extend the mine life.
The Boungou mine has been successfully integrated within Endeavours well established West African operating platform following the change in ownership on July 1, 2020. A range of improvements and new procedures have been implemented for the restart program, including the following:
Endeavour appointed a West African General Manager and transitioned employees from its other sites in order to leverage Endeavours operating model and accelerate Boungous integration and restart plan.
Endeavour has selected SFTP Mining BF S.A.R.L. (SFTP) as Boungous mining contractor, who are currently mobilizing equipment to site. SFTP also provides contract mining services at Endeavours Karma mine and is a West African mining services business which operates in a manner consistent with Endeavours ESG operating philosophy and industry best practice standards.
Endeavour, in close partnership with the Burkinabe government, has implemented a comprehensive security plan which is consistent with its approach at its other operations and takes into account the unique conditions in eastern Burkina Faso. Improvements include upgraded site infrastructure, detailed site security plans, and an improved approach to the movement of employees, supplies and material. Endeavour has completed the construction of an on-site airstrip and as part of its re-start plan intends to fly staff from Ouaga and Fada to site. Endeavour has also built on-site employee housing which will allow both local and expatriate employees to remain within the site security perimeter.
In addition, the Burkinabe government has developed its own plans to improve security in the region. Endeavour will support these efforts, which will include road maintenance.
In line with Endeavours commitment to improve the lives of its employees and the communities near its operations, Endeavour is committed to delivering several key community projects in the Boungou region. These projects include support for the construction of a market, provision of new emergency vehicles, water boreholes, road maintenance, and other key infrastructure support. In addition, as part of the mining contract agreement, SFTP has also made commitments towards ensuring participation of local people in the workforce, creating joint ventures with local businesses, providing water boreholes, medical support and facilities, and enhancing gender diversity.
Story continues
CONTACT INFORMATION
Martino De Ciccio
VP Strategy & Investor Relations
+44 203 640 8665
mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com Brunswick Group LLP in London
Carole Cable, Partner
+44 7974 982 458
ccable@brunswickgroup.com
Vincic Advisors in Toronto
John Vincic, Principal
(647) 402 6375
john@vincicadvisors.com
QUALIFIED PERSONS
Clinton Bennett, Endeavour's Vice President of Metallurgy - a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, is a "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.
ABOUT ENDEAVOUR MINING CORPORATION
Endeavour Mining is a multi-asset gold producer focused on West Africa, with two mines (Ity and Agbaou) in Cote dIvoire, four mines (Hounde, Mana, Karma and Boungou) in Burkina Faso, four potential development projects (Fetekro, Kalana, Bantou and Nabanga) and a strong portfolio of exploration assets on the highly prospective Birimian Greenstone Belt across Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Mali and Guinea.
As a leading gold producer, Endeavour Mining is committed to principles of responsible mining and delivering sustainable value to its employees, stakeholders and the communities where it operates. Endeavour is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, under the symbol EDV.
For more information, please visit www.endeavourmining.com .
Corporate Office: 5 Young St, Kensington, London W8 5EH, UK
Attachment
FDA registered and state-of-the-art, the new Folium facility is purpose-built for extraction, purification and formulation of cannabinoids and terpenes. The plant will utilize supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) extraction technology exclusively to produce phytocannabinoid-rich 0.0% THC broad spectrum CBD oil, adhering to a continuous process from decarboxylation to extraction allowing for a revolutionary inline terpene capture system.
"This past year has been a 'survival of the fittest' moment for the CBD industry. Pandemic-related economic uncertainty has forced many manufacturers to cut back operations or completely go out of business," explains Folium Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Kashif Shan. "I'm proud to say that Folium has moved aggressively in the other direction looking at 2020 instead as a year to invest and solidify our leadership position. Completing construction on this new world-class manufacturing facility is a testament to the strength of our market position. We move into 2021 with unrivaled capacity, ready to satisfy demand for the highest-quality CBD oil for businesses all over the world."
Folium's operations in North America, South America, Europe and Asia provide a global reach as the worldwide cannabinoid industry continues its rapid growth. This international footprint and local market expertise, coupled with the extensive scalable manufacturing made possible by the Pueblo West facility, will enable Folium to cultivate new channels for its innovative, high-quality, science-backed products more successfully than its competitors.
About Folium Biosciences
Folium Biosciences is a vertically integrated B2B producer, manufacturer and distributor of hemp-derived non-psychoactive cannabinoids. Folium controls all aspects of the supply chain, from genetics and extraction to bulk and finished products. Folium's team delivers the world's highest-quality hemp-derived non-psychoactive cannabinoids products through a proprietary process, resulting in a THC content of 0.0%. Folium was the first hemp company to be issued a Certificate of Free Sale and a Manufactured Food Establishment License.
SOURCE Folium Biosciences
Related Links
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PORTLAND, Ore. - Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, shifted their focus to the city's mayor, and police declared a riot as people broke windows, vandalized a business and set a small fire inside the upscale apartment building where Mayor Ted Wheeler lives.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 1/9/2020 (506 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A small memorial to Portland, Oregon fatal shooting victim Aaron J. Danielson, 39, of Portland is shown on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, at the site where he was killed on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020, as supporters of President Donald Trump and Black Lives Matter protesters clashed. Danielson was a supporter of the right-wing Patriot Prayer group but few details have emerged about what led up to the shooting. No suspects have been arrested. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)
PORTLAND, Ore. - Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, shifted their focus to the city's mayor, and police declared a riot as people broke windows, vandalized a business and set a small fire inside the upscale apartment building where Mayor Ted Wheeler lives.
The demonstration that began late Monday and extended into Tuesday fell on Wheeler's 58th birthday and featured shiny golden alphabet balloons that protesters used to spell out an expletive.
They sang on the street outside the mayor's building, some wearing party hats, and the fire was set with a bundle of newspapers in a store housed on the ground floor of Wheeler's building. There were no reports of major damage or injuries.
Wheeler, who is also police commissioner, has come under fire for his failure to bring the violence in Oregon's largest city under control and for heading up a police force that has used tear gas multiple times against demonstrators.
Some also blame the mayor for engaging in a war of words with President Donald Trump instead of focusing on local needs. Trump has put Portland and other Democrat-led cities in the crosshairs of a "law and order" re-election campaign theme a move that's escalated tensions in the city and drawn the attention of right-wing Trump supporters.
Portland police make arrests on the scene of the nightly protests at a Portland police precinct on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020 in Portland, Ore. Oregon State Police will return to Portland to help local authorities after the fatal shooting of a man following clashes between President Donald Trump supporters and counter-protesters that led to an argument between the president and the city's mayor over who was to blame for the violence. (AP Photo/Paula Bronstein)
A supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer was killed Saturday during clashes between dueling protesters. A caravan of Trump supporters, estimated at about 600 cars, encountered Black Lives Matter protesters as they drove through the downtown and skirmishes broke out.
Police have not announced an arrest in the slaying of Aaron J. Danielson, 39, of Portland, and have said nothing about what led up the shooting.
Police Chief Chuck Lovell denounced the vandalism and said it was an escalation of previous protester actions.
"The families that live inside have done absolutely nothing to provoke a threat to their lives. As Ive stated repeatedly, the nightly violence is coming at increased cost," he said.
Lovell added: "This is impacting the safety of our entire City and urgent action is needed. Our elected officials need to do their part to draw a line in the sand and to hold people accountable. The violent behaviour must end."
Wheeler said late Tuesday on his Facebook page that the vandalism negatively impacted a minority-owned business.
Portland police take control of the streets after making arrests on the scene of the nightly protests at a Portland police precinct on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020 in Portland, Ore. Oregon State Police will return to Portland to help local authorities after the fatal shooting of a man following clashes between President Donald Trump supporters and counter-protesters that led to an argument between the president and the city's mayor over who was to blame for the violence.(AP Photo/Paula Bronstein)
"Arson and terrorizing families with children does nothing except steal, and distract from, the important message of the racial justice movement. Organizations in the community who encouraged or condoned these actions are complicit," he said.
Wheeler added: "The community must rise up and say enough is enough and hold all of us accountable. We cannot truly move on together and make the positive changes we want to see until this violence is stopped. All violence."
Protesters were angered last Sunday when Wheeler held a news conference about the shooting and traded barbs with Trump, who was watching the conference live on TV and tweeted insults at Wheeler.
Many said afterward that they wanted to hear about solutions to the violence and how to keep the city's Black residents safe. They complained that the mayor instead engaged in "political theatre" with the president to raise his own profile.
Wheeler, the son of a wealthy timber scion, is seeking a second term against Sarah Iannarone, a candidate to the left of him who has marched repeatedly with protesters.
Wheeler said at the news conference that he does not believe in completely defunding the police, would not resign and would not turn over the Portland Police Bureau to Jo Ann Hardesty, the city's first Black councilwoman.
"He used that press conference to try to score political points with a president we already know is a problem. He was asked point-blank what could have been done to prevent this, what could we do better in the future, and he did not have concrete strategies," said Cameron Whitten, founder of the Black Resilience Fund and a longtime activist in the city. "It truly was appalling."
The situation grew more uncertain Monday, when two suburban counties and a nearby city refused to send deputies and officers to help the Portland police keep the peace. The Oregon State Police and sheriff's deputies from Multnomah County the county that includes Portland are bolstering the city's force.
But officials in Clackamas and Washington counties and the city of Gresham said they would not send law enforcement personnel to Portland.
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Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said flooding the city with more law enforcement would never work because Portlands newly elected district attorney has dismissed charges against hundreds of protesters arrested for nonviolent, low-level crimes.
Roberts and Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett also said the liability for their deputies would be too great.
"The same offenders are arrested night after night, only to be released by the court and not charged with a crime by the DAs office. The next night they are back at it, endangering the lives of law enforcement and the community all over again," Roberts said.
Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, has so far declined to send the National Guard to Portland, as Trump has suggested.
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Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus
POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo, left, speaks to former World Bank Jim Yong Kim, right, through a video connection during the 2020 POSCO Forum held at POSCO Center in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of POSCO
By Nam Hyun-woo
POSCO began a two-day forum, Wednesday, to explore how the economy and the society will look after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dubbed the 2020 POSCO Forum, the event was the second in a series held by the steelmaker. The event was held at POSCO Center in Seoul with only a limited number of affiliate CEOs and experts attending in person, while others joined online.
"With COVID-19 throwing us unprecedented uncertainties, it is important for POSCO to grasp fast-changing market trends and emerging values in time, so that it can be a company that lasts for a century," POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo said.
"I hope the forum could be an opportunity for us to review the nature of our business, respond promptly to stakeholders' needs and explore ways to better exercise our philosophy of corporate citizenship, thus we can take responsibilities and serve roles that society demands."
During the first day of the forum, former World Bank President Jim Yong Kim delivered a keynote speech online. In his speech, Kim diagnosed the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 and explored ways for companies to make a soft landing after the pandemic.
Kim's lecture was followed by a panel discussion titled "the New World Order after the Pandemic" and a lecture on "Leadership Paradigm in the Era of COVID-19." In the following panel discussion, young corporate leaders discussed outlooks for artificial intelligence, digital transformation and changing industrial trends.
Today, the event will feature panel discussion sessions on the future of POSCO's main businesses eco-friendly steelmaking technology, supply chain of green mobility and rechargeable batteries and food trading.
The event will be wrapped up by a lecture from former Korea University President Yeom Jae-ho exploring ways to improve corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, as well as looking back on the past three years of POSCO's CSR activities.
POSCO said it plans to reflect outcomes of the debates at the event into its mid-term business strategy.
Huge traffic jams were reported on the eastern express highway (EEH) due to two incidents which took place during the morning peak hours between 9.30 to 10.30 am.
According to Mumbai Polices Vikhroli traffic division, a container which was coming from Jogeshwari to Vikhroli through Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link road (JVLR) broke down near Gandhi Nagar.
The second incident was reported near Ghatkopar flyover on EEH, where a car hit two bikes at around 10.30 am. No one received any major injuries in this accident, said a traffic police officer.
Kundalik Kaigude Inspector Vikhroli traffic division said the traffic police were removing the vehicles to smoother the traffic as soon as possible.
According to the traffic police, there were a large number of vehicles on major roads due to easing of restrictions on movement of people including from one district to another. Heavy traffic was reported on the Sion-Panvel highway and parts of Andheri, Goregaon, Malad and Kurla.
A motivational speaker, author and media commentator from Melbourne has been charged over the death of her seven-month-old daughter.
Fiori Giovanni, 35, has been charged with child homicide following the girl's death on July 18.
Fiori Giovanni has been charged with child homicide. Credit:Instagram
Police were called to an apartment building in Southbank after the baby was found unresponsive about 7.20am. Paramedics tried to resuscitate the seven-month-old but she died at the scene.
Melbourne Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday that the charge related to an act of alleged criminal negligence by Ms Giovanni, in that she allegedly left two children in the bath unsupervised and her young daughter drowned.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 2) The multi-agency task force conducting its own probe into the issues hounding the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation will evaluate the Senate panels recent findings on the case, Malacanang said Wednesday.
Speaking to CNN Philippines, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Palace respects the report and recommendations of the Senate Committee of the Whole regarding the alleged fraud mess in the state health insurer, but maintained that President Rodrigo Duterte will be awaiting the Task Force PhilHealths own findings on the matter.
I think the Task Force itself will evaluate the findings of the Senate. Im almost sure that the Senate has transmitted all the evidence it has gathered in the course of its investigation, Roque said in an interview with CNN Philippines' The Source.
The President will have to await the formal findings of his own Task Force. But as I said, the investigation in aid of legislation is always welcome. It is a recognized power of the Senate, we respect their findings, he added.
The Senate committee of the whole earlier recommended criminal and administrative charges against Health Secretary and PhilHealth board chair Francisco Duque, resigned PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales, as well as other officials over the alleged anomalies within the agency.
In the committee report presented by Senate President Vicente Tito Sotto III on Monday, the panel argued that the said key officials should be held accountable for irregularities, including the "shady" implementation of cash advances or the interim reimbursement mechanism.
Roque noted the Task Forces findings expected to be submitted to the chief executive by September 14 will include more in-depth evaluation of evidences, with officials from the judiciary branch helping out in the probe.
Duque earlier defended himself from claims that he failed to oversee the goings-on inside PhilHealth, saying he has been focusing on his other roles in battling the COVID-19 pandemic. The Health secretary serves as the highest official with the longest service to the embattled agency.
READ: Duque defends failure to oversee PhilHealth: 'I had a difficult job handling the pandemic
Officials and employees of PhilHealth also earlier denied the allegations of widespread corruption within the agency which resurfaced in July.
Five more residential students at the University of Connecticuts Storrs campus have tested positive for COVID-19, a spokeswoman for the university confirmed Wednesday.
Two of those cases are still being investigated to determine the source of the infections, according to Stephanie Reitz, a spokeswoman for UConn.
Two students were found to have the disease after they showed symptoms, three others were found through contact testing.
Two of the three identified through surveillance testing were already in medical quarantine. Three of the five on-campus positives are related to existing known positives on campus, Reitz said in a prepared statement.
Are you a Connecticut student going to college during the COVID-19 pandemic? We want to hear about your experience. Email us at tips@ctnews.com
The new infections are a jump from the two positive cases reported on Tuesday.
The university has 62 residential students at the Storrs campus with the disease. Another 32 have already recovered, the school said. The figures reflect a 1.24 percent positivity rate across the population of 5,000 residential students at the campus.
Among commuter students, the number of cases remains at 18, data from the school shows. Two staff members have also tested positive for the virus.
Two commuter students at the universitys Stamford campus have also tested positive. The schools Avery Point, Waterbury and Hartford campuses all still have no positive cases.
Cases have appeared at other colleges and universities around the state as students return to dorms and classrooms.
At Yale University in New Haven, 10 people have tested positive for coronavirus since the beginning of August, according to the schools online database. As of Wednesday, the schools alert level remains at yellow, meaning gatherings are restricted to 10 people or fewer, and classes will be held both in person and virtually.
The Ivy-League institution reported no new cases Monday, the most recent day of testing available.
Trinity College in Hartford is still reporting one case of COVID-19. On Wednesday, the school sent out instructions for staff, faculty and students to submit their daily symptoms check through an online portal. The system will also allows members of the school community to sign up for testing.
Connecticut College in New London currently has one active case among its student population, according to that schools database.
Central Connecticut State University reported three new cases among commuter students Monday. There are currently two students in isolation at the school, and 11 people have been quarantined.
While at OPRF, Rouse was thrust into the national spotlight when the high school was the subject of the 2018 documentary TV series America to Me. Rouse and the schools superintendent did not support the filming and chose not to be interviewed during filming. Once it aired, he told the Chicago Tribune that he had mixed feelings about the series because it provided only a snapshot of the experiences of a dozen students at OPRF and not the 3,400 students attending the school. He added that the school long had worked to be a national model for racial equity.
US Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin testifies before lawmakers on Tuesday. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/pool via Reuters
Stocks rose in the US and Europe on Wednesday after US Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin urged lawmakers to approve new stimulus measures to tackle the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Signalling that the Trump administration may be willing to support a package worth as much as $1.5tn (1.1tn), Mnuchin also suggested that he was willing to consider Democratic proposals to provide more funding for state and local governments.
While both sides remained locked in dispute on Tuesday, the funding has been one of the key stumbling blocks in the protracted standoff between Democrats and Republicans.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (^STOXX) rose by around 1.6%, while Londons FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was up by more than 1.3%.
Germanys DAX (^GDAXI) climbed by around 2%, while Frances CAC 40 (^FCHI) was around 1.8% in the green.
Equities in the US opened higher even after a closely watched report on monthly private payroll gains sharply missed expectations on Wednesday.
Tech stocks once again led the charge, with industry bellwethers like Amazon (AMZN) and Google (GOOG) all opening at new record highs.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up by around 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose by around 0.8%, while shares on the Nasdaq (^IXIC) climbed by around 0.1%.
While September tends to be a weak month for stocks, shares were also lifted by resilient data from the US construction and manufacturing sectors.
The gains in the US and Europe followed a mixed trading session in Asia.
Shanghais SSE Composite Index (^SSEC) fell by 0.17%, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) closed almost 0.4% in the red in Hong Kong.
But Japans Nikkei (^N225) rose by around 0.5% and the KOSPI Composite Index (^KOSPI) in South Korea climbed by more than 0.6%.
Australias ASX 200 (^AXJO) was up by more than 1.8% at market close even after a record second quarter contraction in economic output pushed the country into its first recession in 30 years.
M ore than half of British workers said they will never go back to their pre-lockdown commutes, a poll has found.
The survey suggested the coronavirus pandemic has permanently changed working and travelling habits for many workers in the UK.
With many Brits either working from home or being furloughed, 73 per cent of 1,000 motorists polled by WeBuyAnyCar.com said they do not miss their commute, while 27 per cent said they miss nothing about the office.
Twenty-nine per cent said they will work from home more often while a further 23 per cent said they plan to change the way they travel to work.
One in 10 want to walk to work, with a further 12 per cent wanting to ditch public transport in favour of driving.
Richard Evans, head of technical services at WeBuyAnyCar.com, said: This year has seen all of us adapt our daily routines and for many of us, our ways of working and commuting has been hugely impacted.
We know that there will be many motorists looking to sell their car now that their commuting habits have changed, whether that be to upgrade their car as they plan to drive into work over using public transport, or because working from home means they no longer need their car at all.
Passengers arrive at Victoria Station in London during the morning rush hour / PA
It comes as Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said "more than half" of staff are fully back in the offices at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she added: But even then we have capacity on how many people can be in a Covid-safe environment within our workplace.
Ms Coffey said that 799 of the departments 804 sites are open, and hoped that children returning to school would give parents more opportunities to go back to the office.
Grant Shapps: It is now safe to start returning to work
The minister told the programme: Its important that employers and employees have that discussion about Covid-safe environments, and added: Therell be more opportunities for parents to go back into the office if thats what is the best thing for them and their employer.
On Tuesday evening, pictures from the previously bustling City of London showed empty streets and Tube stations at rush hour after the Prime Minister said people were returning in huge numbers to the office.
Downing Street could not provide figures to back up the claims.
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Boris Johnsons spokesman said: I dont have the figures especially for today but you can expect to see more civil servants return to the office over the coming weeks with the return of Parliament and children to schools."
Additional reporting by PA Media.
Marvin and Lucille Stone slipped on their original wedding outfits to celebrate 60 years of marriage. (Photo: Katie Autry Photography)
Lucille Stone, then 21, spent the summer of 1960 making her own wedding dress. Sixty years, three children, six grandkids and four great-grandchildren later, the avid sewer added a satin insert at the waist I like to tell people that the sands shifted a little bit, she quips and once again slipped on that white lace gown for a memorable, now-viral photo shoot marking her diamond wedding anniversary with husband Marvin.
The Kearney, Neb., couple originally had something simple in mind when they booked a session with photographer Katie Autry on the occasion of their Aug. 21 anniversary. Nothing fancy, just a fresh photo to include in the Christmas letters they send out to friends and loved ones each year.
Then I got to thinking, Well, I think I can still get into my wedding dress, which was in a box upstairs, Lucille, who turns 82 in October, tells Yahoo Life. And we had Marvins suit and he hasnt changed.
Marvin who, at 89, still fits into his old Army uniforms from the early 50s and has only grown maybe an inch or so around the waist in the six decades since he said I do was game. And so was Autry, who photographed the couple in a series of romantic shots taken in a pasture near their home. The resulting photo shoot has gone viral in the days since the photographer posted it online along with relationship advice from the couple (sample pointers: Think before you speak and Work hard).
Its advice thats clearly served the longtime lovebirds well since meeting as teachers in 1959. It was home economics instructor Lucilles first teaching job out of school; Marvin was an Army vet seven years her senior and the only bachelor on the faculty. Their first date was attending a high school game, and the rest is history.
We were the gossip of the school, she says of their courtship, which also involved games of bridge during a series of blizzards that struck Nebraska that winter. By May, we were engaged.
Story continues
Lucille sewed her wedding dress herself in 1960 and made just a few tweaks 60 years later. (Photo: Katie Autry Photography)
The Stones were married on Aug. 21, 1960. (Photo: Katie Autry Photography)
They wed that Aug. 21. This Aug. 21, they celebrated hitting the 60-year milestone with a lovely family dinner we didnt want any fussing and a flood of anniversary cards sent in from well-wishers following an announcement in the local paper.
The Stones are bemused by their current viral fame, but ultimately its just one of countless memorable moments in a life spent by each others side.
Lucille credits the longevity of their marriage to their shared Christian faith, as well as hard work, patience and an understanding that they were in it for the long run.
You have to go into it with the idea that its permanent, she says. Neither one of us ever thought of divorce. If got angry with one another, it was a fleeting moment.
[We went into marriage thinking] this is a permanent, life-long deal. Til death do us part.
Read more from Yahoo Life:
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Sam Neill has stood by a political statement he made with his costume in the 1997 sci-fi film Event Horizon.
The hit movie, set in 2047, followed Neill and Laurence Fishburne as members of a group of astronauts who are sent to investigate a lost spacecraft that disappeared on its maiden voyage.
Eagle-eyed viewers have since spotted that the British Union Jack that usually appears in the corner of the Australian flag, which appears on Neill's character's space suit, has been replaced with an Aboriginal flag.
When one fan recently pointed this out on Twitter, Neill who is from New Zealand confirmed that he himself had requested for the flag to be customised, writing: This is indeed so. And I wouldnt do it any differently today.
For decades, there has been a debate about the placement of the British Union Jack in the upper-left corner of the Australian flag, with many Aboriginal people arguing it is a symbol of oppression.
Sam Neill in Event Horizon (Paramount Pictures)
Many republicans also oppose the design as it presents Australia as a British colony.
In 2018, Australias former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said the flag will never change and will continue to fly long after all us have shuffled off the stage of history.
Contributed Photo / Bjoern Wylezich - TNS
NEW HAVEN A city man will serve nearly two years in prison after he was linked to a drug trafficking organization last year, federal authorities said.
A judge on Tuesday sentenced Eric E-Love Yopp, 34, to serve 21 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham.
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Competition Dashboard:
Some of the key players functioning in the Global Silicon Carbide Ceramics Market are Saint-Gobain (France), Morgan Advanced Material (U.S.), CeramTec (Germany), Ortech Advanced Material (U.S.), KYOCERA Corporation (Japan), Coors Tek Inc. (U.S.), Blasch Precision Ceramics (U.S.), Hitachi Chemicals (Japan), ESD SIC bv (Netherlands), Ceradyne Inc (U.S.), and others.
The densely packed market is competitive as the key players are all looking for a sizeable portion of the market to secure their prospect. To expand their market portfolio, they are banking mainly on mergers and acquisitions and exploring distant regions. Morgan Advanced Material recently assisted in the construction of Chinas first turbofan jetliner engine. GTAT Corp. has recently opened a world-class Silicon Carbide manufacturing plant on June 26, 2018,
Industry Trend:
Demand from several industries has spurred extensive investment in research and developments. Recently, joint research efforts of a team of scientists at Lobachevsky University of Nizhny Novgorod (UNN) comprising chemists, physicists, and engineers, have made it possible to obtain garnet-silicon carbide ceramic compositions with a high relative density.
CeramTec-ETECs has recently launched SICADUR, an armor material made from silicon carbide, fulfills all the current requirements of composite armoring systems.
Segmentation:
Global SiC Ceramics Market can be segmented by Type and Application.
Type-Wise Segmentation of the market includes pressure sintered, reaction bonded and recrystallized silicon carbide.
Application-Based Segmentation consists electronics & electrical, automotive, machine manufacturing, metal mining, aerospace & defense, metallurgic, industrial, and others. SiC Ceramics wear resistance, and biocompatibility properties make it suitable for use in artificial bones, biodegradable splints, and implant materials. This has helped the medical industry register the most significant growth.
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Regional Analysis:
Global SiC Ceramics Market covers namely five major regions including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LATAM), and the Middle East & Africa (MEA).
The APAC, with 39% of the market share, is currently the frontrunner and the situation is expected to remain the same during the forecast period substantiated by the highest CAGR 7.95%. Electronics & electrical sector, along with the booming automotive sector to secure the prospects of the region. Massive steel production can also be a driving factor. China has significant control over the market with a revenue of USD 796.1 million. India and Taiwan are also posing as lucrative markets for the same.
North America follows the APAC and is getting influenced by mining activities and demand from the automotive industry. Aerospace & defense sector is also contributing considerably to the 26% share of the global market.
Lastly, Europe is showing a slackening speed owing to a meltdown in countries such as the U.K., and Slovakia. However, the market has been kept steady by Germany, Russia, and Belgium.
Overview:
With a leap of an impressive CAGR of 6.45%, the Global Silicon Carbide (SiC) Ceramics Market is expecting an escalation up to USD 7,474.1 million during the forecast period (2017-2023), reveals Market Research Future (MRFR) in a detailed study. Its strength, resistance to acid, low thermal expansion, and thermal conductivity make it the choicest component for many industries. In the automotive industry, its hardness is getting many accolades and is gaining traction in high-end semiconductors in electronics & electrical sector owing to its thermal conductivity. In addition, jewelry, sporting goods, and energy sectors are also showing demand for SiC Ceramics.
However, when its price is under consideration, bottlenecking of the market is also possible. SiC Ceramics are the costliest variation in the ceramic section which can hold back the market growth. But this will not last long as steel is showing interest in the sector and given the burgeoning market of steel, slackening growth for long is a rare possibility.
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A former school teacher who became the top torturer for Cambodias genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, overseeing the deaths of around 15,000 people, died Wednesday at the age of 77.
Kaing Guek Eav, better known by his alias Duch, had served as the head of the infamous Tuol Sleng prison and was later convicted of crimes against humanity by a UN-backed war crimes tribunal for his role in the Killing Fields regime.
Born in 1942, the former mathematics teacher became the Khmer Rouges top interrogator when the ultra-Maoist regime was in power from 1975-1979.
Duch oversaw the torture of thousands of men, women and children in a neighbourhood high school that was converted into a detention centre, extracting false confessions from his victims and sending them to their deaths on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh.
After the Khmer Rouges fall from power, he maintained posts within the communist movement as it battled Vietnam-backed troops.
The jailer turned to Christianity in his later years, and was working for an aid agency in western Cambodia under a false name at the time of his arrest in 1999, when many had long assumed he was already dead.
Duch was the first member of the Khmer Rouge to face judgement before a war crimes tribunal in Cambodia, and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012.
His death was a reminder that justice is a long and difficult process, said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which conducts research on the Khmer Rouge regime.
Perhaps it can bring some satisfaction to the living, and the fallen can now rest in peace, Youk told AFP.
Milestone of justice
Duchs testimony at the tribunal served as an important milestone for millions of Cambodians who had suffered under the brutal regime, which killed up to two million during the brief four-year period.
He had maintained a huge archive of photos, confessions and other documents with which UN prosecutors traced the final horrible months of thousands of inmates lives.
It revealed facets of the regimes secretive workings such as the repeated purges driven by paranoia from the leadership that its enemies were within its ranks.
Duch became a cadre in 1970 in order to transform society, to oppose the government, to oppose torture, he said during the trial, and helped to oversee a series of jungle prisons.
After the regime seized power in 1975, he was installed as head of Tuol Sleng referred to as S-21 by the Khmer Rouge which he staffed with uneducated teenage boys.
He said they could be easily indoctrinated because they were like a blank piece of paper.
While he had begged for forgiveness for crimes committed at the jail, he later dismayed survivors by asking to be acquitted on the grounds that he was not a senior member of the Khmer Rouge hierarchy.
I respectfully and strictly followed the orders, Duch said in one of his final public statements to the court.
Duch had been in and out of hospital for years and had serious respiratory problems towards the end of his life.
He was admitted for treatment again this week and died shortly after midnight on Wednesday, tribunal spokesman Neth Pheaktra told AFP.
The work of the court that Duch faced has long been tainted by its limited scope and the age of its defendants. Only two other people have been convicted by the tribunal.
One of them, Brother Number Two Nuon Chea considered the chief ideologue and architect of the murderous regime died last year at the age of 93.
Maharashtra Minister Uday Samant on Wednesday met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to discuss the issue of conducting final year university examinations in light of the Supreme Courts order about the same.
The minister of higher and technical education called on Koshyari at Raj Bhavan here and was accompanied by minister of state Prajakt Tanpure, an official release stated.
Upholding the Universities Grants Commissions guidelines, the Supreme Court had last week held that no state and university can promote students in the final year/terminal semester without holding examinations.
The court also ruled that the UGCs directives to universities and colleges to hold final year exams by September 30, was well within its domain.
A SC bench also said that if any state or Union Territory, in exercise of its jurisdiction under the Disaster Management Act, has decided that it is not possible to conduct the examination by September 30, then they can make an application to the UGC for extending the deadline.
On Monday, Samant had said that majority of the 13 non-agriculture universities in Maharashtra have urged the state government to seek an extension to hold the final year examinations and announce results by October 31.
Hsu Yun Pei, a Taiwanese musician living in Seoul who plays the Chinese traditional instrument "erhu" and similar Korean traditional instrument "haegeum," holds the two instruments at her studio in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Won Min-an
By Jung Da-min
For Hsu Yun Pei, a 28-year-old traditional Taiwanese musician, Korea has become her new home and new stage.
Hsu, who plays a Chinese two-stringed fiddle called an "erhu," first came to Korea in September 2013 as an exchange student from Taipei National University of the Arts. She studied for a year at Chonnam National University in Korea's southwestern city Gwangju, learning the traditional Korean instrument "haegeum" and Korean music, known as "gugak."
"I chose haegeum because it was what I could do well, as I've been playing erhu since my elementary school days," Hsu told The Korea Times at her studio, Monday. The Chinese erhu and Korean haegeum are both two-stringed fiddles that share similarities in their appearance and performing techniques but differ in some details, thus creating different tones.
Hsu said her university days were her best days in Korea thanks to a Korean friend who helped her adjust to life here. She visited various tourist sites and experienced Korean culture and foods.
"My favorite Korean food is still 'aehobak jjigae' (red chili paste stew with zucchini) which is popular in South Jeolla Province," Hsu said. "It is a shame that I cannot find a restaurant where they sell aehobak jjigae in Seoul."
Her good memories of Korea brought Hsu back to the country in 2016 to study for a master's degree for the haegeum at the College of Music at Seoul National University.
Although Hsu could easily adopt haegeum performing techniques as an erhu performer, it was hard going as she found it difficult to memorize scores written with "jeongganbo," a unique traditional musical notation system of Korea and the first East Asian system to represent rhythm, pitch and time.
"During the first semester, I kept forgetting the jeongganbo I had been trying to memorize. I had been working on it for a month, trying to memorize an hour-long score for a final exam. I thought I had everything down but then suddenly I would just forgot it all, which made me wonder if I was a fool," Hsu said. "I tried really hard, practicing from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day but still what I had worked on during the afternoon I would have forgotten by the early evening and on it would go into the night."
Memorizing jeongganbo scores is difficult even for Koreans, but Hsu's professors and fellow students were mostly trained Korean musicians who had been practicing gugak for years, reading jeongganbo since they were young.
"When I finally succeeded in memorizing the long score for the final exam and performed in an ensemble with other students, one of my professors was really surprised and came to me to ask how I remembered the score and if it wasn't hard. Well, it was really, really hard," Hsu said.
Hsu said she always likes to challenge herself and that was why she did not go back to Taiwan after finishing her master's course last year. She launched her own YouTube channel recently to share videos of her performing popular Korean songs on erhu.
Stephen Donnelly said penalties of up to 40 could be introduced for the non compliance of mask wearing during Covid-19.
The health minister stated that a current 1914 penal provision is deemed too strict to deal with the breaking of public health guidelines, such as face masks and house parties.
And the Government is now seeking to draw up new legislation to bring in penalties more suitable to address the flouting of measures.
Review of opening of pubs
Meanwhile Justice Minister Helen McEntee stated the opening of pubs would once again be reviewed on September 13.
And she hoped legislation to clamp down on those flouting public health regulations would help open up so called wet pubs.
These are people who have worked their entire lives, Minister McEntee told Claire Byrne on RTEs Radio 1s Today.
"For some people their social life is a pint mid week," Minister McEntee said the Government wanted to reopen all pubs but it was of the utmost importance that health was prioritised.
Minister McEntee said that new legislation to give gardai further powers of enforcement will allow officers to shut pubs down for up to a month if they are in breach of public health guidelines.
The legislation has been brought about after an increased number of breaches, she stated.
The powers would now allow gardai to deal with "repeat offenders" who had continued to flout the regulations.
Officers would, however, first seek to engage with publicans to see guidelines arent being breached.
But if breaches are found to be taking place, gardai will be able to close a pub on the day if the publican refuses to comply.
If a pub is asked for a second time to comply and again refuses, a garda sergeant can ask the district court for an emergency closure for up to three days.
And if a third breach takes place, after gardai have become involved, a court order can be introduced to close the pub for between seven and 30 days.
The measures would help create a roadmap to open up pubs who would comply with health guidelines.
Minister Donnelly told Pat Kenny on Newstalk: The big problem we have is the regulations are within the 1914 Health Act.
In other words, there's a penal provision and its for a fine of up to 2,500 or a prison sentence of six months. It's completely disproportionate and not in the spirit with the solidarity we need. Ill be seeking to amend the 1914 Act and for (not wearing) face coverings 20 and 40 euro fines.
Minister Donnelly said regarding house parties, it was vital that there are more appropriate fines.
We can say it's against the law, that there are appropriate penalties and we aren't relying on this (penalty) that isn't fit for purpose. We decided in the short term not to apply penalties. We are conscious of the sanctity of the home.
And the only option would be to apply this draconian power from 73 years ago, which we felt was inappropriate.
We can take a look to see if we want to give the gardai enforcement powers.
We want to make it clear it's a legal requirement. We can't have more than six people to a house from more than four households.
Read More
Minister Donnelly said he had become aware of a house party some weeks ago which saw one young man who was asymptomatic and was unaware he had Covid-19, infect 30 people.
We want to make sure there's a clear message sent out don't do this, you're putting yourself and other people at risk.
Mr Donnelly added that localised lockdowns had been revealed as being highly effective and though there were no more plans currently for any regional restrictions, there had been an increase in cases noted in north Dublin, particularly near Kildare.
This was something, he added, that was being monitored. However, he reconfirmed there was no plan for any lockdown in Dublin.
Mr Donnelly also stated that a new roadmap would be published in two weeks which would signal that localised lockdowns are preferential.
Part of these measures would look at how speed is important.
Paul Reid, director general of the HSE, told Claire Byrne, that we are now entering a most difficult winter.
This winter "will be more difficult than ever before". We are saying to the public we are in a difficult phase, Mr Reid added.
The prediction comes as the HSE tackles Covid-19 and builds back up services that had been stopped due to the pandemic.
Mr Reid admitted there are apprehensions, as we are living with Covid-19. We have to live and plan differently, he said.
People are angry, looking for clarity We need to give people hope and confidence.
We have learned a lot about the virus. The basics work. Our first line of defence are the public health measures.
Last week we tested 58,000. We have a very strong testing and training system in place.
Flu vaccinations had been delayed globally but he expected these to be rolled out in Ireland within weeks, including for two to 12-year-olds, as the HSE attempts to protect the population from flu while Covid-19 continues to be an issue.
But with a drop in deaths across the past 10 days and a lower number of people in ICU since the height of the pandemic, progress had, he insisted, been made.
We are in a much better, stronger place than at the peak of this virus but we cant drop our guard.
Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland
Japan commits Rs3,500-cr in ODA loan to fight India's Covid-19 crisis
The Japanese government has committed Official Development Assistance of 50 billion yen (approx Rs3,500 crore) for Indias Covid-19 Crisis Emergency Response Support. Additional secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs CS Mohapatra, and Japanese Ambassador Suzuki Satoshi signed the documents.
The loan for a health sector programme of the Government of India will be used to fight the Covid-19 crisis in India.
This programme aims to support Indias efforts in fighting Covid-19 and to prepare the health system to manage future epidemics and also to improve the resilience of Indias health systems against infectious diseases.
The programme includes a grant assistance of JPY 1 billion (approx Rs70 crore) from the government of Japan which can be used for providing medical equipment to strengthen the public health and medical system in India. This will strengthen the health care facilities for managing critical and serious patients suffering from Covid-19 infection.
India and Japan have had a long and fruitful history of bilateral development cooperation since 1958. In the last few years, the economic cooperation between India and Japan has strengthened and grown into strategic partnership. This further consolidates and strengthens the Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan.
The Pound (GBP) is trading in a narrow range against the Euro (EUR) this morning as fresh Brexit jitters drag on Sterling sentiment.
This follows a notable shift in tone from Downing Street regarding the possibility of reaching a trade deal with the EU by the end of the year.
Downing Street now suggests it will be very difficult for a deal to be ready by the end of December, a marked turnaround from Boris Johnsons previous optimism in which he claimed a deal could be reached in July with a bit of oomph.
A spokesperson for the PM said: An agreement is still possible and this is still our goal, but it is clear it will not be easy to achieve. The EU continues to insist that we must agree on difficult areas in the negotiations, such as state aid, before any further work can be done in any other area of the negotiations, including on legal texts, and that makes it very difficult to make progress. We would instead like to settle the simplest issues first, in order to build momentum in the talks, as time is short for both sides.
Meanwhile, EU officials grow increasingly pessimistic at the chances of a Brexit deal, as they accuse the UK government as being unrealistic in its demands.
Frances EU affairs minister, Clement Beaune, said: Things are not advancing because the UK would like to have its cake and eat it: to leave the European Union and have access to the European market.
Britains chief negotiator, David Frost and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier are currently meeting in London for informal talks ahead of the next round of formal negotiation next week.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates Undermined by Weak EUR Data Release
At the same time, the (EUR) is stuck in second gear this morning as recent EUR data releases continue to raise concerns over the state of the Eurozones economic recovery.
Tuesdays consumer price index exerted considerable pressure on the Euro after revealing that the Eurozone slipped into a state of deflation last month.
This was followed by data published earlier this morning, revealing a surprise drop in German retail sales growth in July.
The releases are stoking concerns that the Eurozones economic recovery has already begun to stall amid Europes coronavirus resurgence, whilst also prompting speculation that the European Central Bank (ECB) may need to consider easing its monetary policy even further.
GBP/EUR Exchange Rate Forecast: Positive PMI Figures to Reinforce Sterlings Gains?
Looking ahead to the second half of this weeks session, the Pound to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate, may look to resume its recent rally, with the publication of the UK and Eurozones latest PMI releases.
In the UK Thursdays PMI release looks set to confirm that growth in the private sector was booming last month, with the index soaring to its highest levels since 2013.
However the Eurozone release looks to make for more dour reading as Europes coronavirus resurgence looks to have stalled the blocs economic recovery.
GBP investors will also been keeping a close eye on Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Baileys testimony before the Treasury Select Committee later this week, amidst hopes he may offer more guidance on the banks plans for monetary policy.
Meanwhile a slowing of Eurozone retail sales growth and German factory orders in July could see the Euro extend its downside.
Turkish President Erdogan. (Source: Xinhuanet)
By NieShuyi
The jostling and entanglement between EU and Turkey may have a new entry. On August 26, local time, Turkish President Erdogan, in response to the joint military exercise in the Mediterranean Sea organized by the four EU members of Greece, Cyprus, Italy and France targeting Turkey, said Turkey will not back off in defending its rights and interests over the natural gas resources in East Mediterranean. This protracted battle for resources is continuously having overspill effects and fueling the geopolitical turbulence in the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Middle East.
Since Israel took the lead in exploiting and discovering oil and gas resources in East Mediterranean Sea in 2009, about 4.47 billion ton equivalent of workable oil and gas reserves have been found in the 19 basins in this water over recent years, with nearly 12.28 billion ton more to be discovered. The Mediterranean Sea is expected to become another important energy production source after the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Mexico. In recent years, countries around the waters have gradually divided into two blocs revolving around the resource exploitation. On the one hand, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Palestine and Egypt have formed a regional energy organization - the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), and are poised to jointly develop the oil and gas resources in the region and build an energy pipeline around Turkey to pipe the resources to Europe. On the other hand, Turkey has been working with Libyas Government of National Accord, Qatar and North Cyprus, which is only recognized by Turkey itself, to expand its geopolitical interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and other regions. With the formation of the two blocs, the demarcation of oil and gas resources in East Mediterranean has become a tool of political struggle among the countries. Under such circumstances, Greece, which has been denying Turkeys qualification to have a finger in the pie on the grounds that it doesnt have an exclusive economic zone in the Mediterranean Sea, stands tit-for-tat against Turkey that wants to become the Eurasian energy hub. Moreover, Greece and Turkey also have a vendetta due to historical reasons, the Cyprus issue and refugee crisis.
Its worth noting that this isnt the first time that Turkey had a conflict with NATO allies and the EU. Since its failed coup in 2016, Turkey has been in constant tension with the US and Europe. In 2019, Washington and Ankara had a serious spat over the latters purchase of Russias S-400 air defense missile systems; Turkey has been battling with the US and Europe over the Syrian and Libyan issues; and recently Turkey and Europe, apart from the refugee crisis, have been at loggerheads over the formers conversion of the historic Hagia Sophia back to a mosque. On August 28, the EU foreign ministers agreed on a list of sanctions against Turkey in case Ankara does not reduce the escalation of its operations in the increasingly tense Eastern Mediterranean region, while Turdey kept tit-for tat without any concessions.
Despite the strained relation between Turkey and Greece, Cyprus, France and Italy, a large-scale military conflict is unlikely. Germany, a key member of EU, is still mediating between Turkey and Greece and its possible that NATOs bellwether US may step in the Turkey-Greece conflict destabilizes the Middle East situation even though it hasnt declared its stance yet. Greeces tough stance so far is backed by the EU, so its attitude depends on the EUs attitude; Turkey, on the other hand, isnt likely to really attack Greece thats both a NATO member and an EU member. It just wants to leverage the situation to gain itself more interests regarding the refugee, Syrian and Libyan issues.
Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Virginia celebrates its 150th year in the Winchester community. The church is known to have one of the largest congregations of any church in the Winchester area. The church maintained roughly about 3,200 families and 10,000 members. The Church was dedicated on July 18, 1870, and remains until today.
Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, many churches have faced hardship or legal actions for re-opening their doors to hold in-person service. The Sacred Heart of Jesus Church remains strong and bold throughout the pandemic and wishes to see confession and prayer. The church community's engagement also remains faithful and repeated to be strong.
Anthony-price, a church member stated, "We've got a strong bulletin, we have a website, a strong social media presence."
Throughout social media, The Church has been engaging among members and have been updating service hours, online activities, and prayer events.
"Good day Sacred Heart family. We pray you are all staying safe and healthy! We will be streaming a live Mass tomorrow!"
"This historic occasion (150th celebration) provides us all with a wonderful opportunity to show our support for the parish here at Sacred Heart and also for the whole Archdiocese. We will be developing a journal to commemorate the 150th anniversary to include a variety event."
The church's 150th-anniversary dedication shows faith, leadership, and hard work to overcome all power and fears among any situation and maintain the grounds. Many individuals show respect, love, and support throughout the pandemic as they look forward to the biggest change.
RIYADH, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority (CMA) said on Wednesday it will allow foreigners to invest directly in debt instruments, furthering open the Saudi market to outside investors.
The market regulator said in a statement that resident and non-resident foreigners will be able to invest in listed and non-listed debt instruments. (Reporting by Marwa Rashad; editing by John Stonestreet)
Water donation campaign to help ease drought in four provinces of Iran
07/22/20
Source: Tehran Times
The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) will launch a campaign for the third time to solicit public donations to ease water stress in four provinces of the country. The long-standing 20-year-old drought in the region is forcing many to have to provide their water from tank trucks delivering water to the areas.
The campaign has three main aspects, including livelihood support, medical services (with the focus on coronavirus), and dealing with water stress are implemented in the form of tanker installation, water treatment, and plumbing for people to have access to safe freshwater.
The campaign, called Nazr-e Ab (literally meaning water donation), was launched 2 years ago, following the drought crisis in the southern and southeastern provinces of the country, with the aim of supplying fresh water to deprived areas with the help of the people and the IRCS.
From September 6 to October 6 in drought-ridden provinces of Sistan-Baluchestan, South Khorasan, Kerman, and Hormozgan, it aims at soliciting water donations for the regions suffering severe water scarcity and people can participate with donating bottled water, water tanks or cash, nationwide.
The campaign was first held in August 2018, in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan which went into trouble after the Hamoun wetland drained and the rainless sky left many in dire need of drinking water.
Source: Iranian daily Sazandegi
Based on the latest data published by National Drought Warning and Monitoring Center affiliated to Iran's Meteorological Organization, since the current crop year (September 23, 2018), South Khorasan has received 154.6 millimeters rainfall while the long-term averages are 109.7 millimeters which indicate above normal averages. Last year during the same period, 138.5 millimeters of precipitation reported.
Precipitation in Sistan-Baluchestan province increased to 190.5 millimeters from 130.3 millimeters in the previous water year, demonstrating a 46.2 percent rise. The amount also rose in comparison to the long-term average of 113.6 mm, showing an increase of 67.6 percent.
Hormozgan province also experienced increased rainfall during this crop year, receiving 426.7 millimeters of rain while it reported raining 244.5 millimeters in the previous water year, showing a 74.5 percent rise, while it also increased in comparison to the long-term mean by 141.2 percent.
Kerman also experienced increased precipitation compared to both the long term average and last year.
However, all four provinces are still suffering from water shortage.
A Syrian military source said that an Israeli missile attack on Syria killed two people, injured seven others and caused damage on Monday, state media reported.
The state news agency SANA cited the source as saying that Syrian air defences had intercepted most of the Israeli missiles launched from the direction of the Golan Heights toward military sites south of Damascus.
SANA later said a civilian woman had been killed and her husband injured in the blast. It was not immediately clear if she was among the two deaths initially reported by the military source, who had said that seven soldiers were wounded.
An Israeli military spokesman contacted earlier by Reuters had declined to comment on the initial report by Syrian state media of an Israeli air-strike.
Earlier this month Israeli aircraft attacked targets in Syria in what it described as retaliation for an attempted bombing of a fence along the Golan armistice line between the two countries by what Israel described as an enemy squad.
Israel has repeatedly attacked Iranian targets in Syria and those of allied militias, including Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Israel sees Iran's presence in Syria, in support of President Bashar al-Assad's government in the country's civil war, as a strategic threat.
Touching upon the plan of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia to create a militia during the candlelight ceremony organized at Yerablur Military Pantheon today, member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun political party Artsvik Minasyan said there is still room for improvement of the plan.
There is definitely a need to create a militia, and the creation of a militia is one of the solutions to the issues that our political party has raised. The plan needs to be worked on, but the idea itself is not only acceptable, but also necessary since a militia is extremely important for a country like Armenia that is surrounded by two inimical countries, he said, adding that this will provide thousands of Armenians with the opportunity to take part in strengthening Armenian statehood for all time through a militia as well.
Asked why is such a plan being presented now and if there is a risk of war or not, Minasyan said there has always been a risk of war.
Alameda Countys district attorney charged a San Leandro police officer Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a Black man at a Walmart in April, among the first such cases filed under a new, more restrictive, California law on police shootings.
The decision by District Attorney Nancy OMalleys office to file a felony charge of voluntary manslaughter comes more than four months after Officer Jason Fletcher shot and killed Steven Taylor, 33. Prosecutors claim that Taylor who was holding a bat and stumbling after Fletcher shocked him with his Taser posed no immediate threat to police or the public when Fletcher shot him with his service weapon.
The decision to file the criminal complaint was made after an intensive investigation and thorough analysis of the evidence and the current law, OMalley said in a statement. The work of police officers is critical to the health, safety and well-being of our communities. Their job is one of the most demanding in our society, especially in these current challenging times. They are sworn to uphold and enforce the laws.
Fletchers lawyer, Michael Rains a criminal defense attorney known for representing officers accused of misconduct said Wednesday he was very, very disappointed in the charges.
The charges are undeserved and I am very confident that the jury hearing all the evidence in this case will acquit this officer in short order.
It is the first time the district attorneys office under OMalley has charged a police officer for using lethal force.
Fletcher is among the first officers to be charged under a new measure that narrows the scope of the instances in which police can legally use deadly force.
AB392, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom into law last year, requires peace officers to use deadly force only when necessary in defense of human life. Previous law, set by U.S. Supreme Court cases, considered whether a reasonable officer in similar circumstances would have acted the same way.
The law additionally states that officers shall use other available resources and techniques if reasonably safe, in effect requiring police to use de-escalation tactics wherever possible.
Police responded to the Hesperian Boulevard store on April 18 after callers claimed Taylor had grabbed a baseball bat and tent off the shelves and tried to leave. He was detained by the stores security personnel, prosecutors said, who called 911.
Fletcher was nearby and responded quickly. While walking in the stores front door, he noticed another police officer arrive in the Walmart parking lot, but did not wait for him, prosecutors said.
Video released by police shows Taylor holding the bat near the front of the store right before Fletcher approached him and tried to grab the bat away, As Taylor stepped back, Fletcher pointed his Taser at him while the officer and witnesses told Taylor to drop the bat.
While the two were about 17 feet apart, Taylor walked toward Fletcher and the officer fired his Taser, causing Taylor to stumble forward, holding the bat at about knee height.
3 1 of 3 Courtesy Taylor family Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Courtesy Taylor family Show More Show Less 3 of 3
Fletcher then shot him in the chest with his service pistol just as the backup officer arrived in the store, prosecutors said. Taylor dropped the bat and turned away from Fletcher before collapsing. He was later pronounced dead.
The encounter lasted less than 40 seconds.
I believe Officer Fletchers actions, coupled with his failure to attempt other de-escalation options rendered his use of deadly force unreasonable, OMalley said.
In a statement shortly after the charges were announced, San Leandro Police Chief Jeff Tudor said he knows Taylors death has deeply affected this community.
It is important that we allow the judicial process to take its course, Tudor said.
Fletcher is the first Alameda County police officer to be charged in a deadly use-of-force incident in over a decade. In January 2009, then-Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff charged ex-BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle with murder for shooting 22-year-old Oscar Grant in the back while Grant was being restrained. A jury convicted Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter.
Rains, who represented Mehserle and now represents Fletcher, said the prosecutors allegations that Fletcher failed to use sufficient de-escalation tactics couldnt be further from the truth.
He tried everything possible to de-escalate this situation and to have the other individual (Taylor) drop the bat, Rains said, noting that the bat is a lethal weapon under California law.
The new use-of-force law in California does not require police officers to have their brains bashed out with a baseball bat before they defend themselves, he said.
In a statement to The Chronicle, Taylors family attorney Lee Merritt said the family is encouraged by the manslaughter charge lodged against the officer.
Mr. Taylor was suffering a mental health crisis and did not represent a threat to officers or the general public before being tased and shot to death, Merritt said. Although this is an important first step in seeking justice, the family is eager to see Fletcher convicted and appropriately sentenced for the unjustified shooting death of Mr. Taylor.
Cat Brooks, the cofounder of the Anti Police-Terror Project said OMalley didnt have a choice to charge Fletcher because of AB392.
She wont call it murder, but we will, Brooks said.
Fletcher is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 15.
San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Lauren Hernandez contributed to this report.
Michael Williams and Megan Cassidy are a San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: Michael.Williams@sfchronicle.com, megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter @michaeldamianw, @meganrcassidy
'The administration was not ready for (my) release, but I have been released because of the prayers of people.'
IMAGE: Dr Kafeel Khan, centre, following his release from Mathura jail after the Allahabad high court quashed his detention under the National Security Act and ordered his immediate release. Photograph: PTI Photo
The Uttar Pradesh government was indulging in Baal Hatth' or childlike-stubbornness instead of observing 'Raj Dharma' and could frame him in another case, Dr Kafeel Khan said after being released from Mathura jail late on Tuesday night.
Dr Khan has been in jail since January after he delivered a speech at the Aligarh Muslim University during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in December.
On Tuesday, the Allahabad high court quashed his detention under the stringent National Security Act and ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to release him 'forthwith', saying his speech at AMU didn't promote hatred or violence and called for national integrity.
Speaking after his release, Dr Khan said, "I will always remain thankful to all my well-wishers who raised their voice for my release. The administration was not ready for (my) release, but I have been released because of the prayers of people."
"In the Ramayana, Maharshi Valmiki had said that the 'raja' should act for 'Raj Dharma'. In UP, the 'raja' is not doing 'Raj Dharma', but is doing 'Baal Hatth' (being stubborn like a child),' the paediatrician said.
Dr Khan, who first hit the headlines in 2017 following his suspension from Gorakhpur's BRD Medical College after several children died there due to the lack of oxygen cylinders, said he was apprehensive that the government may frame him in another case.
He stated that he and his family have had to face many hardships as the state government was "after" him because of the oxygen issue at the BRD Medical College.
He said he now wants to help flood-affected people in Bihar and Assam.
The Allahabad high court said the Aligarh district magistrate, who passed the order for Khan's detention, did a 'selective reading' of Dr Khan's speech, 'ignoring its true intent'.
Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh allowed the writ petition filed by Dr Khan's mother Nuzhat Parveen and said the detention order by the district magistrate is illegal.
Quashing Dr Khan's detention order, the court said, 'A complete reading of the speech prima facie does not disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence. It also no where threatens peace and tranquility of the city of Aligarh. The address gives a call for national integrity and unity among the citizens. The speech also deprecates any kind of violence.'
'A writ in the nature of habeas corpus is hereby issued to release Dr Kafeel Khan, the detenue, from state custody forthwith,' the judges stated.
Dr Khan was charged under the NSA on February 13. The Uttar Pradesh government extended his detention under the stringent law by three months twice -- in May and August.
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav lauded the court order and hoped party leader Azam Khan, who has been 'framed in false cases', would also get justice.
'All justice lovers have welcomed the high court's order for the release of Dr Kafeel Khan from detention. We hope Azam Khan, framed in false cases, will also get justice. Injustice and atrocities of those in power do not last long,' Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.
Azam Khan is in jail in connection with a number of cases including that of land grabbing filed against him in Rampur.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also hailed the court order. She congratulated all 'justice-loving people' and party workers in the state who had been making efforts for Dr Khan's release
The Resident Doctors Association at the AMU also welcomed Dr Khan's release.
Dr Hamza Malik, president of the association, described DR Khan's release as a 'victory of justice'.
Dr Khan had always stood for humanitarian values as a doctor, maintained the high traditions of the medical profession and never indulged in divisive activities, Dr Malik said on Wednesday.
Instead of incarcerating Dr Khan, the government should have availed his services at a time when health amenities in the state 'badly needed' cooperation from the medical fraternity, Dr Malik added.
Dr Khan was initially hailed as a saviour for the children at the BRD Medical College for arranging emergency oxygen cylinders. However, later, he faced action along with nine other doctors and staff members of the hospital, all of whom were released on bail.
A state government probe cleared Dr Khan of all major charges, prompting him to seek an apology from the Yogi Adityanath government. He had alleged that an institutional failure had led to the deaths of the children.
Toronto police are grappling with yet another overnight of gun violence in the city after one man was shot and killed in North York, while six others were hurt in a separate drive-by shooting at a Little Jamaica bakery.
In the first shooting, people were gathered in and around Spences Bakery on Eglinton Avenue West, near Oakwood Avenue, seeking shelter from the overnight thunderstorm when shots rang out at around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
The suspects made a U-turn just east of the location, circled back westbound, and the occupants of the vehicle at that time discharged multiple rounds, Toronto police Supt. Shaun Narine told reporters.
Narine said it looked like somebody at the bakery was identified when the vehicle was passing by, and that person was targeted.
Youve got six people huddling together out of the rain, the vehicle drives by (and) opens up on the crowd thats standing there, obviously searching for . . . their intended targets, Narine said.
Five men and a woman, between the ages of 30 and 69, were taken to hospital, police said. Five of the victims have been discharged and the sixth is expected to be released later Wednesday.
Narine said the shooting displayed a brazen disregard for citizens of Toronto.
We will bring these people to justice, Narine said.
At least three bullet holes could be seen at, or near, the bakerys storefront and blood was still on the steps Wednesday morning.
Police believe the shooting was gang-related. It remains unknown who at Spences was the intended target, Narine said.
The bakery, perhaps best known for its jerk chicken, is a popular food spot in the area and Narine emphasized that the restaurant had no connection with gangs.
I dont live too far from here and many officers have come to eat here before, Narine said.
With the empty streets and high unemployment rates that came with the pandemic, Narine said it has become easier to find and target people.
Police are searching a dark-coloured Nissan SUV with multiple occupants. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.
The gunfire took place about three hours before another shooting in North York.
A 50-year-old man was shot and killed in North York in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Toronto police say.
Police received reports of a shooting around 5 a.m. and found a man suffering gunshot injuries in a car on 11 Stilecroft Drive, near Keele Street and Sheppard Avenue.
The man was taken to hospital with serious injuries where he later died. He has since been identified as Joseph Hart of Toronto.
Police said they believe the shooting was targeted and told neighbourhood residents they believe that there is no other public safety threat.
Police are looking for a dark-coloured vehicle that headed east on Stilecroft towards Keele.
Investigators say they are hoping to speak with anyone who was in contact with Hart in the last week. They can reached by calling 416-808-7400.
A third shooting happened Wednesday night at a business in North York around 7:30 p.m. Multiple shell-casings were found in the Dufferin Street and Bridgeland Avenue area after someone shot at the business, police said.
Later a man with gun-shot wounds walked himself to a nearby hospital.
A white Mercedes was last seen driving west on Bridgeland Avenue, they said.
Gun violence continues to be near record levels in Toronto.
As of Monday, police have recorded significantly more shooting incidents including ones that result in no injuries so far in 2020 than in any other year in police data that goes back to 2004: A total of 335, up from 290 by Aug. 31, 2019, the next highest total by that date.
This year remains slightly behind last years record pace of shooting victims. As of Sunday, 157 people had been killed or injured in shootings in 2020, down from 166 by that date last year. This year so far is also behind 2005, which was called the year of the gun, over its then-record spike in firearm violence.
Based on the data, shootings in the city have increased steadily since reaching a low in 2014, which saw 69 people shot by Aug. 30.
Twenty-seven people have been killed by guns so far in 2020, according to the police data.
In 2018 and 2019, the spike in summer shootings spurred investments in policing, including multimillion-dollar initiatives intended to crack down on gun violence through increased enforcement.
Both initiatives failed to produce long-term results.
In 2018, 200 extra officers were deployed throughout the city between July to September, but the city still saw a record-breaking year for shootings.
In 2019, Toronto police created Project Community Space, which saw increased guns-and-gangs enforcement thanks to $4.5 million in funding from all three levels of government. It did not result in a reduction in shootings, though Toronto police said it led to higher solve rates.
With files from Ed Tubb, Wendy Gillis and Abhya Adlakha
Raneem Alozzi is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @r_alozzi
It was my mistake, and Im sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and Im responsible for what happens here.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg offered this apology to members of the US Congress in March, 2018 when he was called to explain how a third party, Cambridge Analytica, used its service to carry out psychometric analysis of Americans in a way that possibly influenced the 2016 US presidential election.
This was not the first time Zuckerberg or his company said sorry (see box) - each time only to be followed by a new abuse of service that Facebook failed to stop. These have, in the CEOs own words from the 2018 hearing, involved fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well [threats from] developers and data privacy [breaches].
In India, some of these harms have manifested as abusive troll armies, individuals inciting rioting and political support groups spreading coordinated misinformation to swing votes.
In its latest controversy, the company has been accused of not acting against Bharatiya Janata Party politicians for violation of content policies, a decision purportedly influenced by a senior executive seen as being close to the party. Facebook and BJP have denied the allegations, and the ruling party has instead blamed the company of censoring its supporters. The company did not respond to requests for details on how it moderates content or what its stand is on such policies.
Across the board, weve watched as the company (Facebook) does whatever is in its profit interest, as it selectively chooses when to censor or otherwise subvert content and, conversely, when to do nothing about it even if it goes viral, so long as there is adequate commercial justification to take no action. This unwavering adherence to whatever policy serves the business model subjugates the democratic interest and must be corrected, said Dipayan Ghosh, a former White House official who is currently the co-director of Digital Platforms & Democracy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School.
The controversies around Facebook now reflect the complicated regulatory riddle: what are the rules of online speech? Who should write them? Who should enforces them? These questions, according to top cyberlaw and tech policy experts, will determine the future of the internet and the politics, culture and commerce it has come to shape since the turn of the millennium.
This is because at present, Facebook (which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram), Twitter, YouTube and such sites are not liable for illegal or hateful content only the user posting it is. In India, under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, they need to act when notified by authorities in order to keep this immunity.
As businesses subject to government regulation, and in receipt of the de facto or de jure privilege of inflicting harm on private citizens without legal responsibility, the platform companies must constantly negotiate with political power. The resulting contradiction lies at the heart of the mess that presently existing social media are making of politics and society everywhere, said Mishi Choudhary, legal director of Software Freedom Law Centre.
OPAQUE RULES
To understand this contradiction fully, it is important to look at the rights and obligations involved. In almost all democratic nations, online speech enjoys the same privileges as offline speech. Social media websites, which primarily follow American law but account for some local legal obligations, follow a system of self-regulation.
This is in part because it is not feasible to determine jurisdiction and apply filters on global communications, but is mostly to protect freedom of expression and civil liberties from state surveillance and censorship.
This results in policies and guidelines they spell out for users. They specify certain rules for their platforms and take down content either through algorithms which Facebook claims is responsible for 95% of its takedowns or when they are notified of complaints from users, said Apar Gupta, executive director at the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), which has called on the Indian government to push for an international human rights audit of how Facebook combats hate speech.
In addition to automated programs that look for keywords or observe how a post is reported, Facebook also deploys thousands of contractors who manually review flagged content for moderations.
It is this prerogative that Facebook, and similarly popular content websites such as YouTube, have been accused of wielding unfairly, excessively or inadequately. If you dont follow your own policies consistently, it will lead to situations like these where Facebook has been accused of political bias, added Gupta.
NOT ENOUGH
The problem becomes acute when it involves illegal content posted by people in position of prominence.
In June, Facebook refused to hide or take down a post by US President Donald Trump purportedly inciting shooting as protests over the death of George Floyd escalated. Twitter hid the tweet. Zuckerberg said his company decided to let it remain. ...I believe people should be able to see this for themselves, because ultimately accountability for those in power can only happen when their speech is scrutinized out in the open, he wrote.
I think it illustrates that content moderation involves 1 million impossible decisions, probably daily. And the more rules you have, the more difficult it is to enforce them consistently. Facebook is inevitably going to make a ton of mistakes, both in censoring too much and in not censoring enough, said David Greene, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), one of the worlds oldest digital rights advocacy groups.
Greene added that the decision to let the Trump post stay makes Facebook seem naive about how influential its platform is in the public debate, and how hard it is to undo harmful statements that spread widely through it.
IN EXCESS
While comments by prominent people are immediately scrutinised, Facebooks algorithms and contracted moderators play a complicated role in censorship. In 2018, the OFFLINE-ONLINE project by EFF and Visualizing Impact detailed several instances where Facebook censored marginalised communities.
These included takedowns of posts and images discussing racial injustice in the US, a ban on a native American tribe leader for his name seeming to be as fake, deletion of the Facebook pages of seven Palestinian journalists (which Facebook later admitted was a mistake) and account restrictions on multiple Rohingya activists.
Experts see these as examples of the differential approach the companies may have to censorship, depending on the privilege of the voice involved. They have risen above the law because they are fictionally supposed never to do what government constantly forces them to do. (But) they comply, and intensively moderate all content that passes through their hands. They do this in order to maintain their indispensable privilege of civil impunity, said SLFCs Choudhary.
The companys free speech defence is further overshadowed by the role its algorithms have played in amplifying content that are a threat to civil liberties.
UK-based counter-extremist organisation Institute of Strategic Dialogue said in mid-August that its investigation found Facebooks algorithm actively promotes Holocaust denial content. That typing holocaust in the Facebook search function itself, the report said, brought up suggestions for denial pages, which in turn recommended links to publishers that sell such literature.
FUNDAMENTAL RETHINK?
The problem of how to tackle online speech harks back to similar debates around offline speech. It brings us back to the debate over what is problematic speech. Legal speech can vary across countries. Speech also involves a lot of context, often local, which could determine its acceptability, said Jyoti Panday, researcher at the Internet Governance Project.
The answer to this regulation is unlikely to rest with governments. Something needs to change but more regulation will only help censorship by proxy for states, said SFLCs Choudhary. Hard problems are hard and there are no silver bullets or one solution. The moment calls for a serious rethink not just new rules but publics participation in making, interpreting and enforcing them, improved social policy based on a better understanding of the internet, she added.
The position was echoed by Greene of EFF. History teaches us that when government takes over such practices, government uses it to censor its opponents. We do urge platforms to conduct their curation within a human rights framing, namely, the Santa Clara Principles, he said.
The Santa Clara principles are a set of guidelines that seek disclosure from social media companies of how many posts are flagged, what action is taken, the need for adequate notice before a takedown and clear avenues of appeals for users. Companies need to be more transparent with these policies; knowing exactly how moderation takes place is crucial to find ways to work on it, improve it, added Panday.
Harvard Kennedy Schools Ghosh said updates to Section 230 of the American Communication Decency Act, which is the norm of online speech regulation, could be updated to address some of the issues. Particularly, [the] carve-outs from the sweeping liability shields it affords internet platforms, he said.
It was the Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace by one of EFFs founders, American political activist John Perry Barlow, that in 1996 proclaimed the internet as a new domain of pure freedom to which laws of governments have no meaning and did not apply.
Contemporary legal experts now believe the approach may have been utopian, and the internet has evolved in ways that the role of law may be inevitable, especially since harms from the virtual world extend to the offline space.
The laws that increasingly have no meaning in online environments include not only the mandates of market regulators but also the guarantees that supposedly protect the fundamental rights of internet users, including the expressive and associational freedoms whose supremacy Barlow asserted, writes Julie E Cohen, professor of law and technology at the Georgetown University Law Centre, in a paper titled Internet Utopianism and the Practical Inevitability of Law.
A Natural Monopoly
More generally, in the networked information era, protections for fundamental human rightsboth on- and offlinehave begun to fail comprehensively, the paper added.
In the particular context of Facebook, which has weathered the controversies with little implication on its earnings or user base, there are now calls to break it up.
Facebook has become a monopoly a natural monopoly at that, whereby it benefits from powerful network effects that organically raise barriers to entry. This set of circumstances invites us to consider regulating it like a utility and, potentially, breaking it up in the coming years, Ghosh said.
A similar call was issued in May 2019 by a co-founder of Facebook who has since left the company. Marks influence is staggering, far beyond that of anyone else in the private sector or in government... Mark alone can decide how to configure Facebooks algorithms... He sets the rules for how to distinguish violent and incendiary speech, and he can choose to shut down a competitor by acquiring, blocking or copying it, wrote Chris Hughes in an opinion piece for the New York Times in May 2019.
We are a nation with a tradition of reining in monopolies, no matter how well intentioned the leaders of these companies may be. Marks power is unprecedented and un-American. It is time to break up Facebook.
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Ravindra Rao
COMEX gold trades moderately lower near USD 1,970/oz after a near flat close on September 1. Gold rose as high as USD 2,001.2/oz in intraday trade yesterday but recovered to end with little change. Gold rallied sharply after taking support near USD 1,900/oz level, however, the yellow metal is struggling to break past the next key level of USD 2,000/oz.
Gold rose in intraday trade yesterday as US dollar index tested new 2-year lows but a recovery in the US currency led to a correction in gold. The US dollar index managed to recover as Feds dovish stance was offset by signs of strength in the manufacturing sector and efforts to revive fiscal stimulus talks.
US manufacturing data released yesterday showed expansion in the sector but Markit manufacturing PMI missed estimates. Gold weakened also on weaker investor interest and consumer demand. Gold holdings with SPDR ETF fell by 0.87 ton to 1250.626 tonnes despite rising prices. Weaker consumer demand is evident from discounts in Indian and Chinese markets. However, supporting price is rising virus cases globally which may force countries to take a cautious approach towards reopening thereby hampering economic activity.
Increasing US-China tension is another challenge for the global economy which is still struggling to gain momentum.
Gold may witness choppy trade as US dollar counters signs of recovery against Feds dovish stance, however, we expect to see buying interest in gold at lower levels amid persisting risks to global economy and hopes of continuing stimulus measures.
Base metals on LME traded sideways to negative today after most of them ended on a positive note yesterday. On weaker note weighing on the prices is profit-taking after a recent steep run-up in prices. Also putting pressure is modest gains in the US Dollar Index along with lingering US-China tensions and surging coronavirus cases globally which in turn threatens to derail the nascent pace of recovery in global growth.
US Dollar Index trades 0.1 percent higher near 92.42 and has rebounded from fresh two year low of 91.746. Lending support to the currency is upbeat factory activity data from the US along with signs of progress on talks over further fiscal stimulus. The downside may, however, be capped amid demand optimism especially from top consumer China along with upbeat risk appetite as is evident from gains in global equity indices.
On-demand front, a recent spate of upbeat data from China along with improvement in factory data from major economies continue to fan demand outlook for base metals. In the US, data released yesterday showed that ISM Mfg. PMI for the month of August jumped to 56; the strongest headline reading since November 2018. The US data followed a sharp expansion in Chinas Caixin Mfg. PMI.
Meanwhile, on the fundamental front, aluminium prices may come under pressure amid the rise in global output and signs of ample supplies in physical market. However, recent retreat in stocks at LME along with signs of improvement in demand may cap the downside. In other metals, lead, zinc and nickel all may be pressuriSed by higher stocks at LME. However, in the case of lead and zinc, the decline in stocks at SHFE warehouses shows improving demand especially from China.
In case of nickel, too, upbeat demand from Chinas stainless steel sector along with worries over lower supplies from Philippines may cap the downside. Lastly, Copper prices may continue to seek support from dwindling stocks at LME along with signs of tightness in the physical market and decline in mine supplies from Chile and Peru. Copper stocks at LME fell by 1,100 tonnes yesterday to hit the lowest level since December 2005.
Meanwhile, copper production in Peru, the worlds second-largest producer, fell 2.2 percent in July, compared with the same period a year earlier, under the weight of the pandemic, which restricted mining. This follows an earlier report that suggested Chiles copper output dropped 4.6 percent YoY in July.
The metals pack may note some decline today weighed down by profit booking and a modest rebound in US Dollar but the overall bias for most metals remains positive tracking demand optimism. Further cues may come from economic data from the US and Euro Zone along with comments by Fed officials and BOE Governor and its impact on US Dollar.
The author is VP- Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities
: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
When the Brooklyn Navy Yard slowly declined after it was decommissioned in the 1960s, it could have been sold to a vulture fund to convert it to condos. Instead, the city put the yard under the control of a nonprofit development organization that generated a rebirth of manufacturing, innovation and entrepreneurship, beginning in the mid-1990s. Today 500 companies employ over 11,000 people in good jobs there, and an innovative high school prepares young people for STEM careers. When Covid-19 hit, many of those companies started manufacturing P.P.E. together.
In Chelsea, the city took over another property that was deemed blighted and, working with labor unions in the 1960s, created Penn South, a democratically controlled housing cooperative that limits resale prices to keep homes affordable. Over the past 50 years, Penn South, Mitchell-Lama and other limited-equity cooperatives have survived as other affordable housing has been privatized, providing a total of around 90,000 units of permanently affordable housing.
We should do all we can to help tenants and business owners survive, with less-onerous small-business recovery leases that colleagues and I have proposed, and more ambitious models for rent relief that require action in Washington and Albany. But where properties fall into distress or face abandonment in the coming months, lets follow the lessons of Penn South and the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Instead of letting distressed properties be auctioned off when owners default on mortgages and taxes, the city should step in. We could acquire and hold these properties temporarily through a city-controlled land bank, based on legislation Ive introduced, and then transfer them to a growing network of community land trusts, nonprofit entities that hold land in perpetuity for publicly beneficial uses.
The city already plans to spend $8 billion in public capital funds on affordable housing and economic development over the next five years. A vast majority is slated for private, for-profit developers. Redirecting some of that to social ownership is a better long-term public investment.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 22:57:07|Editor: huaxia
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COPENHAGEN, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Finance Act for 2021 sees the Danish government proposing to allocate 70 million Danish Kroner (about 11.1 million U.S. dollars) in development assistance to the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
In the Finance Act for 2020, Denmark contributed 35 million DKK (5.7 million U.S. dollars) to WHO.
"I have also been concerned about seeing a large donor as the U.S. has chosen to withdraw the support. With a doubling of Denmark's contribution to the WHO, we are taking on more global responsibility and strengthening health efforts for some of the most vulnerable in the world," said Minister for Development Cooperation Rasmus Prehn in the press release.
In addition, the minister calls for international cooperation and standing together with the WHO in fighting COVID-19.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has, to some extent, emphasized the importance of international cooperation in the field of health. The time has come to stand together with the World Health Organization," said Prehn.
"Close verbal sparring with the WHO has been crucial to our handling of the coronavirus... Viruses do not know national borders, and that is why cooperation, knowledge sharing and local initiatives all over the world are so incredibly important, and that is why we also need a strong WHO," added Minister for Health and Senior Citizens Magnus Heunicke in the press release. Enditem
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AR Rahman's Atkan Chatkan, slated to release on 5 September, follows Guddu, a manual labourer who lives and breathes music.
From rowdy motorcycle trips through South America to young-adults struggling to find their place in the world, to the wonders of Jurassic World the past week has presented us with several promising trailers. From Ewan McGregor undertaking an epic trip to a youngster dreaming of music, here is a look at some of the recently released trailers.
Long Way Up
Actor Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman will be dusting off their motorcycles to go out on an epic bonding trip across South America. Both best friends are also the executive producers for the Apple original, helmed by David Alexanian and Russ Malkin. McGregor and Boorman's goal is to cover 13,000 miles over 100 days as they pass through 16 border crossings and 13 countries.
First three episodes of the show are going to premiere on Apple TV+ on 18 September.
We are Who We Are
This coming-of-age HBO miniseries from Luca Guadagnino (the director of Call Me By Your Name), centers around two teenagers named Fraser Wilson (Jack Dylan Grzer) and Caitlin Harper (Jordan Kristine Seamon) who befriend each other while at an American military camp outside of the seaside town of Chioggia, Italy. The cast also includes Kid Cudi, Chloe Sevigny and Alice Braga.
We are Who We Are drops on HBO and HBO Max on 14 September.
Atkan Chatkan
A group of children challenge their surroundings to be brave enough to dream. The movie follows Guddu (Lydian Nadhaswarama), an underage manual labourer who lives and breathes music. However, he meets several obstacles that get in the way of achieving his dream of enrolling in music school. The musical has been presented by AR Rahman and Drums Sivamani has looked over the percussion.
Atkan Chatkan releases on ZEE 5 on 5 September.
Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous
The animated tale of six campers stuck in the Camp Cretaceous inside of Jurassic World features the old trope of humans trying to tame dinosaurs and earn money but ultimately failing to do so. While everything else goes haywire, the six protagonists of the story uncover the wonders and secrets of Isla Nublar, the other side of the island.
Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous drops on Netflix on 18 September.
ISTANBUL As the Turkey-Greece row on overlapping territorial claims in the eastern Mediterranean continues, regional tensions were further aggravated when the United States announced the partial lifting of an arms embargo on the Republic of Cyprus Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Washington would deepen security cooperation with Cyprus in a tweet Tuesday, stating the United States would waive restrictions on non-lethal weapon sales to the nation for the coming year.
The announcement comes at a volatile time for the region, where Turkish and Greek navy vessels have been shadowing one another as Ankara continues its gas exploration activities through Sept. 12 in disputed waters between the two nations.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the move in a statement Tuesday, saying the move poisons peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean, and that Ankara would take unilateral actions if the United States did not reconsider the decision. Meanwhile, the Greek Foreign Ministry welcomed the announcement.
Some politicians and observers, within Ankara and beyond, viewed the lifting of the arms embargo as a step against recent Turkish actions to extend its maritime boundaries following stalled negotiations with Greek leaders, who sunk prospects for a speedy resolution by signing an Aug. 6 territorial agreement with Egypt.
Yet US Ambassador to Cyprus Judith Garber said the announcement was not related to Turkey during a press event Wednesday and was instead aimed at reducing Russian influence in the region.
Some will ask if we are taking this [decision] in response to the most recent developments in the region; the answer is no, Garber said Wednesday.
She added, This determination, which has been in process for months, is a consequence of a growing security partnership with Cyprus and our assessment of the eastern Mediterranean as a region of growing strategic importance in an era of great power competition.
Garber said through such policy moves, the United States was continuing its calls on Cyprus to implement anti-money-laundering regulations and take steps toward denying Russian military vessels access to ports for refueling and servicing, though it waived an outright ban on such actions.
News reports indicate Russian military ships most recently docked and refueled at Cyprus Limassol Port in January 2020.
Washington implemented the Cyprus arms embargo in 1987 to encourage reunification talks and deter an arms race on the island, which has been divided along Turkish-Greek ethnic lines since a Turkish military incursion in 1974. Between 35,000 to 40,000 Turkish troops remain stationed in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is solely recognized by Ankara.
Andromachi Sophocleous, political analyst and consultant in Nicosia, said the partial lifting of the arms embargo was being hyped up by actors on all sides, as it strictly permits non-lethal weapons such as Tasers, helmets and anti-riot gear for security forces.
She added the measure was part of the 2019 Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act, which authorizes the United States to provide Cyprus and Greece security assistance and enhance cooperation on regional gas development.
Most Cypriot analysts are only focusing on this as a message to Turkey, Sophocleous told Al-Monitor. But the United States has been trying to give Cyprus something in order to pressure it to reduce its cozy relation with Russia.
In July, under the partnership act, the United States expanded its military education and training programs to include Cyprus. With the latest development, the lifting of the arms embargo will be valid for one year and can be renewed on a yearly basis.
Still, the news was not received well by politicians in Ankara as well as Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akinci, who spearheaded failed reunification talks in 2017 and is running for reelection next month on a platform to continue negotiation efforts with Cyprus.
The decision will not encourage the Greek side for an extensive resolution and will not serve peace, Akinci told Garber following the announcement.
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara director for the German Marshall Fund, noted stalled reunification efforts between the Cypriot governments could be negatively impacted by Washingtons decision.
This is sending [Greek Cypriot leaders] a signal that its okay if you continue to be unconstructive; were behind you, Unluhisarcikli told Al-Monitor. Im not sure this is the right message to give.
Unluhisarcikli also questioned Garbers statements delinking the timing of the announcement from ongoing Turkey-Greece tensions.
That recent events were not taken into consideration in determining the timing is telling in itself, Unluhisarcikli told Al-Monitor. Even if the timing was set independent from current events it could have been postponed. I dont buy that argument.
Speaking during a press briefing Wednesday, Pompeo urged everyone to stand down amid regional tensions, saying US President Donald Trump has been trying to mitigate Turkey-Greece discord by speaking with leaders in both nations. When asked about the arms embargo, Pompeo said it was a long time coming.
We know that this decision was announced in light of heightened tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, but we thought it was the right thing, Pompeo said.
Parallel to recent events, the Turkish government and Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ersin Tatar, a presidential candidate running on a nationalist agenda pledging to discontinue reunification talks, have reiterated plans to reopen the abandoned holiday destination of Varosha.
Situated in the buffer zone between north and south Cyprus, Varosha has been a ghost town since the 1974 Turkish military incursion, and its reopening under TRNC jurisdiction could complicate reunification talks.
The opening of Varosha would put a tombstone on the prospect of a Cyprus problem solution, Sophocleous told Al-Monitor.
Unluhisarcikli said Turkish leaders had been keeping Varosha, also known as Maras, closed as a gesture of goodwill and as a bargaining chip that would be handed over to the Greek Cypriots once a successful resolution was reached, but recent events may prompt Ankara to reconsider its options.
As the prospect of a diplomatic solution and a resolution on the island is waning, Turkey is basically signaling, If you go in that direction, I will also assume there is no negotiated settlement and take further actions.
Chen Xi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance), gives a speech while attending the opening ceremony of the school's 2020 autumn semester in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)
BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Chen Xi on Tuesday stressed the importance of officials upholding a people-centered approach to strive toward the people's aspirations to live better lives.
Chen, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance), made the statement while attending the opening ceremony of the school's 2020 autumn semester.
Leading officials should put the people first, rely on the people, work for the people's wellbeing, said Chen, adding that officials should be loyal servants to the people.
Chen also urged officials to maintain close ties with the people, and guard against bureaucratism in their work and the practice of formality for formality's sake.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah paid their tributes to spiritual leader and social reformer Sree Narayana Guru on his 164th birth anniversary on Wednesday. The PM called him a farsighted visionary whose ideals give strength to many across India.
The leaders life and works epitomised the perfect blend of spirituality and social reform, he tweeted.
I bow to the venerable Sree Narayana Guru on his Jayanti. His life and works epitomised the perfect blend of spirituality and social reform. He emphasised on education and empowerment of women. He was a farsighted visionary whose ideals give strength to many across India, PM Modis tweet read.
Amit Shah called the departed spiritual leader a strong advocate of equality and brotherhood.
Tributes to venerable Swami Sree Narayana Guru ji on his Jayanti. As a social reformer, spiritual leader and strong advocate of equality & brotherhood, he played an instrumental role in setting up the foundations for social reform in Kerala against discrimination and injustice, Shah tweeted.
Sree Narayana Guru was born in 1864 in Keralas Thiruvananthapuram. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritual enlightenment and social equality. He laid great emphasis on the idea of one caste, one religion and one god.
The BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Foundation has donated $25,000 to the American Red Cross to support its relief efforts in response to Hurricane Laura.
Our thoughts are with the residents of the Gulf Coast region who have been impacted by this storm, said Roy Vaughn, executive director of the BlueCross Foundation. We realize there will be a long road to recovery, especially with COVID-19 precautions in place, but we hope these funds will help to quickly improve the safety and wellbeing of those affected.
Officials said, "Last week, the Category 4 storm quickly intensified before making landfall in southwestern Louisiana with 150 mph peak winds. It caused tremendous damage as far inland as central Louisiana and dropped up to 18 inches of rain as far north as Mississippi and Arkansas. Laura weakened to a tropical storm by Thursday afternoon, but it will be remembered as one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the Gulf Coast in decades. It has claimed at least six lives, left hundreds of thousands without power and has destroyed many homes and businesses, including those in the hard-hit city of Lake Charles, La."
With this gift from the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Foundation, the American Red Cross is making an impact for those affected by the destruction caused by Hurricane Laura, said Lori Marsh, regional philanthropy officer with the American Red Cross.
The Red Cross has directed more than 800 trained disaster workers to support the affected areas both on the ground and virtually. In light of COVID-19, they are also working to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to local shelters. Along with the Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal, state and local agencies are working to ensure the safety of affected residents.
While Rutgers has taught rigorous data-driven analytical skills as part of its management education for the past 64 years, the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) MBA designation reflects the increased importance for business leaders to have a solid understanding of how to use data analytics and innovation to drive decision-making.
"We have taken another giant step toward building a strong business school for the future of work," said Rutgers Business School Dean Lei Lei. "The STEM designation will provide our students with a competitive edge to excel on the job market, and our corporate partners will know they can hire the digital-era talent that they need to make data-driven decisions and become innovative leaders in their organizations."
Learn more about the Return on Investment of a Rutgers MBA. Attend an Online MBA Information Session.
The STEM-designated degree is an option for students who pursue a Rutgers Full-Time MBA, a Part-Time MBA as well as the Executive MBA. International students who complete the STEM MBA (like other STEM programs) are eligible to work up to three years in the U.S. without requiring sponsorship from an employer.
The option allows students to pursue any of the traditional concentrations of study, such as supply chain management or marketing, but requires them to incorporate at least 50 percent of their program credits from curriculum identified as STEM.
Doug Miller, associate dean of MBA programs and an associate professor of management, said the STEM designation was a natural step because Rutgers Business School was already providing the courses and experiences that would help students develop data-driven analytic skills for business use.
More than 50 percent of the existing courses offered as part of the MBA curriculum require advanced mathematics or involve the management of technology, including operations analysis, data mining, business forecasting and quality management.
"The increasing demand for such skills allows Rutgers Business School to leverage its strengths in new ways to make this learning available to more students," Miller said.
The STEM credit requirement will be easy to meet for students with concentrations such as finance, pharmaceutical management, supply chain management and analytics and information management. For students concentrating their studies in real estate or strategy and leadership, meeting the requirement may take more careful planning.
Students who do choose to pursue a STEM MBA may select a concentration or customize a concentration depending on their career goals. Many of the traditional courses offered as part of the MBA program use case studies, experiential learning and collaboration to build knowledge and skills that are not tied to the use of math, science or technology.
The option of earning a STEM MBA increases the strong reputation and return-on-investment of the Rutgers MBA program, which also provides students with access to world-class faculty and connections to an extensive network of alumni as well as a life-changing education.
"The ability to make data-driven decisions involves analysis of situations as well as data," Miller said. "At Rutgers Business School, we're providing students with critical thinking and leadership qualities as well as technical skills."
For more information on the Rutgers STEM MBA designation, contact Rutgers Business School's Office of Graduate Admissions: [email protected] or call 973-353-1234.
SOURCE Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick
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Why have employees wait in drive-thru lines when they could get COVID-19 testing through their companies, much as they get flu shots?
Thats the thinking of UT Physicians, which is offering coronavirus testing services to local businesses as the falling rate of COVID-19 cases again raises the prospect of bringing employees back to the office. Already, UT Physicians, a group of about 2,000 doctors owned by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, has signed up eight companies for its testing program.
The physicians group aims to capitalize on its access to the University of Texas Health Science Centers laboratory, which can process up to 1,000 nasal or throat swabs a day and produce results within 48 hours. It would allow companies to bypass testing backlogs that previously plagued contractors such as LabCorp or Quest Diagnostics.
The timeliness and action that (employers) are able to take with their employees is really the selling point, said Kim Alleman, UT Physicians director of nursing and patient care services.
Lab contractors nationwide are introducing return to work testing initiatives as companies determine strategies for bringing employees back into the office. Ready access to testing and quick results is considered crucial by many companies because it can help them prevent someone from unknowingly carrying the virus into the workplace, spreading it to colleagues and forcing the shutdown of production or services.
Finding customers
More Information sin See More Collapse
UT Physicians offer two options. Companies can send individuals to one of UT Physicians four test sites or, for larger companies that want to test groups of employees, clinicians can come to company offices to conduct the testing. Results are provided to both the test-taker and their employer.
Among the firms that have signed up for the testing services is Frazer, a southwest Houston company that builds ambulances and mobile health care clinics. CEO Laura Griffin said she became frustrated by how long it took for her employees to get COVID-19 results back, which by June were taking 10 to 14 days.
Often, employees had to negotiate long lines at test sites, particularly early on. In April, lines to get tested in Houston wrapped around parking lots and clogged streets.
GETTING A VACCINE: Want to volunteer for a COVID vaccine trial? Heres what you need to know.
Frazer in 2014 had designed UT Physicians mobile stroke unit, an ambulance specially designed for stroke patients. Griffin reached out to Alleman, who was thinking about creating a testing program for local businesses. Frazer signed on in June as one of UT Physicians first corporate COVID-19 testing customers.
Frazer pays $150 per test. If a Frazer employee reports COVID-19 symptoms or that theyve been exposed to the virus, a manager can schedule a same-day or next-day test at UT Physicians.
Seven of Griffins roughly 160 workers have tested positive for COVID-19. The corporate test, she said, prevented internal spread within the company.
We consider it a very small cost to keep our employees safe, Griffin said.
On July 30, Bert Jones, a Frazer vice president left work feeling rundown. He woke up at 5:30 the next morning, a Friday, and sent a text about his symptoms to a group chat with colleagues, including Griffin and Christian McPherson, the companys safety director.
Two hours later, McPherson called with instructions to get a COVID-19 test at UT Physicians. By 9 a.m., he was pulling up in an alleyway for a nasal swab at their Texas Medical Center location. At 10 p.m., he had the results: positive.
Jones has a mild case and returned to work July 17. For Griffin, the quick results provided peace of mind that the virus was identified before it could spread.
The speedy turnaround also impressed Alastair McClean, president of Houston-based Enventure Global Technology, which expands pipelines for both onshore and offshore well construction and repair. McClean worried if he didnt catch one COVID-19 case, the virus could spread through his staff of nearly 125 employees a worry that intensified after one of his workers spent hours in line at a drive-thru testing site.
Its the others exposed as well, McClean said. If theyve been in close contact, we may end up with four or five staff that cant go to work.
Companies pay different prices depending on how many tests they order, with discounts for larger volumes. Enventure paid $250 per test, and allowed employees spouses to be tested at their own expense. Five people have been tested since the company signed up with UT Physicians in early July.
Many of the operators Enventure works with require COVID-19 testing before letting people onto installations. Being able to test quickly gives McClean a sense of which employees are available to work.
Whats allowed
By offering free testing to employees, employers can get a better sense of whether their workers have caught the novel coronavirus. But there may be complications around testing employees under the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Jill Chapman, a senior consultant at Insperity, a Houston human resources services company.
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Companies can require workers to take medical exams such as a COVID-19 test swab if it affects their ability to work and because even one infected employee could pose a direct threat to the health of the workforce, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But its not a replacement for social distancing guidelines and masks.
At this time during the pandemic, its legal for all employers to require a test. And it makes sense, especially in workplaces where theres a lot of interaction with customers, such as a restaurant or store, or if employees work in close quarters, such as at a factory.
Tests to determine whether an employee has COVID-19 antibodies are not allowed, because they only determine whether a person has had the disease in the past, not if they pose an immediate threat to their co-workers, according to the EEOC.
Jones, the Frazer executive, said he is grateful that the quick test and speedy results kept him from getting too close with his girlfriend and her kids or going into the office and unknowingly spreading COVID-19 to others. Not long after the test, he broke out into a low-grade fever for eight straight days. He was confined to bed rest for about 10 days.
Three weeks later, when the symptoms subsided, Jones went back to work. Before the pandemic, hed never worried about flu season or a stomach bug going around. But now, Jones said, its valuable to have ready access to COVID-19 testing, not just for himself but also for the 160 other employees at Frazer.
As someone in leadership, I appreciate just knowing were going to get a result within the day, Jones said. Its really a relief.
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A case has been registered against 34 supporters of a senior Congress leader in Madhya Pradesh for taking out a rally at Sanver in Indore district during the opening of his election office amid COVID-19 pandemic, said on Wednesday. The election office of Premchand Borasi 'Guddu', a former Lok Sabha MP, was opened in view of the upcoming by-election to Sanver assembly seat. The leader is keen to contest the bypoll from there as a Congress candidate.
However, dates from the state bypolls are yet to be announced. A large number of Congress workers on Tuesday took out a rally, which also included a convoy of vehicles, at Sanver, about 30 kms from Indore, officials said.
These workers also raised slogans and waved party flags, they said. In-charge of Sanver Police Station, Santosh Kumar Dudhi, said that in view of the coronavirus outbreak, the district administration has banned rallies and processions.
People, who took part in this rally, allegedly violated the guidelines by not wearing masks and not maintaining social distancing, he said. "Thirty-four people who participated in the rally were booked under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (unlawful and negligent act which is likely to spread infection of any disease dangerous to life) and other provisions," the official said.
He said that Borasi's name was not included in the FIR as he did not attend the rally and reached the office later. "Others who took part in the rally are being identified on the basis of video footages," he said.
Bypolls to 27 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh are necessitated following the resignation of 25 Congress MLAs and death of two legislators. All the MLAs who resigned from Congress later joined the BJP.
These 27 constituencies included Sanver, from where the former Congress MLA Tulsiram Silawat, a minister in the present BJP regime, had resigned. Borasi and Silawat had tested coronavirus positive in the last one-and-a-half months and recovered after treatment.
Gas transit via Ukraine in Jan-Aug shrinks by 42% to 34.8 bcm
21:53, 02.09.20 1222
The decrease in transit along the southern route of Ukraine's GTS was due to the launch of the TurkStream gas pipeline in January 2020.
U.S. Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about safety in America during a campaign appearance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 31, 2020.
Joe Biden will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Thursday his first visit to the crucial swing state this year and two days after President Donald Trump appeared there.
The Democratic presidential nominee's campaign said Biden will hold a community meeting "to bring together Americans to heal and address the challenges we face."
Biden's wife, Jill, will also travel to Kenosha, the campaign said. The two will make a "local stop" after the community meeting, the campaign said.
The trip comes as the city remains in the national spotlight because of the shooting last month of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, by a White police officer in the city.
Blake was shot seven times in the back during the Aug. 23 arrest that is now the subject of an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Trump traveled to Kenosha on Tuesday despite the protests of local officials and the state's Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who said that the president's visit would only serve to further inflame tensions.
Two people were shot to death and one seriously wounded at one of the Kenosha protests following the Blake shooting. Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, has been charged in the shootings at the demonstration.
Trump surveyed damage at the sites of the recent demonstrations and held a roundtable event in which he praised law enforcement, condemned looting and repeated his attacks on what he called "Democrat cities."
Trump said he did not meet with Blake's family because they wanted to have a lawyer present. Biden's campaign did not say whether the Democratic nominee will meet with the family.
Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., have spoken with the family by telephone, the family's attorney Ben Crump said over the weekend.
Biden, who has denounced looting and rioting, has accused Trump of seeking to use protests against police brutality to divide the country and increase animosity.
Biden sounded those themes on Monday during an address in Pittsburgh. Parts of his visit were turned into a new nationwide ad that the campaign said would roll out in key swing states including Wisconsin.
"Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting. None of this is protesting, it's lawlessness, plain and simple," the former vice president said in the speech. "And those who do it should be prosecuted. Violence will not bring change. It will only bring destruction. It's wrong in every way."
Trump narrowly beat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin in 2016, but Biden has been leading him in recent polls in the state. Clinton infamously did not visit Wisconsin in 2016.
Biden is also ahead of Trump in national surveys, though his margin in some state and national surveys has declined somewhat in recent days.
A CNBC/Change Research poll from August found Biden leading Trump narrowly in Wisconsin, 49-46, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.: A Minnesota man who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota last month has died from COVID-19, Minnesota health officials reported on Wednesday.
The death is the first reported from the biker rally that drew hundreds of thousands of people. Infections linked to the event have been reported among people in states spanning coast to coast. The rally went forward despite fears it could become a super-spread event, with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem welcoming bikers and the tourist dollars they spend.
Rallygoers crowded into bars and rock shows, mostly ignoring social distancing recommendations. Few wore masks.
The man who died in Minnesota was in his 60s, had underlying health conditions and was in an intensive care unit at a hospital before he died, said Doug Schultz, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health.
The Washington Post first reported the death.
For 10 days in August, the rally created a travel hub in western South Dakota comparable to a major U.S. city, according to an analysis of anonymous cellphone data from Camber Systems, a firm that aggregates cellphone activity for health researchers. The researches found that 61% of all the counties in the U.S. have been visited by someone who attended Sturgis.
South Dakota has seen the bulk of cases tied to the rally, with the Department of Health reporting 105 tied to the rally. The city of Sturgis made coronavirus tests available to residents and city employees after the rally in an attempt to uncover people who had infections but no symptoms.
Cases among people who attended the rally have been reported in 11 other states, from Washington state to New Jersey.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
ViacomCBS Networks International has restructured its AVOD and SVOD operations into a new division and appointed Olivier Jollet previously managing director of Europe for Pluto TV to head it up.
He becomes Senior Vice President of emerging business for ViacomCBS Networks (VCN) across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
10 All Access is set to be rebranded and significantly expanded in early 2021 as part of a global streaming push.
Jollet most recently headed up Pluto TVs European operations and before that worked at Watchever and Universal Music. He co-founded Quazer, a digital TV-like service and served as MD until it was acquired by Pluto TV in October 2016.
President ViacomCBS Networks Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Raffaele Annecchino said: Oliviers digital expertise and entrepreneurial approach are essential to driving growth in these critical areas of the business. With digital initiatives in the region managed by Jollet, we will be ideally positioned to expand our integrated digital ecosystem while offering audiences the best of our brands, products, content and platforms.
Jollett added: Its an honor to be appointed to this strategic role at such a critical moment for the companys digital expansion. I thoroughly look forward to growing scale and reach in these business areas and furthering the companys digital transformation.
ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish said the service would launch early 2021 in high-value territories including Australia, Latin America and the Nordics.
Source: TBIVision
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Teachers and parents are not disappointed that there is more time to prepare for school after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that the 2020-2021 academic year is delayed until Sept. 21 amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Some Staten Island parents said they welcome the delay to allow more time for schools to be fully prepared. Late last month, parents expressed concern over a lack of information from the city on everything from instructional methods to transportation.
She's known for changing up her fashion looks - and Kim Kardashian pulled out another striking number on Tuesday night.
The social media icon, 39, stepped out of her glittering Rolls Royce wearing a burnt orange suede shirt which had a subtle plunging neckline.
She tucked it into a contrasting pair of brown leather trousers and mixed up her textures with snake-print boots.
Fashion icon: Kim Kardashian wore a suede shirt with leather trousers and sported a long braid as she visited a friend in Malibu on Tuesday
Kim had her raven hair tied in a slicked back do and wore a long braided hair extension as she visited a friend's house in Malibu.
The TV star took a phone call as she made her way into her friend's house and was sporting perfectly groomed make-up for the outing.
The mother-of-four has also been busy promoting her latest SKIMS collection on Instagram of late so was no doubt thrilled to be having some downtime.
Kanye, is that you? The TV star took a phone call as she made her way into her friend's house and was sporting perfectly groomed make-up for the outing
Business model: The mother-of-four has also been busy promoting her latest SKIMS collection on Instagram of late so was no doubt thrilled to be having some downtime
As well as working on her entrepreneurial projects. Kim has also said she is aiming to free rapper C-Murder from his life sentence.
The star has become a force in the world of criminal justice reform, and is now working to free the brother of Master P who is serving a life sentence for the 2002 killing of Steve Thomas.
Since his conviction, the 49-year-old rapper (real name Corey Miller) has maintained his innocence.
Stunning: The social media icon, 39, stepped out of her Rolls Royce wearing a burnt orange suede shirt which had a subtle plunging neckline
Busy: As well as working on her entrepreneurial projects. Kim has also said she is aiming to free rapper C-Murder from his life sentence
Many believe he is the victim of multiple missteps during the case's investigation and his trial.
In addition to her 18 hours of legal work each week, Kardashian has made some serious steps after beginning her four-year apprenticeship with a San Francisco law firm in 2018.
Over the weekend, the aspiring lawyer used her massive social media platform to shine a light on his case.
Breast and ovarian cancers are common diseases that affect many women. According to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC), About 3% of breast cancers (about 7,500 women per year) and 10% of ovarian cancers (about 2,000 women per year) result from inherited mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Both genes are detectable in the Womens Excellence Genetic Testing Program.
Dr. Jonathan Zaidan, MD, FACOG, President of Womens Excellence recommends genetic testing for all women, especially women with family members who have been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer. Knowing your family cancer history and genetic make-up may help prevent cancer or detect it at an earlier stage, says Zaidan. If your family has a strong history of ovarian or breast cancer, it is likely that you could carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation.
To be eligible for genetic testing, patients need to identify their hereditary cancer risk. Womens Excellence offers a quick risk assessment survey at https://www.womensexcellence.com/risk-assessment/. Once the assessment has been completed, Womens Excellence will contact you within 72 hours to schedule your genetic test or an overall cancer prevention visit within.
To schedule an in-office appointment or a telemedicine consultation, visit http://www.WomensExcellence.com. Online Patient Support Specialists are available Monday through Friday from 8am-5pm to assist new, current, and prospective patients. The chat is located at the bottom right corner of your computer or mobile device screen at http://www.WomensExcellence.com. During offline hours, all chats sent will be messaged directly to a Womens Excellence team member. Offline messages will receive a response within 24 hours. Messages received during the weekend will be answered the next business week. Appointments can also be made at (248) 693-0543.
About Womens Excellence
Womens Excellence is the most comprehensive obstetric and gynecologic office in Michigan. Additionally, they specialize in menopause, weight control, bladder control, endometriosis, robotic surgery, oncology, and midwifery services. Womens Excellence is committed to staying at the forefront of innovation with cutting edge technologies utilizing robotic surgery and minimally invasive surgical options when possible. The knowledgeable, compassionate physicians and healthcare providers of Womens Excellence focus on patient-centered processes to deliver the highest quality of care. They are affiliated with most insurances. They offer seamless medical record access via a state-of-the-art patient portal and use the latest technology for record keeping and sharing, making the patient experience easier and more efficient. Womens Excellence is taking new patients and is conveniently located throughout southeastern Michigan in Clarkston, Lake Orion, Lapeer, Rochester, Royal Oak, and West Bloomfield. Womens Excellence is also a proud partner of Detroits longstanding radio network, WJR 760AM, providing expert womens health news and information. For more information, visit http://www.WomensExcellence.com.
Since the beginning of the summer, every state in the country has had an increase in the number of young people who have tested positive for the coronavirus, as a share of all cases. In late May, about 5% of the nations cases were documented in minors. By Aug. 20, that number had risen to more than 9%.
TOKYO - World War II ended 75 years ago, but not all countries commemorate it on the same day. Wednesday is the anniversary of the formal Sept. 2, 1945, surrender of Japan to the United States, when documents were signed officially ending years of bloody fighting in a ceremony aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Its known as V-J Day in some countries. But some nations mark Aug. 15 as the wars end, the day Japans emperor made a speech announcing the surrender.
Five questions and answers about Japans surrender:
Q: WHAT IS V-J DAY?
A: An abbreviation for Victory over Japan Day, marked by the United States and its allies in the war and by the Asian victims of Japan who won their liberation from years of atrocities and oppression. Some countries, including Britain, Australia, the Netherlands and the Koreas, mark Japans surrender on Aug. 15. Others, including the United States, mark the day on Sept. 2, while the Philippines, China and Russia observe Sept. 3. Japan mourns for its war dead on Aug. 15 in a solemn ceremony attended by the emperor, political leaders and veterans families.
Q: WHY ARE THERE DIFFERENT DATES?
A: The countries that observe Aug. 15 mark Japans public announcement of its surrender. Others commemorate Sept. 2, when Japan formally signed its surrender, ending a conflict that lasted, in various degrees, nearly half a century in parts of Asia. Then-U.S. President Harry Truman said that the V-J Day proclamation had to wait until Japan officially signed the surrender terms.
Countries also mark different dates for political and historical reasons. In 2014, China set Sept. 3 as a newly formalized historical day to annually mark the Victory Day of the Chinese Peoples War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. The country celebrates with a military march. The Philippines also observes Sept. 3, the day in 1945 when Japanese Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita surrendered in that country. Russia, which declared war against Japan on Aug. 9, took military action against Japan until early September.
Q: WHAT HAPPENED ON AUG. 15, 1945?
A: At noon on Aug. 15, days after the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9, Japanese Emperor Hirohito broadcast a surrender message to his people on the radio. The broadcast came one day after Japan told the United States and its allies that it was surrendering, and Hirohito and Japanese ministers signed the Imperial Rescript of Surrender.
The emperors radio statement was prerecorded on Aug. 14 in secrecy. Palace officials protected the records from army officials who stormed the palace to steal them. The emperors voice, which most Japanese were hearing for the time time, was muffled and nearly inaudible because of poor sound quality.
Q: WHAT HAPPENED ON SEPT. 2, 1945?
A: A formal signing of Japans surrender was held aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, where in 1854 Navy Commodore Matthew Perry had signed a treaty with Japan to open up the feudal nation for trade with the United States. Aboard the USS Missouri, Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu signed the Instrument of Surrender. The two men were later convicted of war crimes.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, also Supreme Commander of Allied Forces, signed for the United Nations, with Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz signing for the U.S. Delegates from other allied nations, including Britain, France, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, China and the Soviet Union, witnessed the half-hour ceremony.
Q: WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARD?
A: The official signing of Japans surrender ordered that the country must cease all military actions, liberate prisoners of war and others in captivity and follow other terms. It also launched a seven-year U.S. occupation that lasted until the San Francisco Peace Treaty took effect in April 1952, allowing Japans return to the international community. Japan has since become a major U.S. ally in defence and other areas.
Since 1954, Japan has spent tens of billions of dollars in development aid, initially meant as war compensation, for the region. But it took more than two decades for Japan to normalize diplomatic ties with some of its wartime Asian foes. It restored ties with South Korea in 1965, and with China in 1972, though disputes over wartime history continue to affect Japans ties with its neighbours. Japan has yet to sign a peace treaty with Russia because of territorial disputes and has not established diplomatic ties with North Korea.
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan Wed, September 2, 2020 15:41 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c4239dd5 1 Politics PDI-P,Bobby-Nasution,Jokowi,Medan-mayoral-election,Joko-Widodo,Medan,North-Sumatra Free
The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has sacked members who have refused to support the nomination of President Joko Jokowi Widodos son-in-law, Bobby Afif Nasution, for mayor of Medan, North Sumatra.
The dismissal came three days prior to Bobbys registration with the General Elections Commission (KPU), scheduled on Friday, for the simultaneous regional elections in December.
Hasyim, the head of the PDI-Ps Medan chapter, confirmed on Tuesday that four executives from the Medan PDI-P branch management (PAC) had been fired for not supporting Bobby's candidacy.
The four were Medan PAC Johor chair Gumana Lubis, Medan PAC Perjuangan chair Tumpal Sitanggang, Medan PAC area chair Suhardian and Medan PAC Selayang chair Muda Prana Sinuraya.
The dismissed [members] were provocateurs who rejected Bobbys candidacy. On the contrary, they openly supported Medan acting mayor Akhyar Nasution, who is Bobbys rival in the regional election, Hasyim told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Hasyim said other PDI-P members could face dismissal if they were found to support Akhyar.
Akhyar, formerly a senior PDI-P member, was recently fired from his position in the partys North Sumatra chapter after he turned his back on the ruling party and joined the Democratic Party to secure his candidacy in the citys mayoral race.
Read also: PDI-P recommends Ma'ruf Amin grandson as deputy regent candidate in West Java
He jumped ship after Bobby, who had been a member of the PDI-P for five months, was touted as a candidate for the race by PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri a decision opposed by a number of PDI-P members in Medan, including the four recently fired officials.
Previously, former Medan PAC Perjuangan chair Tumpal Sitanggang said he rejected Bobbys nomination because he was not a true PDI-P member and was a forced candidate.
PDI-P is a party of members, not a family party. Therefore, we reject Bobbys nomination because he is not a member, said Tumpal, adding he was ready to bear the consequences of his position.
Tumpal said his team was ready to support Akhyars candidacy even though he had been nominated by another party. We will build strength to support Akhyar Nasution, he said.
PDI-P Medan chapter secretary Robi Barus said Bobbys registration with the regional KPU would take place on Friday. The Gerinda Party, the Golkar Party, the NasDem Party and the United Development Party (PPP) have joined the PDI-P in supporting Bobbys nomination
The nomination of Akhyar and his running mate Salman Alfarisi has been backed by the Democratic Party and the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). Salman is a PKS member who currently serves as the North Sumatra Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) deputy speaker.
Democratic Party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono said he would provide full support for Akhyar in the Medan mayoral race.
We will give full support and prayers. Of course, we will fight together, sweat together, Agus said in a recent video message to Akhyar. (syk)
Social media addicts, left and right, stand ferociously against against the present as a nightmare of injustice, the right glorifying the pasts utterly vanished greatness, the left rejecting the past as a pollutant of the present, and everyone adopting the webs rhetoric of the rant. Todays arsonists and looters are acting out the protesters principles that the nation is founded on genocide and slavery, and is dominated by white supremacists. If so, why not burn it down?
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 2) The National Bureau of Investigation filed criminal charges before the Office of the Ombudsman Tuesday against 19 Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers and personnel for alleged money-making activities dubbed the Pastillas scheme.
The officers, who were relieved form their posts, were assigned at Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals, according to the statement released by NBI on Wednesday.
According to the NBI statement, they will be charged with violations under Sections 3(a) and 3(j) of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
A private individual named Liya Wu was also recommended to be charged for the crime of Corruption of Public Officials as defined and penalized under Article 212 of the Revised Penal Code, according to the NBI.
Wu is the owner of Empire International Travel and Tours, which was named as one of the travel agencies that allegedly paid pastillas money.
The Pastillas scheme was brought to light in February after a whistle blower named Allison Chiong appeared before the Senate to testify about the bribery scheme that allows Chinese nationals to enter the country with ease for a fee.
By Azernews
By Akbar Mammadov
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva has said Armenia was behind the defamation campaign and disinformation spread against Azerbaijan in the Russian media.
Abduallayeva made the remarks on September 2.
Once again, we are witnessing the dissemination of unfounded information against Azerbaijan, which is not based on any facts and reliable sources and is complete disinformation. We consider this as a defamatory and ugly campaign against our country, Abdullayeva said while commenting on the recent article published in Russias Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
The spokesperson stressed that Armenia, which is currently facing the problem of mobilization and plans to recruit militia, including foreign mercenaries, on a voluntary basis, is trying to divert the attention of the international community from its nefarious plans by spreading such fake information against Azerbaijan.
There is no doubt that Armenia, which has recruited mercenaries and terrorists from the Middle East as part of its aggressive policy against Azerbaijan, is behind this campaign.
Abdullayeva reminded that Monte Melkonian, one of the leaders of the ASALA terrorist organization and a direct participant in the occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh, was declared a national hero in Armenia and was even included in Armenian textbooks for his heroism.
We emphasize that Azerbaijan has a strong and professional army, and our country does not need any outside forces to give a decent response to adversary forces, as well as to restore its territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, Abdullayeva concluded.
He recently returned to the helm of Good Morning Britain following his Summer holiday break.
And Piers Morgan took a call from his daughter Elise, eight, during Wednesday's show as he wished her good luck as she returned to school.
The broadcaster, 55, jokingly ribbed colleague Susanna Reid, 49, during the call, as he mocked her for stating that it was the taking part that counted in the wake of their co-star Ranvir Singh's Strictly announcement.
That's lovely: Piers Morgan sweetly talked to his daughter Elise, 8, live on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday as he wished her good luck on her first day back at school
As the programme returned from an ad break, Piers was seen chatting on his mobile phone, where he revealed he was catching up with his daughter.
He told the camera: 'Just speaking to my daughter live on air, wishing her good luck for her first day back at school, and all her friends.
While his co-host Susanna Reid chimed in: 'Good luck Elise!'
Piers continued: 'She's good a message for Susanna: It's fine to have fun on things like Strictly, but actually, you've got to win. Quite right Elise'.
That's my girl: The broadcaster, 55, took a call from his daughter during the show as he wished her and her friends well as they went back to school
Susanna then snapped back: 'Well I wonder who taught you that, Elise?'
With Piers replying: 'She's been taught well.'
As he continued to chat with his child, he added: 'So have fun, but win. Alright Elise, I've got to go, we're live on air. I'll talk to you later, bye.'
Confirming that Piers was indeed on a real phone call, Susanna explained: 'He genuinely is talking to his daughter by the way.'
Chit chat: As the programme returned from an ad break, Piers was seen chatting on his mobile phone, where he revealed he was catching up with his daughter
Mock: Piers jokingly ribbed colleague Susanna Reid, 49, during the call, as he mocked her for stating that it was the taking part that counted in the wake of their co-star Ranvir Singh's Strictly announcement
While fellow presenter Ranvir Singh was heard saying: 'That is so sweet!'
Susanna then referred back to her and Piers' earlier clash over Ranvir's unveiling as a new Strictly Come Dancing contestant which saw Piers insisting that she had to win, while Susanna argued that it was the taking part that counted.
Susanna told Ranvir: 'Don't let Elise pile the pressure on you.'
With Piers adding: 'She's got three older brothers, it's all about winning.'
Earlier this month, Piers joked his daughter Elise was channelling her inner Susanna Reid in a series of amusing snaps shared via Instagram.
Sweet message: Just speaking to my daughter live on air, wishing her good luck for her first day back at school, and all her friends
Important call: Confirming that Piers was indeed on a real phone call, Susanna explained: 'He genuinely is talking to his daughter by the way'
Drama: Susanna then referred back to her and Piers' earlier clash over Ranvir's unveiling as a new Strictly Come Dancing contestant which saw Piers insisting that she had to win
Piers looked on amused as his youngest child, who he shares with wife Celia Waldon, put on an animated display behind him.
The first photo saw both Elise and Piers smile brightly, before she wagged her finger at him angrily, and then pulled a funny face.
Things then took a dramatic turn in the fourth snap as Elise pretended to throttle her dad as he put on a shocked expression for the camera.
Referring to his Good Morning Britain co-presenter, Piers wrote in the caption: 'Elise modelling her inner Susanna.'
Playtime: Piers joked daughter Elise was 'channelling her inner Susanna Reid' as she told off the Good Morning Britain presenter during their St Tropez trip in snaps
Amused: In the collage Elise and Piers smiled, before she wagged her finger at him angrily, pulled a funny face, and then pretended to throttle him which he said was her 'inner Susanna'
Susanna seemed to enjoy the snaps very much, as she claimed Elise's interpretation of her was 'perfection.'
Earlier on during his trip, Piers ended up on crutches after tearing a tendon on the second day of his six-week family holiday.
The presenter shared a snap of himself using the crutches on Monday while stood alongside his sons Spencer, 26, Stanley, 22, and Albert, 19.
Alongside the photo, he wrote: 'Peg-leg. (nothing like tearing a tendon on Day 2 of a 6-week holiday) #StTropez'.
Delighted: Susanna (pictured with Piers in July) seemed to enjoy the snaps very much, as she claimed Elise's interpretation of her was 'perfection'
Across America, many public spaces are taking on an unlikely new responsibility this fall. They are welcoming children for distance learning while their parents go to work. Among such places are martial arts centers, dance schools, community centers and libraries.
With many schools still closed because of the coronavirus crisis, a lot of Americans are looking for places to provide supervised learning to children during the workday.
These places can help families that had difficulties with distance learning last spring. But organizers admit they are a poor replacement for schools with professional educators.
One example is in Broward County, Florida. When schools in the area announced plans to begin the new year with distance learning, dance studio owner Katie Goughan thought immediately about the difficulties facing working parents.
Her dance school, Dance Explosion Company in Hollywood, Florida, hired a temporary teacher. The teacher is there from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. to make sure the students are studying. The dance school program costs $150 a week, or $35 a day.
I thought to myself, What would my parents have done with me? Goughan said. She added that she wanted to reduce any stress that parents might be under right now trying to find somewhere for their kids to do their schoolwork.
The dance school currently accepts 10 children during the day. All of them wear face coverings. Goughan says temperature checks are carried out and the children are urged to use hand sanitizer often.
Some experts note, however, that inviting students to gather in new spaces could increase the risk of caregivers catching the virus.
Dr. Aileen Marty is a disease specialist at Florida International University. She told The Associated Press that the only way groups outside of school will work is if you know everybody in that group, a very small group, and everyone is tested and tested negative.
Jennifer Quisenberry, a 37-year-old nurse practitioner, is sending her 6-year-old daughter, Audra, to a distance learning camp. The program is held at Premier Martial Arts in Wildwood, Missouri.
Her daughters school district is beginning the year online. But Jennifer and her husband have to go to work.
We cant not come to work, Quisenberry said. My partners said I could bring Audra to work. But a hospital is not an ideal setting for a 6-year-old in the middle of a pandemic.
While many wealthy American parents are turning to so-called learning pods and private teachers, nonprofits and local governments are trying to help low income families.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, city officials announced recently that they would open 31 drop-off sites at community centers, libraries, and other places. The program will pay attention to families with the greatest need, including those who cannot afford childcare and those who do not have internet at home.
San Francisco is creating community learning hubs at 40 places across the city to help with distance learning for children who are poor, homeless, in foster care or learning English as a second language.
In Kansas City, Missouri, the parks department is working with nonprofit groups to offer distance learning to hundreds of students. For students from Kansas City Public Schools, the citys poorest district, the program is free.
It is tough for parents with school-aged children who are too old to go to preschool, and hiring a babysitter or nanny is not an option for their finances, said Roosevelt Lyons, deputy director of operations for the parks department.
Carrie Hutchcraft is the chief administrator with the Magic House, a childrens museum in Kirkwood, Missouri. The museum offers a distance learning program for about 80 students each day. Hutchcrafts own 9- and 7-year-olds will be among them.
I feel like they already have got behind in learning new things last year, but we cant do that again, she said.
I'm John Russell
Heather Hollingsworth and Freida Frisaro reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor.
Quiz - Distance Learning in the United States Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz
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Words in This Story
martial n. of or relating to combat, fighting, war or soldiers
stress - n. a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc.
sanitizer - n. a chemical substance designed to kill germs
negative - adj. not showing the presence of a particular germ, condition, or substance
pandemic - n. medical : an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world
hub n. the central and most active part or place
foster -- adj. always used before a noun used to describe a situation in which for a period of time a child lives with and is cared for by people who are not the child's parents
museum -- n. a building in which interesting and valuable things (such as paintings and sculptures or scientific or historical objects) are collected and shown to the public
NEW YORK, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EYElliance, a multi-sector coalition that drives the global strategy to close the gap in access to eyeglasses, today announced the appointment of H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as Honorary Board Chair.
According to the WHO there are nearly 1 billion individuals around the world living with vision impairment that could be easily corrected with a pair of eyeglasses most of whom are living in Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMICs). This visual divide has far reaching negative implications on children's ability to learn in school, productivity in the working poor, road safety, adult literacy, and access to digital economies.
Since 2016, H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has served as a Vision Champion for EYElliance. During this period the organization, with her steadfast support, has launched, alongside the Liberian Ministries of Health and Education, a comprehensive national school eye health strategy anchored by the new capacity created by the country's first tertiary eye hospital at JFK Medical Centre. Today all children attending public schools who have eye conditions identified by the new initiative receive a free pair of eyeglasses, if needed, and for those requiring advanced care are treated at Eye Centre in JFK Medical Centre free of charge.
In recognition of her commitment to ensuring equitable access to eye care for all Liberians - and children worldwide, H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was appointed Honorary Board Chair at EYElliance.
For her part, H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, said "eye health is a critical link between health, education, and economic prosperity," while welcoming the opportunity to replicate the success of the effort she initiated in Liberia, now embraced and carried forward by the current administration. "School eye health programs, recognized by the World Bank as achievable and affordable for LMICs, have the potential to be remembered as a key turning point in closing the visual divide in our lifetimes," she stated.
As Africa's first elected female Head of State, H.E. Johnson Sirleaf has become a popular symbol of democracy, leadership and gender equity, globally. She continues to champion women and economic empowerment, particularly women in leadership and politics through her Presidential Center for Women and Development. She also remains active within the global development community recently being appointed by the WHO to co-chair the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response and named to the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Council advisory council.
"We are honored and humbled by President Sirleaf's continued engagement with EYElliance and are thrilled to be the beneficiaries of the depth and breadth of her expertise within the context of this new role," said Liz Smith, Co-Founder & CEO EYElliance.
About EYElliance
EYElliance is a multi-sector coalition that drives the global strategy to close the gap in access to eyeglasses. We make the case for action and investment in this issue area, ultimately unlocking government funding and crowding in private capital to solve the problem at scale. EYElliance breaks down barriers and unites leaders from across sectors behind one common goal: to unlock human potential, one pair of eyeglasses at a time. Contact information: Jay Corless, jay@eyelliance.org
Related Links
http://eyelliance.org
SOURCE EYElliance
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 20:42:41|Editor: huaxia
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MACAO, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The gross weight of containerized cargo by land to Macao in July grew by 18.6 percent year-on-year to 1,888 tons, the special administrative region's statistic service said on Wednesday.
The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the inward transit cargo passing through the Cotai Checkpoint leapt by 327.4 percent to 922 tons.
In the first seven months of 2020, the gross weight of containerized cargo by land rose by 33.4 percent year-on-year to 13,463 tons.
The gross weight of port containerized cargo fell by 22.7 percent year-on-year to 10,298 tons in July, owing to a slip of 74.1 percent in cargo handled at the Kaho Harbour. Meanwhile, cargo shipped through the Inner Harbour went up by 15.2 percent to 8,835 tons.
In the first seven months of 2020, the gross weight of port containerized cargo decreased by 28.4 percent year-on-year to 61,633 tons.
The air cargo in July totaled 2,048 tons, a drop of 37.4 percent year-on-year. The gross weight of inward cargo, outward cargo and transit cargo shrank by 49.8 percent, 24.7 percent and 83.8 percent respectively to 297 tons, 1,678 tons and 73 tons.
In the first seven months of 2020, the air cargo reduced by 29.5 percent year-on-year to 15,263 tons. Enditem
(Newser) A year after Thailand's king stripped his royal consort of her titles, he's pretending he did no such thing. King Maha Vajiralongkorn has restored the royal consort title and major-general military rank of Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, according to a palace statement. It describes Sineenat as "untainted," per Reuters. "Therefore, the stripping of royal titles, official position in serving the crown in military capacity and military ranks and the recall of all declarations has never taken place." Sineenat, 35, hadn't been seen publicly since her fall last October, only a few months after she was named Thailand's first royal consort in almost a century, per the AP. She was then accused of "disloyalty against the monarch" for attempts to raise herself to the position of queen.
story continues below
That didn't sit well with the actual queen, the king's fourth wife and the former deputy head of his security detail, 42-year-old Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya. The king responded by denouncing Sineenat just as he did with his second and third wives, per the BBC. It's unclear what led to the reconciliation. But Sineenat, a pilot and bodyguard, was reported to have arrived this week in Germany, where the king spends much of his time, per Reuters. The announcement comes amid calls to reform the monarchy, which is above criticism by law. Protesters have challenged the king's decisions to claim Crown wealth as his own property, rather than that of the people, and to take personal command of all military units in Bangkok, per the BBC. (Read more Thailand stories.)
Weve seen it time and again where state contracts created with the purpose of improving minority communities are not awarded to those most qualified to reach these audiences entrepreneurs who look like us.
The Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce is fighting mad. Despite there being 144,000 Black-owned businesses in Illinois that represent extremely diverse industries and generate millions in taxable revenue for the state, Black businesses continue to be overlooked and undervalued by the State of Illinois.
The Central Management Services, which oversees the States more than 80 agencies, has an annual operating budget of $84.5 billion and is tasked with hiring the contractors and vendors that enable the state to take care of state business delivering efficient, reliable services to the people of Illinois.
Sadly, very little of this annual budget and accompanying contracts are ever awarded to Black-owned businesses, even though Illinois' Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act (30 ILCS 575/) establishes, as an aspirational goal, that not less than 20 percent of the total dollar amount of State contracts be awarded to businesses owned by minorities, females, and persons with disabilities.
The Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce (ILBCC) was created to help right such inequities. Our mission is simple. We exist to empower Black enterprises in order to strengthen Black communities.
Our goal is for all Black businesses in Illinois to become sustainable, high-growth enterprises by assisting with building their capacity to compete effectively for local, state, and federal commercial contracting. Crafting solutions that directly help reduce economic disparities that impact our communities is what the State Black Chamber does.
Recently, we joined forces with former employees of the Illinois Department of Transportation to demand an investigation of the recurrent and documented systemic racism at IDOT, which has a staggering budget of $23.4 billion this year. Were working together to ensure that Black Americans get a fair chance to reap the benefits of the tax dollars theyve paid into the Federal Highway Fund, with reference to internal and external hiring as well as subcontracting opportunities.
Weve seen it time and again where state contracts created with the purpose of improving minority communities are not awarded to those most qualified to reach these audiences entrepreneurs who look like us. Just take the U.S. Census Bureau. For the 2020 Census, a White-owned agency was awarded a whopping half-billion dollar contract with the U.S. Census Bureau, even though the campaign was aimed at providing community outreach to underserved and hard-to-reach populations ... in other words, Black and Brown folks. Multicultural agencies were brought onboard as subcontractors, but even when we are awarded the contracts, the actual budgets allocated to do effective programming and place impactful ad buys with local and regional Black media is typically miniscule.
The disparity in State spending, across all industries, with Black-owned companies is unacceptable. We contend that things would have been much different if Black businesses had a seat at the table when that decision was being made. Thats why the ILBCC, its members, and 12 affiliate chambers and chapters are calling for a meeting with decision makers in Springfield to discuss these issues.
In addition, the State of Illinois has a dismal track record of awarding contracts to Black- owned PR and advertising agencies whose work helps fuel Black media newspapers, radio stations, magazines. Black media entrepreneurs like Tom Burrell of Burrell Communications, the late Earl Graves of Black Enterprise Magazine and John H. Johnson of Jet and Ebony, and countless others whose pioneering efforts made Black history also became centerpieces of American history.
Black media purveyors are the frontline communications platforms for the Black community, routinely providing and covering stories about whats happening in and to Black America. According to Nielsen Ad Intel, advertisers invested $18 billion on Black American-focused media in 2018, which represents 21 percent of the total $83 billion spent on advertising. The States inability to do business with Black media and Black PR and advertising agencies is unacceptable. Again, we demand a seat at the table.
Because of nationally televised and undeniably graphic videos of Blacks being beaten and murdered across this country, millions of Americans have awakened to the pandemic of racism and inequality that Black people have endured for centuries. We now want to wake the State of Illinois to the economic as well as social injustices that Black businesses here experience each time they are denied the opportunity to contract with the State because they werent invited to have a seat at the table.
Black-owned businesses account for nearly 20 percent of all businesses in Illinois. Doing business with Black-owned businesses not only benefits business owners, but when you hire and do business with Black-owned companies, you actually are investing in the broader Black community because Black businesses typically train and hire from within the community. This is economic development at its core, from the inside out.
The current social justice climate has ignited the flame for companies and brands across the country to step up and do more to ensure a more level playing field. Why should the state government be exempt from this clarion call?
Our track record of successfully operating companies with multi-million dollar revenues should be proof enough to Governor J.B. Pritzker and the other powers in Springfield that Black-owned businesses are more than qualified and willing to handle their projects. We have earned our seats at the table!
Larry Ivory
President & CEO
Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce
A medical staff takes samples of a woman to test for the novel coronavirus in Quang Tri Province on August 5, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Tao.
Vietnam recorded two new Covid-19 cases Wednesday, one a community transmission and the other imported, taking the national tally to 1,046.
"Patient 1045" is a 72-year-old man from Gia Loc District in the northern province of Hai Duong. He developed a fever and headache on August 19 and was admitted to the Hai Duong General Hospital on August 30.
He tested positive for the novel coronavirus twice on Tuesday and Wednesday and is now being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Dong Anh District, Hanoi.
It was the first community transmission recorded in Vietnam in four days, raising the number of community transmission in Hai Duong since the Covid-19 resurgence in late July to 17.
"Patient 1046" is a 30-year-old man from the northern province of Thai Binh who works for Nippon Maru, a cargo ship from Japan. The ship docked at the Nha Trang Port in the central province of Khanh Hoa on August 30 and he was quarantined upon arrival.
He tested positive for the novel coronavirus on September 2 and is being treated at the Khanh Hoa Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
Of the national Covid-19 tally of 1,046, 746 have recovered. There have been 691 community transmission cases, 550 of them recorded since July 25, linked to Da Nang City.
Da Nang hospitals discharged 11 patients aged 16 to 82 on Wednesday, after they repeatedly tested negative for the virus.
Among the active patients, 117 have tested negative at least once.
The nation has lost 34 lives aged 28-93 to the pandemic, all of them suffering from pre-existing conditions including chronic kidney disease.
Among the active cases, eight are in serious condition, with five on ventilators and two on ECMO. Most of these patients are linked to Da Nang.
Over 66,000 people are currently quarantined - 15,000 are in quarantine facilities, 3,000 in hospitals and the rest at home.
The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed 862,065 lives globally.
Pentagon: China Expected to Double Nukes in Next Decade
By Carla Babb September 01, 2020
A new Pentagon report predicts that China will "at least double" the size of its nuclear warhead stockpile over the next decade as it pursues its own nuclear triad to conduct nuclear strikes by land, sea and air.
China's modernization and expansion of its nuclear force is part of a broader effort aimed at matching, and in some cases surpassing, the United States military by 2049 as the dominant power in the Indo-Pacific region, according to the Pentagon's annual "China Military Power" report to Congress that was released Tuesday.
The report said the number of Chinese nuclear warheads is currently estimated to be slightly more than 200 and includes those that can be fitted to ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States.
This is the first time the Pentagon has stated a specific number of Chinese warheads, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Chad Sbragia told reporters this week.
"We're certainly concerned about the numbers," Sbragia said, "but also just the trajectory of China's nuclear developments writ large."
U.S. capabilities
The United States' nuclear arsenal, with an estimated 3,800 warheads in active status, would still dwarf the Chinese arsenal. The U.S. has submarines and aircraft capable of delivering a nuclear strike, along with intercontinental ballistic missiles on land.
China lacks the ability to launch nuclear weapons from the air, but the Pentagon said the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) publicly revealed the H-6N bomber as its first nuclear capable air-to-air refueling bomber late last year.
In the past 15 years, the Chinese Navy has constructed 12 nuclear submarines, six of which provide China's first "credible, sea-based nuclear deterrent," according to the report. By the mid-2020s it will likely build a new, guided-missile nuclear attack submarine that could provide a secret land-attack option if equipped with land-attack cruise missiles.
China has declined urgings from the Trump administration to join the U.S. and Russia in a deal to limit strategic nuclear arms. Without China's added participation, the U.S. appears poised to let an existing U.S.-Russia arms treaty known as New START expire in February 2021.
'Rule-breaking behavior'
Last week, U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper warned that the world's "free and open" system forged in the wake of World War II was under attack by what he called China's "rule-breaking behavior" in the Indo-Pacific region. He spoke in Hawaii ahead of travel in the Indo-Pacific region to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II on Wednesday.
Esper called the Indo-Pacific region the "epicenter" of great power competition, vowing not to "cede an inch" to countries that threaten international freedoms, in an apparent dig at China.
Amid Chinese military exercises last week, Beijing fired four medium-range ballistic missiles from mainland China into the disputed waters of the South China Sea, a U.S. defense official told VOA.
The Pentagon issued a statement of concern, saying China's actions "stand in contrast to its pledge to not militarize the South China Sea and are in contrast to the United States' vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms."
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AL-DHAFRA AIR BASE, Abu Dhabi: After accompanying an Israeli delegation to the UAE for historic normalisation talks, White House adviser Jared Kushner set off on a tour of other Gulf capitals on Tuesday, looking for more Arab support.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates set up a joint committee to cooperate on financial services at the talks in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. Kushner, President Donald Trumps son-in-law, accompanied the Israeli delegation on Monday on what was billed as the first Israeli commercial flight to the influential Gulf monarchy, which agreed in August to normalise relations.
Israel exchanged embassies with neighbours Egypt and Jordan under peace deals decades ago. But until now, all other Arab states had demanded it first cede more land to the Palestinians.
In remarks reported by the UAE state news agency WAM, Kushner suggested other Arab states could follow quickly. Asked when the next would normalise ties with Israel, he was quoted as saying: Lets hope its months.
Kushner later flew to Bahrain and then Saudi Arabia and is expected also to visit Qatar.
While no other Arab country has yet indicated a willingness to follow the UAE, the richest, Saudi Arabia, allowed the El Al charter flight carrying Kushner and the Israelis to use its air space.
In Bahrain, which houses the U.S. naval headquarters for the region, the state news agency reported that during his meeting with Kushner, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa had praised the role the UAE has played in defending Arab and Islamic interests.
In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Kushner discussed the need for the Palestinians and the Israelis to resume negotiations and reach a lasting peace, state news agency SPA reported.
The UAE, United States and Israel on Monday urged the Palestinians to re-engage" with the Israelis, according to a joint statement carried by the Emirati state news agency.
DISGRACED FOREVER"
The Palestinians have denounced the UAE agreement with Israel, which they say violates a longstanding pan-Arab position that Israel could normalise relations only in return for land. The UAE says it obtained a major concession from Israel to halt plans to annexe territory on the occupied West Bank.
The Gulf Arab states are mainly ruled by Sunni Muslim monarchs who consider their biggest foe to be Shiite Iran, and Israel has long held out the promise that their common enemy could bring them together.
In a fiery speech on Tuesday, Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said: The Emiratis will be disgraced forever for this treachery against the Islamic world, Arab nations and Palestine.
The UAE, along with Israelis and evil Americans like the Jewish member of Trumps family, are working together against the interests of the Islamic world, Khamenei said, referring to Kushner, who is Jewish.
Asked about Khameneis remarks, UAE Foreign Ministry official Jamal Al-Musharakh told reporters in Abu Dhabi: The path to peace and prosperity is not paved with incitement and hate speech.
Israeli officials have played up the economic benefits of the UAE deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said representatives of the two countries had signed an agreement on cooperation in financial services.
The state-run Abu Dhabi Investment Office and Invest in Israel, part of Israels economy ministry, issued a joint statement saying they had agreed to set out a plan to establish formal cooperation.
The Gulf states biggest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank later said it would open discussions with Israel lenders Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi.
Amid the historic normalisation talks, Kushner spent a morning meeting UAE military officials at an Abu Dhabi air base that houses U.S. military F-35 jets, advanced stealth aircraft which the Gulf state has long sought to buy despite Israeli objections.
The UAE has said normalisation should remove any hurdle blocking the sale. Netanyahu said on Monday Israel still opposes selling the jets to the UAE.
(Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi, Alexander Cornwell and Maha El Dahan in DUBAI; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Giles Elgood and Lisa Shumaker)
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Australia's first recession in 29 years was confirmed as COVID-19 clusters grew in Sydney, while the Queensland premier came under fire during an eventful day in Australia's fight against the virus.
In what Prime Minister Scott Morrison described as a 'heartbreaking blow' on Wednesday, the country's gross domestic product shrank 7 per cent in the three months to June.
Meanwhile, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard took aim at Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for 'putting people's lives at risk' by keeping the state border closed.
Here's the latest.
Australia entered its first recession in thirty years as GDP fell by 6.3 per cent in the year to June, with treasurer Josh Fyrdenberg (pictured releasing GDP figures) saying Australians faced a 'hard and bumpy road'
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
* Victoria recorded 90 new cases on Wednesday, up from 70 on Tuesday.
* A further six deaths takes the state toll to 576 and the national figure to 663.
* The Victorian government's six-month extension to state of emergency powers was narrowly passed through the upper house just before 2am on Wednesday.
* Premier Daniel Andrews reiterated there was no guarantee that Victoria's lockdown provisions would be eased at the conclusion of six weeks in lockdown.
* Victoria's state of disaster was extended to September 13, bringing it in line with the state of emergency.
* The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the largest quarterly economic contraction on record of 7.0 per cent, confirming the nation was in recession.
* Prime Minister Scott Morrison said COVID-19 had savaged the economy in a heartbreaking blow to Australians.
* Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg warned the road out of Australia's first recession in three decades will be 'hard and bumpy'.
* Former prime minister Tony Abbott has been widely condemned for suggesting some elderly coronavirus victims should be left to die naturally.
* NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says people's lives are being put at risk by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's decision to keep the border closed between the two states.
* NSW recorded 17 new cases with all but two linked to known clusters.
* Ms Palaszczuk believes being awarded hosting rights for the AFL grand final validates her state's response to the pandemic. It recorded two new cases, none linked to the cluster at a Brisbane corrective services academy.
* South Australia cleared it's last active coronavirus case and extended its run without a new infection to 10 days.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard took aim at Queensland's strict border restrictions saying they were 'putting people's lives at risk' (border check point in Coolangatta pictured)
SPORT
* The Gabba in Brisbane edged Perth's Optus Stadium and Adelaide Oval to host the relocated AFL grand final on October 24. It will be the first time the showpiece event has been held outside of Victoria and in a night timeslot.
* Victoria's AFL grand final-eve public holiday will remain, re-badged as a day to honour the state's battle against coronavirus.
Ms Palaszczuk said she believes Brisbane was awarded the 2020 AFL Grand Final, the first to be played outside of Victoria, because of the state;s strict border control and low COVID-19 numbers as a result
KEY DATES
* August 2 to September 13 - stage four lockdown for Melbourne, including a nightly curfew, and stage three lockdown for regional Victoria.
* September 4 - the buffer zone at the Victorian/NSW border will expand from 2.5km to 50km.
* October 26 - Tasmania's state of emergency is due to expire.
* November - Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry report due.
* December 1 - Tasmania's borders will remain shut until at least the last month of 2020.
Melbourne's stage four lockdown, including a nightly curfew, and stage three lockdown for regional Victoria will last until September 13 (people pictured wearing masks in Melbourne)
AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* There were 109 new cases in Australia - 90 in Victoria, 17 in NSW and two in Queensland. There were six more deaths in Victoria.
* The national death toll as of Wednesday is 663: Victoria 576, NSW 54, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 6, SA 4, ACT 3. (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states).
GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* Cases: at least 25,760,000
* Deaths: at least 857,000
* Recovered: at least 17,077,000
Data current as of 1715 AEST September 2, taking in federal government and state/territory government updates, Worldometer and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.
India witnessed its steepest decline in gross domestic product (GDP) growth for Q1 FY21 due to the covid-19 pandemic. The lockdown enforced to save lives adversely impacted livelihoods across sectors. Barring agriculture, every sector witnessed sharp de-growth. We dont have the luxury to say that countries, such as the US, Japan, and the UK, despite giving multiple times higher fiscal stimulus than India, have witnessed steeper or similar decline in GDP. We also dont have the luxury of developed world to spend money by increasing fiscal deficit without consequences from rating agencies. We need to overcome the current crisis like the 90s FX crisisthrough bold reforms.
A few suggestions worth implementing are:
Support our abhimanyus (entrepreneurs) to break the chakravyuh of uncompetitiveness. We need to lower logistics cost by removing subsidy of passenger fare from freight charges and lower power cost by removing subsidy of free agriculture power from industrial power. Indian businesses can cater to the world if their power and logistics costs are brought to global levels.
Roll out the red carpet model of Sanand where Tata Motors could set up a plant at a record pace for firms shifting out of China. Leverage preferential access to domestic market of 1.36 billion consumers to lure them to India. Learn from the information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which propelled us from being the back office to the world to becoming the manufacturer of the world. Our benchmark should be to encourage global companies to prosper here, just like Vietnam, where Samsung contributes to over 28% of its GDP with a $62-billion turnover.
The government needs to support industries and consumers. We dont have the luxury of increasing fiscal deficit manyfold. We must raise non-tax resources by divesting custodian of enemy property assets, and surplus land from railways to defence sectors, and bring an attractive gold amnesty scheme to not only boost tax collection, but also shift gold in tijori, or black economy, to the white economy to strengthen balance sheet of India Inc, besides pursuing strategic divestment rather than market divestment to get better value for governments holding in public sector units.
Our strategy should follow what former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher did to turn around the economy through privatization and cost cutting.
Create a separate judicial infrastructure for faster resolution of commercial disputes. Rule of law is a prerequisite for entrepreneurs to invest.
More than two-thirds of our population depends on agriculture. Amul made India from a milk-importing country to the largest producer of milk. We need to create many Amuls in other parts of agriculture to support them. Our benchmark should be Netherlands, which, despite half the country below sea level, exports over $80 billion in agricultural produce. We should become food suppliers to the world.
Covid-19 is a major crisis, which we must overcome with such bold reforms to change the orbit of Indias growth for years to come.
Nilesh Shah is president and managing director at,Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company Ltd.
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Topics
United Airlines to Cut Over 16,000 Jobs in October: Memo
United Airlines said it is planning to cut about 16,000 jobs next month after federal aid to airline companies is set to expire.
The cuts, of which many are furloughs, are to jobs including about 6,920 flight attendants, 2,850 pilots, 1,400 management jobs, 2,010 mechanics and 2,260 in airport operations, and others, according to a memo that was published online.
The pandemic has drawn us in deeper and lasted longer than almost any expert predicted, and in an environment where travel demand is so depressed, United cannot continue with staffing levels that significantly exceed the schedule we fly. Sadly, we dont expect demand to return to anything resembling normal until there is a widely available treatment or vaccine, United said in a statement.
It is our expectation that things dont get anything back close to normal until a vaccine is developed and widely administered, said a United executive who spoke with reporters, as reported by CNN.
United was one of the airlines that received federal funding under the CARES Act, which prevented involuntary staff cuts by the end of September.
United said that the CARES Act Payroll Protection Plan extension can stop the furloughs, adding that its officials can be in communication with Congress and the White House.
To be clear, an extension [of the program] would be the one thing that would prevent involuntary furloughs on October 1, the memo said, and hopefully delay any potential impact on employees until early 2021. It noted that many United Airlines workers petitioned their representatives in Congress for an extension.
Empty United Airlines ticket machines are shown at the Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Fla., on April 24, 2020 (Chris OMeara/AP Photo)
Negotiations between top Democrats and the White House have mostly stalled in recent weeks. On the table includes stimulus payments, extended unemployment benefits, and an extension of the payroll plan, among other measures.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, speaking to Congress on Tuesday, called for another round of pandemic relief measures to be passed in a bipartisan manner. Both he and President Donald Trump said the struggling airline industry would need more assistance.
It came about a week after American Airlines announced it will have to cut about 19,000 jobs, citing similar concerns as United.
Amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, airline travel has significantly dropped as governments around the world restrict travel across their borders and would-be travelers engage in social-distancing practices.
Josh Earnest, a United senior vice president, told USA Today that the Chicago-based firm does not expect to return back to normal until a CCP virus vaccine is developed and widely available.
We dont have to snap everybody back at the same time, he told the paper. We can basically build our workforce as we need it and as our schedule grows and as demand recovers.
United has not responded to a request for comment.
Justin Shinebourne
Justin Shinebourne, who headed Barclays Investment Bank's European equity advisory service, has joined Finsbury's London office to build its advisory practice.
At Barclays, he provided strategic counsel to clients across the EMEA region on matters related to valuation, market impact and communications.
The 25-year investment banking veteran also did stints at Morgan Stanley in equity sales and HSBC, where he was a member of its regional equity management committee.
James Murgatroyd, Finsbury managing partner, predicts Shinebourne will be an invaluable addition to the firms capital markets offering. His appointment underscores our commitment to offering clients communications solutions that meet all their most important stakeholders needs, Murgatroyd added.
WPP is merging Finsbury, Glover Park Group and Hering Schuppener early next year to form Finsbury Glover Hering, which will be based in New York.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 21:05:54|Editor: huaxia
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MOSCOW, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Moscow and Minsk are firmly against attempts to tear Belarus away from Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here Wednesday.
"We will respond to those who are trying to destabilize the situation in Belarus and who have been trying for many years to tear Belarus away from Russia," Lavrov said at a news conference following talks with Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei.
Belarus, perhaps for the first time, faces a serious threat of destabilization with active intervention from outside, Lavrov said.
Russia condemns foreign countries that exert pressure on the legitimate authorities of Belarus and openly support the opposition, he said, adding that Moscow will categorically suppress foreign attempts to organize provocation against Belarus, especially via multilateral platforms.
Russia sees the presidential elections in Belarus as valid and looks forward to the normalization of the situation through dialogue in the framework of the constitution and law, Lavrov said.
Moscow considers the initiative of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to carry out a constitutional reform very promising, and believes that such a political process can become a useful platform for national dialogue, he said.
Makei said at the news conference that he expects the internal contradictions in Belarus to be resolved in the very near future and the country to "restore its long-term status of a calm, open and hospitable state in the center of Europe."
Before the start of their talks, Lavrov said Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Lukashenko in Moscow in the upcoming weeks, while Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will pay a visit to Minsk on Thursday.
Belarus has been witnessing protests after incumbent president Lukashenko won a sixth term in the Aug. 9 elections, with the opposition refusing to recognize the results. Enditem
Pakistan on Wednesday violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. At around 6.45 pm, the Pakistan Army resorted to firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along LoC in Kirni and Qasba sectors of the district.
The Indian Army was retaliating befittingly when last reports came in. This is the second ceasefire violation in the union territory within 24 hours.
Earlier in the day, a junior commissioned officer (JCO) of the Indian Army was martyred when Pakistan resorted to unproved ceasefire violation along the LoC in Rajouri district. The JCO deployed on a forward post in the Tarkundi sector was injured in Pakistan firing and later succumbed, police sources said.
Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire and opened fire at forward posts in the Keri sector, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army, the sources said. The JCO was critically injured in the Pakistani firing and later succumbed to injuries, the sources said, adding Pakistan also suffered casualties in the retaliatory action but the exact details are awaited. According to sources, JCO Rajwinder Singh was a resident of Punjab`s Amritsar.
Pakistan damaged several structures when it targetted civilian areas during ceasefire violation along the LoC in Bandipora district. According to reports, six structures, including four residential houses and two schools, were damaged. The Pakistani Army resorted to motor shelling in Gurez area of the district on September 1 (Tuesday) night.
A police officer said that Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked motor shelling in forward areas of Gurez late in the evening. However, no injury or casualties was reported. Indian troops gave befitting reply to the unproved ceasefire violation of Pakistan in the area and exchange of fire was going on till late night in the area.
On Wednesday too, an infiltration bid was foiled in Nowgam sector of Handwara area of Kupwara district where after suspicious movement Indian troops challenged the intruders. A brief exchange of fire took place and a large scale search operation was launched in the area. It was still going on when last reports came in.
Pakistan has been violating the ceasefire on the LoC with impunity since the beginning of 2020. In over 2,720 ceasefire violations, 27 civilians have been killed and another 100 injured.
China Aid announced from August 20 to September 20, they will conduct a month-long investigation to crack down on illegal religious activities in China. The notice was sent out by the Xinyang City Gushi County Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau.
The Chinese bureau set a reward of 500 CNY (72 USD) for anyone who reports people attending illegal religious activities. It is reported that The Bureau even provided a hotline for people to report, submit videos, recordings, or pictures.
The media reported that the Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs in Guangzhou is encouraging citizens to lodge complaints on rules to encourage people to denounce fellow citizens against the communist party rule.
Reporting religious groups and targeting Christianity, the house churches and the underground religious communities are now in serious danger. The magazine called Bitter Winter stated, "focusing on religious restrictions in China reported that the reward system will inhibit religious gatherings and preaching of the Gospel as Christians would fear arrest at any time.
Check out the companies making headlines after the bell:
Five Below Five Below shares rallied after the close of the regular session Wednesday evening after it said sales accelerated in the second quarter as it reopened stores. Its reopening efforts helped the company post a profit of 53 cents per share versus the 14 cents of income per share expected by FactSet estimates. Sales increased to $426.1 million from $417.4 million compared to the second quarter of 2019.
CrowdStrike Shares of CrowdStrike fell more than 4% in extended trading despite better-than-expected earnings and raising its financial outlook. The cloud-based security company posted revenue of $199 million, up 84% from the year-ago period and ahead of its own guidance. Adjusted earnings of 3 cents per share also topped estimates. It also raised its outlook for the January 2021 fiscal year and sees sales of $809.1 million to $826.7 million, up from a prior range.
PVH The parent of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein rallied 3% in after-hours trading after the company reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share well ahead of what Wall Street analysts expected. Excluding one-time items, PVH reported EPS of 13 cents versus the per-share loss of $2.43 expected.
Fulgent Genetics Fulgent spiked nearly 10% after the closing bell after the Temple City, California-based company announced it's partnered with New York City Health and Hospitals to provide Covid-19 tests to hundreds of thousands of students at about 1,600 locations as they returned to school in September. Fulgent will offer its FDA-approved at-home test, which provides results within 24 to 48 hours from the time the company receives the sample.
The Suspect, Nkechi Odinye
The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a notorious child-trafficker, Nkechi Odinye, 55 for allegedly running a syndicate that traffics children in the state.
A statement released by the spokesperson of the state police command, Haruna Mohammed, said Nkechi was arrested following the confessional statement made by three other child traffickers that were arrested in October 2019 at Nkpor market/Tarzan junction in Idemili North LGA in the state.
Haruna said the children found with the three female traffickers arrested in Nkpor were actually stolen from Gombe State by one Hauwa Musa and brought to her accomplices in Anambra State.
During interrogation, the suspects voluntarily confessed that they usually steal the children and bring to their sponsor, Mrs. Nkechi Odinye, who allegedly buys the children here in Anambra State at the rate of between two hundred and four hundred thousand (#200-400,000) naira depending on their age and gender.
On the 31/8/2020,following the confession and while acting on a tip off,Police detectives attached to 3-3 Division Onitsha in Collaboration with Operatives attached to the Command Special Anti-Cult Section(SPACS) stormed the hideout of the principal suspect one Nkechi Odinye f aged 55 years and effected her arrest at Obosi in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The Suspect who evaded arrest for over three years has remained on the run,busy changing locations until her arrest.The team equally rescued twelve children of various age brackets,comprising of 8 boys and 4 girls reasonably suspected to have been stolen from different parts of the Country under her custody. the statement read.
Haruna said the rescued children are presently under protective care and Investigation is still ongoing.
About 30 million Americans are at risk of being evicted in coming months because they cant pay rent, according to a review of the Census survey data by the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, the Covid-19 Eviction Defense Project, the National Low Income Housing Coalition and a coalition of researchers. Management consultant Stout Risius Ross, in its analysis of the Census data, put the number at 40 million. (Both estimates were made before the announcement of the CDC action.) Eviction is a legal process, and the burden on landlords differs by state. But the mere threat of eviction often is enough for landlords to get someone to move out. Many landlords have been working with tenants in the hopes that more emergency rental assistance is on its way. Absent that help, the U.S. could be heading for a massive wave of housing displacement and insecurity. More people will double up with family or end up homeless.
Three police officers showed up at a young mother's house to interrogate her about a Facebook post telling Melburnians to go for their daily walk.
Megan Kira, 27, called on everyone to go for their hour of exercise allowed under Stage Four lockdown at 5pm every day in their local park.
The mother-of-four's post on Facebook and Instagram positioned the walk as a protest against coronavirus restrictions amid demonstrations in Dadnenong.
'Dandenong took the first step. Now it's time we all follow in their footsteps,' her post began, followed by eight issues to protest about.
Megan Kira's post on Facebook and Instagram positioned the walk as a protest against coronavirus restrictions amid demonstrations in Dadnenong
Just hours later, three officers showed up at her door in Clyde North - not far from Dandenong - asking what her intentions were.
Refusing to come to the door and instead talking through a window, Ms Kira asked how the officers tracked her down as she was 'not in the system'.
'I have no driver's license, no passport... so how did you find me?' she said.
The officers explained that since she had previous contact with police, her details were registered in their database.
'We're here about a Facebook post you put up earlier today about asking people to meet up at the park across the road,' the lead officer said.
Just hours later, three officers showed up at her door asking what her intentions were, concerned she was inciting people to illegally gather in groups
Ms Kira claimed she was only going for a walk with her young son, not a group, and just wanted to let people know they can go for a walk
Ms Kira replied: 'I said go to your local park which is actually allowed, and to go for an hour, which is allowed. I didn't say to meet people, I said go for a walk.'
Police explained they were monitoring social media due to the Dandenong protests, and asked what her intentions were.
Ms Kira claimed she was only going for a walk with her young son, not a group, and just wanted to let people know they can go for a walk.
'If your intention was to go for a walk, no problem,' the policeman replied.
'But if it can be shown that your intention was to promote to have a group of people attend a park in contravention of the lockdown orders, you can actually be charged with an offence called incitement.'
Police have vowed to quash protests against the Stage Four lockdown, which still has at least 11 days to go, and have arrested several organisers.
Melburnians can only exercise for one hour a day with one other person up to 5km from their home, and anyone encouraging people to break these rules can be charged with incitement.
Ms Kira's social media is littered with anti-lockdown and coronavirus conspiracy theory posts, including calling the virus a 'plandemic' and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews 'Hitler'
A day later, her friend Rosana Felise was arrested as the pair went for a walk around the neighbourhood with Ms Kira in a Guy Fawkes mask
Ms Kira later went for her 5pm walk, while wearing a mask, as police cars patrolled the area looking for anyone breaching lockdown.
'You can't even put up a post encouraging people to go for a walk to the playground without cops showing up at your door,' she said as she walked.
A day later, her friend Rosana Felise was arrested as the pair went for a walk around the neighbourhood with Ms Kira in a Guy Fawkes mask.
Ms Felise was not wearing a mask so police approached and asked for her details. When she refused and claimed she didn't need to, she was arrested.
Ms Kira's social media is littered with anti-lockdown and coronavirus conspiracy theory posts, including calling the virus a 'plandemic' and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews 'Hitler'.
Mr Andrews is due to finally release a plan on Sunday to get Victoria out of lockdown, after three consecutive days of less than 70 new cases.
PITTSBURGH (AP) Ke'Bryan Hayes fit just about everything he could into his major league debut. The third base prospect hit a tying homer for Pittsburgh in the eighth inning. He struck out with the winning run on second in the ninth. He executed a textbook slide to pull his team even in the 10th.
Chicago's Ian Happ, however, provided a lesson on closing.
Happ finished what he started, singling home Nico Hoerner in the 11th to lead the Cubs to an 8-7 win over the Pirates on Tuesday night. Happ, a Pittsburgh native who led off the game with a home run, finished with three hits as the NL Central leaders won for the third time in four games.
Theres a lot of factors in that game, and for us to persevere had some really nice pitching performances there late and in extras to keep things close and just for us to be able to grind through that and get a win, that was huge," Happ said.
Hayes, the son of longtime major league infielder Charlie Hayes, collected his first career hit with an RBI double to left off Jon Lester in the sixth. The 23-year-old emerged from a 71-minute rain delay in the eighth, took the second pitch he saw and deposited it over the wall in center to knot the game at 6.
I mean, really I kind of like blacked out whenever I hit it, said Hayes, who became the seventh player in Pirates history to homer in his first major league game. "Like I hit the ball and I was like, Did I get that good enough? And then saw it go over and kind of blacked out for a second. So, it is special for me.
Happ finally put the Pirates away when he sent a sharp single to center off Kyle Crick (0-1) in the 11th. Jeremy Jeffress (3-1) held Pittsburgh scoreless in the bottom of the inning to help Chicago escape.
Happ and Kyle Schwarber each hit their 10th homer of the season for the Cubs. Kris Bryant added two hits in his return from a trip to the injured list due to a wrist issue.
Thats a character win for me, first-year manager David Ross said. "It tells you a lot about this group.
Story continues
The Cubs have been mostly stuck in neutral since their 13-3 start, but Bryant's return along with the arrival of reinforcements at the trade deadline gave Ross a chance to hit reset entering September.
Ross kept Happ in the leadoff spot and slotted Bryant who spent time in the leadoff position earlier in the year right behind Happ believing it lengthened the lineup. It only took two pitches to make it look like the right call.
Happ turned on Chad Kuhl's second offering and sent it to the concourse behind the seats in right-center field. Happ's third leadoff homer of the season pushed his career home run total to 60, the most ever by a Cubs switch hitter.
BUSY NIGHT
The last-place Pirates called up Hayes a three-time Gold Glove winner in the minors with an eye toward the future. The former first-round pick looked right at home at PNC Park, showcasing the defensive flair that made him the 32nd overall selection in the 2015 draft.
Hayes drifted to his left and retired Bryant to end the third. He also threw out Bryant at home to end the top of the ninth, a curious decision considering there were two outs and the ball was a relatively routine grounder to third by Javy Baez. Hayes admitted he briefly lost track of the situation and went home just in case. Otherwise, it wasn't much different than any other game he's played in.
After the first ground ball I got, the speed of the game, it didnt feel anything crazy for me, Hayes said.
COMING AND GOING
The Cubs were active at the trade deadline, acquiring veteran outfielder Cameron Maybin, utility player Jose Martinez and left-handed reliever Josh Osich.
Martinez served as the designated hitter Tuesday and went 0 for 3 while batting eighth. Osich allowed a run in the 10th.
To make room for the additions, Chicago sent outfielder Albert Almora Jr. to the club's alternate training site in South Bend, placed right-hander Tyler Chatwood on the 10-day injured list with a right forearm strain and designated reliever Casey Sadler for assignment.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (right triceps inflammation) will return from a stint to the disabled list and start on Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (3-4, 4.09 ERA) is just 1-2 with a 6.61 ERA in three road starts this season.
Pirates: Musgrove (0-3, 6.75 ERA), Pittsburgh's opening-day starter, looks for his first win of the year.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Shainu Mohan By
Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While authorities say people must understand that this is the only option as Covid-19 caseload increases rapidly, office-bearers of residents associations say the government must educate public rather than adding to their fear
The efforts of the district authorities to promote home treatment for asymptomatic Covid-19 patients is facing a major hurdle with many hesitating to opt for the same fearing social stigma and ostracisation. Residents associations of various apartment complexes have expressed their opposition to home care citing the risk of others getting infected from the patients. While the district gave a go-ahead to home isolation of Covid-19 positive healthcare workers nearly a month back, the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) issued an SOP (standing operating procedure) for starting home care for Covid-19 patients last week.
However, according to officials, even healthcare workers are requesting for institutional care over home isolation. In the wake of this development, officials claim its impossible to run too many CFLTCs as the case load multiples rapidly. As of Monday, while there are over 5,000 active cases in the capital district, around 500 people are under home care.According to District Medical Officer K S Shinu, although the response to home care programme has been good, the health department is receiving a number of complaints against it from especially rural areas and residents of apartment complexes.
The case load is going up and we have to reserve existing medical infrastructure for those who really need it. Home care is the only way to deal with the crisis. We need the support of the public for the same, said Shinu. He added that asymptomatic patients only need proper monitoring and rest. The public should change its attitude and realise that that they will contract the infection only if they roam around unprotected and dont follow Covid-19 guidelines. Our aim is to bring at least 50 per cent of the asymptomatic patients under home care in the coming days. The authorities have opened a call centre at the District War Room for managing patients under home care.
In a recent incident, an office-bearer of the residents association of a premium apartment complex was forced to seek police intervention after a few residents raised objection to a person from another state undergoing quarantine at one of the flats in the building. Around 15 of the 50 apartment units in our complex are lying vacant and we arranged quarantine for a family member of a resident who came from Bengaluru. A few residents raised objection and I had to call the police.
The issue was only resolved after the police arrived, said Sreekumara Menon, president of the residents association located in Paruthipara Working president of the State Apartment Owners Apex Association C S Vinod said the govenrment should start campaigns to prepare the society to live with the pandemic. He added that people residing in compact spaces cannot avoid common areas and having fear if a Covid-19 patient undergoes home treatment in such a building is quite natural. A large section of the people residing in highrise buildings are elderly and they get scared when the neighbours are under isolation. We have to educate them on how to protect themselves from contracting the disease, said Vinod.
IN A NUTSHELL
While the district gave a go-ahead to home isolation of Covid-19 positive healthcare workers nearly a month back, the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) issued an SOP (standing operating procedure) for starting home care for Covid-19 patients last week. However, according to officials, even healthcare workers are requesting for institutional care over home isolation.
SOP issued by DDMA for home isolation
Only asymptomatic patients are eligible for home care
A written request for permission to remain in home isolation sought from the patient along with a self-declaration.
Clinical assessment for co-morbidities by medical or nodal officer.
Only patients who are psychologically stable will be eligible for home isolation.
The patient can undergo home isolation in a residential building of his or her choice with an
attached toilet, road connectivity, phone connectivity and good community support mechanism.
All other members residing in the same house shall remain in strict home quarantine.
Self monitoring of symptoms and regular updates to the medical officer.
The patient and care giver must use three layer masks during interaction.
Antigen or RT-PCR shall be performed on day 10. If the test proves negative, seven days of further test is advised.
Helpline numbers for patients in home care 0471-2733433 / 1077
North Korea continues to operate some nuclear facilities and its activities remain 'a cause for serious concern', the UN's nuclear watchdog said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported to its members that the continuation of the secretive country's nuclear programme was in clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
It added that the ongoing nuclear scheme by the DPRK, North Korea's official name, was 'deeply regrettable'.
The Vienna-based UN agency issued a report on Tuesday, which it publicised today, outlining its concerns.
Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea, whose country has been accused of breaching international law by continuing nuclear research
It stated that since its last report in August 2019 there were 'indications consistent with the production of enriched uranium' at the reported Yongbyon nuclear site.
The IAEA said that it had not had access to the Yongbyon site or other locations in North Korea.
Instead it states it based its analysis in the report on the 'information available to it', including open source information and satellite imagery.
An absence of steam or cooling water discharge at the site, said the IAEA, meant 'it is almost certain that the reactor has remained shut down since early December 2018.'
But there had been evidence of ongoing reactor maintenance, including the regular presence of a probable carbon dioxide tanker along with other related activities the report added.
Members of the IAEA will meet for its annual General Conference and regular board of governors later this month where it will consider the report.
The IAEA report has called on North Korea to 'comply fully' with its international obligations and to 'co-operate promptly' with the agency.
Officials in Pyongyang expelled IAEA inspectors from the Yongbyon nuclear site in 2009 and has refused to allow agency inspections on its territory since.
In addition the US government, which claims that Pyongyang has scaled back its nuclear ambitions, warned on Tuesday that North Korea continues to acquire material and equipment for a ballistic missile programme.
North Korea launches a long range missile as part of a weapons test as fears remain over its nuclear program
A joint advisory of the US Treasury, Commerce and State departments has detailed North Korea's efforts to gain everything from forestry trucks for missile launchers to materials that can be used in rockets.
This has led the US government bodies to warn sellers of current sanctions which are in force on North Korea.
It comes as negotiations between the two countries aimed at halting North Korea's nuclear weapons progress, launched with a fanfare in 2018 by President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, have remained at a standstill since early last year.
Yet two months before the US presidential election Trump and his campaign have claimed success in dealing with North Korea.
Indeed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has applauded the president for 'lowering the temperature.'
Facebook has made a change to its terms of service which has upset many people. The change allows the company to remove content or restrict access to avoid legal or regulatory impact.
Human rights commentator Ananya Ramani has noted that change could be used to justify online censorship in a Twitter post. She is not the only user to find the change to Terms of Service by Facebook troubling as reported by Android Central.
Facebook has long struggled with how to deal with the content posted on its platform. At one stage a lack of action from the company let to an advertiser boycott of the social media platform.
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This may be why Facebook is strengthening its legal position to be able to take more action. However, recently the company has been accused of not handling coronavirus misinformation harshly enough.
Change to terms of service angers Facebook users
It is a fine balancing act that Facebook has to negotiate when it comes to the censorship of content. For so long it has come under criticism for allowing too much hate speech and misinformation spread on its platform.
However, now the company is taking action they have been accused of censorship and being anti-free speech.
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Users of the Facebook app have begun receiving a message notifying them about a change to the terms of service.
As the screenshot shows this notification informs of an update to section 3.2 of the terms of service. Specifically, the introduction of the phrase We also can remove or restrict access to your content, services or information if we determine that doing so is reasonably necessary to avoid or mitigate adverse legal or regulatory impacts to Facebook.
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This section of the terms of service deals with who and who cannot use Facebook. It also focuses on what users can use the platform for.
This notification has sparked backlash amongst users who worry that this is tantamount to censorship. Others have concerns that this allows governments to interfere in elections.
The clause in itself is quite vague but also wide-ranging in its scope. It does seem reasonable that Facebook could remove content at say-so of a government should they receive threats of legal action.
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However, some users have welcomed the change. They point out that this could lead to more scope for misinformation removal from the platform.
How Facebook uses this new power they have when it comes into force on October 1 will be fascinating. In one sense it is good to see the company taking more action to remove harmful content. However, the rabbit hole this opens up is potentially troubling.
The partnership will be inclusive of several major collaborations, including a best-in class Network Secure Subsystem for CPS comprising the first worldwide cybersecurity enhanced ASIL-D grade RISC-V core and a full integrated HSM (Hardware Security Module) for Automotive applications.
RENNES, France - Sep 2nd 2020 - Secure-IC , a world-leading provider of embedded cybersecurity for best-in-class security protection technologies, integrated secure elements and security platforms and NSITEXE a Japanese company with strong expertise in development of semiconductor IP, especially high performance cores for multiple industries.
Currently, there is no solution to protect systems against potential cyber threats (local to platform systems and communication) with infrastructure layers in a scalable and easy-to-implement manner.
Globally with the advent of IoT, systems face numerous attacks coming from the network such as DDoS (Denial of Service) or locally through physical attacks. Such attack can allow to get malicious remote control and therefore put the whole system at risk.
Every single device being a potential entry door to networks, the attack surface is expanding rapidly.
All systems, from a single IoT sensor device, to a PC or critical infrastructure systems need to be able to trust their connectivity and access networks in a safe way.
It is especially true in the Automotive space where security will be the key factor for the adoption of autonomous driving.
To solve these challenges, Secure-IC and NSITEXE join their technologies and offer several critical solutions:
A unique Network Security Subsystem for CPS, providing TLS 1.3/SSL, Deep Packet Inspection. It also allows a Chain of Trust, secure boot, secure firmware update and accelerated cryptographic services
RISC-V Core by NSITEXE cybersecurity-enhanced by Secure-IC s CyberEscort Unit supplying real-time detection of 0-day attacks
Integrated HSM for Automotive applications for Key Management, Cryptographic services, suited for all applications (V2X, ADAS, Gateway, Powertrain, etc.): SecuryzrTM
Secure-IC and NSITEXE will present their collaboration through a series of webinars to be held in the coming months.
HASSAN TRIQUI, President & CEO of Secure-IC: Secure-IC is honored to partner with NSITEXE to address the key problems for Cyber-Physical System security space. Both companies hold strong synergies from technology portfolio, geographic coverage and corporate culture.
YUKIHIDE NIIMI, CEO of NSITEXE: Security is critical requirement for Automotive and other application. To solve the challenge, we have the pleasure to work with Secure IC having state-of-the-art Security technology
About Secure-IC
Secure-IC has established a thought leadership position in the cyber security world for embedded systems.
Secure-IC sets itself apart by accompanying customers along the IC lifecycle security challenges by providing best in class protection technologies, integrated secure elements and security IP (SecuryzrTM), with evaluation tools for security assurance and certification readiness (Laboryzr TM) as well as consulting expertise and security assessment services (Expertyzr TM ).
About NSITEXE
NSITEXE , was established in 2017 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of DENSO, one of the worlds largest tier one Automotive parts manufacturing companies, with significant development in four key areas of advanced Automotive technologies: connected cars; automated drive; shared mobility; and electrification.
The company designs and develop semiconductor IP cores, which are key semiconductor components enabling automated driving.
More information is available on request, please reach us at the following;
Secure-IC Communication Contact
- Lee Anderson, Marketing & Communication Manager
E-mail: lee.anderson@secure-ic.com
TEL: +33(0)2 99 12 18 72
-Yan-Taro CLOCHARD
Director Secure-IC K.K.
Sales Director North Asia - Corporate Marketing Director
E-mail: yan-taro.clochard@secure-ic.com
Tel. +81(0)3 6717 6477 / +81(0)80 9456 3535
Linked In: @ Secure-IC
YouTube: @ Secure-IC
Twitter: @ SecureIC
NSITEXE Communication Contact
- Tomoaki Katano, Technical Marketing Manager
E-mail: tomoaki.katano@nsitexe.co.jp
Linkedin: Nsitexe
Attachments
The Republicans, the party of law and order and accountability, know that using federal property for political purposes is not legal, according to the Hatch Act. In spite of that knowledge, they embraced the illegal and unethical use of federal properties as backdrops for the Republican National Convention. It appears that Republican National Committee told the GOP that laws and ethics do not apply to this president and, yet again, the GOP rolled over in submission. Well, the Grand Old Party finally gave Donald Trump his biggest wish. They handed over the keys to the White House, also known as the Peoples House. He planted his brand in gargantuan letters on the south lawn. Melania and her husband magically appeared on the South Portico, descended a staircase of the Peoples House in true Disney style, gathering the royal family around them. This spectacle was attended by 1,600 huddled, mostly unmasked, acolytes, closely mingling for hours.
One would never suspect that during the four days of the convention, 3,862 Americans died of COVID-19, fighting for their last breath. The next day, at a rally in New Hampshire, attendees booed when asked to wear masks. Our supposed leader was silent, a leader with disregard for law and American lives. True leaders lead by example. True leaders care about the well-being of their citizens. This pseudo-leader, and the current GOP leadership, have proved that they selfishly care only about their own well-being. A sad state indeed.
Mark Cavatorta, Hebo
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday gave a financial assistance of 1 crore to the family of a government pharmacist, Rajesh Kumar Bhardwaj, who died of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in July, the Delhi government informed in a press statement.
Bhardwaj, a resident of Faridabad, was posted as a pharmacist at the office of the central districts chief district medical officer. He tested Covid-19 positive on June 29, following which he was admitted to a private hospital in Delhi. He died on July 20, the statement said.
I met his family today (Wednesday) and offered them an assistance of 1 crore. I hope that the family will get some help with this amount. I assured them of my support in the future as well, Kejriwal said.
In April, the Delhi government introduced a scheme under which families of individuals engaged in Covid-19 management are given a financial assistance of 1 crore in case the individual dies of Covid-19. So far, more than 20 such families including those of a doctor, a police officer, a civil defence volunteer and a sanitation worker --have received the assistance from the government .
President Donald Trump views property damaged during riots in Kenosha, Wis., on Sept. 1, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Trumps Reelection Odds Rising Amid Protests, JPMorgan Says
WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trumps chances to win reelection in 2020 are rising as the violent demonstrations across the country are playing in his favor, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co., which also reports the economy is making a K-shaped recovery.
Investors should position for rising odds of Trump re-election, Marko Kolanovic, head of the global macro quantitative and derivatives strategy team at JPMorgan, wrote in a recent report.
The latest polls show that Trump has been narrowing the gap in recent weeks, and there are two factors driving the shift, Kolanovic says.
The first effect is the impact of the degree of violence in protests on public opinion and voting patterns.
JPMorgan analysts conducted a quantitative analysis based on the academic work of Princeton political science professor Omar Wasow, who examined county-level voting patterns in the 1960s.
Wasow studied U.S. election results between 1960 and 1972 and found that peaceful pro-Democrat demonstrations helped Democrats while violent pro-Democrat demonstrations helped Republicans. He also concluded that demonstrations directly resulted in the election of Republican Richard Nixon in 1968.
JPMorgan analysts applied Wasows work to the current situation of protests and found that there could be a nearly 5-10 point poll shift from Democrats to Republicans if the perception of protests turns from peaceful to violent.
However, there is an important difference between the 1960s and current events, as social media plays a significant role in shaping public perception.
Voters can see for themselves if the protests are peaceful or violent, Kolanovic wrote. It is highly likely that social media distribution of videos of looting in Chicago, L.A., and NYC, arson in Minneapolis, Wisconsin, Portland, Seattle, etc., have led to a significant shift in election odds in favor of Republicans.
Kolanovic notes that social media has amplified the message, and hence the effect on public opinion could be bigger this time compared to the 1960s. Thats already been manifested by recent reactions such as record purchases of firearms and migration from cities such as New York.
Both presidential candidates have cast blame on the other for promoting violence.
Trump on Sept. 1 visited Kenosha, a city in Wisconsin affected by the riots last week. During his visit, he criticized far-left politicians for pushing the destructive message that our nation and our law enforcement are oppressive or racist.
He also accused the media of fueling the violence across the country.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden earlier accused Trump of fanning the flames of hate and division in our society and recklessly encouraging violence.
Since June, Bidens lead over Trump among voters has significantly narrowed, according to CNN and Emerson College polls.
Emerson showed that Trump tightened the presidential race to a two-point margin in August.
Meanwhile, an Epoch Times National Poll conducted by Big Data Poll found that Trump reversed Bidens lead during the three days immediately following last weeks Republican National Convention.
We believe that momentum related to the Wasow effect will continue in favor of Trump, unless Democrats pivot away from their stance regarding demonstrations, Kolanovic stated.
This may not be easy, however, given that top Democrats have called for daily demonstrations (e.g., Kamala Harris) and rallied their base around the theme of defunding police.
There is also a discrepancy between the polls and actual probabilities, as voters are afraid of reprisal. Kolanovic says that could artificially skew polls in favor of Biden.
It should not come as a surprise that this effect appears to be stronger for Republican voters given the liberal trend of cancel culture.
A recent study by Leib Litman, a social and behavioral scientist, found that 11.7 percent of Republicans dont express their true opinions about their preferred presidential candidate in telephone polls, compared to 5.4 percent of Democrats.
K-Shaped Recovery
Investors and economists have been debating the shape of the economic recovery for months, and theyve labeled their expectations for a rebound with letters, such as V, W, or U.
However, JPMorgan economists are seeing a K-shaped recovery, because of large gaps in the performance of different sectors of the economy.
The recent stock market rally benefited the technology sector the most, which rose to nearly 20 percent above previous all-time highs, according to JPMorgan. Meanwhile, other sectors of the economy such as airlines, energy, shopping malls, offices, and hospitality nosedived.
The recovery has also created enormous inequality in society, with low-wage workers and minorities taking a big hit.
On one side, tech fortunes reached all-time highs, while lower-income, blue-collar workers and those that cannot work remotely suffered the most, Kolanovic said.
Mumbai, Sep 2 : A retired schoolteacher was killed when a portion of a 4-storied building crashed in south Mumbai's congested Dongri area, BMC Disaster Control said on Wednesday.
Mumtaz Sudhanwala, 65, a former schoolteacher who lived alone, died due to suffocation after being trapped several hours in rubble.
The building, Razak Chamber B-Block, was a MHADA cessed building and the fire brigade said that orders were given to vacate it owing to its rickety condition.
After some residents felt the building shake late on Tuesday, many of them had vacated it as a precautionary measure, except Sudhanwala who did not move out.
Local MLA Amin Patel and MP Arvind Sawant, along with senior officials from the BMC B-Ward were present at the site to supervise the rescue and relief operations.
PHNOM PENH -- The Khmer Rouge commander known as Duch, Pol Pots premier executioner and security chief who oversaw the mass murder of at least 14,000 Cambodians at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, died on Wednesday. He was 77.
Kaing Guek Eav or Duch was the first member of the Khmer Rouge leadership to face trial for his role within a regime blamed for at least 1.7 million deaths in the killing fields of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.
Duch died at 00:52 a.m. (1752 GMT on Tuesday) at the Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh, Khmer Rouge tribunal spokesman Neth Pheaktra said. He gave no details of the cause, but Duch had been ill in recent years.
In 2010, a U.N. tribunal found him guilty of mass murder, torture and crimes against humanity at Tuol Sleng prison, the former Phnom Penh high school which still stands as a memorial to the atrocities committed inside.
He was given a life sentence two years later after his appeal that he was just a junior official following orders was rejected. Duch - by the time of his trial a born-again Christian - expressed regret for his crimes.
Under Duchs leadership, detainees at Tuol Sleng prison, codenamed S-21, were ordered to suppress cries of agony as Khmer Rouge guards, many of whom were teenagers, sought to extract confessions for non-existent crimes through torture.
The guards were instructed to smash to bits traitors and counter-revolutionaries. For the Khmer Rouge, that could mean anyone from school teachers to children, to pregnant women and intellectuals identified as such for wearing glasses.
Beneath Tuol Slengs chaotic facade, Duch - himself a former maths teacher - had an obsessive eye for detail and kept his school-turned-jail meticulously organised.
Nothing in the former schoolhouse took place without Duchs approval. His control was total, wrote photographer and author Nic Dunlop, who found Duch in 1999 hiding near the Thai border, two decades after the Khmer Rouge fell.
At S-21, new prisoners had their mugshots taken. Hundreds are now on display within its crumbling walls.
Norng Chan Phal, one of the few people to have survived S-21, was a boy when he and his parents were sent to Duchs prison.
His parents were tortured and killed but Chan Phal survived to give testimony at Duchs trial in 2010.
He was cooperative, he spoke to the court frankly. He apologised to all S-21 victims and asked them to open their hearts. He apologised to me too, Chan Phal told Reuters.
He apologised. But justice is not complete.
With classes set to resume next week for post-secondary students, online learning will be the new norm.
Almost all undergraduate courses will be delivered online, including lectures, seminars, tutorials and many lab components, said Lynn Wells, Brock University provost and vice-president academic.
A small number of courses will be offered on campus, in cases where a suitable online substitute does not exist.
Classes that will be held on campus will have a class size limit of 20 students and those classes will be held in spaces that allow for appropriate physical distancing, Wells said.
Niagara College students will experience a similar semester structure.
College president Sean Kennedy said 80 per cent of courses will be delivered online.
One of our biggest challenges has been trying to figure out how to safely ensure that students have some components of their programs on campus for specialized labs, said Kennedy.
We had two months of students being on campus but in smaller numbers. From that experience over the summer, weve fined-tuned many of our procedures.
Susan Pritchard, a second-year office administration executive program student at the college, still has some concerns.
As a mature student, I am concerned about my ability to learn online, self-regulate and comprehend new material, she said. The reason I chose college is because of the hands-on approach. Not everyone is a visual learner.
Austin Gooder, a fourth-year labour studies student at Brock University, has similar worries.
I am getting pretty nervous, he said. I am going into my fourth year and getting ready for graduate studies applications I am not sure how this is going to hurt or help my ability to succeed.
Despite concerns among some students about returning to school in the fall, enrolment numbers for both Brock and Niagara College are down only slightly.
We have seen some decrease in enrolment, said Kennedy. Regardless, the recent announcements by the federal government have ensured our numbers remain strong, both domestically and internationally.
The changes Kennedy referred to were announced by Ottawa earlier this summer and include creation of a two-stage study permit approval process to help students who cannot submit required documents due to COVID-19 closures.
This measure will reassure students that they can enrol and begin their studies this fall online, even when they are not able to submit all required documentation due to pandemic-related closures, Kennedy said.
Facebook has threatened to block users and media organisations in Australia from sharing news stories if new government plans go ahead
Facebook threatened Tuesday to block users and media organisations in Australia from sharing news stories in an escalating challenge to government plans to force digital giants to pay for content.
Australians would be stopped from posting local and international articles on Facebook and Instagram, the company said, claiming the move was "not our first choice" but the "only way to protect against an outcome that defies logic".
Government officials quickly shot back, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg rejecting what he called "coercion or heavy-handed threats" from the social media giant.
Rod Sims, head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which drew up the draft law, called the threat "ill-timed and misconceived".
In one of the most aggressive moves by any government to curb the power of US digital giants, Canberra has drawn up legislation to force Facebook and Google to pay struggling local news organisations for content or face millions of dollars in fines.
The measures would also force transparency around the closely guarded algorithms that tech firms use to rank content.
Facebook Australia and New Zealand managing director Will Easton said the proposed overhaul "misunderstands the dynamics of the internet and will do damage to the very news organisations the government is trying to protect".
"Most perplexing, it would force Facebook to pay news organisations for content that the publishers voluntarily place on our platforms and at a price that ignores the financial value we bring publishers," he said in a statement.
Easton also accused the ACCC of having "ignored important facts" during a lengthy consultation process that ended Monday.
"The ACCC presumes that Facebook benefits most in its relationship with publishers, when in fact the reverse is true," he said.
"News represents a fraction of what people see in their News Feed and is not a significant source of revenue for us."
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Easton said Facebook sent 2.3 billion clicks to Australian websites in the first five months of 2020 at an estimated value of Aus$200 million (US$148 million) and had been preparing to bring Facebook News to Australia -- a feature launched in the US last year where the tech giant pays publishers for news.
"Instead, we are left with a choice of either removing news entirely or accepting a system that lets publishers charge us for as much content as they want at a price with no clear limits," he added.
"Unfortunately, no business can operate that way."
Facebook on Tuesday also informed Australian users of a change in its terms of service that will come into effect on October 1 and allow it to remove or block access to content if "necessary to avoid or mitigate adverse legal or regulatory impacts".
Google has also campaigned forcefully against the proposed changes, creating pop-ups on the search engine warning "the way Aussies use Google is at risk" and urging YouTubers around the world to complain to Australian authorities.
The legislation, due to be passed into law this year, will initially focus on Facebook and Google -- two of the world's richest and most powerful companies -- but could eventually apply to any digital platform.
The initiative has been closely watched around the globe as news media worldwide have suffered in an increasingly digital economy, where advertising revenue is overwhelmingly captured by Facebook, Google and other big tech firms.
The crisis has been exacerbated by the economic collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with dozens of Australian newspapers closed and hundreds of journalists sacked in recent months.
Sims insisted Tuesday the proposed law simply aimed to ensure that embattled Australian news organisations "can get a seat at the table for negotiations with Facebook and Google."
"Facebook already pays some media for news content," he said. "The code simply aims to bring fairness and transparency to Facebook and Googles relationships" with media businesses.
bur-dm/dan
September 2, 2020 - States that have expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act have seen an "early surge in demand" for hip and knee replacement surgery, reports a study in the September 2, 2020 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer.
"Patients with Medicaid expansion plans have a shorter time from enrollment to the surgical procedure, suggesting that there may be an unmet need for total hip arthroplasty [THA] and total knee arthroplasty [TKA] among newly enrolled Medicaid expansion beneficiaries," according to the new research by Christopher J. Dy MD, MPH, and colleagues of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo. "This need should be considered by surgeons, hospitals, and policymakers in ensuring access to care."
Shorter Times to THA and TKA in Medicaid-Expansion Patients
With use of data from a Medicaid managed care program, the researchers analyzed the timing of primary THA and TKA procedures in adults under age 65 between 2008 to 2015. The study included patients in four states that expanded Medicaid eligibility in 2014 (Illinois, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington) and four states without Medicaid expansion (Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Wisconsin).
Times to joint replacement surgery were compared for Medicaid-expansion patients, a relatively healthy group of adults without dependent children; Medicaid patients with Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a group of relatively unhealthy adults with disabilities; and patients receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), who are parents of children with Medicaid insurance. The analysis included a total of 4,117 patients across groups.
The median time to THA or TKA surgery for Medicaid-expansion patients (7.5 months) was significantly shorter than for SSI patients (16.1 months) and TANF patients (12.2 months).
A further analysis was adjusted for other factors, including patient age and sex, social deprivation, surgeon supply and reimbursement, and state-level Medicaid enrollment. The results of that analysis suggested that the time to THA or TKA was 70 percent shorter for Medicaid-expansion patients than for SSI patients. For TANF patients, the time to THA or TKA was 24 percent shorter than for SSI patients.
Expansion of state Medicaid programs has led to dramatic increases in insurance coverage among Americans. In August, Medicaid expansion was approved by voters in Missouri, making it the 38th state to expand Medicaid coverage.
Medicaid-expansion states have seen increases in certain "elective" but medically indicated surgical procedures, including THA and TKA, which raises questions of whether pent-up demand will strain the capacity of the health-care system or exceed the supply of orthopaedic surgeons willing to accept Medicaid insurance.
The new study finds a significantly shorter time from enrollment to THA and TKA for Medicaid-expansion patients compared with those with other routes of access to Medicaid coverage. "Our findings may represent an unmet need for THA and TKA among newly enrolled beneficiaries with Medicaid expansion plans," Dr. Dy and coauthors write. They suggest that Medicaid expansion is likely to lead to "an early surge in demand rather than a gradual increase."
"This need should be considered by surgeons, hospitals, and policymakers in ensuring access to care," Dr. Dy and coauthors conclude. They believe that healthcare policy and resource planning should also consider the existing disparities in access to orthopedic care already faced by Medicaid patients, as surges in demand may exacerbate these differences.
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Click here to read "Unmet Need for Total Joint Arthroplasty in Medicaid Beneficiaries After Affordable Care Act Expansion."
DOI: 10.2106/JBJS.20.00125
About The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery
The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (JBJS) has been the most valued source of information for orthopaedic surgeons and researchers for over 125 years and is the gold standard in peer-reviewed scientific information in the field. A core journal and essential reading for general as well as specialist orthopaedic surgeons worldwide, The Journal publishes evidence-based research to enhance the quality of care for orthopaedic patients. Standards of excellence and high quality are maintained in everything we do, from the science of the content published to the customer service we provide. JBJS is an independent, non-profit journal.
About Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer (WKL) is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the clinicians, nurses, accountants, lawyers, and tax, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with advanced technology and services.
Wolters Kluwer reported 2019 annual revenues of 4.6 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.
Wolters Kluwer provides trusted clinical technology and evidence-based solutions that engage clinicians, patients, researchers and students with advanced clinical decision support, learning and research and clinical intelligence. For more information about our solutions, visit https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/health and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @WKHealth.
For more information, visit http://www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
The Chancellor's highlighted note - Steve Back
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt was left red faced when paperwork revealed NHS workers were fleeing the UK because of a hard Brexit in 2017.
It came after handwritten notes carried by an aide to former Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Mark Field revealed the UKs negotiation strategy with the EU was to have cake and eat it.
Even former Prime Minister Theresa May fell foul of photographers when a memo was snapped going into Downing Street revealing her plan to approve new grammar schools.
Yet Chancellor Rishi Sunak appeared comparatively unbothered on Wednesday after highlighted notes revealed there would be no horror show of tax rises.
He was seen clutching the document annotated with hand-scribed additions in red pen ahead of a showdown with new Tory MPs in a bid to quell dissent on the backbenches over reports of tax rises.
Tory unrest over the Government's handling of the coronavirus crisis was compounded over the weekend when the Telegraph reported that Treasury insiders are pushing for "the largest tax rises in a generation" to respond to the recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Little wonder, then, that some suspected Mr Sunaks rather careless handling of his private jottings in front of a phalanx of photographers outside No 10, may not have been entirely accidental. He appeared to make light of the incident in a tweet later, saying "got my notes on my phone this time". A Treasury source declined to comment on whether the leak was deliberate or accidental.
Yet as he faces a mounting backbench revolt over reported plans to launch a raid on capital gains, pensions, internet sales, fuel and inheritance to plug the multi-billion pound hole caused by the coronavirus crisis, the supposedly inadvertent divulgence could not have come at a more convenient moment.
Although Mr Sunak warned that there would be difficult times ahead, his reassuring words that this doesn't mean a horror show of tax rises with no end in sight will not only have helped to calm the nerves of Tory MPs but also Conservative voters.
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Yet in the meeting with the 2019 intake, comprising many new Red Wall MPs, Mr Sunak is also understood to have said that the British people deserve to be treated with respect, insisting: "We cannot, will not and must not surrender our position as the party of economic competence and sound finance.
As the Thatcherite free-marketeer finds himself in the seemingly oxymoronic position of having to plug the growing deficit while ensuring the Conservatives remain the low-tax party, Mr Sunak faces the same dilemma that has plagued his predecessors over the years.
Like almost all the chancellors who have gone before him, the 40-year-old MP for Richmond is caught between the Treasurys desire for fiscal discipline and Downing Streets demand that all pronouncements play well politically.
Hence why No 10 appears to have pushed back on the reports of tax rises and a fuel duty hike after they appeared universally unpopular with both politicians and the public.
As one senior Tory source explained: The dilemma facing Rishi is that he is going to have to make the switch from being Father Christmas, handing out free furlough cash and hot dinners, to Scrooge, clawing the money back in any way he can.
Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings all worked together on the Vote Leave campaign - Andrew Parsons
Its always been in the Treasurys DNA to balance the books, but most of their tax raising ideas are politically idiotic. The most successful Chancellors are the ones who realise that.
Confusion still reigns over who exactly briefed the tax rises story when both Downing Street and the Treasury now appear to be distancing themselves from the reports. One theory is that major tax rises have been pitch-rolled to prepare the electorate for more modest adjustments - along with further spending cuts - when the time comes.
But some, perhaps more paranoid, Tories fear Mr Sunaks soaring popularity may have made him a target. As he continues to ride high in the approval ratings, there are suggestions malign forces may be at work against the father of two, in the week Dominic Cummings and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove have spearheaded the establishment of a new mission control at 70 Whitehall.
The move is designed to ensure No 10, the Treasury and the Cabinet Office all work more closely together, but some Conservatives see it as a power grab by the former education secretary and his former special adviser. Rishi is a serious threat not necessarily to the Prime Minister, to whom he remains fiercely loyal but other, ambitious Cabinet ministers," said one Tory MP.
Is he in favour of huge tax rises? I seriously doubt it. Of course all this is being discussed behind closed doors but hes looking at ways to make savings that create the fewest problems both for him and the Government.
Iranian forces committed serious human rights violations against the demonstrators, says new report by rights group.
Rights group Amnesty International has accused Iran of using torture to extract confessions, saying hundreds of people have been jailed since a sweeping crackdown against protests last year.
Demonstrations erupted across Iran in November 2019 after a significant petrol price rise, but they were put down by the Iranian security forces with mass arrests amid a near-total internet blackout.
Amnesty said it had gathered dozens of testimonies from the 7,000 people it estimated were arrested, which included children as young as 10. Additionally, video recordings, court documents and statements by the authorities were also evaluated.
The accounts reveal a catalogue of shocking human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, the London-based human rights group said on Tuesday.
Those arrested were tortured into confessions of involvement in the protests, membership of opposition groups or contact with foreign governments and media, it added.
There was no immediate comment by Iranian officials. Iran has previously rejected Amnestys reports about the protests.
Beatings
Floggings
Electric shocks
Waterboarding
Mock executions
Sexual violence
Deprivation of medical care These are some of the ways Iran's intelligence & security forces have tortured protesters & human rights defenders. Read more in our new report.https://t.co/bLkpHhdLw6 pic.twitter.com/XUskZL4bn4 Amnesty Iran (@AmnestyIran) September 2, 2020
Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty Internationals Middle East Deputy Director, said the crimes and violations were accompanied by a wave of forced televised confessions in state propaganda videos.
The rights group also said it recorded the names of more than 500 people subjected to unfair criminal proceedings.
Prison sentences ranged from one month to 10 years, the report added.
Torture techniques included waterboarding, beating, electric shocks, pepper-spraying genitals, sexual violence, mock executions and pulling out finger and toe nails, Amnesty reported.
It felt like my entire body was being pierced with millions of needles, one man allegedly tortured with electricity told Amnesty.
Another man said he was suspended from his hands and feet from a pole a method reportedly called chicken kebab by his interrogators the report read.
In May, Irans interior minister suggested that up to 230 people were killed during the November protests, when petrol pumps were torched, police stations attacked and shops looted.
A group of independent United Nations rights experts said in December that more than 400 people could have been killed in the crackdown, based on unconfirmed reports.
Iran accused thugs backed by the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia for the unrest, which it described as the work of a very dangerous conspiracy.
The countrys economy has been choked by crippling sanctions reimposed by the US in 2018, three years after Washington unilaterally pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal signed between Tehran and world powers.
Mohammad Marandi, head of North American studies at the University of Tehran, said Amnesty was a biased organisation that is supported by Western governments and in particular the US.
Amnesty International is neither objective nor is it in any way or form unbiased towards Iran, he told Al Jazeera.
WideOrbit, the market leader in linear inventory and revenue workflow management, today announced a new partnership with Amagi, a global leader in cloud-based technology for streaming and OTT TV, to enable dynamic ad decisioning and insertion in live stream TV. This strategic partnership will extend WideOrbits workflow management expertise to better address business needs related to streaming for local TV broadcasters.
Together, WideOrbit and Amagi will empower broadcasters to leverage existing linear workflows for digital streaming via OTT (over-the-top) and CTV (connected TV), allowing them to marry broadcast ad breaks with the power of digital ad insertion. Specifically, the ad server within WideOrbits Digital Suite and Amagis THUNDERSTORM technology allows local TV broadcasters to dynamically insert ads into livestreams within their existing broadcast infrastructure.
This partnership brings together Amagis expertise in streaming and OTT with WideOrbits expertise in linear broadcast TV, said Srinivasan KA, Amagi co-founder. Were providing the best of both worlds to local TV broadcasters as they move into streaming via OTT and CTV.
Amagis patented fingerprint technology allows WideOrbit to address the absence of cue tones (or SCTE markers) to indicate ad breaks in broadcasters live newscasts and other livestreams. This technology, based on advanced machine learning, identifies ad breaks, then communicates with the WideOrbit ad server to indicate the ad break duration and other targeting parameters, so the server knows exactly where the ad should be inserted. This enables WideOrbit to provide targeted, broadcast-TV quality ads which are stitched into OTT and CTV streams by Amagis THUNDERSTORM Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) solution. WideOrbits Digital Suite, which includes WO Steaming and WO Ad eXchange, also allows broadcasters to schedule ads, target ads, and leverage our programmatic ad exchange to maximize the value of any unsold inventory opportunities.
Our partnership with Amagi allows local TV broadcasters to provide a linear-quality ad break experience to their streaming audience, using the same workflows and WideOrbit tools theyre already familiar with, said John Morris, WideOrbit VP of Digital Solutions. Currently available for streaming via OTT and CTV, the technology also lays the foundation for monetization in the emerging ATSC 3.0 environment. Our partnership with Amagi sets the stage for the addressable advertising capabilities needed to fully maximize the additional revenue opportunities all of these services represent.
About WideOrbit
WideOrbit helps media companies do more business by making it easier to buy and sell advertising. Say hello to a Wider World with WideOrbit, the one platform that ties everything together, from pitch to payment. In a rapidly evolving media landscape, doing more business means doing less paper-chasing, less chair-swiveling, and less data re-re-entry. Only WideOrbit brings a Wider-World approach, providing the broader capabilities, bigger insights, and better connections that media companies need. Thats why so many industry leaders including NBCUniversal, ABC/Disney, Fox, CBS/Viacom, AMC, Univision, Meredith, and Entercom have partnered with us since 1999.
WideOrbit is the system of record for more than $38 billion in advertising transactions annually. WideOrbit is headquartered in San Francisco with offices worldwide. Learn more at wideorbit.com.
For press inquiries, contact media@wideorbit.com.
About Amagi
Amagi is a next-gen media tech company that provides cloud broadcast and streaming TV solutions to TV networks, content owners and streaming TV platforms. Amagi enables content owners to launch, distribute and monetize live linear channels on Free-Ad-Supported TV and SVOD platforms. Amagi also offers 24x7 cloud managed services bringing simplicity, advanced automation, and transparency to the entire broadcast operations for traditional TV networks. Amagi delivers 350+ channels with deployments in over 40 countries. Amagi has offices in New York, Los Angeles, and London, broadcast operations in New Delhi, and an innovation center in Bangalore. Learn more at amagi.com.
Amagi Contact:
Sanjay Kirimanjeshwar
Head of Global Marketing
Email: sanjay@amagi.com
Katie Cessna
BLASTmedia for Amagi
katie@blastmedia.com
"Learning bridges" in Baden-Wurttemberg
Teacher Judith Ziegler wears a mask while she is tutoring a pupil at a primary school on August 31, 2020 in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hemmingenin in Germany. Credit - Alle Rechte vorbehaltenGermany
Around the world, students are returning to school as countries experiment with new educational models and social distancing protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
While preliminary research suggests children are less vulnerable to COVID-19 than adults, there remain concerns that schools will become breeding grounds for infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has cautioned that full sized, in-person classes, activities and events will likely lead to the spread of COVID-19 in schools. Opening schools in some countries has already proven to be hazardous. In Israel, for instance, schools were the second-highest places for infection for the month of June, after 2,026 students, teachers and staff tested positive for COVID-19.
But as the pandemic enters its sixth month, governments are grappling with how to provide a quality education to children in the midst of an ongoing, long-term crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems in history, according to the United Nations, affecting nearly 1.6 billion students in over 190 countries. Some 94% of the worlds student population has been impacted and in low and middle-income countries, 99% of students have been affected. School closures caused by the pandemic have exacerbated previously existing educational inequality, according to a Human Rights Watch report.
In Europe, where some students have been back at school for over a month, countries are experimenting with new strategies for teaching that keep children safe from infection while ensuring they receive a quality education. Heres how three are reopening schoolsand what obstacles they are facing along the way:
Germany
On Aug. 7, 152,700 students at 563 schools returned to school for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic caused a nationwide lockdown in March. Like in the United States, summer vacations are not uniform throughout the country, meaning that schools have been slowly reopening throughout Germany over the past few weeks.
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But returning to school looks different this year, with students divided up into cohorts of several hundred students. Cohorts are prohibited from mixing with one another and teachers are assigned to specific cohorts. The goal of the cohort model is to prevent entire student bodies from needing to quarantine in the case of an outbreak.
Even within their cohorts, students are required to wear face masks in hallways and when entering classrooms but can take them off once seated at their desks. They are also advised to keep their hands off of any banisters and are required to wash their hands regularly. Classrooms have been reconfigured to allow for social distancing and better ventilation.
Although Germany has fast and free testing, effective contact tracing along with lower infection rates than the United States, schools have nevertheless struggled to curb the spread of the virus. In Berlin, one of the first places to reopen schools in the country, at least 42 schools out of the 825 that reopened reported COVID-19 cases within the first two weeks of reopening. Hundreds of students and teachers had to quarantine. Yet despite cases popping up, the country has not yet seen any major outbreaks or long-term school closures.
Although reopening schools has not been easy, Germany plans on prioritizing keeping them open, even if it means closing other public venues. Children should not become the losers of the pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Aug. 28.
Scotland
The Scottish government, which has powers over certain domestic policies separate from the U.K. government in Westminster, gave schools the go-ahead to reopen on Aug. 11, advising them to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Like in Germany, Scottish classrooms have been reconfigured to allow social distancing and to increase ventilation. While physical distancing is not enforced between students, pupils showing symptoms are required to get tested immediately.
While Scotland has not seen any major outbreaks in the roughly three weeks since schools reopened, the return to classrooms has not been without challenges. Like in most years, many students have fallen ill with non-COVID, flu-like symptoms which have required them to get tested, overwhelming Scotlands testing facilities. During the week of Aug. 23, nearly 17,500 people between the ages of 2 and 17 were tested but only 49 were found to have the virus, Scotlands First Minister Nicolas Sturgeon said at a briefing on Aug. 27. Despite the relatively low number of cases, the Scottish government announced new requirements for students over the age of 12 to wear masks three weeks after schools reopened in order to minimize any potential spread.
For Scotland, keeping schools open remains a priority, with Sturgeon saying there is a moral and educational imperative that we get children back to school as soon as is safely possible.
Because Scotland has slowly eased out of lockdown, the government has been able to closely monitor how reopening schools impacts the spread of COVID-19. In contrast, schools in England are reopening at the same time as businesses are encouraged to return to workplaces, which may make it more difficult to monitor where and how the virus is spreading.
Norway
Norway was one of the first countries in Europe to reopen its schools back in April, doing so gradually and with strict social distancing protocols in place. In May, a national traffic light model was introduced to guide schools on what infection control measures are to be followed under the pandemic. A green light indicates that schools can run according to normal hours whereas a red light signifies schools must limit class sizes and alter their school hours according to the size of the outbreak. Since June 2, the traffic light model has been set to yellow, meaning schools must take measures to reduce physical contact and have stronger hygiene.
Like Germany, Norway has also adopted the cohort model, requiring students to arrive at school at staggered times and limiting all interaction between cohorts. While the number of new cases is rising in the region, particularly among young people, Norway has not yet experienced any major outbreaks.
While Norway, Germany and Scotland have all found ways of reopening schools in effective, albeit imperfect, ways, experts worry that the same approach may not be possible in the United States.
The situation in the U.S. is obviously much more difficult, says Ralf Reintjes, a professor of Epidemiology and Surveillance at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. With regards to the school setting, its difficult to be at least slightly optimistic in such a big epidemic to open schools in a normal way.
Kathryn Edwards, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, agrees. All of us have read the studies and experiences in Europe. And they seem to have been pretty positive, Edwards says. But the burden of disease in European communities is much less than what were seeing. Europe has controlled the outbreak in most places more effectively than we have.
With reporting by Madeline Roache in London
The Cuban capital Havana was all but shut down on Tuesday night as the city was plunged back into a strict 15-day lockdown to combat a spike in Covid-19 cases, leaving shops shuttered and streets eerily deserted.
The measures include a 7pm to 5am curfew, a ban on shopping outside of one's neighbourhood and limits on travel in and out of the city.
For Havanas residents, the restrictions mean buying supplies in a city often hit by shortages has become an even tougher task.
"My daily job doesn't give me a chance to get the supplies I need for the house, Havana resident Julio Odelin told AP. It's really hard because I have to work straight through so when I finish my shift everything will be closed."
Cuba has won praise for its response to Covid-19, which has seen its extensive public healthcare system mobilised to rapidly trace and isolate infected citizens.
The country of 11 million has reported just over 4,000 cases and 95 deaths from Covid-19, one of the lowest rates in the region.
But case numbers have rebounded in the capital following the easing of restrictions in July, rising to dozens a day over the past month, which authorities have blamed on citizens failing to respect social distancing and other health measures.
Anyone breaking the new lockdown rules could face harsh punishment with violators risking a $125 fine, more than triple the average monthly wage.
Actor Kangana Ranaut has called out the commissioner of police, Mumbai, Param Bir Singh, for liking a derogatory tweet against her. She also questioned how there was a sanction for public teasing and bullying, where there should have been condemnation.
Taking to Twitter and sharing screenshots which showed the senior officer liking the said tweet, Kangana wrote: Liking derogatory tweets about people who are fighting against the murderers of Sushant, instead of condemning public teasing and bullying like this @CPMumbaiPolice is encouraging it, @MumbaiPolice has hit all time low ... SHAME !! One of the screenshots showed a manhole painted with Kanganas name. It mentioned that the post was liked by CP Mumbai Police.
Liking derogatory tweets about people who are fighting against the murderers of Sushant, instead of condemning public teasing and bullying like this @CPMumbaiPolice is encouraging it, @MumbaiPolice has hit all time low ... SHAME !! pic.twitter.com/9H4mhC9Nsk Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 1, 2020
When @CPMumbaiPolice is openly intimidating me like this, encouraging bullying and crime against me, will I be safe in Mumbai ? Who is responsible for my safety? @PMOIndia Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 1, 2020
In a following tweet, Kangana wanted to know if she would be safe in Mumbai after this. She wrote: When @CPMumbaiPolice is openly intimidating me like this, encouraging bullying and crime against me, will I be safe in Mumbai ? Who is responsible for my safety? @PMOIndia. Among those who supported Kangana was Sushants sister Shweta Singh Kirti. Retweeting Kangana, she wrote: My God!! Shameful!! #justiceforSushanthSinghRajput
Twitter interactions showing Mumbai Polices revert on Kanganas claim and Shweta Singh Kirtis show of support.
Mumbai Police was quick to revert on the matter. Replying to the actors first tweet, the official Twitter handle of Mumbai Police said: This tweet has never been liked by @CPMumbaiPolice- the cyber police station has been asked to examine the screenshot.
Also read: Raveena Tandon on Kangana Ranauts claim that 99 per cent of Bollywood uses drugs: Few bad apples cannot spoil a basket
Fans also wanted to know what action was being taken against those who panted the manhole with the actors name. One said: What is the action that you have taken against the person who had drawn defamatory paintings on the street?? Is there a complained filed investigation done?? Who tried to wash away the paintings after it was highlighted?? Will painter and accomplishments be booked??
Kangana has been speaking about the Sushant Singh Rajput death case for the last couple of months. She has also been talking about the insider versus outsider debate in Bollywood and raked up her claims of nepotism in the industry.
Follow @htshowbiz for more
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CYBERSPACEAdult camming portal Streamate is hailing its recent virtual Streamate Workshop for Colombia and the Latin American market as a success.
The event, which featured 1,300 registered attendees, gave models and studios in Latin America the opportunity to connect in seminars, masterclasses and meetings specifically tailored to increase their chances of success. The Streamate Workshop was held free of charge, with no sponsors and no sales.
The workshops aim was to bring the best content with the best professionals in the industry to everyone, regardless of the platform they work on, the company said in its announcement.
The event featured speakers from all facets of the industry including Juan Carlos Ocampo, Luisa Fernanda Ceballos Gallego, Anthony Rivera, Linda Suarez, Stiven Gomez, Yiset Mosquera, Ivan Cuellar, Olivert Cardenas Gil, Alex Lecomte, Cianurotips, Juanita Bother K, Rousex, Angelo Palomino, Megan y Max, Julio Cesar Garcia, Afrodita Moore, Little Sofie, Avril Green, Naomy Carter, Alli Coper, Alejadollts, Alejandra Osorio, Liacam and Dan Lopez.
We always wanted to do something like this, and the global pandemic just gave us the perfect opportunity, said Christophe Peyras, Streamate Workshop organizer. The goal for Streamate Workshop was not to be an event about Streamate, but about camming, and that was very important that it not be a sales pitch but bring actual value to an audience regardless of the platform they work on, and I think we succeeded in that. For our first event of this nature, the turnout was amazing, and the feedback weve had so far is very humbling. Were already thinking of a U.S. version as well as other global markets in the future.
The seminars, masterclasses and meetings offered during the three days of the Streamate Workshop included The American Market, The Colombian Market, Technology in Webcams, How to Get Started on Webcams, Train Successful Models in Today's Market, Learn From the Professionals, Social Networks for Camgirls, The Importance of Supplementing Your Broadcast With Offline Content, and Mental Wellness. The Streamate Workshop also hosted Happy Hours and a Wrap-Up so participants could have extra time to virtually mix and mingle.
It is always necessary to have spaces where the webcam community meets to share knowledge with each other, said Liacam, a popular Colombian webcam model and YouTuber who attended. The Streamate Virtual Workshop taught us the most complex to the simplest things, always with an expert in the industry willing to teach the next generations everything they know. After an event of such magnitude, we are all left wanting more, more learning, more knowledge, more webcam."
She added: Each day we need to learn something new, the Streamate Workshop gave us three days full of empowering knowledge where the webcam community had space to share experiences from objective to practical points of view.
For more information, visit www.streamate.com or follow Streamate on Twitter at @StreamateModels.
INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Coalition for Public School Options (PSO)the nation's leading parent education advocacy organizationis appalled by Governor Eric Holcomb's proposed changes to education funding, which would further exacerbate the inequality between full-time virtual public school students and traditional school students.
Currently, Indiana's education funding formula funds all virtual school students at an arbitrary 85% of full education funding. The new policy would keep virtual school students at this level, but fully-fund traditional school students attending virtual schools administrated by their local school district.
"All students should be treated equally whether they choose to go to virtual schools, have been placed in a virtual learning environment due to the pandemic, or go to traditional brick-and-mortar schools," said Letrisha Weber, National PSO Board Member and Chair of PSO's Indiana Chapter.
"All students deserve an equal chance at success and, when it comes to the critical issues of education, no child should be funded at a lesser level than any other. It is hypocritical to acknowledge that students being educated online through their existing school relationships are worth 100% funding, while those attending established virtual schools (both new and existing) are only worth 85% funding," continued Weber.
In a letter to the State Board of Education, Weber outlined some of the biggest issues with the funding change, including:
The proposed rule contradicts current policy and state law, and was seemingly written in anticipation that the State Legislature will retroactively change existing law to conform with Gov. Holcomb's new rule.
The change would create inequity between online public school students. If virtual students were only worth an arbitrary 85% of public education dollars in the past, why is a subset of virtual students receiving the full 100% of funding? This division could significantly damage one set of Indiana public school students, while advantaging the other.
Thousands of Indiana families have been choosing full-time virtual public schools for their children for myriad reasons. Full-time virtual public schools have seen unprecedented growth in 2020 as families seek stability during this time of upheaval and uncertainty due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the letter here.
The National Coalition for Public School Options is a national alliance of parents that supports and defends parents' rights to access the best public school options for their children. PSO supports the creation of public school options, including charter schools, online schools, magnet schools, open enrollment policies and other innovative education programs. Additionally, we advocate for equal access without restrictions to these public schools for all children.
SOURCE National Coalition for Public School Options
The U.S. Senate could go a long way toward reducing racial tension in places like Kenosha, Wis., and Portland, Ore., if it would just take up a police reform bill that has been stalled for months, key members of Congress from Texas said Monday.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, said with one vote on a reform bill named for the late George Floyd, the Senate could extend hope to the protesters and ease the dismay and disappointment that has led them to the streets.
There is nothing like giving them hope that their nation not only responded to their outcry, but listened, Jackson Lee said.
Jackson Lee and other Democrats used a press conference on Tuesday to put more public pressure on the Republican-led Senate and on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
That bill, which passed the House in June, would, among other things, ban chokeholds, create a federal registry of police misconduct complaints, and take away qualified immunity protections for police who act knowingly or with reckless disregard to violate a suspects constitutional rights.
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But Republicans have instead pushed a narrower bill that Democrats say falls short of the reforms needed. The Republican Senate bill would use incentives to get local police to end chokeholds, but would not change to the qualified immunity statutes that shield officers from civil lawsuits as a result of their actions.
To our dismay, the United States Senate majority (Republicans) refused to take this bill in a responsible and serious manner, Jackson Lee said.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, responded on Twitter saying it was Democrats in the Senate who are to blame for the Republican version, which he co-sponsored, not getting to the floor for a vote. The Senate voted 55-44 to bring the Republican bill to the floor, short of the 60 votes needed to get a vote on the legislation, with most Democrats in the chamber voting against it.
Guess they prefer to use this as a campaign issue, Cornyn said. How is that working?
But other Democratic House members say Republicans could have an impact on the protests if they would just allow the tougher reform package to get a vote in the Senate.
I absolutely think it would help, said U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth. I think the people would have hope.
U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, said the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is no silver bullet, but it would be a powerful message to the protesters that their government is listening to them. Floyd, a longtime Houston resident, was killed in Minnesota on May 25 sparking a summer of protests and rallies against racial injustice and police brutality.
Its because the bill is doing what they are requesting, Green said. The bill is addressing the issues that they are raising.
In advocating for the bill, Green talked about how the reforms are personal for so many people of color, including himself.
Ive been stopped. Ive had my hands on the car, Green said of an incident in which police pulled him over when he was in law school at Texas Southern University in the 1970s. I know what it is like to have the officers speak to you in the tone and tenor that is indicative of a person being displeased with you when youve done nothing.
Landlords are pushing rent repayment plans on individual tenants. In Crescent Town, in the former borough of East York, in Toronto, Pinedale Properties offered a tenant repayment of four months of arrears ($7,000) over 12 monthly instalments an extra $583 per month. After difficult negotiation, the company offered a 10 per cent discount if the tenant repaid $3,500 upfront.
Many tenants have been too intimidated to negotiate. Payments even a day late or a dollar short can mean eviction proceedings. Such repayment plans during a recession and pandemic uncertainty set tenants up to fail. Thousands will quietly leave or be evicted landlords, including Pinedale, have filed 6,000 COVID-19 eviction applications. This will exacerbate the housing crisis that, like COVID-19, hits racialized working-class communities the hardest.
Working-class tenants shouldnt pay for a crisis that results directly from more than three decades of government policies that have systematically benefited the real estate industry and large landlords. Their profits have grown despite an unprecedented economic crisis they helped create. They should pay for it.
Torontos housing crisis is partly rooted in federal government policy that, starting in the 1980s, cut funding for non-profit co-operatives and capital subsidies to build new rental housing. Rather than ensuring housing supply the policy is, per David Hulchanksi, to leave it to the market and hope for the best.
Markets prefer short-term returns on investments. In high-density construction, profits are best in building condominiums rather than purpose-built rental stock each unit can be sold individually at high prices. But given high demand, owners of existing purpose-built rentals have also raked in profits.
In 1997, the provincial government passed vacancy decontrol when a tenant leaves, landlords can increase rents for new tenants. Landlords often renovate units to justify ever higher rents for new tenants. Or, they boost profits from existing tenants by increasing rent up to three per cent above guideline (ranging from 0.7 to 3.1 per cent over the last decade) for infrastructural upgrades or cosmetic makeovers. Either way, poorer tenants get pushed out.
Meanwhile, rental housing stock has become concentrated in fewer hands. Governments have enabled what Martine August calls financialization of landlords: trusts and firms pool investors money to purchase ever more real estate, like shareholders in a firm. Private landlord dynasties continue registering their substantial holdings under untransparent shell companies.
Such firms lobby against regulations that may dent profits. Doug Fords government has promoted their interests, removing rent control on properties built after 2018 and making evictions easier through Bill 184.
All this means massive profits. Only halfway into 2020, CAPREIT, among the largest firms, reported net operating margins, profits, of 64.5 per cent or $281 million better than last year! MINTO Apartment REIT, with 62.9 per cent margins, reported being highly resilient through the crisis.
Astonishingly, large landlords want more government handouts. Tony Irwin, head of the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario, recently proposed a rent subsidy program to help struggling tenants by socializing costs across those who can afford to pay a little more. This logic is perverse: public subsidies for landlord profits funnelled through poor tenants.
Rent subsidies should target smaller mom-and-pop rental owners to help cover home mortgages, bills and other costs. Large landlords can easily absorb losing some rent while still being profitable.
Politicians, when not advancing large landlord interests, appear petrified by their power. Although tenant protests pushed city council to override the city solicitors legal opinion and legally challenge Bill 184, Mayor John Tory and council continue to avoid an emergency moratorium on evictions.
Its high time politicians follow the lead of tenant struggles and find the political courage to concretely champion affordable housing. Tory can begin by using emergency powers to ban COVID-19 evictions, and push landlords to collectively negotiate substantial relief, not full repayment, with tenants.
The Crescent Town Tenants Unions more than reasonable demands can offer a baseline: 50 per cent rent relief, all eviction applications withdrawn, and fair repayment plans that dont put tenants at risk of eviction due to COVID-19.
Whatever happens, working-class communities will continue organizing to ensure that they do not pay for a crisis created by political and economic elites.
Noaman G. Ali is an assistant professor of political economy at Lahore University of Management Sciences and an associate of Peoples Defence Toronto.
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A Delhi court has granted bail to a man in a case related to the communal violence in north east Delhi, saying prima facie there was no direct evidence against him. Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav granted the relief to Imran on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 20,000 with one surety of like amount in the case related to gunshot injuries received by Constable Deepak during the riots in Dayalpur area.
The court said in its order passed on September 1, that there was no CCTV footage available where the accused was seen to be a member of the riotous mob and the police has failed to prove his call detail record (CDR) location at the scene of the incident. It further noted that a perusal of the examination report of Deepak in the charge sheet revealed that he was medically treated for the gunshot injuries suffered by him on his left leg, whereas in FIR, he had stated that he suffered gunshot injuries on his right leg. It also said the important fact which was noteworthy was that Imran was not arrested from the scene of the crime, instead he has been arrested in the case merely on the basis of his disclosure statement made by him in another case related to riots in Bhajanpura area.
The court, however, clarified that anything stated in the order should not be construed as expressing any opinion on the final merits of the case, as it was at pre-cognizance stage". It is a matter of record that complainant/injured Constable Deepak has not named the applicant (Imran) in the FIR. There is no CCTV footage of the incident available, where the applicant can be seen to be a member of the riotous mob". The investigating agency has even failed to prove any CDR location of the applicant at the scene of crime on the date of incident.
The complainant/injured was discharged on the same day itself from GTB Hospital and the injuries suffered by him were stated to be simple" in nature. A perusal of the examination report (i.e the charge sheet) of injured/complainant Constable Deepak reveals that he was medically treated for the gunshot injuries suffered by him on his left leg, whereas in FIR, he had stated that he suffered gunshot injuries on his right leg," the court said in its order. It further said there was no electronic evidence on record against Imran and there was no public witness in the case, whom he can threaten or intimidate.
Besides, the disclosure statement of the applicant (Imran) in the said case, prima facie there is no direct evidence to connect him with the incident in this case. The identification of the applicant by Constable Rohit is hardly of any consequences to the prosecution. The investigation in the matter is complete," the court said. It directed the accused not to tamper with evidence and to maintain peace and harmony in the locality and to instal Aarogya Setu App" in his mobile phone.
During the hearing held through video conferencing, advocate Mohammad Danish, appearing for Imran, claimed he has been falsely implicated in the case and the alleged recovery of wooden sticks and stones at his instance was planted one". Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, appearing for the state, opposed the bail plea saying Imran has been categorically identified in the case by Constable Rohit, who was also present on duty with Deepak at the scene of the crime and he had taken injured to the hospital for his medical treatment. The public prosecutor further argued that at Imrans instance and his accomplice three wooden sticks were recovered from the Brijpuri Pulia, near Chand Bagh nala in the case.
According to the prosecution, the case was registered on February 26 on the complaint of Deepak, who in his statement stated that on February 25, he was present near Brijpuri Puliya alongwith other police staff to maintain law and order in the area and to control the riotous mob. Suddenly, the riotous mob became violent and started damaging/burning the properties in Brijpuri area and the police officials present there tried to control the situation by using force and firing tear-gas shells, his complaint had stated.
In the meantime, two boys from the front side of the mob fired bullets from the pistol, as a result of which Deepak sustained gunshot injuries upon his left leg and was taken to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTB Hospital) by Rohit, where he was given medical treatment, the complaint claimed.
Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
United Talent Agency Chief Executive Jeremy Zimmer at the company's Beverly Hills office. (United Talent Agency)
United Talent Agency said Wednesday it would reinstate full pay to workers who had their incomes reduced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and cut about about 50 of its staffers.
The Beverly Hills agency said it was among the first in the industry to reinstate full pay for its employees, with salaries set to be made whole by mid-September, Chief Executive Jeremy Zimmer said in an email to staff Wednesday.
In March, UTA cut salaries of its staff after the health crisis forced the industry to halt live events and productions, a major blow to agencies that had already been squeezed by a dispute with the Writers Guild of America over packaging fees and other practices.
Now, UTA said it is exploring pay increases for hourly employees, including its assistants, and extending half-day Summer Fridays beyond Labor Day through Sept. 25.
Century City-based Creative Artists Agency also implemented salary cuts . Endeavor announced one-third of its staff will have their positions eliminated, be furloughed or see their hours reduced. However unlike those two firms, UTA has reached an agreement with the WGA, as has ICM.
"Our industry is showing increasing signs of recovery and stability. Parts of our business have remained steady despite the impact of COVID-19 and, in some areas, weve performed stronger than expected," Zimmer said in the internal memo viewed by The Times. However, "the need remains to take a hard and honest look at the size and makeup of UTA and make decisions that reflect what our business requires not just short term but for the foreseeable future."
The layoffs affected a mix of staff across different divisions and those who had been furloughed this year, as well as some current employees. Zimmer promised "generous" severance packages.
In May, UTA furloughed a significant number of its 1,200 employees, many of whom were assistants. Zimmer said in his memo he could not yet commit to reinstating furloughed employees.
Marilou Laude, the sister of slain Filipino transgender Jennifer Laude, shows a photo of now convicted killer Joseph Scott Pemberton, after appearing in court in Olongapo City, Philippines, Dec. 19, 2014.
A Philippine court has ordered the early release of an American Marine convicted in the 2014 killing of a transgender woman, with the latest ruling stoking anti-U.S. sentiment among some groups here, as the case did six years ago.
Former U.S. Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the homicide of Jennifer Laude, but was ordered released after only six years due to good behavior, a regional court in the northern Philippines ruled on Tuesday.
The killing, which took place when Pemberton was in the Southeast Asian country for military exercises, also led to a diplomatic row between longtime allies the Philippines and the United States over which of the two should have custody of the serviceman.
He is now entitled to be released, Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde wrote in her order, which was released to the public on Wednesday. The Director General, Bureau of Corrections is directed to release the accused from detention unless he is being held for other lawful cause or causes.
She further said that Pemberton had also paid the Laude family the full amount of 4.6 million Philippine pesos (U.S. $96,000) in damages.
The Philippine military said it would comply with the court order. As of Wednesday night (local time), it wasnt known if Pemberton had been freed. He was being held in a compound guarded by Philippine and American security personnel at a Philippine military camp in metropolitan Manila, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. embassy on Wednesday declined to comment on the early release of the former marine.
In 2014, Pemberton, who was then 19 years old, was in the Philippines as part of a U.S. contingent conducting military exercises.
He met Laude at a nightclub in Olongapo city, in Central Luzon. The two went to a motel where she later was found dead with her head pushed into a toilet, according to court records. Pemberton was seen leaving the hotel.
US continues to trump Philippine sovereignty
The courts decision Tuesday to release Pemberton angered Philippine nationalist and leftist groups. It was also roundly condemned by Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, who commented on the ruling in his position as a lawyer who represented Laudes family.
The court order undermined sovereignty in the Philippines, a former American colony, and put U.S. interests front and center, critics said.
Roque said the early release decision proved that despite President Rodrigo Dutertes independent foreign policy, the U.S. still had the status of conquering colonials in our country.
As former private prosecutor for the Laude family, I deplore the short period of imprisonment meted [out to] Pemberton who killed a Filipino in the most gruesome manner, he said in a statement. Laudes death personifies the death of Philippine sovereignty.
In 2014-2015, the arrest and trial of Pemberton led to a diplomatic tussle. In December 2014, when the Philippines requested that it take custody of Pemberton, the U.S. Embassy in Manila argued that the Marine should be in American custody. The embassy cited, a bilateral military pact, the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), as giving Washington the right to have him in its custody.
Pemberton was kept in U.S. custody at a Philippine military base in Quezon City, near Manila, but prosecuted and convicted by a regional court in Olongapo. Since his conviction, Pemberton has been incarcerated in a jail at the military base.
Now, the early release of Pemberton is a travesty of justice and the most recent vivid example of the lopsidedness of a military defense deal that favors the U.S., said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of the nationalist human rights group Karapatan.
This action will go down in the annals of the Philippines history as among the most notorious proof that the U.S. continues to trump Philippine sovereignty to this day, Palabay told BenarNews.
The military pact with the U.S. unduly protects American military personnel, the Communist Party of the Philippines said in a statement.
The special privilege afforded to Pemberton underscores the unjustness of the Visiting Forces Agreement, which gives American military personnel extraordinary legal status while in the country, and by default shields them from legal action, in cases where they commit criminal violations, the party said in a statement published by FightBack!News.
In January, the Philippine president threatened to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement with Washington but put that plan on hold in June.
Since assuming office as President in 2016, Duterte has sought to distance himself from the U.S. and instead strengthen ties with Washingtons rivals, China and Russia.
D avid Byrne has apologised for using black and brownface after a video from the 1980s resurfaced.
The promo video for the 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense sees a skit in which the star, now 68, interviews himself while playing several different reporters some of whom are reporters of colour.
After the clip resurfaced on social media, the Talking Heads frontman took to Twitter to say it was a major mistake in judgement in a lengthy statement.
Id just about forgotten about this skit and Im grateful that it has been brought to my attention, he wrote.
David Byrne has spoken out about wrongdoing / Matteo Prandoni/BFA.com
To watch myself in the various characters, including black and brown face, I acknowledge it was a major mistake in judgement that showed a lack of real understanding. Its like looking in a mirror and seeing someone else- youre not, or were not, the person you thought you were.
Byrne continued: We have huge blind spots about ourselves- well, I certainly do. Id like to think I am beyond making mistakes like this, but clearly at the time I was not.
Like I say at the end of our Broadway show American Utopia I need to change too..and I believe I have changed since then.
One hopes that folks have the grace and understanding to allow that someone like me, anyone really, can grow and change, and that the past can be examined with honesty and accountability.
The 20 greatest British rock bands of all time 1 /26 The 20 greatest British rock bands of all time 20. Joy Division It's incredibly rare for a band to have such an impact in such a short space of time. Joy Division were one of the most influential bands of the late 1970s, despite the life of Ian Curtis being cut tragically short at the age of just 23. Factory Records changed the face of British music and Joy Division were a huge part of its success. Rex 19. Super Furry Animals The finest Welsh proponents of weirdo rock since... well, ever. The group, pictured above on a bad hair day, have created some of the most interesting albums of the last few decades and they're also one of the first commercially successful acts to record entire albums in the Welsh language. This is modern psychedelic rock at its finest. Polly Thomas/REX 18. The Jam Not only did Paul Weller and the Jam create some of the most urgent and essential rock albums of the 1970s, but they also inspired an entire style movement. The mod revival the band helped to spark a whole subculture just shows how influential they were: everyone wanted to look like them and everyone wanted to buy their records. Getty Images 17. T. Rex Marc Bolans hugely influential rock act started off as a pastoral psychedelic folk group. They released four albums under the name Tyrannosaurus Rex before shortening the name, reinventing themselves as glam rock behemoths and releasing a string of incredible singles such as Ride A White Swan, Get It On, Metal Guru and Children Of The Revolution. Sadly, Bolans career was cut short following his death in a tragic car accident in 1977, but his musical legacy lives on. Getty Images 16. Roxy Music Roxy Music are fondly remembered by fans as one of the most eccentric and unusual rock acts of the 1970s and their self-titled first album is widely regarded as one of the best British debuts of all time. The group brought us Bryan Ferry, one of the most interesting frontmen of the era, as well as Brian Eno, one of the most influential electronic artists of all time, whod go on to create a series of revered instrumental albums and produce records for the likes of Talking Heads, U2 and Coldplay. 15. The Who They might be best known by many for proving the CSI themes these days, but the Who are, without doubt, one of the best British rock bands of all time. Pete Townshend proved himself to be one of the most expressive British songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s while Roger Daltrey was one of the most commanding frontmen of the era. They were also one of the first British bands to introduce the idea of a concept album, too, with 1969s hugely successful Tommy. Whos Next is one of the great UK rock albums, too, and the band are still talking about their generation five decades on. Georgie Gillard/Daily Mail 14. Black Sabbath Ozzy Osbourne teamed up with fellow Brummies Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Tony Iommi in the late 1960s to form the hugely influential Black Sabbath and pretty much invented heavy metal in the process. The group released era-defining classics like Paranoid, War Pigs and Iron Man, and influenced the outlook of British rock music more than most bands before or since. Getty Images 13. Blur So much is made of the Blur vs Oasis rivalry that ran throughout the height of Britpop and its certainly true that they were two of the most important bands of the decade. Blurs impressive back catalogue boasts a wealth of indelibly British songwriting with some of the wittiest lyrics of the 1990s, and also some of the simplest (see Tender). Damon Albarn would go on to create music with Gorillaz and pursue a number of other intriguing projects, but the real star of the show was Graham Coxon, who remains one of the most criminally underrated British guitarists of the 20th century. Jim Dyson/Getty Images 12. Queen No one put on a show quite like Queen. Freddie Mercurys unmatchable live vocals and the bands incredible sense of spectacle made them one of the most celebrated live acts the UK has ever seen. The masters of bombast and excess, Queen created some of the most widely known and popular music of the 1970s and 1980s. Mercurys premature death in 1991 shocked the music world but the bands legacy is as strong today as it has ever been. 11. The Kinks So many bands owe a huge amount to the work and influence of The Kinks. You Really Got Me is one of the greatest rock riffs of all time, and let's not forget that Dave Davis of the band actually invented distortion after slashing the cones in his amplifier with a razor blade; a sound which has been integral to the sound of rock and roll ever since. Their songs and their methods influenced entire generations of musicians and they remain one of the UK's ever rock bands. Hulton Archive/Getty Images 10. The Stone Roses Who cares if they only really released one good album, the Stone Roses have carved out a groove in the British zeitgeist unlike anyone else before or after them. Their self-titled 1989 debut is quite rightly regarded as one of the most influential British records ever made; if you walk into any indie bar across the country on a Friday night, you can guarantee itll be playing through the speakers and going down a storm. Steve Gillett/Livepix 9. The Clash From the angsty exuberance of their self-titled debut to the ambitious genre-bending efforts of London Calling and Sandinista, The Clash put out a succession of classic albums between 1977 and 1985. The band stood up for admirable causes, famously performing at Rock Against Racism and embracing lefty politics in their writing too. Forget the Sex Pistols, The Clash are the greatest punk band the UK has ever produced. John Ingham 8. The Cure Robert Smiths the Cure are one of most iconic British bands of the 1980s and 1990s, and hold a special place in the hearts of many music fans up and down the country. From the the stark and intense nature of albums like 1982s Pornography, through to the more flamboyant and playful records like Wish, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and Disintegration - arguably the bands masterpiece - Smith created some of the greatest alternative British music of his generation. Theo Wargo/Getty Images 7. Oasis How many times has someone picked up a guitar and performed a dodgy rendition of Wonderwall at a party? Or how many times has someone murdered a rendition of Dont Look Back In Anger at karaoke? Oasis's songs themselves are some of the most accessible and instantaneous British songs ever written and thats before you even consider the charisma of the band that performed them: The Gallagher brothers were at war most of the time during Oasiss career, but out of that tension came the most iconic songs of the 1990s and some of the most culturally significant British music ever made. 6. The Smiths They might have inspired more terrible student bands than any other artist, but the Smiths remain one of the greatest bands Britain has ever produced. Morrisseys unmistakable vocals and the chime of Johnny Marrs beautiful guitar playing made them one of the most distinctive bands of the 1980s, and a hit with indie fans ever since. Its almost scary to think that Marr formed the Smiths, released four incredible studio albums and quit the band all by the time he was 24: a staggering achievement at such an early age. 5. The Rolling Stones Without doubt one of the most influential British rock bands of all time, the Rolling Stones could easily top any list of iconic British rock groups. Childhood friends Mick Jagger and Keith Richards formed an iconic musical partnership as kids in the 1950s before forming the Stones with Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Ian Stewart. The group developed on their early covers of tracks by the likes of blues legends Howlin Wolf and Chuck Berry to produce more and more expansive sounds, but still kept blues-rock at the absolute core of their music. The reductive Beatles vs Stones argument will always persist amongst music fans, but the swagger and the sheer riffage on display on classic Stones albums Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street is irresistible. Michael Ochs Archives 4. Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were Here... the list of classic albums goes on. Pink Floyd have created some of the most accomplished and successful UK rock music ever made and always maintained a distinctively British sense of eccentricity and idiosyncracy. The prog rock legends are one of the most commercially successful British bands ever and David Gilmour remains one of the most revered guitarists of his generation too. Getty Images 3. Radiohead Radiohead could have carried on making albums like The Bends and OK Computer and become the biggest British band of all time in the late 1990s. However, they challenged themselves to change their sound, and with Kid A they showed the benefits of never standing still as an artist. They're a great band who refuse to settle, but still manage to create weird and wonderful music. They're beyond doubt one of the very, very best British rock bands of all time. Getty Images 2. Led Zeppelin Rock monsters Led Zeppelin are one of the greatest, hardest rock bands ever, and the four individual members are all some of the best players of their generation too. Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and Jimmy Page stand head and shoulders above their contemporaries as individual musicians, and their talents combined to create some of the heaviest rock of their generation. In fact, Communication Breakdown is often cited as the first heavy metal song. Whether you believe that or not, the bands influence is undeniable and their status as British rock gods is untouchable. Getty Images 1. The Beatles Battle hardened in the clubs of Hamburg, the fab four transformed from squeaky-clean pop sweethearts to rock monsters during the course of their career, and produced some of the best music ever made along the way. They constantly pushed boundaries, took their sound to places you'd never think possible and together with pioneering producer George Martin used the studio as an instrument unlike ever before. Their story and their music is legendary, and you just can't look past them as the greatest British rock band of all time. Getty Images
Byrne is just one of many performers who have found themselves having to apologise for the use of blackface or racial stereotypes in past work, following the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement which gained traction after the death of George Floyd earlier this year.
Little Britain was removed from BBC iPlayer after the series, which stars David Walliams and Matt Lucas, faced renewed criticism for the use of blackface in some sketches.
Comedian Leigh Francis issued an apology for portraying black celebrities on sketch show Bo Selecta.
The comic played stars including king of pop Michael Jackson, singer Craig David and talkshow host Trisha Goddard on the show, which first aired in 2002.
At a campaign event on Wednesday, Joe Biden was asked whether he thought charges should be filed against the officers involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake and in the death of Breonna Taylor.
The former vice president and Democratic Party candidate said that he felt that there was a minimum need for the officers to be charged in both cases so that the judicial system can work as designed.
The question came ahead of a planned visit on Thursday to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Mr Blake was shot seven times by police.
It also comes in light of remarks by Mr Bidens running mate, vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris, in which she expressed the same opinion, based on what she has seen of the shooting of Mr Blake.
Mr Biden added that he also thought the perpetrator in the fatal shooting of a Trump supporter in Portland on Saturday should also face the legal ramifications of that crime.
Let the judicial system work. Lets make sure justice is done, he said.
A homicide investigation continues and a possible suspect has been identified.
In Kenosha, Mr Blake was shot by police officer Rusten Sheskey, who was responding to a domestic abuse call. The shooting left Mr Blake paralysed from the waist down and occurred in front of his three children.
Breonna Taylor, an emergency room technician, was killed in March when Louisville, Kentucky, police officers came to her apartment believing that drugs were being sold from the premises.
Using a no-knock warrant and a battering ram, officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankisson, and Myles Cosgrove entered the apartment late at night.
Ms Taylors boyfriend reportedly fired one shot which struck officer Mattingly in the thigh, and the police returned fire striking Ms Taylor five times and killing her as she lay in bed.
To date, no charges have been filed against the officers in either case.
The case of Breonna Taylor, in addition to the deaths of Rayshard Brooks and George Floyd among others, spurred worldwide protests beginning in May demanding racial justice.
Opposition parties on Wednesday hit out at the government on Wednesday over the suspension of Question Hour in the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament.
Monsoon session of Parliament is scheduled to begin from September 14 and conclude on October 1.
According to notifications issued by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats, there will be no Question Hour and private members' bills will not be taken up in the Monsoon session, while the Zero Hour will be restricted.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor sought justification of no Question Hour in the monsoon session.
"I said four months ago that strongmen leaders would use the excuse of the pandemic to stifle democracy and dissent. The notification for the delayed Parliament session blandly announces there will be no Question Hour. How can this be justified in the name of keeping us safe?" he asked on Twitter.
"Questioning the government is the oxygen of parliamentary democracy. This Govt seeks to reduce Parliament to a notice-board and uses its crushing majority as a rubber-stamp for whatever it wants to pass. The one mechanism to promote accountability has now been done away with," Tharoor said in another tweet.
Criticising the move, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien accused that the pandemic is an excuse to murder democracy.
"MPs required to submit questions for Question Hour in Parliament 15 days in advance. Session starts September 14. So Question Hour cancelled? Opposition MPs lose right to question government. A first since 1950? Parliament overall working hours remain same so why cancel Question Hour? Pandemic excuse to murder democracy," tweeted TMC MP Derek O'Brien.
He also pointed out that question hours are significant because issues raised during this time is answered by the minister concerned which is not the case in Zero Hour.
O'Brien also said that during the question hour, questions are asked also from the Treasury Benches and by the move to suspend it, the government was also "denying their own MPs to raise their queries".
"This means that we cannot ask any questions on the state of the economy or the pandemic," he said.
"During the 33rd (1961), 93rd (1975), 98th (1976) 99th (1977) sessions there was no Question Hour as these sessions were summoned for SPECIAL PURPOSES: Orissa, Proclamation of Emergency, 44th Amdmt, President's Rule TN/Nagaland. The upcoming Monsoon Session is a REGULAR SESSION (sic)," the TMC said in another tweet.
Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha said, "It is disappointing. No Question Hour in such a time when coronavirus has taken so many lives, infection is rising, management regarding it is below poor and also there is a situation at the border, is like a death of the soul of democracy. The Zero Hour is reduced to half an hour. Cannot stand by this decision."
Congress MP PL Punia hoped that the Zero Hour will be continued to discuss important issues.
"People should take all precautions in view of the COVID-19. They should avoid crowded places. Question Hour has been omitted in this parliament session keeping coronavirus pandemic in mind. The hours are limited. There will be sitting arrangements accordingly. I hope Zero Hour will be there as many important issues are raised in it," he said.
Meanwhile, CPI MP Binoy Viswam has written a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu stating asking that the Question Hour be reinstated immediately.
"Given that the duration of time of Parliamentary sittings is the same as it has always been, suspension of Question Hour and Private Members business is unjust and must be reinstated immediately," he said.
"As Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, you have always been concerned about the rights of members and dignity of the Parliament. I, therefore, urge you to reconsider these decisions and take necessary corrective action that uphold the democratic principles of the Parliament," Viswam said in the letter.
With inputs from PTI
Photo: The Canadian Press North Atlantic right whale
A wildlife organization says species that are at risk of global extinction have seen their Canadian populations decline by an average of 42 per cent in the last 50 years.
The World Wildlife Fund says Canada isn't doing enough to protect its endangered species.
It says Canadian populations of endangered animals face multiple threats, including pollution, habitat loss and climate change.
The WWF says Canadian intervention plans often focus on just one threat at a time, and it's calling on the government to take a multi-faceted approach to ensure the long-term survival of endangered species.
The organization says Indigenous-managed lands often better support at-risk species, and those communities should be consulted and supported moving forward.
Their report used 300 sources of data dating back to 1970, and included 100 mammal species, 389 bird species, 357 fish species and 37 species of amphibians and reptiles.
Autopsy: Schoolgirl Nora Quoirin with her mother Meabh. Nora had died four days before she was found by hikers. Photo: Family Handout/PA Wire
Tragic Nora Quoirin was not sexually assaulted before her death in a Malaysian holiday resort, an inquest has heard.
The 15-year-old French-Irish schoolgirl, whose mum Meabh is from Belfast, disappeared from her family's cottage at the Dusun eco-resort in southern Negeri Sembilan state on August 4 last year, sparking a massive search operation.
Her naked body was discovered on August 13 beside a stream in a palm oil estate about 2.5km from the resort.
Yesterday an inquest in Malaysia into her death heard that a post-mortem found she died from internal bleeding in her intestine following a period of prolonged hunger and stress.
Search
Giving evidence, head of forensics Noor Aidora Saedon told Coroner Maimoonah Aid that Nora had taken her last breath four days before she was found by hikers who were helping with the police search operation.
The inquest has been told that an autopsy was performed less than an hour after her body was airlifted from the stream, according to The Mirror.
Ms Saedon told the hearing during the 10-day search for Nora, DNA samples were taken from her siblings Innes and Maurice and her parents Meabh and Sebastien for comparison. The lawyer for her parents, Sakthy Vell, asked: "We know that she had died four days prior to being found in the flowing stream, so would DNA remain on her face and naked body?"
Ms Saedon replied: "DNA in time will degrade and be lost.
"However in the case where a body is found, generally it is suggested that the outside of the body, definitely foreign DNA is difficult to find due to the environment. Malaysia is hot and humid, therefore DNA degrades very fast as compared to four season countries.
"Having said that, the swabs taken in intimate areas, inside of the body, no foreign DNA was found as well."
The expert told the court: "The body may have been exposed to the elements, differing night-and-day temperatures, partially submerged in a flowing stream... these are conditions which are also taken into consideration when analysing samples and preparing the report.
"There was no foreign matter lifted or found on the outside of the body to indicate a foreign DNA," she also told the inquest.
"In short, we have done the analysis as thoroughly as I could and we could not find any foreign DNA on the body," she said.
Police believe Nora wandered off and that there was no criminal element involved in her death.
Her family has always insisted it was highly unlikely Nora - who was born with holoprosencephaly, a disorder which affects brain development - would have gone off alone.
The hearing continues.
Office workers wearing face masks enter a building during lunch time in the financial business district in Singapore on 11 August 2020. (PHOTO: AFP via Getty Images)
SINGAPORE While Singaporeans anxiety about competition for jobs from foreigners is understandable, it would do great harm to Singapore if others get the wrong impression that the country is no longer welcoming foreigners, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday (1 September).
We may be under stress now, but we cannot turn afford to inwards. We will adjust our policies to safeguard Singaporean jobs, but let us show confidence that Singaporeans can hold our own in the world.
Lee stressed, The government will always be on the side of Singaporeans. What is the point of creating jobs for foreigners, if it doesnt benefit Singaporeans? Why would we want to do that? Ultimately, our aim is to grow our economy, create good jobs for Singaporeans and raise our standards of living.
The 68-year-old was delivering a parliamentary speech in lieu of the annual National Day Rally (NDR). The NDR is widely considered the most important political speech of the year.
And Lee took the opportunity to address a hot-button issue that has been brought up by various Members of Parliament over the past two days: the presence of foreigners working in Singapore, and the number of work permits issued to them.
Discrimination against Singaporeans?
Singaporeans, noted Lee, are concerned about fair treatment: that citizens are being considered fairly for jobs, promotions, or retrenchments. This is why the Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), where Singaporeans who feel unfairly treated can seek redress, and the Fair Consideration Framework provides protection on this front.
Furthermore, the issue of fairness is a factor in evaluating Employment Pass and S-Pass applications, whether the employer has kept up support of Singaporean professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) in their employment, and been responsive to government efforts to help them recruit and train more local PMETs. Or conversely, whether the employer has discriminated against qualified Singaporeans.
Story continues
We particularly want to emphasise these considerations now, in these uncertain times, to remind all employers to play their part in building up their Singaporean workforce, said Lee, noting that one specific red flag is a company that has an over concentration of a single foreign nationality in its ranks, especially when compared with other companies in the same sector.
Lee warned, This concentration, if unchecked, can cause social resentment and workplace problems. It makes it harder for the company to blend into and be accepted by our multiracial society...It suggests that the company has not really taken root in Singapore.
Guarding against xenophobia
The Prime Minister also noted that the issue of concentration can be easily played up. For example, last September, a Facebook page posted a wefie of DBS CEO Piyush Gupta with a room full of Indian employees. It was captioned Eye sight test: Find a Singaporean or Chinese in this DBS photo.
And while the picture resurfaced recently and caused many to take offence, it was actually taken in India, where DBS had opened a new office, and not in Singapore.
The person who put up the post surely knew this, yet he irresponsibly misused the wefie to insinuate that DBS in Singapore was not being fair to Singaporeans. And damage was done, said Lee.
Companies value Singapore
Lee noted that even in the current depressed economic climate, many investment projects want to come to Singapore. Even in places where investors already have regional headquarters and projects, they are rethinking the merits of their locations, and looking for alternatives.
Meanwhile, investors starting new projects are also anxiously scanning the globe, searching for the right place where they can safely make a commitment now. Companies are seeking a safe harbour, where the politics is stable, there is rule of law, the people are hardworking and united, and where the country will come through the pandemic safely, and have a bright future, said Lee.
We take no joy in the troubles in the world, but it is a fact that in a troubled world, Singapore is one of the few trusted countries that stands out. And we must guard that reputation zealously.
Besides Hyundai Motors plans to set up a major facility in Singapore to undertake research & development and develop future mobility technologies, Lee revealed that a pharmaceutical company is planning to build a facility to manufacture vaccines.
Another company specialising in pandemic risk insurance wants to set up shop in Singapore, while several Fortune 500 companies are considering moving their regional HQs here, because of political uncertainties elsewhere. Major financial institutions want to grow their operations in Singapore too, said Lee.
We want to talk to them to see how they can fit in here, to create good jobs for Singaporeans. But for them to come here, they must feel welcome, and be allowed to bring in the talent that they need. Also, regional and global HQs, by design, need to draw talent from around the world and be run by international teams.
He added, They will employ Singaporeans too, but they cannot be staffed by Singaporeans alone.
Creating opportunities for Singaporeans
Lee made reference to two Singaporeans: GlaxoSmithKline site director Lim Hock Heng, and Susan Kwek, who oversees operations and technology for Citibank in Hong Kong.
There are many more Singaporeans in senior positions in semi- conductors, oil and gas, and IT. If we had not welcomed these companies in the past and encouraged them to bring in global talent, Hock Heng, Susan and others would have been deprived of these opportunities, said Lee.
Local SMEs also need skills, knowledge and expertise that they may not have in Singapore, for example to develop an external wing, and to move up the value chain.
But fundamentally, said Lee, Singapore has always been a people open to the world.
This generosity of spirit gives our society and economy vitality and resilience. Its made Singapore the exceptional, cosmopolitan city we are today, plugged into the global economy, and making a living by making ourselves valuable to the world.
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Kasautii Makers Have Agreed To Parth's Demands
According to the leading daily, Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2 makers have agreed to Parth's demands and have managed to retain him. Also, it is said that the show might get a new time slot!
A source was quoted by TOI as saying, "It took some time because producer Ekta Kapoor was busy with Ganesh Chaturthi festivities. The talks were on with Parth and finally today, everything got resolved. The makers have agreed to Parth's demands, including increasing his remuneration."
Track To Shift Focus To Parth, Erica & Their On-Screen Daughter
"Another demand by the actor was to shift the focus on him and that too has been agreed upon by the makers. The track will now shift to Parth, Erica Fernandes and their on-screen daughter. However, Karan Patel and Aamna Sharriff will remain an important part of the show."
Kasautii's Time Slot Might Be Given To Saath Nibhana Saathiya 2
Apparently, after a few weeks the show might get another time slot while Kasautii's time slot might me be given to Saath Nibhana Saathiya 2!
Kasautii To Be Moved To Other Time Slot
The source further said, "It will be moved from its current time slot to either late night or early prime time. In all probabilities Saath Nibhana Saathiya Season 2 will take its current time slot."
What are your views on the reports of Kasautii and Saathiya swapping time slots? Hit the comment box to share your views.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a bill under which Kashmiri, Dogri and Hindi, apart from the existing Urdu and English, will be the official languages in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a press briefing, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020 will be introduced in Parliament in the upcoming Monsoon Session.
The Bill received the Cabinet nod on Wednesday at a meeting presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The minister did not divulge further details saying the bill be debated in Parliament soon.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh said the government has accepted the long pending demand of the region for the inclusion of Dogri, Hindi and Kashmiri as officials languages in J-K.
"Inclusion of Dogri, Hindi and Kashmiri as official languages in Jammu and Kashmir is not only a fulfilment of a long-pending public demand of the region but also in keeping with the spirit of equality which was ushered in after August 5, 2019," he said.
Briefing on another decision by the Union Cabinet, Javadekar said, "Union Cabinet has approved three MoUs - one between Textile Ministry and Japan for quality evaluation method, between Mining Ministry and Finland and between Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Denmark."
The introduction of rapid antigen test (RAT) in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly for testing incoming air and road passengers and for contact-tracing in containment zones, is proving to be a game changer in disease containment efforts in the Union Territory.
The RAT gives results within 15 minutes as against the RT-PCR, which normally takes at-least one to two days, creating difficulties both for the travellers and the administration due to the provision of mandatory quarantine for incoming passengers till their test results come out.
Since its introduction in Kashmir some eight days ago, the authorities have conducted some 87,334 RAT tests in comparison to 3, 61,770 RT-PCR tests conducted till September 01. Many of these rapid tests have been conducted on air and road travellers since it takes less time to give a result.
Normally we are doing the antigen tests on 4,500 to 5,000 people daily, of which, around 1,200 are done at the airport. Others include land-travelers who are tested by our teams at various points on Srinagar-Jammu Highway, besides, there are people getting tested in containment zones and brick kilns, said Dr Qazi Haroon, an officer on special duty with the health department to assist the governments corona mitigation efforts in Kashmir division.
Jammu and Kashmir was among the first places in the country to make testing of incoming passengers mandatory, which was done using RT-PCR technique.
In Jammu division, Haroons counterpart, Dr A D S Manhas said that the RAT has been introduced in all the districts.
Daily, we are conducting 6,000-7,000 antigen tests. Sometimes it goes up to 8,000. Similarly, 700-800 tests are conducted daily on air passengers, Manhas said.
It takes only 15 minutes for the results to appear and this has been a game changer owing to its speed, he said.
Haroon said that the Antigen test has made the process easy and simple. On Tuesday, we had 20 incoming flights including four international flights. With RT-PCR tests, we would have to quarantine them all and wait for their test results, which would take 3-4 days. Now, it takes 1.5 hours. Those who are negative are allowed to move immediately while those found positive are quarantined, he said.
Haroon said that the authorities at the helm were earlier reluctant to introduce the rapid tests. We had a lot of backlog for RT-PCR. It took time for the people at the helm to understand RATs efficacy. Now, it is everywhere, he said.
He said it was also helping in contact tracing in red zones.
Within 15 minutes you can know the positive or negative status of say 500 people, allowing a medical officer to immediately trace out the infected and stop them from spreading it further, he said.
However, aware of the low-sensitivity drawback associated with rapid testing, Dr Haroon said the RT-PCR test is mandatorily used for those who are discharged from hospitals.
Prominent pulmonologist and head, chest medicine, government medical college, Srinagar, Dr Naveed Nazir Shah said that though RAT sensitivity was low as compared to RT-PCR, it was a good option for testing a large population.
If we compare it with RT-PCR, its sensitivity is low but specificity is better. That means that if the test is positive, then the patient is indeed positive. But if the test is negative and the patient is showing symptoms, then the test has to be repeated using RT-PCR, he said.
However, for a large population, the rapidity of the Antigen test is a good thing, Shah added.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Tuesday announced plans to seek senior-level talks with Mexico over imports of perishable fruits and vegetable as part of a broader series of actions meant to bolster U.S. farmers, raising the possibility of future tariffs.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) also will request that the U.S. International Trade Commission initiate a Section 201 global safeguard investigation to review "the extent to which increased imports of blueberries have caused serious injury to domestic blueberry growers."
If the commission finds injury, the U.S. government could impose tariffs on products to help domestic growers.
"President (Donald) Trump recognizes the challenges faced by American farmers and is committed to promoting and securing fair trade and a level playing field for all American producers," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2020/september/federal-agencies-outline-plan-help-farmers-seasonal-and-perishable-fruits-and-vegetables, which also outlined actions by the Commerce Department and the Department of Agriculture.
USTR said it would also seek talks with Mexico in the next 90 days to address concerns over imports of Mexican strawberries, bell peppers and other seasonal products. It said it would work with domestic producers to initiate an ITC investigation of strawberry and bell pepper imports that could lead to an expedited Section 201 probe later in the year.
Mexico, in response, said it would seek to "defend the preferential access of Mexican agricultural exports to the United States".
But the Latin American country would also bid to "find mutually satisfactory solutions" to the concerns raised by the United States, Mexico's economy ministry said in a statement.
The U.S. trade action comes two months after the start of a new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact (USMCA) that replaced the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement.
On Tuesday, USTR announced new steps to curb steel imports from Mexico and Brazil.
(Reporting by Tim Ahmann and Phil Stewart; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 20:22:03|Editor: huaxia
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BERLIN, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Calendar and seasonally-adjusted turnover of retail companies in Germany in July decreased by 0.9 percent month-on-month, according to preliminary results published by Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Wednesday.
However, turnover in July was slightly up in comparison to February, the month before the outbreak of the coronavirus in Germany. "This is the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that the retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco in specialized stores had a higher turnover in real terms," Destatis noted.
Sales of the non-food retail sector rose in real terms by 4.4 percent year-on-year. According to Destatis, the largest year-on-year increase in turnover was generated by the internet and mail-order business growing by 15.6 percent.
July was the first month in which German consumers profited from a temporary reduction of the value-added tax (VAT) which was lowered from 19 percent to 16 percent until the end of the year in order to cushion the economic effects of COVID-19 on private consumption.
Last week, the German Retail Federation (HDE) estimated that the VAT reduction would lead to additional retail sales of around 0.5 percent which was a "positive but not a strong effect." Also, not all product groups and industries would benefit equally.
Despite the temporary reduction in VAT, almost 75 percent of Germans did not intend to change their shopping behavior in the second half of 2020, according to a survey among 6,300 Germans by the Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) published last week. Enditem
Boris Johnson today held talks with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia where they discussed the Yemen civil war.
The Prime Minister stressed the importance of the UK's relationship with the desert kingdom during the conversation with Mohammed bin Salman.
It comes as the Crown Prince sacked the country's top military commander in Yemen and his son for 'suspicious financial dealings'.
The Prime Minister (pictured yesterday) stressed the importance of the UK's relationship with the desert kingdom during the conversation with Mohammed bin Salman
It comes as the Crown Prince (centre, last year) sacked the country's top military commander in Yemen and his son for 'suspicious financial dealings'
A Downing Street spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister spoke to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, this evening.
'He reiterated the importance of the UK's close relationship with Saudi Arabia and stressed our commitment to strengthening UK-KSA trade and investment.
'They also discussed the crisis in Yemen and support for the work of UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.
'The Prime Minister thanked Mohammed bin Salman for his leadership at the G20 on the global response to coronavirus, and looked forward to the upcoming G20 leaders' summit.'
Mohammed bin Salman yesterday launched a fresh purge after sacking the country's top military commander in Yemen and his son.
Lt Gen Fahad bin Turki bin Abdulaziz and his son, Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahad bin Turki, and other officials, form part of an anti-corruption probe, the kingdom said.
The announcement attributed the actions to a referral by Mohammed bin Salman, the 35-year-old son of King Salman, who earlier carried out mass arrests as part of a similar anti-corruption drive that also targeted potential rivals to his rule.
Lt Gen Fahad bin Turki bin Abdulaziz, commander of Saudi forces in Yemen, and his son Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahad bin Turki, have been sacked due following 'suspicious financial dealings,' according to state media
In 2017 the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the Saudi capital of Riyadh was turned into a luxury prison following the mass arrest of businessmen, royals and others
A statement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency referred to 'suspicious financial dealings monitored at the Ministry of Defence,' without elaborating.
As a result, the statement said the kingdom fired Lt Gen Fahad bin Turki bin Abdulaziz, a prince in Saudi Arabia's large ruling family in charge of allied forces in the Saudi-led war in Yemen against Iranian-allied Houthi rebels.
Authorities also removed his son, Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahad bin Turki, from his position as the deputy governor of Saudi Arabia's al-Jouf region in the kingdom's northwest.
The kingdom is investigating four other officials as well, all on the orders of 84-year-old King Salman, the statement said.
It was not immediately clear if those accused had been detained.
Anti-corruption officials 'shall complete the investigation procedures with all relevant military and civil officials, take the necessary legal measures against them and submit the outcomes,' the statement said.
After coming to power, Crown Prince Mohammed has been behind several anti-corruption campaigns, including turning Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel into a luxury prison in late 2017 as part of a mass arrest of businessmen, royals and others.
(Natural News) In an Aug. 28 morning interview on Fox & Friends, Republican Sen. Rand Paul shared his experience being confronted by a mob of protesters after the Republican National Convention concluded Aug. 27. According to the senator from Kentucky, the mob threatened to f him up and kill him as he, his wife Kelley and two female friends walked back to their hotel.
The protesters stopped short of assaulting the senator and his group after nearby police officers stepped in, preventing the mob from closing in on Paul. Some were even following the senator into their hotel but were stopped by law enforcement.
Paul explained that he and his companions originally intended to take a bus towards the Trump International Hotel alongside other convention attendees. Pauls group reached the hotel and tried to get an Uber back to their accommodations, but decided to walk two blocks after groups of protesters barricaded some streets from vehicular traffic a decision he regretted. He was unfortunately spotted by a mob of protesters, but the timely intervention of nearby police officers nearby kept the senator and his group away from their attackers.
A video footage of the incident showed a policeman behind the senator using his bicycle to keep the mob at bay, and losing his balance after being shoved by a protester. The same video showed Paul holding the officers back to prevent him from falling and stumbling completely.
The senator expressed his thanks towards the policemen who accompanied and protected them during their walk, adding that the police saved their lives with their actions that night. He also warned that other people will be pummeled and kicked in the head and left senseless on the curb without the police maintaining public safety.
Rand Paul claims that an interstate criminal network paid protesters to cause trouble
The mob threatened Paul that they will f him up and kill him, with the senator adding that he and his wife might have suffered serious injuries from being kicked in the head and stomach if the mob managed to get hold of them. (Related: CHAOS comes to Washington: Lunatic, angry Leftists mob Sen. Rand Paul and other GOP members on the streets of D.C..)
Aside from the threats he received, the senator mentioned that some members of the mob were taunting him to say the name of Breonna Taylor. Taylor died after police raided her Louisville, Kentucky apartment and subsequently shot her without introducing themselves as law enforcement officers and mentioning the purpose of their visit.
When asked about this, Paul answered that the irony is lost on the protesters he branded unhinged because they were trying to kill someone trying to reform the system citing his authorship of a bill that put an end to no-knock raids similar to the ones that caused Taylors death.
In the same Fox & Friends interview, Paul claimed that the protesters who almost assaulted were from out of town and were paid to be anarchists. He reiterated that both people who incite a riot and people who pay others to do so deserve to face jail time, and remarked the FBIs need to investigate this organized interstate racket.
My feeling is that theres interstate criminal traffic but you wont know unless you arrest them, the senator put forward. They were inciting a riot and they would have killed us had the police not been there.
What happened to Sen. Paul and his companions in Washington, D.C. may not be the last. Many more incidents of Black Lives Matter protesters targeting Republican politicians should be expected after Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared Republicans to be enemies of the state.
Find out more news about the unrest in Washington, D.C. and other U.S. cities caused by Black Lives Matter protests at Rioting.news.
Sources include:
FoxNews.com
Breitbart.com
USNews.com
NYTimes.com
Paul.Senate.gov
PARIS France began revisiting one of the worst chapters in its modern history on Wednesday, as a landmark trial opened in Paris for the January 2015 terrorist attacks that killed 17 people in and around the French capital.
Over at least the next two months, before the glare of the worlds media and under tight security, the court is expected to meticulously examine three harrowing days that traumatized France, starting with a daytime assault on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine that Islamic extremists targeted after it published cartoons lampooning Islam.
The killings were followed by a string of deadly jihadist attacks, culminating with assaults in November that year in and around Paris that killed 130 people, vaulting France into a yearslong state of emergency.
Said and Cherif Kouachi, the two brothers who carried out the Charlie Hebdo attack, died in a shootout with the police north of Paris two days later. A third attacker, Amedy Coulibaly, killed a police officer in a Parisian suburb and four Jewish hostages at a kosher supermarket before dying himself when the police stormed the building.
Ghanaian actress, Maame Serwaa has sent a word of caution against the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA).
The 21st edition of the VGMA commenced on Friday, August 28 and was climaxed with a heroes concert on Sunday, August 30, 2020 to celebrate the frontline workers at the forefront of the fight against Coronavirus in the country.
On the awards night on Saturday, August 29, highlife musician Kuami Eugene was crowned Artiste of the Year.
He competed with musicians, Sarkodie, Medikal, Kofi Kinaata and Diana Hamilton to win the ultimate award of the night but following his win comes lots of controversies.
Some critics say Kuami Eugene didn't deserve the award.
The VGMA was also characterized by some other surprises in the list of awardees as rapper Eno Barony also believes she was the right candidate for the best rapper award which went to Kwesi Arthur instead.
Also commenting on the awards event is the young celebrated actress, Maame Serwaa, who shares a strong belief that the VGMA has outlived its relevance.
Maame Serwaa took to her twitter to caution the general public against the awards scheme.
''NOBODY SHOULD TAKE VGMA SERIOUS AGAIN!!!!!!!!'', she tweeted.
NOBODY SHOULD TAKE VGMA SERIOUS AGAIN!!!!!!!!
Maame Serwaa (@realmaameserwaa) August 30, 2020
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Imphal :
Eleven suspected supporters of United Naga Council were injured when they tried to storm the Deputy Commissioners office in Senapati district to protest creation of seven new districts, police said on Wednesday.
The protestors tried to march into the office of the Deputy Commissioner in the Naga-dominated hill district of Senapati on Tuesday and were injured when they tried to break the barricade set up by Manipur Police, they said.
The incident comes after UNC announced its decision to picket and storm government offices in Naga-inhabited areas of the state last week.
The state has been witnessing unrest due to the imposition of indefinite economic blockade on the lifeline of the landlocked state by United Naga Council (UNC) since November 1 last year and violence following the creation of seven new districts by bifurcating the previously existing districts.
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Saudi Arabia has agreed to allow all flights between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to pass through its airspace, following lobbying from the Trump administration.
The backstory: The UAE had made a formal request of the Saudis as part of their normalization deal with Israel, which includes commercial air travel between the countries.
Driving the news: The first direct flight of an Israeli commercial airliner allowed to pass through Saudi airspace was El Al flight 971, which carried Jared Kushner and other officials from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi on Monday.
The fact that Kushner was on board made it much easier to obtain Saudi approval, but EL AL flight 972 the following day from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv also received approval even though there was only an Israeli delegation on board.
Today, the Saudi civil aviation authority announced it had agreed to the Emirati request to allow all incoming and outgoing flights to the UAE from any country in the world to pass through Saudi airspace.
Previous U.S. administrations had unsuccessfully lobbied the Saudis to allow Israeli airlines to use their airspace. However, this agreement applies only to flights from Israel to the UAE, and not to other destinations.
Behind the scenes: Emirati officials had engaged with their Saudi counterparts on this issue over the last two weeks
U.S. officials including Kushner, envoys Avi Berkowitz and Brian Hook, and White House official Adam Boehler were also involved in those efforts, sources familiar with the issue say.
Yesterday, Kushner discussed the issue in a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, and the Saudis notified the U.S. team of their agreement.
The Saudi green light paved the way for an Israel-UAE civil aviation agreement.
What they're saying: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called this "a huge breakthrough" that would make flights to the UAE cheaper and thus bolster tourism between the countries. "These are the fruits of peace," he said, predicting that "more good news" would be coming.
President Donald Trump has once again raised claims of a possible 'rigged' election in 2020 by citing a report predicting that he might hold an overwhelming Electoral College lead on election night that would later evaporate.
'Rigged Election?' Trump wrote Tuesday, retweeting a report about once scenario about how the votes could come in, particularly given partisan splits that have developed over who is requesting mail-in ballots versus who plans to vote by mail.
The growing disparity in how American cast ballots could lead to the illusion on Nov. 3rd that Trump has one a 'landslide' that would soon be overwhelmed.
'Rigged Election?' President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday, flagging a report showing he may hold an election night lead that is just a 'mirage'
Trump retweeted a post by Rahseem Kassam, who co-hosts a podcast with former top White House and Trump campaign advisor Steve Bannon, that posited Trump could appear to hold an election night victory that would turn out to be a 'mirage.'
The report cited a report in Axios about predications by Hawkfish, a data analytics firm backed by billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Trump's lead on Nov. 3 might appear overwhelming, with millions of mail and absentee ballots still to be counted.
'When every legitimate vote is tallied and we get to that final day, which will be some day after Election Day, it will in fact show that what happened on election night was ... a mirage,' said Hawkfish CEO Josh Mendelsohn.
Trump tweeted an article linking to an analysis that he might lead on election night, only to see his position evaporate
Michael Wilusz takes the mail-in ballots of Williamstown, Mass., residents and inserts them into the voting machine at an elementary school on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, during the state's primary election
Voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts turned out in record numbers with absentee ballots as well as in person during early vote and on Primary Day. This election worker is time stamping each ballot to indicate when it was received for processing. Absentee ballot requests are overwhelmingly coming from Democrats
''The news media should get out of the business of predicting the future,' said Trump campaign chair Tim Murtagh in the original report.
Trump also warned about a potentially 'rigged' election in 2016, when Democrat Hillary Clinton was the favorite.
This year, he has repeatedly accused Democrats of trying to 'steal' the election. In 2018, when allies Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis, both Republicans, held narrow election night wins only to see Democrats gain, Trump called mail ballot vote that continued coming in 'infected.'
An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night! Trump tweeted in what critics saw as a potential dry-run for a 2020 play.
More than 4 million Floridians requested a mail ballot for this year's primaries, compared to 1.3 million in 2016.
An analysis in North Carolina last month found Democrats requested 53 per cent of the absentee ballots requested, compared to just 15 per cent from GOP voters.
Hawkfish concludes that 40 per cent of Americans plan to vote by mail.
Mendelsohn told Axios that on election night results would show Trump 'in a stronger position than the reality actually is.'
The data could show an 'incredible victory' for Trump but that he 'fundamentally was not' when 'every ballot gets counted.'
Data compiled Hawkfish firm show many more Democrats plan to vote by mail than Republicans. With double the number planning to cast votes by mail than ever before.
The CDCs calculations suggest that it is extremely difficult to detect any live virus in a sample above a threshold of 33 cycles.
Some of the nations leading public health experts are raising a new concern in the endless debate over coronavirus testing in the United States: The standard tests are diagnosing huge numbers of people who may be carrying relatively insignificant amounts of the virus.
Most of these people are not likely to be contagious, and identifying them may contribute to bottlenecks that prevent those who are contagious from being found in time. But researchers say the solution is not to test less, or to skip testing people without symptoms, as recently suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Instead, new data underscore the need for more widespread use of rapid tests, even if they are less sensitive.
The decision not to test asymptomatic people is just really backward, said Dr Michael Mina, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, referring to the CDC recommendation.
In fact, we should be ramping up testing of all different people, he said, but we have to do it through whole different mechanisms.
In what may be a step in this direction, the Trump administration announced on Thursday that it would purchase 150 million rapid tests.
The most widely used diagnostic test for the new coronavirus, called a PCR test, provides a simple yes-no answer to the question of whether a patient is infected.
But similar PCR tests for other viruses do offer some sense of how contagious an infected patient may be: The results may include a rough estimate of the amount of virus in the patients body.
Weve been using one type of data for everything, and that is just plus or minus thats all, Mina said. Were using that for clinical diagnostics, for public health, for policy decision-making.
But yes-no isnt good enough, he added. Its the amount of virus that should dictate the infected patients next steps. Its really irresponsible, I think, to forgo the recognition that this is a quantitative issue, Mina said.
The PCR test amplifies genetic matter from the virus in cycles; the fewer cycles required, the greater the amount of virus, or viral load, in the sample. The greater the viral load, the more likely the patient is to be contagious.
This number of amplification cycles needed to find the virus, called the cycle threshold, is never included in the results sent to doctors and coronavirus patients, although it could tell them how infectious the patients are.
In three sets of testing data that include cycle thresholds, compiled by officials in Massachusetts, New York and Nevada, up to 90% of people testing positive carried barely any virus, a review by The New York Times found.
On Thursday, the United States recorded 45,604 new coronavirus cases, according to a database maintained by The Times. If the rates of contagiousness in Massachusetts and New York were to apply nationwide, then perhaps only 4,500 of those people may actually need to isolate and submit to contact tracing.
One solution would be to adjust the cycle threshold used to decide that a patient is infected. Most tests set the limit at 40, a few at 37. This means that you are positive for the coronavirus if the test process required up to 40 cycles, or 37, to detect the virus.
Tests with thresholds so high may detect not just live virus but also genetic fragments, leftovers from infection that pose no particular risk akin to finding a hair in a room long after a person has left, Mina said.
Any test with a cycle threshold above 35 is too sensitive, agreed Juliet Morrison, a virologist at the University of California, Riverside. Im shocked that people would think that 40 could represent a positive, she said.
A more reasonable cutoff would be 30 to 35, she added. Mina said he would set the figure at 30, or even less. Those changes would mean the amount of genetic material in a patients sample would have to be 100-fold to 1,000-fold that of the current standard for the test to return a positive result.
The Food and Drug Administration said in an emailed statement that it does not specify the cycle threshold ranges used to determine who is positive, and that commercial manufacturers and laboratories set their own.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is examining the use of cycle threshold measures for policy decisions. The agency said it would need to collaborate with the FDA and with device manufacturers to ensure the measures can be used properly and with assurance that we know what they mean.
The CDCs own calculations suggest that it is extremely difficult to detect any live virus in a sample above a threshold of 33 cycles. Officials at some state labs said the CDC had not asked them to note threshold values or to share them with contact-tracing organizations.
For example, North Carolinas state lab uses the Thermo Fisher coronavirus test, which automatically classifies results based on a cutoff of 37 cycles. A spokeswoman for the lab said testers did not have access to the precise numbers.
This amounts to an enormous missed opportunity to learn more about the disease, some experts said.
Its just kind of mind-blowing to me that people are not recording the CT values from all these tests that theyre just returning a positive or a negative, said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University in New York.
It would be useful information to know if somebodys positive, whether they have a high viral load or a low viral load, she added.
Officials at the Wadsworth Center, New Yorks state lab, have access to CT values from tests they have processed and analyzed their numbers at The Times request. In July, the lab identified 794 positive tests, based on a threshold of 40 cycles.
With a cutoff of 35, about half of those tests would no longer qualify as positive. About 70% would no longer be judged positive if the cycles were limited to 30.
In Massachusetts, from 85 to 90% of people who tested positive in July with a cycle threshold of 40 would have been deemed negative if the threshold were 30 cycles, Mina said. I would say that none of those people should be contact-traced, not one, he said.
Other experts informed of these numbers were stunned.
Im really shocked that it could be that high the proportion of people with high CT value results, said Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. Boy, does it really change the way we need to be thinking about testing.
Jha said he had thought of the PCR test as a problem because it cannot scale to the volume, frequency or speed of tests needed. But what I am realizing is that a really substantial part of the problem is that were not even testing the people who we need to be testing, he said.
The number of people with positive results who arent infectious is particularly concerning, said Scott Becker, executive director of the Association of Public Health Laboratories. That worries me a lot, just because its so high, he said, adding that the organization intended to meet with Mina to discuss the issue.
The FDA noted that people may have a low viral load when they are newly infected. A test with less sensitivity would miss these infections.
But that problem is easily solved, Mina said: Test them again, six hours later or 15 hours later or whatever, he said. A rapid test would find these patients quickly, even if it were less sensitive because their viral loads would quickly rise.
PCR tests still have a role, he and other experts said. For example, their sensitivity is an asset when identifying newly infected people to enrol in clinical trials of drugs.
But with 20% or more of people testing positive for the virus in some parts of the country, Mina and other researchers are questioning the use of PCR tests as a front-line diagnostic tool.
People infected with the virus are most infectious from a day or two before symptoms appear till about five days after. But at the current testing rates, youre not going to be doing it frequently enough to have any chance of really capturing somebody in that window, Mina added.
Highly sensitive PCR tests seemed like the best option for tracking the coronavirus at the start of the pandemic. But for the outbreaks raging now, he said, whats needed are coronavirus tests that are fast, cheap and abundant enough to frequently test everyone who needs it even if the tests are less sensitive.
It might not catch every last one of the transmitting people, but it sure will catch the most transmissible people, including the superspreaders, Mina said. That alone would drive epidemics practically to zero.
Apoorva Mandavilli c.2020 The New York Times Company
Scores of Floridians struggling with rents and mortgages were given another reprieve when Gov. Ron DeSantis again extended a moratorium against residential evictions and foreclosures.
The governor did so Monday night, just hours before a previous extension was to expire -potentially providing temporary relief to scores of financially struggling Floridians who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The states unemployment rate remains high 11.3% in July with more than 1.1 million Floridians out of work as the states economy continues ailing amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
The extension means residents who cannot pay rent or make house payments wont be forced out of their homes until the end of the month.
Many hundreds of thousands of the states residents lost their jobs, or had their hours severely reduced, when bars, restaurants and other businesses curtailed hours because of the outbreak.
The governors order does not forgive the payment of rents or mortgages and applies only to people who can prove their loss of income was because of the pandemic.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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No comment on Pranab Mukherjee book before reading it: Former Union Minister
Bangladesh observes one-day state mourning in memory of its 'true friend' Pranab Mukherjee
India
oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P
New Delhi, Sep 02: Bangladesh on Wednesday observed state mourning in honour of its "real friend" Pranab Mukherjee, recalling the former Indian president's "outstanding and unforgettable" contributions to the country's 1971 Liberation War and strengthening of bilateral relations.
All government, semi-government, autonomous and private institutions and Bangladesh missions abroad kept the national flag at half-mast in observance of the mourning day.
Pranab Mukherjee died on Monday in New Delhi following a 21-day battle with multiple ailments. The former president was cremated with full state honours on Tuesday. The Bangladesh government on Tuesday announced that it will observe a one-day state mourning at the death of the country's "real friend".
'A great leader': Trump condoles demise of former President Pranab Mukherjee
The government in a statement urged places of worship of different faiths to arrange special prayers for Mukherjee. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sent a letter to her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, saying as a renowned scholar and statesman of India, and a highly esteemed leader of South Asia, Mukherjee commanded the respect and admiration of all.
She said 'Bharat Ratna' Mukherjee's tireless work for the welfare of the people of India will inspire the future generation of leaders not only in India but across countries in the region. Hasina called Mukherjee a "true friend" and said that "he was always been highly revered and loved by the people of Bangladesh" recalling his support and contribution in strengthening bilateral relations.
Pranab Mukherjee's death huge loss for Sino-India friendship: China
In 2013, Bangladesh conferred the honour of 'Bangladesh Muktijuddho Sommanona' (Liberation War Honour) on Mukherjee for his valuable contribution to its 1971 Liberation War. Hasina also called Mukherjee a "true friend" of Bangladesh and a guardian-like figure to her family.
"The news of Mukherjee's demise deeply saddened her... she became emotional and nostalgic as she reminisced her many memories with him," state-run BSS news agency reported, quoting the premier's press secretary Ihsanul Karim.
Hasina said Mukherjee always extended her cooperation to her family while they were in exile in India after the assassination of her father and Bangladesh's founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975 along with most of his family members.
Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid and premier Hasina earlier expressed sorrow over Mukherjee's demise, describing him as a "true friend" and recalling his "outstanding and unforgettable" contributions to the country's 1971 Liberation War.
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Story first published: Wednesday, September 2, 2020, 14:43 [IST]
Burd Sisler was born during the First World War, survived the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and endured the Great Depression.
He made it safely through the Second World War, has been retired for 41 years and so far has managed to stay safe during yet another deadly pandemic.
You might say somebody was looking after me, quips Sisler.
At 105 years of age a fit, independent 105 the Fort Erie man is one of about 33,200 Canadian Second World War veterans still standing as of March 2019, the last time Veterans Affairs Canada did a head count.
Sisler is also one of Canadas oldest veterans and a longtime legion member.
The 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, which ran Sept. 1, 1939 to Sept. 2, 1945 six years and a day is this week.
In Niagara, practically every industry joined the war effort in some way.
Nearly 10 per cent of the entire population of old Welland county 1,134 of about 10,000 residents served, and 96 died, according to Bob Cummings, former president at Wellands Royal Canadian Legion Branch 4.
From St. Catharines, 215 residents died during the war, roughly one every week. Niagara Falls lost 217 of its citizens, and the former Willoughby township lost five. No place was spared.
In 1943, Sisler was 28, married and a little older than the rest of the guys he worked with at the Goodyear tire company just outside Toronto.
He tried to join the Air Force and passed all the exams, but his eyesight held him back: They were worried about losing the aircraft when I would come in for a landing, he says with a laugh.
Well, what was I supposed to do? Canada was in dire straits, in the sense that all the young men had disappeared into the service, he recalls.
All the buddies I worked with had joined the Army and I said its about time I did something about this.
He talked it over with his wife, Mae.
She said she wanted something to keep my memory so thats what happened, he says.
The baby was born in August 1943; he joined the Army in November.
Sisler was posted with the artillerys electrical-mechanical engineers in eastern Canada, handling radar as a telecommunications mechanic.
In 1945, it looked like he might be moved closer to the action we were all set to head overseas to fill in spaces for stations that were going to set up in England until the Nazis surrendered, in May.
Then it appeared his team might be shipped out to aid in the fight against Japan. Members got their shots, their training guides then Japan surrendered, after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It seemed that every time I wanted (to go overseas) something else would happen that would stop that.
The Allies nuclear attack was a dastardly thing to do, says Sisler, looking back three-quarters of a century. But it saved my life and probably thousands of others on this continent.
His younger brother, Louis, was in the tank corps in Europe. He went walking with another soldier, who stepped on a landmine.
It killed his buddy and it tore my brothers leg quite badly, it had to be amputated, Sisler says. So that was the end of his war.
He knows he was fortunate to come home safely to Mae, and have five children with her. To run a radio and TV repair business in Fort Erie with a friend from the Army, then work at the Peace Bridge until retirement.
Somebody, as he says, must have been looking after him.
I never had to shoot anybody, I dont know what I would have done if somebody was attacking me whether I would have asked him for his name and address before I shot him, he says, again laughing.
But I would hate to think I had killed someone, to tell you the truth. Im not a belligerent person as a matter of fact, my brother did all my fighting for me, and he was a year and a half younger than I was.
The activist network backed by libertarian billionaire Charles Koch is dropping big bucks into the Kansas Senate race as polls show the contest beginning to tighten.
Americans for Prosperity Action, a super PAC that's part of the larger Koch network, is backing Republican physician and congressman Roger Marshall in a state that's historically been a GOP stronghold.
Marshall emerged victorious from a recent primary, after Republican Sen. Pat Roberts decided to retire. Roberts has served four terms in the Senate. He was reelected in a closely fought race in 2014 with help from the Koch network.
This time Marshall, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives for one term, is going up against Barbara Bollier, a fellow physician and a member of the Kansas state legislature.
A recent public poll by Survey USA suggests the race is essentially a dead heat, with Marshall receiving approval from 46% of the surveys overall vote and Bollier picking up 44% of support from those who participated in the poll.
The Cook Political Report labels the race as "lean Republican." Meanwhile, Democratic nominee Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by 7 points nationally, according to a Real Clear Politics polling average. Trump easily defeated then Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Kansas during the 2016 presidential election.
The Koch network getting involved in the Kansas race comes as Republican leaders prepare for the possibility that they may lose their majority in the Senate. At least seven Republican-held Senate seats are up for grabs. The Cook Political Report has marked races in Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Montana and North Carolina as toss-ups. The Arizona race between Republican Martha McSally and Democrat Mark Kelly has been deemed "lean Democrat."
Of those toss-up races, four of them are seeing activity from the Koch-linked super PAC. The committee plans to launch a new $5 million digital ad campaign targeting swing voters in support of Marshall and the other Senate candidates it's backing. The ad campaign will start this week and go into November.
The network plans to unleash its grassroots army, both through door knocking and phone banking, to help Marshall overtake his Democratic opponent, according to Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity (AFP). Its first digital ad in support of Marshall is set to run next week, and the PAC is also planning to send out direct mail.
AFP, Phillips noted, has had a strong presence in Kansas since 2004 with offices across the state. What's more, Charles Koch has a home in Kansas, and his company, Koch Industries, is located in Wichita.
"It's a fluid year. And in a fluid year with swing voters profoundly impacted right now by all the crises that our nation is facing, we don't want to take any chances," Phillips said to CNBC. He pointed to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic as a hurdle for most voters. Phillips noted that it moved to back Marshall because it believes his proposals match up with the policies the network supports, such as tax reform, business deregulation and being against "Medicare for All."
In the most recent contest for the same Senate seat, in 2014, the network spent millions attacking Roberts' opponent through a now defunct super PAC, Freedom Partners Action Fund. According to data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Greg Orman, who was running as an independent, saw over $3 million spent against him by the PAC.
It was one of the top independent expenditures by the Koch-linked group that cycle.
The race, according to The Wichita Eagle, was close throughout part of election night but Roberts ended up pulling off a victory.
The Accra Regional Police Command has commenced investigations into an alleged assault on Mr Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpujie, Member of Parliament (MP) for Odododiodoo, at the James Town Police station, in Accra, on Monday.
The MP was allegedly assaulted by a group of ten young men.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Accra Regional Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Effia Tenge,who confirmed the story to the Ghanaian Times, said that the police have begun investigations into the case.
The Ghanaian Times gathered that on August 31, 2020 between 7pm and 10pm, a complainant arrested Andrew Accorley and took him to the James Town Police, for taking pictures and video of a private toilet at James Town.
It was also gathered that when the police were taking statement from Accorley, the MP and three others went to the police station to see the suspect.
The paper also gathered that while at the police station, a group of men numbering ten entered the place, allegedly assaulted Mr Vanderpuije and three others and deflated a Land Cruiser vehicle belonging to the MP.
One Iphone reportedly belonging to those with Mr Vanderpuije was stolen.
Mr Vanderpuije and the three others were reportedly rescued by the police and by the time police reinforcement came, the attackers had fled the scene.
Accorley has since been granted police enquiry bail, and according to the police, medical forms have been issued to four people to attend hospital, adding that efforts were underway to arrest the suspects.
Source: The Ghanaian Times
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Des Bishop, along with some of Ireland's most talented stand-up comedians are encouraging men everywhere to get checked for prostate cancer and discussing their health.
The video interview was created as part of The Marie Keating Foundations Stand Up For Your Prostate campaign.
This Blue September campaign hopes to challenge the taboo or embarrassment that some men can feel discussing their prostate health and encourage men through comedy to talk about what is an important health issue.
3,665 men in Ireland are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, but when detected early prostate cancer is so treatable.
The Marie Keating Foundations second annual Stand Up For Your Prostate campaign encourages men to be more open about their health and to speak to their GP about a PSA test when they turn 50, or 45 with a family history of prostate cancer.
P Chidambaram
New Delhi: Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram took to Twitter to question the sources of donations made to PM CARES Fund. In a series of tweets, the senior Congress leader asked why the names of these generous donors will not be revealed.
Chidambaram tweet
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He tweeted: The auditors of PM CARES FUND have confirmed that the Fund received Rs 3076 crore in just 5 days between March 26 and 31, 2020.
The senior Congress leader also asked, "Why are the trustees afraid to reveal the names of the donors".
P. ChidambaramThe PM CARES Fund revealed the voluntary contributions in a statement made public by the government. The audit statement only recorded donations between March 27 and March 31.
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The PM CARES Fund was set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the month of March along with Relief in Emergency Situations Fund. The objective behind the creation of the fund was to deal with distressful situations like the coronavirus pandemic. It is registered as a Public Charitable Trust.
Unquestionably, using a web browser like Google Chrome is the easiest way of accessing YouTube on a desktop or laptop.
While using the YouTube website you get access to all the important features like creator studio, picture-in-picture video, and the amazing dark mode.
Sadly, the YouTube website is not very well optimized for touch-screen Windows 10 devices. As a result, many users lookout for ways to download the YouTube app for PC.
In this article, we will tell you how to download the Youtube app on PC
Here is how you can download and install YouTube on Your Windows 10 PC.
How To Install YouTube On PC?
At the time of writing this article, theres no official YouTube app for Windows 10 on the Microsoft store or macOS. (YouTube App For Windows 11 Discussed In Later Section)
However, the Google Chrome web browser allows users to install the official YouTube website as a standalone app.
Once installed, you can tap the YouTube icon to directly launch YouTube on PC.
Follow these simple steps to install the YouTube app on your PC using Google Chrome.
Firstly open the official YouTube website i.e. youtube.com.
Next from the upper right corner press the Install YouTube button.
You can consider the aforementioned method as a shortcut to launch the YouTube website without opening Google Chrome first.
How To Download YouTube App For PC?
The YouTube app available on the Microsoft Store can only be installed on Xbox One and Xbox series X/S.
If you do a google search for YouTube App download For PC you will be shown the same Microsoft store link and it wont work on your Windows PC.
Consequently, theres only one method of installing the official Android APK file of YouTube and i.e. by using an Android emulator.
In our tests (conducted by team techworm), we derived the conclusion that Bluestacks is possibly the most reliable and well-optimized Android emulator that functions similarly to an Android smartphone.
So heres how you can download and install YouTube on PC using BlueStacks App Player.
Download the Bluestacks 5 emulator and install the .exe file on your computer.
emulator and install the file on your computer. Once installed sign in with your Google account on Bluestacks 5
Next up open Playstore and search YouTube
Download YouTube and the application will automatically install on your desktop.
Upon launching the YouTube app for the first time you will be either prompted to sign in using your Google account or Bluestacks will automatically complete this step. Using Bluestacks 5 you can even create a shortcut to quickly launch the YouTube application.
Apart from downloading the YouTube app from the Google Playstore, you can even manually install YouTube APK files on a PC. A similar process can be followed while installing YouTube on a macOS Big Sur desktop or laptop.
How To Use YouTube App For PC Without Bluestacks
Surely, Bluestacks 5 is a feature-rich Android emulator.
That said, it is not the most optimized emulator and it consumes a considerable amount of system resources. Additionally, it offers poor performance coupled with laggy experience on low-powered laptops and aging desktops.
So if you want to use YouTube on a Windows or macOS PC without Bluestacks then you can check out these alternate Android Emulators.
1. Nox App Player
The first best emulator to run YouTube apk on PC and a perfect alternative to Blustacks is Nox App Player. Similar to blue stacks, you can use the Nox App Player on both a Windows and macOS PC. This emulator offers one-click installation without any bloatware or third-party apps.
2. KO Player
KO Player is another reliable emulator for using the YouTube app on PC. Well, this emulator is ideal for playing games and running resource-intensive apps. Even though, YouTube is not a resource-intensive application you will still have a lag-free experience.
3. MEmu Play
MEmu Play is an Android 5.1 Lolipop-based Android emulator for Windows PC. The installation is quick and simple with no bloatware or third-party apps. One of the major highlights of MEmu Play is Key-Mapping.
How To Download YouTube App On Windows 11
Windows 11 has finally been launched by Microsoft. The new desktop OS comes with many new great features and one among them is native Android apps support.
This means you no longer need an emulator to download and install Android apps on a Windows 11 PC. You can easily download the official YouTube app from the Amazon Android app store.
Furthermore, you can even sideload and manually install the YouTube APK on your Windows 11 computer.
You can visit the website APKPure to acquire the APK file. Once downloaded simply install the APK on your PC and launch it like a normal Windows program.
Is there a YouTube app for Windows PC?
While there is no official Youtube app for Windows PC (running on Windows 10 or later), Linux or MAC there is an unofficial app developed by developers at ytdesktop.com that you can download.
However, we will not suggest our readers to download any unverified app, as it may contain harmful malware and you may end up losing your account after logging into the software.
Additionally, there are many websites that allow users to Download YouTube Videos On PC. Once again, stay away from them.
Download YouTube For Smartphones, Xbox, Playstation, And Nintendo Switch
You can use these links to directly download or update the YouTube application on your devices.
Download Youtube For Android
Download YouTube For iOS
Download YouTube For Xbox
Download YouTube For Playstation
Download YouTube For Nintendo Switch
Download YouTube APK File
CONCLUSION
Marquette Cos., a multifamily developer with two projects in Houstons urban core, has purchased land in the Near Northside for its third a five-story apartment complex along Little White Oak Bayou neighboring the White Oak Music Hall.
The company, based in suburban Chicago, bought approximately four acres from W2 Development Partners, whose principals also own of the music venue on at 2915 North Main Street. Some of the acreage had been used as parking for the concert hall, which has been closed due to the pandemic.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
Construction on the project is expected to start early next year. The building has been designed for roughly 250 apartments, including live/work units with a separate office and half bathroom.
Rents are still being determined, but Marquettes Chris Yuko said they will be lower than buildings downtown and in the Heights, areas with some of the highest rates in the city.
Despite a growing interest in single-family housing in the area and Metros light rail service being extended along North Main Street, the Near Northside has been slower to attract commercial development.
Weve been pretty consistent in being on the pioneering side of new areas, Yuko said.
Jeff Trevino, a Near Northside resident who lives close to the site and is on the leadership team of the neighborhoods civic club, said the developer offered to meet with the neighbors to discuss the project.
We plan to take him up on that, Trevino said, adding that some residents are more concerned than others. Generally, we are cautiously optimistic about having new neighbors.
Will Garwood of W2 Development said he expected the new apartments to be a catalyst for more development.
Were excited to see a great development coming to an area that we really believe in, Garwood said. He said the music hall would reopen and that he was optimistic that national touring will return next year.
Downtown is dead: How the pandemic turned the central business district into a ghost town
The Marquette property, at Keene and Boundary just east of Interstate 45, is in a qualified opportunity zone. Developers and investors who build in these communities or invest in businesses there can qualify for significant tax breaks.
The federal program was created as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and is meant to spur private investment in economically distressed communities.
Marquette is building another project in a part of Second Ward also designated as an opportunity zone. That 300-unit apartment building, at 2404 Navigation Blvd., is a partnership with Origin Investments, a Chicago-based investment firm with several opportunity zone funds.
The Near Northside complex will also be an opportunity zone project with an investment from a private family, Yuko said.
The new building will have similarities to the companys Navigation project, including wide, walkable sidewalks and space for retailers. It will have a rootfop pool where residents will be able to watch concerts at the music halls outdoor stage. The complex will be constructed around an interior parking garage.
Marquette also developed Catalyst Houston, a 28-story apartment tower near Minute Maid Park, in 2017.
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Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther costar Letitia Wright took to social media on Tuesday to recite a vibrant poem she penned in his memory following his tragic death last week from colon cancer at 43.
Wright, 26, narrated the moving piece of poetry amid a montage of images related to nature as well as shots of them together.
'I didnt know this is what I was waking up to, my brother, an angel on earth, departed,' Wright, who played King TChalla's sister Shuri in the hit 2018 film, said. 'A soul so beautiful, when you walked into a room, there was calm. You always moved with grace and ease. Every time I saw you, the world would be a better place.'
The latest: Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther costar Letitia Wright, 26, took to social media on Tuesday to recite a vibrant poem she penned in his memory following his tragic death last week from colon cancer at 43
The Georgetown, Guyana-born actress talked about her mourning since getting the unexpected news, as she reached out to him during his health battle, which was not made public.
'I wish I got to say goodbye,' Wright said. 'I messaged you a couple times, but I thought you were just busy. I didnt know you were dealing with so much. But against all the odds, you remained focused on fulfilling your purpose with the time handed to you.
'And Ill never forget the day that I met you, before I got on the plane to L.A. for my first meeting with you. God told me that you were my brother and that I am to love you as such, and I always did, and I always will.'
She continued: 'It is also written that all things are made new, there is light in the darkness.
A look vack: Wright who played King TChalla's sister Shuri in the hit 2018 film Black Panther
Wright, 26, narrated the moving piece of poetry amid a montage of images related to nature as well as shots of them together
The Georgetown, Guyana-born actress posted multiple tributes to her late friend and colleague
Streams of living water flow, giving new life. And all thats left now is for us to allow all the seeds that you have planted on the earth to grow, to blossom, to become even more beautiful. Youre forever in my heart.'
Following the announcement of Boseman's death, she wrote on the social media site, 'this hurts. really hurts.'
Boseman, also known for his work in movies like 42, Marshall, Get on Up and Draft Day, was diagnosed with stage three cancer in 2016, and underwent 'countless surgeries and chemotherapy' in his battle with the disease.
Precious memories: Wright shared images of herself with her late friend
'A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much,' his family said in a statement. 'It was the honor of his career to bring King TChalla to life in Black Panther.'
The actor, also known for his work in movies like Marshall, Get on Up and Draft Day, was diagnosed with stage three cancer in 2016, and underwent 'countless surgeries and chemotherapy' in his battle with the disease.
'A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much,' his family said in a statement. 'It was the honor of his career to bring King TChalla to life in Black Panther.'
Classic: Boseman played King TChalla in his most prominent film, Black Panther
Pioneer: The actor played Jackie Robinson in 42
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 12:53:04|Editor: huaxia
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Progressive Democratic Senator Ed Markey, who advocates combating climate change and passing the Green New Deal, defeated House Representative Joe Kennedy III in the Massachusetts Senate primary on Tuesday, showing the progressive strength that is reshaping the Democratic Party.
"Tonight is more than just a celebration of a movement. It is a real reaffirmation of the need to have a movement, a progressive movement of young people demanding radical change, demanding justice," Markey, 74, told supporters in his hometown of Malden.
The senator's campaign slogan read, "It's not your age -- it's the age of your ideas that's important." His rival Kennedy III is 39 years old.
Markey's primary win paves the way for his expected reelection in November against Republican Kevin O'Connor, The Hill reported.
The result marks the first loss by a Kennedy in a Massachusetts election, the report added. Enditem
Some 150,000 people died and millions were left homeless during the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia in clashes that started in Slovenia and then spread to Croatia and Bosnia and later to Kosovo. Former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic is generally blamed for stoking the bloodshed through a desire to create a Greater Serbia via the capture of nearby lands where Serbs lived.
UPDATE: CDC broadens eviction protections amid pandemic (CNN)
The first step toward evicting tenants for the first time since March began in earnest Tuesday across the Lehigh Valley, the day after a moratorium put in place by Gov. Tom Wolf months ago during the heart of the coronavirus pandemic expired.
By early Tuesday afternoon, 72 cases of landlords going after past-due rent and other costs arrived in district courts in Northampton County. At the same time, Lehigh County had 193 new cases, led by District Judge David M. Howells Jr. with 63. Many were filed by apartment management companies seeking totals well into the thousands of dollars.
Facebook removed a network of fake accounts and pages created by Russian operatives who had recruited U.S. journalists to write articles critical of Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, an apparent bid to undermine their support among liberal voters.
Facebook said it caught the network of 13 fake accounts and two pages early, before it had a chance to build a large audience - an action that the company said was evidence of its growing effectiveness at targeting foreign disinformation operations ahead of the 2020 election. The takedown emerged as a result of a tip from the FBI and was one of a dozen operations tied to the Russian Internet Research Agency or individuals affiliated with it that Facebook has disrupted since the last presidential election, when IRA-backed pages amassed millions of views on the platform. The pages had about 14,000 followers.
"They've gotten better at hiding who they are, but their impact has gotten smaller and smaller," Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of security policy, said of the foreign operations.
Facebook said Tuesday it separately took down a disinformation network associated with a Washington-based public relations firm that Facebook said had spent millions of dollars to target users in Latin America. Content included posts supporting the political opposition in Venezuela and Bolivia's interim government, as well as criticism of a Mexican political party, Facebook said.
In the case of the Russian disinformation network, Facebook said the operatives created fictitious personas on Facebook to direct people to a new site called Peace Data, which billed itself as a "global news organization" whose goal was "to shed light on the global issues and raise awareness about corruption, environmental crisis, abuse of power, armed conflicts, activism, and human rights."
One article posted on Facebook about the far-right militia movement known as the "boogaloo" movement featured a headline that read, "USA Far Right is Growing Thanks to President Trump," according to a report provided by Facebook.
A report Tuesday by Graphika, a network analysis firm based in New York that received the Facebook data in advance, found that the Russian effort was small but echoed past efforts to undermine support for Democratic Party candidates by appealing to left-wing U.S. voters. Among the targets were Biden and Harris, D-Calif., who were criticized by the phony network as immoral tools of political conservatives. Some posts also criticized Donald Trump, but the target audience in the United States was democratic socialists, environmentalists and disaffected Democrats, the report found.
Some of the fake content focused on racial justice and unrest in the United States since the killing of George Floyd in May. "The English-language content on Biden and Harris was noteworthy for its hostile tone," according to the Graphika report. "One article by a guest writer accused the pair of 'submission to right-wing populism [. . .] as much about preserving careers as it is winning votes.'"
"The operation seemed designed to divide Democratic supporters and to depress support for Biden and Harris," said Camille Francois, chief innovation officer for Graphika.
In 2016, Russian operatives from the Internet Research Agency ran widespread disinformation campaigns on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, garnering huge audiences with content that attempted to sow division among U.S. voters and bolster Trump's campaign for president. The technology platforms faced significant blowback from Congress and the public for failing to prevent foreign interference and since then have invested resources in countering such activity.
As the 2020 election draws near, experts say technology companies have become more skillful at getting ahead of foreign interference, even as the threat has broadened beyond Russia to countries such as China and Iran. But social media platforms are still rife with misinformation and abuse, often emerging from domestic actors that have caused false stories about current events to go viral.
Facebook said it plans to inform 200 or so journalists who were recruitedby the Russian operatives.
One of the journalists who wrote columns for Peace Data, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his career, said that an editor reached out to him through a direct message on Twitter in July offering $200 per article.
He pursued the opportunity in part because he had lost his job in the pandemic. He wrote articles about the conspiracy movement QAnon, covid, and on U.S. militarism driving climate change.
The co-option of unwitting locals is part of a growing strategy used by foreign disinformation operatives.
"Hiring people who are fluent in the language and culture avoids the kind of tells that can expose an operation," said Renee DiResta, technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, which has tracked the strategy.
Most of the content for Peace Data was in English, with 500 articles overall. About 5 percent were explicitly aimed at the U.S. election and candidates. There were also 200 articles in Arabic, Graphika found.
Disinformation researchers do not consider the Internet Research Agency, the St. Petersburg-based operation indicted by U.S. officials for interfering in the 2016 presidential election, as still functioning in the same way it did years ago. Researchers instead see numerous operations by Russian people and groups that appear to have some previous affiliation with the IRA, using an updated playbook that typically involves more targeted - but less viral - efforts to affect political debates and elections.
Avoiding detection is a key goal of these operations, experts say. Facebook and Twitter, for example, took action against a Russian-linked operation in March that worked with a nonprofit group in Ghana and sought to influence Black voters in the United States with targeted messages. The IRA in 2016, by contrast, pushed viral messaging on social media platforms designed to reach large numbers of voters based on political interests and affiliations. The Russian operations in 2016 paid for ads aimed at U.S. voters using rubles, the Russian currency, signaling a lack of concern regarding detection.
The public relations firm involved in the other takedown was CLS Strategies, Facebook said. Headquartered a few blocks from the White House, CLS previously advised foreign clients that used Facebook, according to news reports and its own website.
A CLS Strategies partner, Juan Cortinas, said in a statement, "CLS has a long tradition of doing international work, including on social media, to promote free and open elections and to oppose oppressive regimes, and we take seriously our commitment to adhering to the fast-evolving policies of Facebook and other social media platforms."
Cortinas declined to address additional questions about the nature of the firm's involvement.
Facebook's Gleicher said the effort involved 55 Facebook accounts, 42 Facebook pages and 36 accounts on photo-sharing subsidiary Instagram, targeting audiences in Venezuela, Mexico and Bolivia. Together these online information operations reached more than 550,000 users on the two social media sites and also involved $3.6 million in advertising.
LONDON, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To harbour a stronger relationship with nationals living abroad, the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis has approved the Diaspora Policy. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation, the Honourable Mark Brantley, said that the strategy was developed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and approved last month.
The Minister also commended Her Excellency Ambassador Sherry Tross, St. Kitts and Nevis' High Commissioner in Ottawa, Canada, and diasporic Kittitians and Nevisians for donating 3,000 kilograms of sanitising equipment like green-certified soaps, lotions, and disinfectants. The equipment was distributed across the islands to hospitals, medical centres, and nursing homes.
Mr Brantley also thanked the diaspora around the world and noted the importance of their support to the Federation: "It is important for us as Kittitians and Nevisians to recognise the critical relevance of our people who happened to live in other parts of the world," said Minister Brantley. "They are a critical part of us, they are us, and so, our Diaspora Policy will seek to guide our engagement with the diaspora so that they can continue to contribute to national development."
As the industry leader of Citizenship by Investment (CBI), a Programme that allows well-vetted individuals to invest in the country's socio-economic development in exchange for citizenship, St Kitts and Nevis prides itself on having nationals in every corner of the world. The Programme requires no language or travel prerequisites and permits the passing of the country's prestigious citizenship to future generations.
In a documentary by the Professional Wealth Management a Financial Times publication Mr Brantley said that CBI plays vital for the residents of the islands and the country's economy. St Kitts and Nevis' Poverty Alleviation Programme, funded by CBI, provides lower-income households with a monthly supplemental cheque. Several other social and infrastructural projects key to the islands' development are also made possible by the Programme.
The Programme's success is credited to its longevity, as St Kitts and Nevis operates the world's oldest economic citizenship programme. The Sustainable Growth Fund remains the fastest and most straightforward route to second citizenship. Once due diligence requirements are met, applicants can opt for an accelerated process which provides citizenship within 60 days. Thanks to Mr Brantley's efforts to better nation-to-nation relations, the twin-islands' passport permits visa-free or visa-on-arrival-to nearly 160 international destinations.
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FREDERICTON - New Brunswicks Progressive Conservatives delivered an election campaign announcement Wednesday about education, but not before Premier Blaine Higgs made a point of repeatedly crowing about his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The campaign for the Sept. 14 election, now in its third week, has featured the usual assortment of promises and rhetoric, but it has become clear the Tories want to focus voters attention on Higgs response to the viral scourge.
Higgs, who was leading a 23-month-old minority government when he called a snap election last month, reminded the crowd in Oromocto, N.B., that New Brunswick continues to have a low infection rate relative to most other provinces and is now leading the country in terms of an economic recovery.
Since the pandemic was declared, the province has reported 192 confirmed cases, marking the lowest number of COVID-19 infections in Canada, next to P.E.I. and the territories. Neighbouring Nova Scotia has five times as many confirmed cases at 1,085. Two New Brunswickers have died as a result of COVID-19 and there were only four active cases in the province as of Wednesday.
As Education Minister Dominic Cardy was about to announce that a Tory government would increase the wages of early childhood educators and expand a food program to every school, he made a point of focusing on Higgs leadership.
Weve seen that when a challenge was thrown in our direction that no one could have imagined happening ... weve seen a party and a government thats up to the job, Cardy said. Weve seen a party and a government able to take on a challenge ... and not just to do well, but to deliver a truly world-class result.
Higgs was introduced by the local Tory candidate, Mary Wilson, who cited comments made last week by the Bank of Montreals chief economist, who said New Brunswick was projected to outperform most provinces in 2021.
Wilson said that projected achievement was largely due to our premiers successful handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
In keeping with the theme, Higgs began his stump speech by noting the provinces real estate market was on the upswing, as was construction, renovations and tourism.
Higgs then suggested the province was also ahead of the curve in Canada when it came to education.
We are fortunate that we can safely reopen our schools when many other places around the world are still wondering what to do, he said, later noting that New Brunswick had closed its schools earlier than most other jurisdictions.
Earlier in the day, Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers promised his party would table a balanced budget no later than the third year of its mandate if elected to govern. He made the pledge while campaigning in St. Stephen, N.B., where he said the party would make fiscal responsibility a top priority.
The recovery is far from over, he said, attempting to cast a shadow over Higgs sunny assessments.
Vickers also took a swipe at Higgs, saying the Liberals would not adopt the Conservatives approach of balancing the budget on the backs of the provinces most vulnerable. The Liberal leader said Higgs intends to carry on with spending cuts that will hobble the provinces economic recovery.
Blaine Higgs wants you to think his plan has gone away. It hasnt.
In response, Higgs declined to say when his party would balance the books if it won the election. The Tory leader said the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic has put that kind of fiscal pledge out of reach.
He tried, however, to turn the tables on Vickers, asking the Liberal leader if he was willing to raise taxes to eliminate the provinces $300-million deficit, something Higgs has promised not to do.
Later in the day, Vickers told supporters in Saint John, N.B., he had no plans to raise taxes. And he again tried to counter Higgs leadership messaging with a dose of realism.
Blaine Higgs wants people to think things are back to normal, he said. We cant pretend everything is all right.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation issued a statement saying it was glad to see Vickers recognizes that one cant keep writing budgets with red ink forever.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Green party Leader David Coon issued a statement Wednesday announcing that a Green government would require the provinces Crown-owned utility, NB Power, to use 100 per cent renewable energy sources energy by 2035.
Coon said that was a realistic goal, considering the province could invest in vastly improved energy efficiency, wind energy, solar farms, storage technologies and long-term purchases of hydroelectric power from Quebec and Labrador.
Mr. Higgs and Mr. Vickers are clinging to their 20th-century ideas about energy as the climate crisis intensifies, Coon said. But, the path is clear ... (and) I know how to get us there.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2020.
By Michael MacDonald in Halifax
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Hungary said on Wednesday it had registered 365 new COVID-19 infections, its highest daily tally on record, as people return from summer holidays and the school year starts up, The Jakarta Post reports.
Hungary, with around 10 million people, weathered the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year with fewer infections than many European countries. The total number of cases, as of Wednesday, stood at 6,622, with 619 deaths. But even as most people with the disease have recovered, the number of active cases has risen over the past week or so from the hundreds to 2,100 on Wednesday, and experts have warned of a spike in infections in coming weeks as schools reopen.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has closed borders to foreign visitors, though it has exempted citizens of three neighboring central European nations - the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia - from the ban, provided they test negative for the virus beforehand.
Dr Sandhya Sriram (right) and Dr Ka Yi Ling (left) are the co-founders of Shiok Meats. (PHOTO: Shiok Meats)
SINGAPORE Shiok Meats, a homegrown start-up, plans to set up its first manufacturing plant in Singapore after its latest fundraising exercise in June brings it closer to the goal of commercialising the business in a couple of years.
The start-up, whose name means fantastic in local slang, in June raised US$3 million in a bridge funding round involving VegInvest, Impact Venture and Mindshift Capital Fund, bringing its total funding to date to US$7.6 million.
Founded in 2018, Shiok Meats is a cell-based clean meat company and claims to be the first of its kind in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
The co-founders Sandhya Sriram and Ka Yi Ling are stem cell scientists who worked at Singapores Agency for Science, Technology and Research before they gave up their jobs to become entrepreneurs.
In 2015, I first came across cell-based meats and ever since have been obsessed with it. I did a deep dive into the field and in 2018, decided to take the plunge, said Sriram in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance.
I have been a vegetarian all my life due to the unethical and unsustainable aspects of the meat and seafood industry and Ka has been constantly reducing her consumption of meats and seafood. We decided to contribute to the food industry using stem cell technology to provide sustainable options, she elaborated.
Cell-based meats are meats or seafood that are grown from stem cells instead of killing animals. It is sustainable, ethical and clean without overuse of antibiotics or hormones, no viral or bacterial diseases, the 34-year-old entrepreneur said. These are not artificial, fake or synthetic meats as they are the same as real meat but are health-, animal- and environment-friendly, she added.
The cells are obtained from a small sample of shrimps or other crustaceans and grown in a nutrient-rich broth which includes a mixture of amino acids, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins and trace elements. When the cells have grown to a large enough mass, they are ready to be harvested and used in a variety of delicious dishes.
Story continues
It is different from Impossible Foods and Beyond Meats as these plant-based meat is made from plant products such as pea protein and soy protein, while cell-based meat is made from cells derived from the animal itself.
Demand for meat substitutes is growing and is expected to reach US$8.1 billion by 2026 from US$4.1 billion in 2017, according to a report by Allied Market Research.
Shiok Meats previously revealed that its aiming to sell its first product in Singapore by 2022. At the R&D stage which have proved successful, the company estimates that it made a kilogram of shrimp meat for somewhere around US$5,000.
With further investment in research and development to reduce cell culture media costs, the company aims to bring that cost down to US$50 a kilogram, Sriram said.
(Source: Shiok Meats)
Sriram shares some of her thoughts on the entrepreneurship process:
What made you and your co-founder take the plunge?
My personal experience and education is in stem cells, and I wanted to produce clean, healthy and environment-friendly seafood using stem cells. I have been working with various types of stem cells from different animals right from my under graduation, through my Masters, PhD and postdoctoral research work.
In 2018, I decided to take a stance, quit my job and take the biggest risk of my career and life but it paid off with starting Shiok Meats. And my co-founder, Ka Yi, came along this crazy journey with me.
Ka is also a stem cell and development scientist with over 10 years of experience in the field. We both knew each other for a couple of years working in the same organisation.
What difficulties and hurdles did you face in setting up the venture?
As with every startup, ours also has faced numerous challenges right from finding lab space, to hiring to fund raising. But we kept going at it and did not give up. We are currently in R&D and will commercialise in 2022.
How do you address concerns from consumers about cell-cultured meat?
We do a lot of consumer education by speaking at events, conferences, publishing articles and sharing on social media.
We have been working on cell-based shrimp for the past few years. Our Shiok shrimp tastes like conventional shrimp. Since the cells are isolated from shrimps, they taste exactly the same as traditionally farmed or fished shrimp.
What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs who want to leave their jobs to form their own venture?
Go for it! If you do not try, you will never know. If you fail, it is okay try again or you can always go back to a job.
My advice to those looking to start something up in the cell-based meats sector is do not start another cell-based meat or seafood company. Instead start a media, bioreactor, growth factor company that can support existing cell-based meat companies to come to market as soon as possible.
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Courtesy of Katy ISD
Forbes has ranked Katy Independent School District as the second best employer in Texas, making it the only school district to fall in the top 25 listings.
The foundation of our districts success is the talent, dedication and hard work of our teachers, staff and school community all of whom contribute to supporting and educating our nearly 84,000 students, every day of the school year, said Katy ISD Superintendent Ken Gregorski. As superintendent of this great school district I am honored to be working alongside such an outstanding team.
LONDON, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Daniel Kilger is a pioneer of revolutionary techniques and concepts, who at a young age is on a mission to change the world. Now the innovator and entrepreneur has won two Business Worldwide Magazine (BWM) 2020 CEO Awards, being named 'Healthcare Start-up CEO of the Year - Germany' and 'Growth Strategy CEO of the Year - Germany'.
The aim of the Awards is to identify and honour the Most Respected C-level executives across the globe from a variety of different sectors. Unlike many business awards that focus on the overall companies' success, instead the spotlight is individuals who make them tick- namely senior executives such as CEOs, Managing Directors, Directors and senior-level management. The intention is to give worthy individuals the recognition they deserve, using their example to inspire others to achieve similar success.
Modern technology provides a constant connection to new customer bases, facilitating communication all over the world, and entrepreneurship and innovation are both key to the marketplaces of tomorrow.Daniel Kilger, the pioneer behind Start up SAFARI - Munich, and new health tech company Smokeless - welcomes these emerging opportunities with open arms. In an interview with Business Worldwide Magazine, he spoke about his passion for technology, entrepreneurial spirit and what the CEO Awards mean to him .
Daniel developed and launched his own social media platform at the tender age of fourteen. It was a huge success in his region, informing people of events in the local area and enabling them to communicate and exchange ideas about the different social activities available to them. Since then, he hasn't stopped working and coming up with new ideas, keeping networking at the heart of everything he does.
Daniel believes that communication is an essential ingredient to achieving business success. Upon graduating, he established an international academic partnership, encouraging students from his Munich university to partner in networking collaboration with students from a partner university in the USA. His passion for building business ecosystems and providing assistance to the next generation of start-ups in Munich, led him to initiate the Munich based Startup SAFARI. In under two years, it has become a prominent door opener for aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs, encouraging others to achieve their full potential.
Daniel promotes equality, providing a safe and productive environment for everyone regardless of gender, age, race, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity or religion. He champions a harassment-free space designed to encourage entrepreneurship and foster long lasting bonds. He is also a big believer in cutting through red tape, working with companies and regulatory bodies to promote a more user friendly approach to start-ups.
His latest venture is Smokeless - a disruptive technology which aims to change the world for good by providing an easy way for people to stop smoking. Every five seconds one person dies from smoking related illnesses, but despite the risks a huge 96% of smokers fail to quit. Smokeless has been developed with smart algorithms, providing tailor made programmes for each individual, rather than offering a 'one size fits all' approach.
As Smokeless challenges the status quo, Daniel is placing himself as a pioneer within the realm of transforming health. He told BWM that the key to his success is determination and the strength to follow his own path. "Create your own journey...don't try to fit into a mould created by society to meet generic goals. Each journey is different, designed to be travelled at its own pace. To all students graduating in this surreal time, don't be afraid to build your own path and follow your own instincts. This can be your time." he said.
Further information about Smokeless can be found at https://smokeless.world/
An article on Daniel Kilger can be found on the BWM website: https://www.bwmonline.com/2020/08/17/daniel-kilger-pioneer-innovator-and-entrepreneur/
Further information about the Business Worldwide Magazine CEO Awards 2020 visit https://www.bwmonline.com/awards/ceo-awards-2020-winners/
About Business Worldwide Magazine
Business Worldwide Magazine is the leading source of business and dealmaker intelligence throughout the world. Our quarterly magazine and online news portal enables an established audience of corporate dealmakers to track the latest news, stories and developments affecting the international markets, corporate finance, business strategy and changes in legislation. This readership includes of CEO/CFO - Banks, Corporate Lawyers and Venture Capital/Private Equity Companies to name a few.
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The second and final phase of the WCO Asia/Pacific Security Project (APSP) concluded on 31 August 2020 after 17 months of successful implementation. The Government of Japan provided funding to the tune of USD 500,000 for this second phase, which commenced in April 2019. The aim of the project was to ensure sustainability of the activities, training and equipment provided under the Programme Global Shield (PGS) and Passenger Controls initiatives during Phase 1 of the Asia/Pacific Security Project, which concluded on 30 June 2019.
During the initial phase of the project, the WCO provided Customs administrations of the region with 65 Raman spectrometers and 19 backscatter x-ray machines. In addition, passenger targeting systems were implemented in two countries, and a wide range of training and operational activities were conducted in nine partner countries across the Asia/Pacific region. The second phase of the project focused primarily on sustaining the operational activities in the nine Southeast Asian countries, but also on expanding and integrating PGS activities into South Asia.
Over the past few months, the project has been addressing the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated travel restrictions. During this time, the project team has adapted the training materials to an online learning environment and developed innovative training methods that combine online training with real-time remote demonstrations. Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary General, described the APSP as a Great success, highlighting how well the Asia/Pacific Security Project managed to support the WCO Members in the region and effectively contributed to enhancing the national and international security capabilities to combat the movements across borders of foreign terrorist fighters and components used in the manufacture of improvised explosive devices.
Six national PGS training events were delivered to 147 Customs officers from seven countries under the project. A landmark event was the PGS training course organized for the first time in the Maldives, with Afghan Customs officers attending the training sessions together with Maldives Customs officers and other law enforcement officials. The techniques learned during the training course were put into practice during two multilateral PGS operations jointly coordinated by the project and INTERPOL. The involvement of both the WCO and INTERPOL in the operations planning phase resulted in strengthened law enforcement collaboration during the execution of the operations, which in turn led to the success of the operations.
Furthermore, 99 participants also benefited from four national Passenger Controls training courses, with three of them delivered virtually after the COVID-19-related travel restrictions entered into force in most targeted countries. The project also assisted with the implementation of the WCO Global Travel Assessment System (GTAS) in the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic and Cambodia.
The WCO Security Programme will continue to support WCO Members in the region in implementing effective passenger control measures as well as Programme Global Shield and broader Customs security-related activities. For more information on the WCO Security Programme, please contact us at WCOSecurityProgramme@wcoomd.org.
The Cheshire Public Schools have announced its policy for determining eligibility of children who may receive free or reduced-price meals served under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP).
Local school officials have adopted the United States Department of Agricultures (USDA) Income Eligibility Guidelines (IEGs) for family size and income criteria for determining eligibility. The following income guidelines will be used in Connecticut from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, for determining eligibility of participants for free and reduced-price meals and free milk in the Child Nutrition Programs.
The income calculations are based on the following formulas:
monthly income is calculated by dividing the annual income by 12;
twice monthly income is computed by dividing annual income by 24;
income received every two weeks is calculated by dividing annual income by 26; and
weekly income is computed by dividing annual income by 52.
All numbers are rounded upward to the next whole dollar.
Children from families whose income is at or below the levels shown are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Families should apply online at My School Apps or www.myschoolapps.com/Home/DistrictRedirect/CHESHIRE_CT. Application forms are not being sent home. To apply for free or reduced-price meals or free milk, households should fill out the application and return it to the school. Families must apply online or obtain a hard copy from the main office of the school or the kitchen. Meal applications may also be printed from the Food and Nutrition Website, www.cheshire.k12.ct.us/district-departments/foods--nutrition/free-and-reduced-meals
Only one application is required per household and an application for free or reduced-price benefits cannot be approved unless it contains complete eligibility information as indicated on the application and instructions.
The information provided on the application is confidential and will be used only for the purposes of determining eligibility and for administration and enforcement of the lunch and breakfast programs. Additionally, all school-aged children in income-eligible households can receive school meal benefits regardless of a childs immigration status, and the district/school does not release information for immigration-related purposes in the usual course of operating the CNPs. Note that the district may share your eligibility information with education, health, and nutrition programs to help them evaluate, fund, or determine benefits for their programs, auditors for program reviews, and law enforcement officials to help them look into violations of program rules. This information may also be verified at any time during the school year by school or other program officials. Applications may be submitted at any time during the year.
For up to 30 operating days into the new school year, eligibility from the previous year will continue within the same local educational agency (LEA). When the carry-over period ends, unless the household is notified that their children are directly certified or the household submits an application that is approved, the children must pay full price for school meals and the school will not send a reminder or a notice of expired eligibility.
No application is required if the district directly certifies a child based on a household member receiving assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Temporary Family Assistance (TFA) program. All children in these households are eligible for free meal benefits. Households receiving assistance under the SNAP/TFA programs will be notified of their eligibility and their children will be provided free benefits unless the household notifies the determining official that it chooses to decline benefits.
If any children were not listed on the eligibility notice, the household should contact the district or school to have free meal benefits extended to those children. Households receiving SNAP or TFA benefits for their children should only submit an application if they are not notified of their eligibility by Sept. 8.
Some children may be directly certified for free or reduced-price meals based on Medicaid (HUSKY). No application is required if the district directly certifies a child based on Medicaid (HUSKY). All children in these households are eligible for free or reduced-priced meal benefits. Households receiving assistance under Medicaid (HUSKY) will be notified of their eligibility and their children will be provided free or reduced-price benefits accordingly, unless the household notifies the determining official that it chooses to decline benefits. If any children were not listed on the eligibility notice, the household should contact the district or school to have free or reduced-price meal benefits extended to those children.
If a child is not directly certified, the household should complete a free and reduced-price meal application form. The application for the SNAP or TFA households require the SNAP or TFA case number and the households may be asked to provide proof of the SNAP or TFA case number.
The signature of an adult household member is also required.
Children in households participating in WIC may be eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Please send in an application or contact the determining official for more information.
When known to the district/school, households will be notified of any childs eligibility for free meals if the individual child is Other Source Categorically Eligible because the child is categorized as either:
Homeless; runaway as defined by law and determined by the districts or schools homeless liaison; or enrolled in an eligible Head Start or pre-kindergarten class as defined by law. Households with children who are categorically eligible under Other Source Categorically Eligible Programs should complete an application and check-off the relevant box. Questions should be directed to the determining official. For any child not listed on the eligibility notice, the households should contact the school or determining official about any child also eligible under one of these programs or should submit an income application for the other children.
Households notified of their childrens eligibility must contact the determining official or school if it chooses to decline the free meal benefits. If households/children are not notified by the district/school of their free meal benefits and they receive benefits under Assistance Programs or under Other Source Categorically Eligible Programs, the parent/guardian should contact the determining official or their school.
Foster children that are under the legal responsibility of a foster care agency or court, are categorically eligible for free meals. A foster parent does not have to complete a free/reduced meal application if they can submit a copy of the legal document or legal court order showing that the child is a foster child.
Additionally, a foster child may be included as a member of the foster family if the foster family chooses to also apply for benefits. If the foster family is not eligible for free or reduced-price meal benefits, it does not prevent a foster child from receiving free meal benefits.
Note however, that a foster childs free eligibility does not automatically extend to all students in the household.
Application forms for all other households require a statement of total household income, household size and names of all household members. The last four digits of the social security number of an adult household member must be included or a statement that the household member does not have one. The adult household member must also sign the application certifying that the information provided is correct.
Under the provisions of the policy for determining eligibility for free and reduced-price meals, Madeleine C. Diker, Food and Nutrition Services Director, mdiker@cheshire.k12.ct.us, will review applications and determine eligibility. If a parent is dissatisfied with the ruling of the determining official, he/she may wish to discuss the decision with the determining official on an informal basis. If he/she wishes to make a formal appeal, a request either orally or in writing, may be made to Jeffrey Solan, Ed.D., Superintendent of Cheshire Public Schools, 29 Main Street, Cheshire, CT 06410, (203) 250-2400, for a hearing to appeal the decision.
The policy contains an outline of the hearing procedure. Each school and the central office of the school district has a copy of the policy, which may be reviewed by an interested party.
If a household member becomes unemployed or if household size changes at any time, the family should contact the school to file a new application. Such changes may make the children of the household eligible for reduced-price meals, free meals, or free milk, if the family income falls at or below the levels shown in the Income Guidelines.
Questions regarding the application process may be directed to the determining official at (203) 250-2459.
Vienna: Austria will file charges against a person who has confessed to spying for Turkey's secret service, and authorities are investigating more suspected espionage activities, its interior minister said, warning Turkey this would not be tolerated.
"This is about an exertion of influence by a foreign power in Austria and this will in no way be accepted," Karl Nehammer told a news conference on Tuesday.
Vienna, Austria was a hotspot for spies during the Cold War.
Turkey rejected the espionage accusations as "baseless."
There were clear indications of Turkish influence in Austria, said the director general for public safety, Franz Ruf. The new findings came following extensive investigations by Austrian police after violent clashes between Turkish and Kurdish groups in Vienna in June.
Police officials, all over the world, always stay ready to answer the call of duty. They also go above and beyond their roles to help someone or simply make a kids day. This tale, which is both sweet and heartening, is a perfect example. It showcases how a police department took it upon themselves to make a helicopter loving four-year-old smile.
National Police Air Service, which provides support to air forces across England and Wales, took to Twitter to share the story and a video which is now tugging at the heartstrings of many. Chances are itll have the same effect on you too.
The video shows the kid, holding a model helicopter in his hand, excitedly looking at a real one.
The kid, identified as Callum McKinney, went to edge of Hawarden Airport in Flintshire to see helicopters, his favourite aircraft, reports the BBC. When the police pilots spotted the boy, they decided to do something amazing and hover around while sounding the siren.
Shout out to Callum aged 4. We think your helicopter is brilliant and we hope you liked our sirens! they department wrote while sharing the clip.
Take a look at the video which is absolutely adorable to watch:
Shout out to Callum aged 4. We think your helicopter is brilliant and we hope you liked our sirens! ^AR pic.twitter.com/IDkW0rIhy3 NPAS North West Region (@NPASNorthWest) August 31, 2020
Since being shared, the video has gathered over 2.1 lakh views - and the numbers are only increasing. It has also amassed more than 12,000 likes and close to 1,200 retweets. The share also received tons of comments from people.
Can I ask why a helicopter has sirens? (Not complaining, genuinely curious.) asked a Twitter user. To which, the department answered, Theyre mainly an attention grabber, if people (including kids) go missing we can alert the public and sky shout a description of said missing person. Surprised, another user of the micro-blogging site joined the conversation with this comment:
Hold on, so choppers genuinely have sirens?? This is the funniest thing ever!! You should play them when someone is running through the countryside B'ham News Photos (@BrumNewsPhotos) September 1, 2020
Omg this is amazing! My daughter (turns 4 tomorrow) thinks the police copter is ace, expressed a Twitter user. Heres how others reacted:
This is amazing!!!! It stopped for my little boy a few weeks ago and all hes gone on about is how the police man waved to him outside the helicopter xx pic.twitter.com/spAWIgH4C6 Louise Catton (@Louisejones283) August 31, 2020
So much love for this UK Cop Humour (@UKCopHumour) September 1, 2020
What a lovely thing to do, bet Callum was thrilled to see the real police helicopter and showing you his helicopter! People don't see this side of policing it needs to be put out there more! What stars they were for doing that!x Sue Wright (@RagsMitzi) August 31, 2020
We don't deserve you my heart just melted. I also didn't know the helicopter had sirens!! Katie (@KatieJay_94) August 31, 2020
What do you think of the video?
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Germany's VDZ extends cautious outlook
ICR Newsroom By 02 September 2020
Speaking about the development of the German cement market, Christian Knell, president of Germany's cement association VDZ, says "It has rarely been so difficult to make a forecast as it is this year.
Since March 2020 the coronavirus pandemic has created a great deal of uncertainty amongst most people and companies in this country. So far the cement manufacturers have had no grounds for complaint, not least because favourable weather conditions helped the cement market to get off to a good start in 2020.
"Despite the lockdown coming into effect in March, the demand for cement was upheld by the continuation of work on construction sites also thanks to the quick action taken by the government, says Mr Knell, looking back on the situation.
For 2020 VDZ expects cement consumption in Germany to remain stable at around last years level of approximately 28.7Mt thanks to an excellent start to the year and a higher number of delivery days. However, the coronavirus pandemic is likely to dampen the demand for construction work and cement from the last quarter of 2020. This is already starting to show in the official statistics in the form of lower levels of incoming orders and granted building permits, says Mr Knell.
VDZ is also uncertain about how the demand for construction work might develop in the year 2021. "We are expecting more cautious activity compared to 2020, according to the VDZ president. A lot of businesses and local authorities are likely to postpone or even cancel planned new construction projects on account of the gloomy budget situation. Less demand for private housing construction is also expected, not least due to uncertainty in the employment market.
However, the stimulus pledges made by the German government are expected to provide a positive impulse in the form of federal infrastructure projects or the construction of multi-family housing, for example. Therefore, VDZ forecasts a 3-5 per cent drop in demand for cement in 2021 compared to 2020. Christian Knell remains nevertheless in a positive mood: "Based on the overall level of the past few years this still leaves us in a good position."
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Kashmir: Atleast four Lashkar-e-Taiba terror associates arrested by Budgam police in a joint operation with Army's 53 Rashtriya Rifles, during a cordon and search operation in Pethkoot area of Beerwah at Budgam. The police apprehended the terror associates with arms and ammunition and some incriminating material was also recovered.
They have been identified as Shakil Ahmad Wani, Showkat Ahmad both residents of Pethkot Beerwah, while the others are Aqib Maqbool Khan of Chedbug Budgam and Ajaz Ahmad Dar of Cherwani Chrarsharief
This group has been associated with the banned terror organisation LeT and was involved in providing shelter and logistical support to active terrorists in the area.
During a search operation, some ammunition including Ak-47 rounds (24), 5 detonators and other incriminating material has also been recovered from them.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Indian Army busted multiple hideouts along the Line of Control (LoC) and recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition from well-concealed locations in two hideouts in Rampur sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district.
According to reports, an extensive search operation was conducted after troops detected movement of suspicious people, who reportedly crossed into Indian territory. Due to terrain of thick foliage and weather conditions, an alert for likely infiltration attempt was sounded.
Sources said the modus operandi behind the presence of arms and ammunition in the area was to drop warlike stores in caches near the LOC so that over-ground workers or terrorists would pick the same for further transportation into the hinterland for terror activities. It also shows desperate attempts by Pakistan-based terror groups to infiltrate weapons into Jammu and Kashmir.
Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have developed a prototype of a rapid COVID-19 test using a simple-to-use portable instrument for reading the results with a smartphone in 30 minutes, an innovation that may enable point-of-care diagnosis without needing to send samples to a lab.
According to the study, published in the journal PNAS, the new technology may help overcome bottlenecks in supplies and laboratory personnel which have led to long waiting times for COVID-19 test results in several parts of the world amidst the ongoing pandemic.
If such a device and test were available, we could test for COVID-19 at public events, auditoriums, large gatherings and potentially even at home for self-testing. The results could be sent back to the appropriate public health system for coordination," said Rashid Bashir, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in the US.
In one of the common methods to test for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, healthcare workers take a sample from patients with a long nasopharyngeal swab, which is put into a substance called viral transport media, and send to a lab for extracting, isolating, and multiplying the viral genetic material, the scientists said.
This viral RNA multiplication process, called RT-PCR, requires several temperature fluctuation cycles, specialised equipment, and trained personnel, said Brain Cunningham, another co-author of the study.
In the current research, the scientists used a simpler process to analyse the viral transport media, called LAMP, which bypasses the RNA extraction and purification steps.
LAMP only needs one temperature 65 C so it is much easier to control," said Anurup Ganguli, the first author of the study.
Also, LAMP works more robustly than PCR, especially when there are contaminants in the test sample. We can just briefly heat the sample, break open the virus, and detect the genetic sequence that specifically identifies SARS-CoV-2," Ganguli said.
When the researchers compared the LAMP assay with PCR, they found the results were in agreement, following which they documented the sensitivity and specificity of the LAMP test.
The scientists then incorporated the assay onto a small 3D-printed cartridge that has two input slots for syringes one for the sample-containing viral transport media, one for the LAMP chemicals.
Once the two syringe components are injected, they the react within the cartridge, the study noted.
We use modern, high speed additive manufacturing to make these cartridges. The entire thing can be quickly scaled up to hundreds of thousands of tests," said Bill King, another co-author of the study from the University of Illinois.
Production scale-up is typically the biggest obstacle for commercial applications of microfluidic cartridges, and we can overcome that obstacle using this new approach. Modern additive manufacturing is elastic and scalable, and it can be ramped up very quickly compared with legacy manufacturing technologies," King said.
According to the researchers, the cartridge can be inserted into a hand-held portable instrument with a heating chamber, which heats the cartridge to 65 degrees Celsius for the duration of the reaction, and a smartphone cradle is in place for reading the results.
In approximately 30 minutes, a positive result will emit fluorescent light, they said.
The reader illuminates the liquid compartments with light from blue LEDs, while the phones rear-facing camera records a movie of the green fluorescent light being generated," Cunningham explained.
The scientists noted that they are currently assessing whether the assay would work with saliva samples to eliminate the need for nasopharyngeal swabs.
TDT | Manama
Information Minister and Bahrain Institute for Political Development (BIPD) Board of Trustees chairman Ali bin Mohammed Al Rumaihi underscored the institutes achievements amid the exceptional circumstances of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. He pointed out the ongoing Implementation of programmes aimed at backing national efforts to curtail the impact of the pandemic.
The minister was speaking as he chaired yesterday, through the visual communication technology, the third regular meeting of the BIPD board, in the presence of board members and the institutes executive director. Discussions focused on previous achievements and the institutes remaining programmes for this year.
The board members praised the institutes previous accomplishments despite the exceptional circumstances, pointing out the implementation of 45 functions which benefited 4,577 participants from all components of Bahraini society.
The meeting also cast light on the programmes carried out to boost political awareness among citizens, according to the provisions of the constitution and the National Action Charter, and to provide support to parliamentary and municipal work in the Kingdom.
The BIPD board reviewed the mechanisms followed by the institute in implementing programmes through the use of modern technology, in tune with the decisions of the coordination committee, led by HRH the Crown Prince and the precautionary measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The board also reviewed programmes the institute intends to carry out in light of its plan for the next phase, which include training and awareness activities for targetted groups.
T he widow of Pc Andrew Harper has said she was encouraged by a meeting with Priti Patel over a campaign for a new law she hopes will be a fitting legacy to the late police officer.
Newly-married Thames Valley Police officer Pc Harper was killed on August 15 last year by Henry Long, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, who were convicted of manslaughter last month but cleared of murder.
Long was jailed for 16 years and Bowers and Cole for 13 years. The Attorney General has referred the sentences to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
His widow Lissie Harper, 29, is now calling for anyone guilty of killing an emergency services worker due to a criminal act to be jailed for life, with mandatory minimum terms.
Lissie Harper, the widow of Pc Andrew Harper, alongside Justice Secretary Robert Buckland (second left), Sgt Andy Fiddler, Thames Valley Police Federation (left), and Home Secretary Priti Patel (right) / PA
After speaking with Ms Patel and Justice Secretary Robert Buckland about her campaign on Wednesday, Ms Harper said: "They spoke and listened well today and I am pleased to say they promised to work with us and support us in achieving our goal of providing justice to families of emergency services workers and stiffer and more appropriate sentences for those who take their lives.
"We know this won't happen overnight and now wait for the next steps.
"We need change. I will not allow this to be kicked into the long grass. We need to properly protect our protectors. And I promise I won't be shying away from the limelight to keep the pressure on those in power to make this happen.
The widow explained that she believes changing the law would be a fitting legacy to her partner.
Pc Andrew Harper on his wedding day / PA
Ms Harper, who has said that "everything in my life is different now", had been married to her 28-year-old husband for just four weeks when he was dragged behind a car and killed responding to a burglary in August last year.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Home Secretary Ms Patel and Justice Secretary Mr Buckland praised Ms Harper for her "extaordinary" courage.
They said: "PC Andrew Harper was a hero whose loss has been felt across the country - but mostly by his wife, family and friends.
"We were pleased to sit down with Lissie today. She is extraordinarily courageous and her dedication to honouring her husband's memory is commendable."
Ms Harper added: "Being here at the Home Office and meeting with key members of the Government is a great accomplishment for the campaign. But this is not the end of the road - this is the start of the journey to achieving Harper's Law. I will keep going. I will continue to channel my grief to campaign for Harper's Law, she said.
"The people of Britain are tired of witnessing the leniency of our courts against the evil in our society.
"The support that we continue to receive from hundreds of thousands of people just highlights the disapproval and outrage over these injustices we all are made to accept
The young policeman was honoured by his colleagues at a memorial / Getty Images
"Let's get this changed. This would be a fitting legacy to Andrew."
The Thames Valley Police Federation, posted on Facebook following the meeting, writing that Ms Harper was encouraged, hopeful and more determined than ever after the meeting.
The post stated that Ms Harper had described a positive and very constructive 45-minute meeting, at which she had been accompanied by Sgnt And Fiddler on behalf of the Police Federation of England and Wales, Mr Harpers former employer.
A petition for the new law has already attracted more than 650,000 signatures.
A policeman was left with blood gushing from his head and shoulder after a man allegedly slashed him with a knife during a midnight arrest.
A Lakemba man, 32, allegedly attacked two police officers with a knife and bit another on York Street in the Sydney CBD at 12.20 am on Wednesday.
Police were called after the man allegedly harassed a food delivery rider on George Street, which is one of the busiest streets in the city centre.
Officers then approached the man as he was walking along the nearby York Street, which is when he allegedly pulled out a knife and started attacking them.
A policeman (pictured), 40, was allegedly slashed in the head and shoulder by a Lakemba man, 32, on York Street in the Sydney CBD at 12:20am on Wednesday
A male senior constable, 40, was slashed across his head and shoulder while his male acting sergeant, 39, was slashed on the hand.
Meanwhile, a male probationary constable, 20, was bitten on his tricep.
The 32-year-old man was then disarmed and arrested, before being taken to St Vincents Hospital for assessment.
Pictures from after the attack show blood pouring from the senior constable's head, covering most of his face.
A bite mark and blood can also be seen on the youngest officer's tricep.
The injured officers were also taken to St Vincents Hospital, where the 40-year-old officer underwent treatment for lacerations on the left side of his head and another on his upper arm and shoulder.
The injured officers were also taken to St Vincents Hospital, where the 40-year-old officer (pictured)underwent treatment for lacerations on the left side of his head and another on his upper arm and shoulder area
Meanwhile, the 39-year-old was treated for a laceration to his finger and a knee injury and the youngest officer was treated for his bite.
The alleged attacker was taken to Day Street Police Station following his discharge from hospital.
He has now been charged with cause wounding/grievous bodily harm to person with intent to murder, wound person with intent to resist/prevent arrest, assault police officer in execution of duty cause actual bodily harm and resist or hinder police officer in the execution of duty.
The man has been refused bail to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday.
(Natural News) As Kenosha, Wisconsin burns to the ground following the police shooting of criminal thug Jacob Blake, Gov. Tony Evers has clearly indicated that he stands not with innocent, law-abiding citizens, but with Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa terrorists.
Rather than express support for 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who was violently attacked by protesters while trying to protect local businesses and provide EMT assistance, Evers told the world during a recent press conference that he stands in solidarity with the pedophile and domestic abuser who attacked Rittenhouse.
We have a strong belief in this state and across the nation that we can walk around with guns if we want to, and I personally wouldnt do that, and I personally dont feel really comfortable with hundreds of people walking around with long guns, a masked Evers told the press, condemning Rittenhouse and the other patriots who are risking their lives to protect the innocent.
As for the Second Amendment in general, Evers does not approve of it, but admits that it is part of our Constitution. At the same time, Evers wants to ensure that people like Rittenhouse are not allowed to exercise it and cause harm like they did.
And frankly, when the Second Amendment butts up against the First Amendment, my recommendation is simple: Stay home, Evers further indicated, lending his support to the BLM and Antifa terrorists who are burning down Kenosha, destroying businesses, attacking innocent lives, and creating total anarchy in the name of social justice.
Will Wisconsinites rise up to remove these two traitors from office?
Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, an apparent affirmative action hire, agrees. Like Evers, he spewed a pack of lies, to quote Big League Politics Shane Trejo, during the same press conference, completely ignoring the reality that BLM and Antifa terrorists have been, and continue to be, the aggressors in each and every situation that results in violence and tragedy.
We dont need an investigation to know that Blakes shooting falls in a long and painful pattern of violence, and this is a pattern of violence that happens against black lives too often across this country, Barnes, a black man himself, confessed concerning his rejection of due process.
Anyone who watched the video of Blake getting shot can clearly see that the violent felon was reaching into a vehicle for a weapon, disobeying police officers who repeatedly told him to stop what he was doing for his own safety. Consequently, Blake was shot, which is his own fault.
But according to Evers and Barnes, Blake is automatically the victim in this case because his skin is black, while the skin of the people who shot him is lighter. This, according to Democrats, proves that it was an act of racism and injustice, completely warranting the total destruction of Kenosha at the hands of rioters and looters.
Barnes went on to twist the Rittenhouse encounter as well, alleging that two protesters, a pedophile and a domestic abuser, were tragically killed while another was injured by gunshots. Barnes also lied about Rittenhouse being an outside agitator, when he was actually present to provide aid and support in protecting the city of Kenosha from the rioters.
Everybody has to recognize the pain of those who are protesting, Barnes went on to state. You should do what you have to do to end systemic racism and the systemic violence that happens every day in this city, in this state, in this country, all over.
It is clear, at this point, that both Evers and Barnes need to go. They obviously prefer to side with criminals rather than law-abiding citizens, which represents a threat to every Wisconsinite, as well as every decent American.
For more related news, be sure to check out CivilWar.news.
Sources for this article include:
BigLeaguePolitics.com
NaturalNews.com
Novichok, a Soviet-era chemical weapon, was used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom.
Tests performed on samples taken from prominent Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny showed the presence of the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, the German government said.
Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a statement on Wednesday testing by a special German military laboratory had shown proof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group.
It is a dismaying event that Alexey Navalny was the victim of an attack with a chemical nerve agent in Russia, Seibert said. The German government condemns this attack in the strongest terms. The Russian government is urgently requested to provide clarifications over the incident.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was not informed of the German findings and had no such data, the TASS news agency reported.
But the German chancellor did not mince words.
This is disturbing information about the attempted murder through poisoning against a leading Russian opposition figure, Merkel told a news conference. Alexey Navalny was the victim of an attack with a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas urged Moscow to investigate the poisoning, and said the Russian ambassador had been summoned to explain the evidence.
This makes it all the more urgent that those responsible in Russia be identified and held accountable, Maas told reporters. We condemn this attack in the strongest terms.
Novichok a military grade nerve agent was used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the United Kingdom.
The Charite hospital in Berlin, where Navalny is being treated, has reported some improvement in his condition, but he remains in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator.
Joint response
Navalny, 44, a politician and corruption investigator who is one of Russian President Vladimir Putins fiercest critics, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on August 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.
He was later transferred to Charite hospital, where doctors last week said there were indications he had been poisoned.
Seibert said the German government would inform its partners in the European Union and NATO about the Novichok test results. He said it would consult with its partners in light of the Russian response on an appropriate joint response.
Navalnys allies in Russia have insisted he was deliberately poisoned by the countrys authorities, accusations the Kremlin rejected as empty noise.
To poison Navalny with Novichok in 2020 would be exactly the same as leaving an autograph at a crime scene, like this one, Navalnys longtime ally and strategist Leonid Volkov said in a tweet that featured a photo of Putins name and a signature next to it.
200821124630002
Kremlin-linked poisonings
The Russian doctors who treated Navalny in Siberia have repeatedly contested the German hospitals conclusion, saying they ruled out poisoning as a diagnosis and their tests for poisonous substances came back negative.
Al Jazeeras Aleksandra Stoyanovich-Godfroid, reporting from Moscow, said Russias response was so far cautious and restrained.
The Russian doctors released Navalny with a metabolic disorder diagnosis. Two labs in Russia didnt find anything suspicious and a pre-investigation didnt find anything leading to foul play, she said. On the other hand, the opposition is saying, We knew [it was Novichok] all the symptoms are there.'
Novichok is a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 80s. It is a cholinesterase inhibitor, part of the class of substances that doctors at the Charite initially identified in Navalny.
Navalnys allies said the German governments identification of the poison used against him suggested the Russian state had been behind the attack.
Only the state [FSB, GRU] can use Novichok. This is beyond any reasonable doubt, Ivan Zhdanov, director of Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation, said on Twitter, referring to the FSB internal security and GRU military intelligence services.
Never blame one area
Bharat Pankhania, from the University of Exeter Medical School, said while Russian authorities have access to chemical weapons such as Novichok, so too do other countries.
Its well known in the intelligence communities, despite international agreements, nations were developing these agents, and we know the Soviet Union as it was breaking up did have supplies, Pankhania told Al Jazeera.
But that is also not to say other states do not also have access. We should never blame one area, we know other states also have access to nerve agents.
Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova that Russias ambassador to Germany, Sergei Nechayev, who was summoned to the foreign ministry on Wednesday, asked for evidence and received no answer, no facts, no data, no formulae.
Russia as before expects an official answer from Berlin to the request of the Prosecutor-Generals Office to share medical data on Navalny, she said.
The Navalny case has drawn parallels with two suspected Kremlin-linked poisonings in the UK.
British authorities identified Novichok as the poison used in 2018 on former Russian spy Skripal and his daughter in the southern city of Salisbury. The Skripals recovered, but a local woman who picked up the discarded perfume bottle in which the poison had been carried, later died in hospital.
In 2006, Putin was blamed for the radiation poisoning death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in central London, after he drank tea laced with polonium-210.
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fast , the world's fastest online login and checkout experience, today announced the launch of Fast Checkout, embarking on a mission to enable one-click e-commerce purchases on every site, device and platform. With Fast Checkout, buyers can complete online purchases in less than a second and sellers can now add one-click checkout to their stores.
Fast Checkout is launching today with select merchants, and other merchants can now sign up to add Checkout to their online stores. Fast Checkout removes cumbersome passwords and offers a seamless, platform-agnostic experience in a fraction of the time of traditional online purchases.
"More than ever before, people are shopping online out of necessity," said Fast CEO and Co-founder Domm Holland. "Ensuring fast, easy and safe online checkout for everyone, of all ages and backgrounds, is not a luxury it is an imperative."
Amid COVID-19, consumers spent over $211 billion online in the second quarter of 2020; US e-commerce is predicted to grow 18% in 2020. However, many businesses are not prepared to handle this influx or they recently pivoted to running an online store. Online businesses lose up to 80% of potential purchases from shopping cart abandonment every year, often related to friction during checkout. By adding Fast Checkout to their store, businesses of all sizes can access one-click checkout that makes online purchases easier and faster for their customers.
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For buyers, using Fast Checkout is effortless. The first time a person makes a purchase at any site that uses Checkout, they simply enter their contact information and payment details as they normally would to buy the item. From that one purchase, they are automatically signed up and can use one-click checkout at any store with Checkout, regardless of device or browser, and without a password.
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About Fast
Fast's mission is to make buying online faster, safer and easier for everyone. Its Fast Login and Fast Checkout products enable a one-click sign-in and purchasing experience that makes it easier for people to buy and merchants to sell. The company's products work on any browser, device or platform to deliver a consistent, stress-free purchasing experience. Fast is entirely consumer focused and invests heavily in its users' privacy and data security. Headquartered in San Francisco, Fast is a privately held company funded by Stripe, Index Ventures, Susa Ventures, Global Founders Capital and Brian Sugar who also serves on the board. To learn more, visit fast.co.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 17:29:30|Editor: huaxia
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SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held phone talks on Wednesday over issues on the Korean Peninsula, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.
Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, talked over phone with Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who doubles as the chief U.S. nuclear negotiator.
Lee and Biegun shared view over recent situations of the Korean Peninsula, agreeing to the need to rapidly resume talks between Seoul and Pyongyang and between Washington and Pyongyang in a bid to make substantive progress for the peninsula's complete denuclearization and the lasting peace settlement.
The nuclear envoys discussed how to create conditions and push for the complete denuclearization and the peace settlement, the Seoul ministry said.
The two sides agreed to more closely communicate and cooperate on the DPRK issues bilaterally and multilaterally by actively making use of the scheduled international diplomatic events.
Denuclearization talks between the DPRK and the United States have been stalled since the second summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump ended without an agreement in February last year at the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
Meanwhile, South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun had a phone conversation with Biegun, the first such talks since Choi took office on Aug. 18. Choi is the former presidential secretary for peace planning.
Choi and Biegun agreed to meet as early as possible to discuss overall bilateral issues and regional situations, the Seoul ministry said. Enditem
US decision to remove blocks for one year on the sale of non-lethal defence articles slammed by Turkey.
The United States has said it will lift for one year its decades-old arms embargo on Cyprus to allow non-lethal military goods to be sold to the Mediterranean island.
In a move which was immediately slammed by Turkey, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo informed Republic of Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades of the change in a phone call on Tuesday.
From October 1, the US will remove blocks for one year on the sale or transfer of non-lethal defence articles and defence services, the State Department said.
Pompeo also reaffirmed US support for a comprehensive settlement to reunify the island, according to State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.
For his part, Anastasiades welcomed the lifting of the embargo, which the US imposed in 1987 in the hope that it could encourage the reunification of the island. He said the positive development reinforce[d] the bilateral security relationship between the two countries.
The US decision, however, drew immediate condemnation from Ankara.
It poisons the peace and stability environment in the region, the Turkish foreign ministry said, adding it does not comply with the spirit of alliance between the US and Turkey.
If Washington did not reverse course, the ministry said, Turkey, as a guarantor country, will take the necessary decisive counter steps to guarantee the security of the Turkish Cypriot people, in line with its legal and historical responsibilities.
Eastern Mediterranean tensions
Cyprus has effectively been divided since 1974 when Turkish forces invaded its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup seeking union with Greece. Repeated diplomatic efforts to solve one of the worlds most intractable conflicts have failed, often in acrimony.
The internationally recognised government of Cyprus controls the Greek Cypriot southern part of the island while Turkish Cypriots maintain a self-proclaimed independent state in the north, which is only recognised by Ankara. Greece, Turkey and Britain are guarantor powers of the island under a convoluted treaty which granted Cyprus independence from Britain in 1960.
The US announcement came amid a surge in tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean between Turkey and Greece over maritime borders and gas drilling rights, which also involves Athens-allied Cyprus.
Both Greece and Turkey have staged naval drills in the area to assert their sovereign claims. Meanwhile the European Union which counts Greece and Cyprus as members warned Ankara on Friday to pull back or face sanctions.
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez said the decision recognised the importance of the US relationship with Cyprus, which he called a reliable strategic partner for our nation.
It is in our national security interest to lift these outdated decades-long arms restrictions and deepen our security relationship with the Republic of Cyprus, he said in a statement.
NATO allies Turkey and the US have been at odds over
Lawrence Korb, former assistant secretary of defence and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said the announcement was just the latest hit to the ties between the two NATO allies.
There is no doubt about the fact that Turkish-American relations are in very bad shape given the fact that the Turks have bought a Russian air defence system, which the US will compromise a lot of its capabilities in Turkey in Incirlik [base] and in Europe, Kobb said, referring to Ankaras purchase last year of the Russian S-400s, which Washington says are incompatible with the alliances defense systems.
Obviously, the Turks are very upset about anything that empowers the majority of the people in Cyprus, the Greek Cypriots, he added.
Seattle scoffed at the $650 million Bayer AG agreed to pay to settle class-action claims by about 2,500 cities, counties and ports over pollution from polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, saying it plans to opt out of the deal.
According to a filing by Seattle last week in federal court in Los Angeles objecting to the proposal, the $550 million that would be available to the class of 2,500 government entities doesnt even cover the projected $600 million it will cost the city to abate the nuisance from PCBs manufactured decades ago by Monsanto Co., which Bayer acquired in 2018.
The city considers the proposed settlement to be a gift to Monsanto and its new parent company, Bayer, Seattle said. The proposed settlement, in the citys view, is a Trojan Horse for many of the class members, providing them a pittance to monitor their stormwater for PCBs and blocking them from getting funds they will need if PCBs are found.
Bayer in June said it would pay about $12 billion to settle litigation it inherited when it acquired Monsanto two years ago, with the bulk of the money earmarked to resolve lawsuits alleging that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer. The settlement of 125,000 Roundup cases has also run into problems with plaintiffs lawyers and the federal judge overseeing the cases airing concerns about Bayers handling of the settlement process.
Though Seattle plans to opt out, the city said it is objecting to the proposed settlement because its concerned that the terms of the deal will prevent it from pursuing its own claims.
The city of Seattle makes a very narrow objection to the class release language, said Scott Summy, an attorney representing the cities that agreed to settle. The court will sort out if a small change is even needed. Seattle claims that it is potentially opting out and, if so, the release language doesnt apply to it.
More than a dozen cities including Seattle, San Diego, Portland, Oregon, and Oakland, California, have sued Monsanto the exclusive maker of PCBs, which were used to cool heavy-duty electrical equipment for more than 40 years before being banned in the 1970s. The non-biodegradable chemicals sometimes fouled manufacturing areas and the pollutants ended up in the soil. The PCBs would also run into major water bodies when it rained, killing fish and making the water a health hazard.
It is not uncommon to receive a few number of objections to a class agreement especially when there is a large class as there is here with over 2,500 municipal entities, Bayer said in a statement. We remain confident that this settlement is a fair resolution, and parties on both sides continue to strongly support the motion seeking the courts approval.
The case is City of Long Beach v. Monsanto Co., 16-CV-03493, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).
(Updates with Bayer statement in eighth paragraph.)
Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Topics Lawsuits
Its been clear for a while that the word socialism is no longer a dealbreaker for younger voters. If the old associate it with the oppression of the Soviet Union, the young think of it as describing Denmark or Norway lovely, livable places with decent social programs. And the young left, as AOC knows, sees climate change as a decisive voting issue because its the existential challenge of our time. This is also increasingly true among older Democratic middle-class suburbanites and city voters living in the rehabbed neighborhoods of lofts and exposed brick.
JEFFERSON CITY A Virginia-based consulting firm has garnered another paycheck from the state, pushing its earnings for assisting the state during a pandemic to over $829,000.
State payroll records show the McChrystal Group continued to be paid out of Missouris share of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds, which are being used to help fend off the effects of the coronavirus.
The payouts are part of a controversial no-bid contract the state inked with the firm worth $248,000 per month.
The contract, which runs through Dec. 31, could be worth more than $1.3 million. It could be reduced if the state replaces company workers with state employees. A review is set for September.
Adding to the unorthodox arrangement, a copy of the contract shows it beginning on June 1. But the company didnt sign off on the document until July 31. The state didnt sign off until Aug. 5.
The June 1 start date came less than a month after Republican Gov. Mike Parson said the state was not paying the company as it helped the state respond to the health and economic effects of the spread of COVID-19.
At that time, Parson said the Missouri Foundation for Health would be paying for work by the company, which was founded by retired four-star Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
McChrystal served as the chief commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan until he was ousted in 2010.
Among the reasons for his departure were derisive remarks by him and his aides about former Vice President Joe Biden, the current Democratic nominee for president.
Parson aides say the firm was hired to provide a management system and structure to facilitate pandemic-related problem-solving between various state agencies and the governors Cabinet.
Heading up the companys team is retired Brigadier Gen. Thomas Maffey, who left the military after 30 years in 2008. He leads a five-person team, according to contract documents.
Former House Speaker Todd Richardson, who is assisting in the state coronavirus response in his position as director of the states Medicaid program, is among those who are working closely with the company.
Parsons chief operating officer Drew Erdmann also is involved in the states response, which has received mixed reviews.
The Springfield News-Leader, for example, reported Tuesday that the White House Coronavirus Task Force recommended Missouri issue a statewide mask mandate after noting high levels of transmission in close to half of the counties in the state.
But Parson has been adamant about leaving the use of masks to individuals, rather than a government dictate.
With the number of positive cases of COVID-19 continuing to rise, some lawmakers said the governor could have found a cheaper alternative than the ex-generals company.
He could have consulted with the General Assembly, said Sen. Karla May, D-St. Louis.
Just as Missouris contract has drawn criticism, a similar agreement between the company and the city of Boston raised eyebrows, forcing the mayor to defend the decision.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said his administration couldnt follow the traditional public bidding process for hiring vendors and buying goods and services because of the urgency of responding to a growing health disaster, the Associated Press reported in July.
This isnt the typical no-bid contract, he said. This is where we had literally 10 days before coronavirus just exploded all over.
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OnePlus started as an Oppo offshoot, eventually becoming its own recognizable brand in Western Europe and the United States. Its co-founder and CEO Pete Lau has now become a Senior Vice President at OPLUS - a mysterious company that wholly owns Oppo while it has a majority stake in OnePlus and a smaller stake in Realme too.
Pete Lau with OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren
A OnePlus spokesperson confirmed Lau will remain CEO at OnePlus, but in the same time he has also taken on the role of SVP and chief product experience officer for OPLUS.
His new role is announced just days after Realme unveiled its ambitious plans for European expansion and it seems like Laus job will be to make sure the three companies are not competing against each other in the same price categories. Currently, the Oppo Find X2 Pro and OnePlus 8 Pro flagships have similar specs and price tags in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.
Pete Lau (middle), speaking at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, January 2020
OPLUS is an organization that oversees three of the smartphone brands that are owned by BBK Electronics. However, vivo, another name owned by the Chinese conglomerate, is not part of Laus company, and he insists that OPLUS has nothing to do with BBK. However, these are all private companies and it's hard to verify such claims. The three companies are all claiming they are perfectly independent, despite clear evidence on extensive R&D collaboration.
Source
SPRINGFIELD The day after a former facilities director pleaded guilty to taking bribes and kickbacks from contractors who were hired to do work at four different college campuses including American International College, the general manager of one of the construction companies was charged in connection with the scheme.
William Borges, 28, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and is the east coast general manager of DWD Builders, was indicted Tuesday on one count of conspiracy and three counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. He is scheduled to appear on Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling.
Borges is accused of paying bribes of more than $50,000 to Floyd Young, 50, of Shelton, Connecticut. Young on Monday pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Springfield to one count of conspiracy and three counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds in a wide-ranging scan where he hired contractors, or helped them get hired, at the colleges where he worked. In exchange they would kick back 15% of the amount they were paid for doing the work to Young.
The indictment for Borges, which was signed on Aug. 28, was unsealed on Tuesday, court records show.
Youngs scheme involved American International College in Springfield, Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, Cornell Tech, Cornell University in New York and Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York. In each college he held different titles but essentially oversaw the facilities maintenance departments. In his plea, Young agreed to pay back the about $919,000 he admitted to taking in kickbacks, court records said.
According to the indictment, Borges was a principal in DWD Builders when Young steered contracts for construction, repair, maintenance and other work at Cooper Union between 2018 and 2019, according to the statement.
Borges allegedly paid bribes to Young in cash during face-to-face meetings. In addition, as Borges received payment for work done at the collegiate institution, he paid Young bribes on a periodic basis. Borges also allegedly inflated the amount of the invoices submitted to the collegiate institution in order to be repaid the cost of the bribe payment made to Young. On occasion, Young and Borges arranged for no-work invoices to be submitted to the collegiate institution and then split the payment, according to the statement.
Borges was one of at least three contractors involved in the scheme. The other contractors were not named in court records and he is the only one to be indicted to date, according to the statement.
Borges faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if convicted, the statement said.
Air Marshal Manvendra Singh has written to Chief Secretary, Haryana, stating that the birds flying around the Indian Air Force's (IAF's) base in Ambala can pose a threat to the fighter aircraft, especially
Singh in his letter said that it is important to keep both large and small birds away from the airfield, which could be achieved by improving garbage collection, imposing a penalty on littering and prohibiting pigeon breeding activity around the IAF base.
He also urged the Chief Secretary to direct Civil Administration, Ambala to expedite the process to assure these measures are implemented on the ground.
"We have directed people to stop pigeon breeding activities around the Ambala Air force station as this poses a serious risk to aircraft. No one is allowed to keep and breed birds within 10 kilometres range of the base," Anil Rana, City Project Officer, Ambala Municipal Corporation said.
" is a very important plane, people should themselves heed the warning and detest from keeping birds. If they do not do so, necessary action will be taken," he added.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Okyeman Youth for Development group has condemned what they describe as tribal, derogatory, and war-agitating comments from former President John Dramani Mahama on the people of Akyem.
This follows a post on the Facebook page of the flagbearer of the opponation Democratic Congress (NDC) on August 31, 2020, which described some unnamed members of the ruling government as Akyem Sakawa Boys and Grandpas.
Taking strong offense to the comment as well as other utterances by members of the NDC, the Okyeman Youth for Development has rebuked the former president as they demand an apology.
The leadership of the Okyeman Youth For Development therefore condemn such a shared comment by the former president and as a matter of urgency demand a heart driven apology to especially the Overlords of the three Akyem States and the entire Akyem Kingdom, a press release signed by the group convener Nana Yaw O. A Asem has said.
Another portion reads, Okyeman youth for Development call on the former President to pull down the ethnocentric shared post and render an unqualified apology to the Overlords of Akyem thus Abuakwa, Bosome and Kotoku, the Akyem People and all well-meaning Ghanaians or else we will take the next course of action.
Read the full press release below:
1/09/2020
Press Conference
INSTANT DEMAND FOR RETRACTION OF DEROGATORY POST MADE BY HIS EXCELLENCY,FMR PRESIDENT MAHAMA. - OKYEMAN YOUTH FOR DEVELOPMENT
Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the media, Ghanaians , Okyeman and friends of Okyeman worldwide.
It is rather unfortunate to have seen on the various E-networks, social media pages and especially the official Facebook page of the Former President, H.E Dramani John Mahama, certain tribal, derogatory, and war-agitating comments shared by the former president. The leadership of the Okyeman Youth For Development therefore condemn such a shared comment by the former president and as a matter of urgency demand a heart driven apology to especially the Overlords of the three Akyem States and the entire Akyem Kingdom.
In the said c shared post on his official facebook page,the statement categorically referred to Akyems in its entirety as Sakawa Boys and Mafia. Our attention has been brought to this unfortunate comment and currently, on almost all social media platforms and some media houses Akyems have been subjected to Public ridicule.
Historically, the political history of Ghana cannot be recounted without particular emphasis to the exploits made by the Akyem people. The Akyem kingdom is a great kingdom whose reputation has never been questioned and any attempt to malign the Akyem people will fiercely be resisted.
Also, It may interest H.E John Mahama to know the that the first Black ruler in sub-Sahara Africa to be conferred the Title of a "SIR, was from Akyem (Sir Nana Ofori Atta I ) an enviable title given to people with exceptional capabilities, and had proven himself to be the moving machine of national development. How can descendants of such a ruler and other many rulers whose contributions had projected Ghana to the global space be branded by the ex president as Sakawa Boys in his shared post? This is unpresidential and H.E John Mahama should render an unqualified apology and be made to appease the spirits of the Akyem gods whose blessings have kept the kingdom till date.
We are dumbfounded because H.E John Mahama with a degree in History should not have gone that tangent. As a historian one thing common to all history scholars is that, Unity is paramount in nation building and we call for absolute eradication of tribal comments hence the need to desist from such divisive comments. Joseph Boakye Kyeretwie Danquah proud son of Akyem who is credited with the name Ghana said Tribal statement and a bite of a snake is of no difference . lets all learn from this great adage, desist from such comments and project Ghana first.
We are outraged because H.E John Dramani Mahama and his NDC have constantly made it a ritual to malign Akyem people without the slightest provocation.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media, let me please take you down memory lane to chronicle some unsavory comments made by NDC on the Akyem people.
In March, 2014, H.E John Dramani Mahama tagged Kyebi the traditional capital of Akyem Abuakwa as "Galamsey Headquarters" , Ahgain, the then Eastern Regional communication Director of the NDC, Baba Jamal Konneh, described the Akyems as witches who are ungrateful if they fail to vote for then President John Mahama in February, 2016. The Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NDC,Kwame Zu in September, 2019 said "until potable water was provided for the Okyenhene and his people, they drunk unwholesome water with animals". Also, in March ,2016, Bismarck Tawiah Boateng and Apau Haruna Owiredu former Regional executives of Eastern Regional NDC used unprintable words on the overlord of Akyem Abuakwa His Royal Majesty Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin I which as a matter of decency cannot be re-echoed.
Before I conclude the point should be made that Akyems are peace loving people with impeccable personalities.It is not surprising that Akyem have been synonymous with education and enlightenment.
Okyeman youth for Develpoment call on the former President to pull down the ethnocentric shared post and render an unqalified apology to the Overlords of Akyem thus Abuakwa, Bosome and Kotoku, the Akyem People and all well meaning Ghanaians or else we will take the next course of action.
God bless Ghana
God bless Okyeman.
God bless Okyeman Youth for Development
Thank you.
Signed
Nana Yaw O.A Asem
(Convener, Okyeman Youth for Development)
0554547843
Mr. Daniel Obeng Acquah (Boxxy)
(Secretary, Okyeman Youth for Development)
0549855599
KEMEROVO, Russia -- A court in Russia's Siberian city of Kemerovo has sentenced two Jehovah's Witnesses to four years in prison each.
Sergei Britvin and Vadim Levchuk were found guilty on September 2 of being members of an extremist organization and sentenced the same day.
The two were arrested in July 2018 after a "secret witness" testified against them. Britvin is legally handicapped.
In December last year, a court in Kemerovo transferred Britvin and Levchuk to house arrest.
Russia officially banned the religious group in April 2017 and deemed it an "extremist organization," a designation the U.S. State Department has characterized as "wrong."
For decades, the Jehovah's Witnesses have been viewed with suspicion in Russia, where the dominant Orthodox Church is championed by President Vladimir Putin.
The Christian group is known for door-to-door preaching, close Bible study, rejection of military service, and not celebrating national and religious holidays or birthdays.
Since the faith was outlawed in Russia, several Jehovah's Witnesses have been imprisoned in the country and in the Russia-annexed Ukrainian Black Sea Crimea peninsula.
In September, Washington banned two high-ranking regional officers from Russia's Investigative Committee from entering the United States over alleged torture of seven detainees who are Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has recognized 29 Jehovahs Witnesses who've been charged with or convicted of extremism as political prisoners.
On January 9, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Russian law enforcement authorities had "dramatically escalated the nationwide persecution" of Jehovahs Witnesses during the previous year.
HRW said Russian authorities have carried out at least 780 raids of houses owned by Jehovah's Witnesses in dozens of Russian cities since 2017. More than half of those raids were conducted in 2019.
The option at the site of the existing bridge would relieve the most traffic congestion, provide the shortest alternate route in case of problems on the bridge, and is more compatible with existing land use patterns, the report said. Because it would be the shortest span and tie into existing roads, it also would have fewer environmental impacts, the report said.
College professor Alan Viarengo, 55, was taken into custody last week, before being charged with felony counts of stalking and harassing a public official. Investigators believe he is a member of the far-right 'Boogaloo' movement
More than 130 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition have been uncovered at the home of a college professor accused of sending a series of threatening letters to a California health official.
Alan Viarengo, 55, has been charged with felony counts of stalking and harassing a public official.
Viarengo, who is believed to be a member of the far-right anti-government 'Boogaloo' movement, is accused of penning 24 menacing letters to Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr Sara Cody over a four-month period, specifically targeting her for her response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Investigators on Tuesday released photos of the arsenal of guns authorities found at Viarengo's home in Gilroy.
Investigators uncovered an arsenal of high powered weapons at Viarengo's home during his arrest last week
Photos released by the authorities showed Viarengo had a collection of 138 guns as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition
His attorney has claimed all the weapons are legally owned
Detectives seized 138 guns, many of which appear to be high-powered semi-automatic weapons, and dozens of boxes of ammunition and explosives.
Santa Clara County Sheriff's detective Lt Brendan Omori said the collection of weapons was so large they needed to load it on a pallet to take it in as evidence.
'This individual had a significant cache of firearms and weaponry,' Omori told NBC Bay Area.
Viarengo had allegedly sent letters to Dr Cody containing 'misogynistic language, threats, pornography, and anti-government views,' according to a police report obtained by the news outlet.
Omori said there is now reason to believe Viarengo had threatened other officials and residents.
Viarengo was denied bail during a court appearance on Tuesday.
Police allege Viarengo penned 24 menacing letters to Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr Sara Cody (pictured) between April and July
Dozens of boxes of ammunition were found stacked in Viarengo's home
Viarengo is believed to be part of the far-right 'Boogaloo' movement, of which members are usually heavily armed
Defense lawyer Dennis Luca argued the letters were protected by his client's right to 'free speech' and said he never acted out on any alleged threats.
WHAT IS THE BOOGALOO MOVEMENT? Boogaloo is a far-right, anti-government extremist movement. The heavily armed participants linked to the group say they're preparing for a second Civil War. It got its name from the panned 1984 movie 'Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo' and uses the title as a code word for a second Civil War. Other derivations of 'boogaloo' are 'big igloo' or 'big luau.' Followers are easy to spot with their trademark Hawaiian shirts and high-powered rifles and tactical gear. The movement is made up of pro-gun and anti-government groups. Participants mostly organize on Facebook but have attended recent events like the COVID-19 lockdown protests and demonstrations of George Floyd's death. Facebook earlier this month moved to limit the movements exposure on its platform by no longer recommending user groups associated with the term 'boogaloo' to members of similar associations. Advertisement
He also said all Viarengo's guns were legally owned and denied he was a part of the 'Boogaloo' group.
'Like any other citizen has the right to write a public figure and voice displeasure with rules, regulations that are put into place,' Luca said.
According to reports, the letters had also featured 'telltale Boogaloo slogans and imagery', prompting officials to believe Viarengo is tied to the far-right movement.
The 'Boogaloo' movement hopes to exploit social unrest to start a second civil US war.
Members are usually heavily armed, and two alleged 'Boogaloo Boys' have been charged with the shooting murder of a police officer and a federal security officer.
The publication reports that he works as a part-time math professor at Gavilan College in Gilroy.
It was also revealed Viarengo was once involved in the Boy Scouts of America. The organization issued a statement after his arrest, banning him from the program.
'This behavior is unacceptable and goes against what the Boy Scouts of America expects of members and volunteer leaders. This individual has been removed from Scouting and is prohibited from any participation in our programs,' the statement read.
'Scouting members are expected to treat all people with kindness and respect, and there is no place in Scouting for violence, bullying or harassment of any kind.'
Back in March, Dr Cody made headlines after she became the first county health officer in the nation to order her community into lockdown.
The demand made the top doctor a divisive figure, and she received considerable backlash. But the threatening letters - allegedly penned by Viarengo - caused serious concern.
The 'Boogaloo' movement hopes to exploit social unrest to start a second civil US war. Members are usually heavily armed, and two alleged 'Boogaloo Boys' have been charged with the shooting murder of a police officer and a federal security officer
NBC Bay Area reports that Dr Cody received the first letter back on April 8, which stated: 'We are stronger than you pigs in every way. We are out to defeat you.'
Over the next four months, 23 letters - all believed to have been written by the same person - arrived at Dr Cody's office.
In one, the writer claimed they had doxxed the doctor by publishing her personal address on the internet.
'I'm glad you are getting threats. I posted your residence everywhere I could; I hope someone follows through,' they wrote.
'You're doneit's oversay goodbye,' another letter read.
A separate message read: 'Maybe this is the spark we need for a bloody revolution!'
One message that turned up in June featured a drawing of an igloo on the envelope, accompanied by the words: 'Let's Boogie'.
In this May 2 photo, people, including those with the Boogaloo movement, demonstrate against business closures due to concern about COVID-19, at the State House in Concord, New Hampshire
Investigators believe they are specific references to the Boogaloo movement.
Viarengo reportedly has a history of penning intimidating letters and soon became a person of interest in the investigation.
Detectives began surveillance of Viarengo and reportedly saw him drop a letter inside a mailbox on July 29 that was addressed to Dr Sara Cody and 'mocked her for her handling of the pandemic'.
Deputy District Attorney Alexander Adams said this week that he believes the letters link the accused to the Boogaloo movement.
'That connection was made based on the investigation linking both the language and symbols used in the multiple letters that he sent.'
Viarengo has been remanded in custody, but has not yet entered a plea.
Attorney Cody Salfen says his client Viarengo is innocent.
'He is a dedicated father, husband, community activist, respected professor, and volunteer,' Salfen said.
'Each year, he devotes over 400 hours of his time, guiding and teaching youth and other members of the Bay Area communities he serves. He works two jobs to support his family.'
Salfen also questioned the credibility of the Santa Clara County Police Department after a Sheriff's Captain was charged with bribery.
'Law enforcement officers directly involved ... have serious credibility issues,' he stated.
A member of the Gavilan Joint Community College District, where Viarengo works part-time, said the school was shocked, but the charges are not related to the accused's work there.
'As members of the college community, however, we are shocked and saddened by what took place, and will cooperate with law enforcement fully if it is required,' said Kathleen A. Rose in a message provided to The Associated Press.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is known for its commitment to education, and this year is no different.
The HLSR has awarded several Houston-area community colleges and technical institutions with $300,000 in vocational scholarships for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Related: Rodeo Houston doles out $1.2M in scholarships
Since the outset of the vocational scholarship in 2015, the Rodeo has managed to allocate more than $1.4 million in educational funding for the program. According to the press release from HLSR, this year, more than $27 million has been committed to scholarships, junior show exhibitors, educational program grants and graduate assistantships.
There is a continuing demand for skilled personnel in the workforce, and the Rodeo is committed to supporting these students as they pursue an education in these technical fields, said Chris Boleman, Rodeo president and CEO.
The seven Houston-area programs that received funding from the Vocational Scholarship Program include Houston Community College, Lamar Institute of Technology, Lee College, Lone Star College, San Jacinto College, Texas State Technical College and Wharton County Junior College, according to a release.
There's no telling of how the money will be divvied among the selected institutions, but each program that receives educational funding through the Rodeos Vocational Scholarship Program will manage the selection and distribution of its scholarship funds.
"We are proud to continue our partnership with these programs, creating more opportunity for students who are seeking a nontraditional postsecondary education, Boleman concluded.
Parsippany, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/02/2020 -- Elena Getman is an inspiring ceramic artist, who has been creating art all her life. For more than ten years, she has been working on ceramic art and she has now decided to share her artwork with the world. She came to the United States from Russia but due to the ongoing global pandemic, she had to stay in the US. Elena has recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, and she is welcoming art lovers from around the world for their generous support.
"I together with my husband decided to try to create my own ceramic workshop here in the United States, and we need your support." Said Elena Getman, while introducing this project to the Kickstarter community. "Since I had no intention of staying in the USA for a long time, I did not take with me everything that was necessary for my creative work." She added. She needs to raise funds to bring her dear pets from Russia to the United States because she loves them as her own kids.
The Kickstarter Campaign is located on the web at: www.kickstarter.com/projects/831526848/petite-birdie-art and all funds raised through this Kickstarter campaign will play a major role in helping Elena create art work and reunite with her pets. Moreover, the goal of this Kickstarter campaign is to raise a sum of US$ 8,300, and the artist is offering a wide range of rewards for the backers with worldwide shipping. Furthermore, more details are available on the Kickstarter campaign page of the project.
About Elena Getman
Elena Getman is a Ceramic artist from Russia, who is currently living in the United States with her husband. She had to change her travel plans due to the pandemic, while on a visit to the US earlier this year. She is now raising funds and support on Kickstarter to enable her create quality ceramic art for art lovers from around the world.
Contact:
Contact Person: Sergey Getman
Company: Petite Birdie Art
City: Parsippany
State: New Jersey
Country: United States
Phone: 9739794080
Email: getman@cmail.nu
Website: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/831526848/petite-birdie-art
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. iGorts program, initiated by the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia, has launched on September 1.
Within the framework of the program Diaspora-Armenian professionals will work in Armenias state institutions.
24 Diaspora specialists from Canada, Denmark, Russia, Lebanon, France, Norway, etc, have already arrived in Armenia under the first phase of the program. Even the COVID-19 pandemic didnt prevent them to visit the Homeland and to work in the Armenian government.
The participants of the first phase have already started working in the Armenian prime ministers administration, the ministries of Healthcare, Labor and social affairs, Environment, Justice, High technological industry, Territorial administration and infrastructures, Education, Economy, Central Bank, Education inspection body, the Ombudsmans Office, the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs.
High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs Zareh Sinanyan welcomed the program participants and expressed hope that they will have an irreplaceable working experience in the Homeland.
In their turn most of the participants stated that this program is the launch of their repatriation path, as they see their own future in Armenia.
The participants then were introduced on the working schedule and duties.
The other participants of the project will arrive in Armenia a bit later.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Czech Senate president invokes Kennedy, says he's 'a Taiwanese'
ROC Central News Agency
09/01/2020 02:51 PM
Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) Visiting Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil praised Taiwan's democracy and freedom in a speech at the Legislature on Tuesday and invoked John F. Kennedy's "I am a Berliner" speech by calling himself "a Taiwanese."
Toward the end of his remarks, in which he highlighted the importance of democratic values and freedom and voiced criticism of communism and oppressive regimes, Vystrcil brought up Kennedy's speech in West Berlin in 1963.
"Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free," Vystrcil said, quoting Kennedy's morale-boosting words for Berliners who lived in an enclave deep inside East Germany and feared a possible East German occupation.
In the famous Cold War speech, Kennedy raised his voice in support of West Berlin, highlighting the universal value of democracy with an end note "Ich bin ein Berliner (I am a Berliner)," Vystrcil said.
"Please let me also express in person my support to Taiwan and the ultimate value of freedom and conclude today's speech at your Legislative Yuan in Taiwan with perhaps a more humble, but equally strong statement," Vystrcil said, ending his remarks with "I am a Taiwanese" in Mandarin.
Vystrcil, the second highest ranking official of the Czech Republic after the president, is in Taiwan as part of an 89-member delegation to promote business ties.
The visit reflects growing anti-China sentiment in the Czech Republic as Chinese investment plans have not come to fruition, and local officials, such as Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib, balk at closer ties with China because of its heavy-handed tactics.
In an interview with Taiwanese media, Vystrcil said the trip itself was an act of defiance against China's interference in the Czech Republic's internal affairs and a reaffirmation of the country's sovereignty and independence.
China has been threatening repercussions against the Czech Republic since Vystrcil's predecessor, Jaroslav Kubera, announced in October last year his plan to visit Taiwan. Kubera died in January before making the trip.
"In a democratic world, we should not follow orders from other countries, especially from a country that is not democratic," he said.
As Czechoslovakia, the country itself was also under a communist regime during the Cold War, and its push for political liberalization and reforms during the Prague Spring in 1968 was suppressed by an invasion of Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact country forces.
During his 30-minute speech, Vystrcil emphasized the importance of legislatures in standing up for freedom and democracy.
He said that while legislative bodies in different countries have different systems, their most important role is not only to make laws but to defend democratic principles.
Regardless of democratic parliaments or legislative courts, they should serve in the defense of democratic principles, he said.
It is those principles that protect people and allow them to demonstrate their various points of view in a society where freedom is fully recognized and cherished by members of the public, he said.
"Functional democracy in the independent and democratic world must acknowledge that a human being and a human life has the highest, and I repeat, the highest value," he said.
That was seen, he said, when his trip to Taiwan received the support of 50 out of 52 Czech senators who were present for the vote, despite China's threats.
Vystrcil's speech drew a standing ovation from Taiwan's lawmakers, including Legislative Speaker You Si-kun ().
You also presented Vystrcil with a Congressional Diplomacy Honorary Medal from the Legislature, making him the first legislative head from a country with which Taiwan has no diplomatic relations to receive the honor since it was created in 2007.
The Czech delegation arrived in Taipei on Aug. 30, and will stay in Taiwan until Sept. 4.
To welcome them, the Legislature set up an exhibition featuring the history and democratic development of the Czech Republic, including on the Prague Spring.
The delegation's visit has been strongly condemned by China, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory and opposes any official contact that could be seen as elevating Taiwan's status as an independent nation.
China's foreign minister Wang Yi said Monday in Germany that China will make Vystrcil "pay a heavy price for his shortsighted behavior and political opportunism," without specifying what measures might be taken.
(By Lee Hsin-Yin)
Enditem/ls
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 2) Police General Camilo Cascolan underscored the need to restore public trust as he formally took over the helm of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday.
In his inaugural speech at the change of command ceremony, Cascolan presented a list of plans during his two-month stint. He is set to retire on Nov. 10, unless President Rodrigo Duterte extends his term.
Cascolan said he will decongest and streamline units and offices in the national headquarters and other police camps, as well as order the conduct of more patrols in remote areas to further prevent crime.
The newly promoted top cop said he will also prioritize the hiring of quality applicants to the police force and designating the right person for any job. An audit should be conducted to serve as basis for reorganization and restructuring, he added.
Finally, a Cascolan-led police force will uphold human rights, he said.
The times of crisis are also times for opportunities, Cascolan said. I remain confident that the PNP will be able to regain the trust and confidence of the public.
In an earlier interview with CNN Philippines The Source, Cascolan pushed for a review of the bloody war on drugs, saying the campaign should focus on high-value drug targets.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in June that the "widespread and systematic" killings in the anti-drug campaign were "being carried out without due regard for the rule of law, due process, and the human rights of people who may be using or selling drugs." The Justice Department then revealed that an inter-agency panel had been looking into all the 5,655 anti-drug operations that resulted in deaths.
Cascolan, who recently held the second highest position in the police force as deputy chief for administration, is the fourth PNP chief to be appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte. He is also a member of the Philippine Military Academy's "Sinagtala" Class of 1986 just like his predecessors Archie Gamboa, Oscar Albayalde, and Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who is now a senator.
Albayalde resigned less than a month before his retirement amid allegations on his involvement in a questionable drug raid as Pampanga provincial police director in 2013. Dela Rosa, meanwhile, had his United States visa revoked for alleged extrajudicial killings under his watch as PNP chief from 2016 to 2018.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said he believes a government post awaits Gamboa, who stepped down upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56 on Wednesday.
"At hindi rin ako magtataka, Archie, kung mga ilang araw lang after ng iyong bakasyon ay tawagin ka ulit ni Pangulong Duterte para magsilbi ulit sa ating bayan, Ano said.
[Translation: And I will not be surprised, Archie, if in a few days after your vacation, you will again be called by President Duterte to serve our country.]
CNN Philippines' Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report.
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Linkedin Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto (Reuters) Tokyo, Japan Wed, September 2, 2020 16:00 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c423b1a0 2 World Japan,Yoshihide-Suga,Prime-Minister,prime-minister-japan,Shinzo-Abe,resignation Free
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declared on Wednesday he will run for the leadership of the ruling party, a race he is heavily favored to win, which would likely ensure the veteran politician will become the next prime minister.
Suga, a longtime aide to outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is widely expected to carry on Abe's policies of fiscal and monetary stimulus, said he was entering the race to avoid a political vacuum at a time of crisis.
"I decided to run in the LDP leadership race after some deep thought on what I can do as a politician and a member of Abe's administration," Suga told a briefing.
The party's leader is set to take over as prime minister given the LDP's majority in the lower house of parliament.
Abe announced his decision to resign last week, citing poor health.
Suga's main competitors in the Sept. 14 party vote are a former defense minister, Shigeru Ishiba, and ex-foreign minister Fumio Kishida, but Suga's position looks strong.
He has secured the backing of five of the LDP's seven factions, public broadcaster NHK and others reported.
The party decided on Tuesday to hold a slimmed-down election with just members of parliament and three votes from each of the 47 prefectures - an advantage for Suga.
Many party chapters will poll rank-and-file members to decide how to allocate their three votes, but experts say this is unlikely to change the momentum growing for Suga if the members of the five factions back him.
Financial markets also favor Suga, assuming he will continue with the reflationary "Abenomics" strategy aimed at reviving the economy.
But Ishiba is by far the most popular candidate among the public and has been on a media blitz over the past few days, raising questions about the possibility of change after Abe's eight years at the helm.
A longtime lawmaker held off his high-profile young challenger in the Massachusetts Senate Democratic primary on Tuesday.
74-year-old incumbent U.S. Senator Ed Markey defeated 39-year-old Representative Joe Kennedy III, the grandson of former Senator Robert F. Kennedy, positioning himself to win another six-year term in the general election on November 3.
With his unsuccessful challenge, Kennedy became the first member of his fabled political family -- to suffer a defeat in a Massachusetts election for a congressional seat.
"To my family, the Kennedy family. Whose name was invoked far more than I anticipated in this race... you all are my heroes."
The young Kennedy, who was endorsed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had taken a swipe at Markey's age before Tuesday's results were announced.
But ironically, Markey has resonated with young voters and won the backing of progressives like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and fellow Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
He has spent some four decades in Congress fighting to tackle climate change and reduce nuclear weapons proliferation.
And in his victory speech on Tuesday, Markey thanked young voters for their support.
"This campaign has always been about the young people of this country. You are our future. And thank you for believing in me because I believe in you."
Markey is now well-positioned to win the November general election in a state that historically sends Democrats to the Senate.
BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aspero Medical, a medical device startup focused on developing novel solutions and applications for the field of gastroenterology, announced today that the business has expanded its team to include a Director of Engineering and Director of Operations Both new positions will be focused on supporting the company's next generation endoscopic single balloon overtube and C- Tube with Pillar micro-texture technology.
Allison Lyle has joined Aspero Medical as Director of Engineering and will most immediately lead the company's C-Tube large bowel intraoperative endoscopy balloon overtube product development project. Over the previous ten years with both Bolder Surgical and Medtronic, Allison has developed experience in all stages of medical device product development, from early stage concept generation to technical feasibility assessments. She has also been involved in product actualization and commercialization efforts in her career.
"I am extremely pleased to join Aspero Medical and lead product development," said Ms. Lyle. "The company is at an exciting stage and the new Pillar micro-texture technology holds great promise in multiple applications. I look forward to working with the full team to maximize the value of the company's core technology and bring these new advanced products to market."
An additional new member of the team is Jeff Castleberry. Jeff will serve as Director of Operations with Aspero Medical and brings over 35 years of diverse experience in the medical device industry field to the team. He has a demonstrated track record of building new companies and bringing new products and technologies to market. Jeff currently serves as CEO of ForCast Orthopedics, Inc. He has held senior leadership roles in operations with CardioOptics, Inc and Plexus Corp., and was president and Chief Operations Officer for a previous University of Colorado technology spin-off, EndoShape, Inc.
"I am very excited about this new opportunity," said Mr. Castleberry. "I believe there is a terrific opportunity to advance the gastrointestinal endoscopy field with the Aspero Medical Pillar micro-texture technology, and I look forward to working with the full team to complete development and commercialize this new and unique product."
Aspero Medical was founded by Mark Rentschler PhD, PE, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder and Steven Edmundowicz MD, Professor and Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center. Rentschler serves as CEO of Aspero Medical and Dr. Edmundowicz is the company's Chief Clinical Officer.
"We are extremely pleased to add both Allison and Jeff to the Aspero Medical team, said Mr. Rentschler. "They bring the broad experience in new product development, operations, and product commercialization that is necessary for Aspero Medical to realize the launch and commercialization of our products and technology. I look forward to working with them as we continue to build out the company and our product offering."
About Innosphere Ventures
Innosphere Ventures accelerates the success of science and technology-based startup and emerging companies and operates a sed stage venture capital fund. As Colorado's leading incubation program and commercialization expert, Innosphere's program focuses on ensuring companies are investor-ready, connecting founders with experienced advisors and early hires, making introductions to corporate partners, exit planning, and accelerating top line revenue growth. Innosphere has been supporting Colorado startups for over 20 years and is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with a strong mission to create jobs and grow Colorado's entrepreneurship ecosystem. www.innosphere.org
About Aspero Medical
Aspero Medical's Pillar micro-texture technology was developed at the University of Colorado. The technology was developed to improve gastrointestinal endoscopy procedure performance and outcomes. Aspero Medical was founded in 2018 by Mark Rentschler, PhD, PE, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, and Steven Edmundowicz, MD, Professor and Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center, and received initial equity funding through Innosphere Ventures, Fort Collins, Colorado. www.asperomedical.com
Press Contact:
Mark Rentschler
(720) 315-5165
https://www.asperomedical.com/
SOURCE Aspero Medical
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For a lot of kids, the usual summer activities like camp or swimming lessons didnt happen, and as a result, family schedules have become looser. If youre struggling to get your kids ready in the morning or to maintain some semblance of consistency each day, youre not alone.
We spoke to two teachers, a psychologist, a child development researcher and a licensed clinical social worker to find out how parents can add structure and routines back into their childrens school days when school itself is different.
Avoid multitasking and offer lots of encouragement instead
When easing back into a routine after a long hiatus, it may be tempting to multitask in the morning. But this can easily backfire.
If you tell your son to sit and eat his cereal while you leave to get dressed in the bedroom, you may later emerge to find your child no longer sitting at the table but in his room playing with toys; the cereal is now soggy.
Instead of doing two things at once, its best for parents to be fully present for the first two weeks of a new routine until it becomes more of a habit, advised Jamie Howard, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute in New York City. Maybe this means that you take your shower after dropping off your kids at school or wait until after their remote learning session has started.
In early June, with protests erupting around the country and George Floyds dying words still hauntingly fresh, The Washington Post published a column with a pointed headline that surely spoke for many who were fed up with seeing racism denied or minimized: The best white statement to make right now may be to shut up and listen.
Glaring episodes of racial injustice often inspire renewed appeals for white people to humble themselves, tamp down the defensiveness, and be open to what their black neighbors are saying. Indeed, its hard to imagine a more reasonable, unobjectionable request. Listening well is the barest requirement of basic human kindness, especially when those around you are hurting. When black people volunteer their personal experiences of prejudice, their perspectives on structural racism, or their raw fear of a loved one being gunned down by police, they deserve far more than stony indifference or mulish combativeness.
For Christians, the call to listen carries added force, not least when it comes from brothers and sisters in Christ. After all, biblical people are nothing if not listening people. As James instructs us, Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (1:19). Proverbs abounds with warnings against running ones mouth while closing ones mind and ears. Fools find no pleasure in understanding, according to Proverbs 18:2, but delight in airing their own opinions. By contrast, Scripture commends those who embrace a righteous rebuke: Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid (Prov. 12:1).
Seen this way, cries of Its time to listen ...
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Burkes lawyer, Charles Sklarsky, said he was concerned that if a trial went forward under such conditions, it might lead to constitutional issues later on. He questioned the governments estimate that the trial would last only three weeks, saying he anticipated a cross-examination of just one key witness could last a week.
Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Wednesday announced that his Hindustani Awam Morcha has joined the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar where assembly elections are due in October-November.
IMAGE: Former Bihar CM and HAM party chief Jitan Ram Manjhi addresses a press conference at his residence in Patna. Photograph: ANI Photo
The party had earlier in the day said that it will become part of the ruling coalition on Thursday, but the announcement was made on Wednesday afternoon itself by Manjhi at a peess conference he held at his residence.
"After my party took the decision to pull out of Grand Alliance, my cadre had authorised me to take a call on the future political move, about which you all were very curious.
"Initially, I had planned to make the announcement on September 03. But then I had second thoughts and decided that good things must not be delayed", he said.
It was not yet clear as to when and how Manjhi's formal induction into the ruling coalition is going to materialise though sources in the Janata Dal-United said that the HAM chief may meet Kumar Thursday before modalities are decided.
The National Democratic Alliance in Bihar which so far had BJP, JD-U and the LJP as its constituents will now have another dalit-centric party HAM as a member.
The former chief minister said he will be joining hands with his former mentor and present incumbent Nitish Kumar, but insisted that his party was not going to "merge" into the Janata Dal-United headed by the latter.
Manjhi underscored that his return to the NDA was "bina kisi shart ke" (without any preconditions) and added "I am not going to answer any questions as to how many seats our party is going to demand in assembly polls".
Manjhi had met Kumar last week and since then speculation was rife about his return to the NDA, but media reports suggested the delay was on account of a final agreement on the number of seats the HAM gets in the upcoming polls.
Dalits in Bihar are over 16 per cent of the electorate and about 40 seats in the 243-member house are reserved for them, and in such a scenario Manjhi's comeback would be an
advantage for the ruling alliance.
Manjhi had quit the JD-U in 2015 after being forced to step down as the chief minister to make way for the return of Kumar.
Later, he formed the HAM(S) and contested 21 seats in the 2015 Bihar assembly elections as an NDA constituent. With the return of Kumar to the NDA in July 2017, he walked out of it to join hands with the RJD-led opposition grouping
Manjhi pledged his support, "without any conditions" to Kumar in the upcoming assembly polls in which the chief minister will run for his fourth consecutive term in office.
"I cannot deny that I owe my rise to the chief minister's post to Nitish Kumar. Of course, many unsavoury things followed which I do not wish to rake up", Manjhi said at his residence-cum-party headquarters, where he disclosed his political move.
The veteran leader also seemed full of vitriol for Lalu Prasad's RJD which helms the opposition Grand Alliance.
"I had joined the Grand Alliance (in 2018) upon being beseeched to do so by Lalu Prasad. I did not go to them with a begging bowl", said Manjhi, lashing out at the party which has been accusing the HAM chief of being "ungrateful" ever since he pulled out of the opposition coalition about a fortnight ago.
He also fumed at repeated assertions by the RJD that it had "obliged" the former chief minister by getting his greenhorn son Santosh Kumar Suman elected to the legislative council despite HAM not having the requisite numbers in the assembly.
"The RJD seems to have forgotten that had it not been for our support, the party would have failed to retain Araria Lok Sabha seat and Jehanabad assembly seat in bypolls necessitated by deaths of sitting members", the HAM leader said.
In a veiled dig at Prasads heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, Manjhi asked "what is meant by extending a favour to my son. Is he a Class VIII dropout?"
The jibe was apparently directed at Yadav who stopped studies after class IX.
He also asserted that contrary to the RJD's allegations, he had not been playing hardball to extract his pound of flesh but only raising a "reasonable demand" for better coordination among GA partners on which Lalu Prasad's party dismissively heaped scorn.
The chief ministers party has been understandably buoyed by the development since the return of Manjhi could come in handy while dealing with troublesome alliance partners
like Ram Vilas Paswans Lok Janshakti Party.
Now headed by the founder and Union ministers son Chirag Paswan, the LJP has been repeatedly sniping at the JD-U chief on issues ranging from governance in the state to the
"loyalty" towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The LJP's decision to convene a meeting of its parliamentary board at New Delhi on September 07, the very date on which the Bihar chief minister is expected to sound the poll bugle through a virtual rally, is being seen as an indication of the rift between the two NDA partners.
To be fully objective, I must say that Russia is the only country that is restraining Turkeys ambitions. This is what second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan said in an interview with RBK.
Asked if Turkey incited Azerbaijan to escalate tension in July, the ex-President said yes and no. Turkey was acting extremely and extremely categorical, but I dont have any information about Turkey inciting Azerbaijan. It seems to me that the incident was part of the logic of strengthening on the line of contact of the sides at war. However, what sparks several questions is how Turkey became a part of the process. Of course, this is problematic for Armenians. Turkey poses a threat to existence, and we regret to see military drills. Turkey has always had its eye on the South Caucasus. In this situation, it wants to expand its presence and is part of the processes that are unfolding. To be fully objective, Russia is the only country that is restraining Turkeys ambitions, Kocharyan said.
660 Lawyers in Hunan Have Law Licenses Revoked in China Attorney Purge
2020-09-01 -- A sexual assault case in April involving a licensed lawyer who was also a senior executive of a Shandong province oil enterprise prompted China's Ministry of Justice to launch a mass purge of lawyers that has toppled more than 660 lawyers in Hunan province, legal sources said.
The accusations against Bao Yuming vice president and chief legal officer of Shandong Yantai Jereh Group, China's largest oilfield services company were serious: He had sexually assaulted his adopted daughter since 2015. Jereh and the ZTE Corporation, where he was an independent non-executive director, announced his resignation as soon as the case was exposed.
It was not Bao's alleged sexual misdeeds that China's Ministry of Justice was targeting, however, when it launched a large-scale purge of lawyers, an unfolding nationwide campaign that led to the revocation of the law licenses of more than 660 lawyers in central Hunan province in August alone.
The purge is focusing on targeting full-time lawyers violating rules on holding two or more positions concurrently, signing labor contracts with firms other than law firms, and practicing as full-time lawyers while holding foreign passports and concealing the revocation of Chinese nationality, lawyers said
"The legal profession must be given time to carry this work properly. The requirements should be more stringent. The lawyer management department has issued a lot of licenses that should not have been issued, especially in out-of-the-way places where exams were not administered before issuing licenses," said attorney Wu Kuiming.
"Many were Chinese nationals, who were licensed after passing the exam, but now they are foreign nationals," he said, describing chaos in the legal profession in China.
According to the judicial notification, the affected lawyers must take the initiative to report to violations of bans on part-time employment or the loss of Chinese nationality.
On August 20, 2020, the Hunan Province Justice Department revoked the law licenses of 467 lawyers. From April 7 to August 27, 2020, 1,267 lawyers' licenses have been revoked for doing part-time work and holding foreign passports, in a pool of more than 16,000 lawyers in the province
'Forced to act and forced to be quoted'
Beyond Hunan, all provinces and cities across the country have conducted similar large-scale purges, law sources say.
Authorities claim these lawyers had their licenses revoked on their own initiative, but Hunan human rights lawyer Xie Yang said he believes that most of them were forced to comply.
"The Chinese Communist Party monopolizes all social resources in China. If you don't comply with license revocation, you will bear consequences that you are unwilling to bear. The authorities will impose harsh blows on you from other angles. These so-called 'initiators' are forced to act and forced to be quoted," Xie said.
Xie was among 300 lawyers, law firm staff and rights activists detained, questioned and otherwise harassed during a July 2015 crackdown on human rights defenders. He was accused of "inciting subversion of state power," and recently disbarred on the grounds that he disrupted court order while trying his case.
In an era when many Chinese lawyers especially those who practice from Hong Kong have qualifications to practice abroad, and even have foreign passports, Xie says holding a foreign passport or doing part-time work does not run counter to the professional ethics of lawyers.
"Attorneys are knowledge professionals. As long as you have the ability to obtain a law license from the People's Republic of China without violating the law, then no one should revoke this license," he told RFA.
"This is the Ministry of Justice exceeding its authority, even going so far as to revoke the licenses of lawyers holding more than one position at the same time," Xie added.
He said that the authorities' rectification of the national legal profession will inevitably affect human rights lawyers.
"Purging human rights lawyers is not the starting point. But in the rectification process, it will definitely affect lawyers who support human rights, even if they are not prominent, and revoke their law licenses," said Xie.
July 9 marked marked the fifth anniversary of a nationwide crackdown targeting more than 300 law firms, human rights attorneys and associated activists that began with the arrest of lawyers Wang Yu and Bao Longjun and colleagues at the now-shuttered Beijing Fengrui law firm on July 9, 2015.
More than 200 people were detained as part of the 2015 crackdown, and China Human Rights Lawyers Group lists at least nine rights lawyers who remain behind bars, including Li Yuhan, Yu Wensheng and Qin Yongpei. Detentions and harassment of lawyers continue across China, the group says.
Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Scott Savitt.
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Lebanese leaders have promised to form a new government within two weeks, visiting French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday after talks with political blocs who designated a new prime minister a day earlier.
"What I have asked for, what all political parties without exception have committed to this evening right here, is that the formation of this government will not take more than a fortnight," Macron said in a speech in Beirut.
He said the cabinet would be comprised of "competent personalities" and would be an "independent" entity with the backing of political parties.
Mustapha Adib, who had been Lebanon's ambassador to Berlin since 2013, was named on Monday as the country's second new prime minister since Saad Hariri resigned in the face of mass protests in October.
Adib will now have to form a reform-oriented government in record time in a crisis-hit country where the process usually takes months.
Adib "can only obtain legitimacy by quickly forming a mission government made up of professionals, the strongest possible team", Macron said.
Macron toured the area two days after the warehouse explosion in Beirut on August 4 that killed at least 190 people. He arrived in Beirut on Monday to follow up on reconstruction efforts and hammer home the need for urgent reform in the Middle East nation that is collapsing under the weight of a crippling economic crisis.
The French president marked Lebanon's centenary on Tuesday by planting a cedar tree, the nation's emblem, at a forest reserve north of Beirut. He then toured Beirut's devastated port, before holding talks with the leaders of Lebanon's political factions.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Read our blog below to see how the events unfolded in Beirut on Tuesday September 1.
(TNS) It sounds like something out of a movie: An American Airlines pilot calls the control tower at Los Angeles International Airport to warn that his plane just flew past someone in midair a person wearing a jet pack.But the pilot really did give that warning Sunday night, and it wasn't laughed off. The FBI is investigating.After all, jet packs are not confined to the realm of science fiction. There are a handful of companies around the world that make devices that power a single person up into the air.Former Swiss Air Force pilot Yves Rossy has created a type of winged jet pack , which typically requires him to be hoisted into the sky by a helicopter or balloon; he can take off from there. Another company, Zapata, has made something like a flying skateboard , which gives off a Marty McFly vibe JetPack Aviation Corp., based in Van Nuys, says it's the only one to have developed a jet pack that can be worn like a backpack. The technology is real: Chief Executive David Mayman demonstrated it five years ago by flying around the Statue of Liberty , and his company has created five of them.So it's not out of the question that someone could have been soaring above the airport last weekend, giving pilots a scare.Mayman was quick to say that if a jet pack was involved, it wasn't one of his. JetPack Aviation keeps its five packs locked down, he said, and they're not for sale. The company does offer flying lessons at $4,950 a pop, but he said students are attached to a wire and can't stray too far.None of the company's competitors sell their products to consumers either, Mayman said.The weekend incident "got us all wondering whether there's been someone working in skunkworks on this," he said, using a term for a secret project. Or maybe, he mused, the airline pilot saw some kind of electric-powered drone with a mannequin attached.The fact remains: It's very difficult to get access to a jet pack. If you accomplish that, though, it's not hard to get permission to fly it.The Federal Aviation Administration doesn't issue licenses specifically for operating the devices. A jet pack could be operated as an ultralight vehicle meaning it would not be registered with the FAA and its operator wouldn't need a pilot license if it meets weight, fuel capacity and speed requirements.But it still wouldn't be allowed to surprise officials by freewheeling over California's biggest airport at night. Without FAA approval, ultralight vehicles can fly only during the day and are barred from flying over densely populated areas or in controlled airspace.Jet packs that don't meet the ultralight requirements could be issued a special experimental certificate, which would require a class of pilot certificate specific to the aircraft and have its own set of flight restrictions, the FAA said."If you want to do something that's a thrill-seeking thing, then yes, you can fly one," said Mike Hirschberg, executive director of the Vertical Flight Society, a nonprofit professional organization.To be clear, they're not well suited to becoming a common form of transportation anytime soon.For one, they're too loud and don't have enough endurance, Hirschberg said.For another, they're too expensive. If JetPack Aviation were willing to sell its jet packs to individuals, it would charge at least $300,000 each, Mayman said.Besides, selling to the general public would create liability concerns."It's so easy for someone to misuse one of these aircraft," Mayman said. He doesn't want to be on the hook if, say, a flier were to plow into a car or building.Mayman said that he isn't interested in selling his products to anyone but governments or government agencies, and that his company's focus is on search-and-rescue applications.Four years ago, JetPack Aviation had a jet pack research and development contract with the U.S. military, but it did not end up selling any of the devices. Now under a different U.S. military research and development contract, the company is working on its Speeder aircraft, which it describes as a flying motorcycle that can be piloted by a human or flown as a drone.Inventors have long dreamed of creating jet packs that would rocket individuals through the air.In the 1950s, a Bell Aerosystems engineer named Wendell Moore developed a rocket belt that could strap onto a person's back and fly them a short distance. Though the U.S. military seriously considered the device in the 1960s for use by soldiers, the rocket belt's range of just a few seconds was deemed too short, according to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.In 2018, an engineering competition sponsored by Boeing Co. and other groups asked inventors to build a quiet, personal flying device that could carry a person for 20 miles. But instead of quiet jet packs, contest submissions were more like air motorcycles If quiet is the priority, there are ways to fly that don't even involve motors, propellers or combustion.In 1982, a North Hollywood truck driver named Larry Walters tied 42 helium-filled weather balloons to a lawn chair and floated up 16,000 feet in the air. He surprised at least two airline pilots, one of whom radioed the FAA. (Walters was fined $1,500.) To return to earth, Walters used a pellet gun to pop the balloons.
Ghana's consulate in New York has begun receiving visa applications from prospective travellers.
It follows the re-opening of Ghanas airport after the easing of COVID-19 induced restrictions.
A statement by the consulate disclosed that the applications will only be via online basis.
The Ghana Consulate General, New York is pleased to accept visa applications from prospective travellers to Ghana. However, it should be noted that the Consulate will provide only postal visa services to the public, it announced.
All applications are to be completed online and copies of the form printed and mailed to the consulate together with supporting documents and applicable fees to be paid by Money Order, Postal Order or Cashiers Check.
The Consulate also does not accept physical cash or personal checks as payment for consular services.
Counter or in-person visa services have also been suspended until further notice.
The Ghana Mission to the United Nations and Consulate General in New York assures all visa applicants and prospective travellers to Ghana of every cooperation and support to facilitate their travel arrangements to Ghana, the Consulates statement further assured.
Meanwhile, all prospective travellers or visa applicants have been asked to take note of the following guidelines:
1. Passengers must arrive in Ghana with a negative COVID-19 testing result from their country of origin that is not more than 72 hours old from a certified health facility.
2. Every passenger will be required to disembark in Ghana wearing a face mask.
3. All passengers will be required to undergo a mandatory COVID-19 test at the Accra Kotoka International Airport on arrival. The cost of the test will be borne by the passenger.
4. Test results will be ready in 30 minutes and those who test negative will be discharged to go home while those who test positive will be handed over to the Ghanaian Health Officials.
5. Prospective travellers may contact Dr. Akwasi Acheampong of Elmont Medical, PC at 135 Rocket Avenue, Elmont, NY 11003 for reliable COVID-19 tests to ensure a 72-hour return and validity. Call 516-356-5600 for appointments.
The family of Ulysses Houston is one of them. Houston, 65, was born in the same home at 16th and G streets that he lives in today. Hes witnessed the areas demographic changes firsthand. Houston says that he and other longtime residents welcome their newer neighbors with open arms, but that he notices a lack of minority families among them. That has caused occasional tension, such as when his neighbor called the police about his fireworks celebration on the Fourth of July. For Houston, its a reminder of a system he says favors a certain type of homeowner.
A team led by the University of Colorado Boulder is pioneering a new solution to the problem of spring cleaning on the moon: Why not zap away the grime using a beam of electrons?
The research, published recently in the journal Acta Astronautica, marks the latest to explore a persistent, and perhaps surprising, hiccup in humanity's dreams of colonizing the moon: dust. Astronauts walking or driving over the lunar surface kick up huge quantities of this fine material, also called regolith.
"It's really annoying," said Xu Wang, a research associate in the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder. "Lunar dust sticks to all kinds of surfaces--spacesuits, solar panels, helmets--and it can damage equipment."
So he and his colleagues developed a possible fix--one that makes use of an electron beam, a device that shoots out a concentrated (and safe) stream of negatively-charged, low-energy particles. In the new study, the team aimed such a tool at a range of dirty surfaces inside of a vacuum chamber. And, they discovered, the dust just flew away.
"It literally jumps off," said lead author Benjamin Farr, who completed the work as an undergraduate student in physics at CU Boulder.
The researchers still have a long way to go before real-life astronauts will be able to use the technology to do their daily tidying up. But, Farr said, the team's early findings suggest that electron-beam dustbusters could be a fixture of moon bases in the not-too-distant future.
Spent gunpowder
The news may be music to the ears of many Apollo-era astronauts. Several of these space pioneers complained about moon dust, which often resists attempts at cleaning even after vigorous brushing. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, who visited the moon as a member of Apollo 17 in 1972, developed an allergic reaction to the material and has said that it smelled like "spent gunpowder."
The problem with lunar dust, Wang explained, is that it isn't anything like the stuff that builds up on bookshelves on Earth. Moon dust is constantly bathed in radiation from the sun, a bombardment that gives the material an electric charge. That charge, in turn, makes the dust extra sticky, almost like a sock that's just come out of the drier. It also has a distinct structure.
"Lunar dust is very jagged and abrasive, like broken shards of glass," Wang said.
The question facing his group was then: How do you unstick this naturally clingy substance?
Electron beams offered a promising solution. According to a theory developed from recent scientific studies of how dust naturally lofts on the lunar surface, such a device could turn the electric charges on particles of dust into a weapon against them. If you hit a layer dust with a stream of electrons, Wang said, that dusty surface will collect additional negative charges. Pack enough charges into the spaces in between the particles, and they may begin to push each other away--much like magnets do when the wrong ends are forced together.
"The charges become so large that they repel each other, and then dust ejects off of the surface," Wang said.
Electron showers
To test the idea, he and his colleagues loaded a vacuum chamber with various materials coated in a NASA-manufactured "lunar simulant" designed to resemble moon dust.
And sure enough, after aiming an electron beam at those particles, the dust poured off, usually in just a few minutes. The trick worked on a wide range of surfaces, too, including spacesuit fabric and glass. This new technology aims at cleaning the finest dust particles, which are difficult to remove using brushes, Wang said. The method was able to clean dusty surfaces by an average of about 75-85%.
"It worked pretty well, but not well enough that we're done," Farr said.
The researchers are currently experimenting with new ways to increase the cleaning power of their electron beam.
But study coauthor Mihaly Horanyi, a professor in LASP and the Department of Physics at CU Boulder, said that the technology has real potential. NASA has experimented with other strategies for shedding lunar dust, such as by embedding networks of electrodes into spacesuits. An electron beam, however, might be a lot cheaper and easier to roll out.
Horanyi imagines that one day, lunar astronauts could simply leave their spacesuits hanging up in a special room, or even outside their habitats, and clean them after spending a long day kicking up dust outside. The electrons would do the rest.
"You could just walk into an electron beam shower to remove fine dust," he said.
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Other coauthors on the new research include John Goree of the University of Iowa and Inseob Hahn and Ulf Israelsson of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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The Army announced Tuesday that a four-star general will lead an investigation into the "chain of command actions" related to the killing of 20-year-old Spc. Vanessa Guillen in Fort Hood, Texas.
Details: The Army said in a statement that Gen. John Murray, commanding general of Army Futures Command, would lead the "in-depth investigation." Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, deputy commander of III Corps at Fort Hood, is no longer commander for the 1st Armored Division.
The big picture: Guillen went missing in April and some of her dismembered remains were found buried along the Leon River on June 30. The man authorities say killed her was found to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but a 22-year-old woman was charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence surrounding Guillen's death.
Guillen's family said she faced sexual harassment while on the Texas base, which she did not report for fear of retaliation.
Her family met with President Trump last month, who said her death would be investigated "very powerfully."
What they're saying: "There are currently several investigations underway at Fort Hood which are tasked with reviewing a wide range of topics and concerns," the Army said in its statement. "Gen. Murray will roll those efforts into a more complete and comprehensive investigation that will delve into all activities and levels of leadership."
The British Government has launched a new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to unite development and promote British interests worldwide.
The new development merged the former Foreign and Commonwealth Office with the Department for International Development(DFID) created in 1968.
Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister, had earlier announced the merger on June 16 but officially launched on Wednesday.
The office brings together the best of Britains international effort and enhances the UKs positive impact on the world stage.
In its mission statement, the UK government said, it will use all the tools of British influence to ensure that we have an even greater positive global impact as we recover from coronavirus and prepare to hold the G7 presidency and host COP26 next year.
The UK is already a world leader in international development, helping to end extreme poverty in developing countries by tackling challenges like coronavirus, saving lives in humanitarian crises, helping girls get a quality education, tackling climate change, reversing biodiversity loss and championing girls education.
The Senior Press and Public Affairs Officer of British High Commission, Abuja, Christopher Ogunmodede in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES quoted the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, to have said that he believes the merger will make a great impact in Nigeria.
I strongly believe that bringing together our diplomatic and development efforts will help us make a greater impact in Nigeria. This continues a journey we have already started where DFID and FCO have shared the same building in Abuja for three years now, and are already working in cross-departmental teams.
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We value deeply the close relationship we have with Nigeria and look forward to working closely with the people of Nigeria through our new FCDO platform to support and encourage Nigerias people to realise their great countrys long-term potential.
The UK remains absolutely committed to our world-class aid programme. We continue to have the third-biggest development budget in the world, with 0.7% enshrined in law, and world-beating development expertise and partnerships that will continue unabated, the statement read.
The two outfits were instrumental in mobilising protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Assam last December
It took a massive agitation spanning over six long years to highlight the threats posed by the unabated influx of Bangladeshi migrants to Assams ethnic demography. Thirty-five years have passed since then, but the issue is still alive and kicking as successive ruling parties chose to play their own brand of politics over the years, undermining the importance of the matter.
A year after the final version of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published in the northeastern state, the authorities concerned have not yet issued 'rejection slips' to the 1.9 million people excluded from the list, significant numbers of whom are suspected to be illegal Hindu settlers from Bangladesh. This has fuelled fears among the states indigenous groups that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to protect the Bengali-speaking Hindus for electoral gains.
First published in 1951, the process to update the NRC was initiated to detect illegal immigrants irrespective of their religion on the basis of March 25, 1971 cut-off date. The Supreme Court-monitored exercise found 31 million people eligible for inclusion in the final list published on August 31 last year and rejected 1.9 million applicants as they failed to submit adequate proof of their citizenship.
Those excluded from the list were supposed to be issued rejection slips earlier this year, but the state NRC authorities claim the process got delayed because of the nationwide lockdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. A rejection slip will show the reason for exclusion of an applicant from the list.
The delay in issuing the rejection slips could also be due to the fact that the Registrar General of India is yet to notify the final publication of the NRC.
Nonetheless, indigenous groups such as the influential All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the Asom Sangrami Mancha (ASM) have now slammed the ruling BJP, saying it made a mockery of the NRC, and deliberately complicated the NRC process in order to protect the interest of illegal migrants.
Rejection or inclusion?
There is apprehension that the majority of people excluded from the NRC would eventually make it to the list as the officials involved in the process had allegedly cited weaker grounds for their exclusion. And the chances are that a Foreigners Tribunal (FT) would strike down such a rejection order, making it easier for the applicant to get his/her name included in the citizens register.
An FT is a quasi-judicial body that has the power to determine if a person is an Indian citizen or a foreigner according to the provisions of the Foreigners Act 1946, and the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order 1964. At present, there are 100 FTs in Assam to handle the NRC rejection cases.
There were plans to set up 200 more tribunals across the state to expedite the hearings in the NRC rejection cases, and accordingly, 221 new members were appointed by the Assam government last year. However, questions are now being raised about its intention after the BJP-led government failed to issue appointment letters to 1,600 people selected as support staff. Nobody knows how long it will take to settle the appeals with the COVID-19 pandemic now giving the ruling dispensation another excuse to delay the process.
NRC the backstory
The demand to update the NRC was first raised by the AASU in 1980, amid the six-year anti-foreigner movement, better known as Assam Agitation. On February 2 that year, AASU leaders met the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi demanding that all illegal immigrants be detected and deported on the basis of 1951 NRC. However, the student body finally settled for the March 25, 1971 cut-off date during the signing of the 1985 Assam Accord that brought an end to the agitation.
Since then, successive regimes at the Centre have never taken it seriously. In 2010, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government decided to run a pilot project in Chhaygaon in Kamrup district and Barpeta, but abandoned it after violence broke out in Barpeta. Four persons were killed in clashes between police and activists of the All Assam Minority Students Union who opposed the move to update the citizens register.
The NRC issue received a fresh impetus after the Registrar General of India issued a notification on December 5, 2013, and subsequently, the Supreme Court started monitoring the process. The BJP that came to power at the Centre in 2014 claimed credit for this, and some of its top leaders even talked about the possibility of a nationwide NRC, a move seen as anti-Muslim by the Opposition and rights organisations.
However, the final version of the NRC in Assam had put the BJP in a fix when it found that only 1.9 million people were excluded from the list, many of whom are suspected to be Bengali-speaking Hindus, its potential votebank. While the saffron party started questioning the whole exercise, the AASU and the Assam Public Works (APW) urged the apex court for re-examination of the final draft, which they alleged was not prepared according to the courts directives. APW is a primary petitioner in the NRC case in the Supreme Court.
The AASU has also accused the BJP government of trying to violate the provisions of the Assam Accord by imposing the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 that grants Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities, including Hindus, from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered the country on or before December 31, 2014.
Jayanta Kalita is a senior journalist and author based in Delhi. He writes on issues related to Indias Northeast. The views are personal.
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Amazon has cleared a key government hurdle in its flight path to deliver packages by airborne drones.
The company revealed Monday that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration granted the online retail giant a Part 135 certificate, which allows Amazon Prime Air to operate as an air carrier. The move lets Amazon make commercial deliveries under a trial program that uses drone technology announced last year.
The Part 135 certificate means that the FAA has investigated Amazons technology and program and determined that it complies with the agencys safety and operations guidelines, explained Charles King, the principal analyst atPund-IT.
Awarding Amazon the certificate brings the company a step closer to drone delivery, he told TechNewsWorld.
David Carbon, the Amazon vice president who oversees Prime Air, praised the FAAs decision in a widely reported statement.
This certification is an important step forward for Prime Air and indicates the FAAs confidence in Amazons operating and safety procedures for an autonomous drone delivery service that will one day deliver packages to our customers around the world, he said.
Residential Drone Pads
Drone deliveries can benefit both Amazon and consumers.
The companys goal is to offer reduced delivery times on certain items, with packages arriving in 30 to 60 minutes after the order is placed, King said. That should offer Amazon a competitive advantage in some markets and scenarios.
It is potentially both a lower cost and faster last-mile delivery system, keeping people shopping at Amazon and reducing the immediate need that might otherwise push them to a local store, added Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
Not only will drone delivery give consumers near-instant gratification, King noted, but it can be used to deliver emergency supplies, such as medical prescriptions, when immediacy is critical.
It can deliver them in a safer way, too.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
The plan is only to deliver when people are there to receive the package, Enderle told TechNewsWorld.
In addition, he continued, the drone can deliver to more challenging to reach places like a secured yard or rooftop balcony.
I expect well eventually start to modify houses with landing pads for drone deliveries on top, he predicted.
Since the drone is capable of delivering where you are, he said, the risk from porch pirates and the related cost to the consumer and Amazon are significantly reduced.
Beyond Amazon
The FAAs action is not only significant to Amazon but to the delivery industry as a whole, maintained Enderle.
It showcases a clear path and progress to widespread drone delivery, he told TechNewsWorld.
The Amazon approval follows similar actions given to Google and UPS. Those approvals collectively showcase that we not only will have drone deliveries relatively quickly, but that there will almost immediately be both competition and oversight to assure low prices and higher safety, Enderle remarked.
Alphabets Wing, which is owned by the same parent company as Google, gained Part 135 approval in April 2019. Since then, Wing, with partners Walgreens and FedEx, has been making drone deliveries in Northern Virginia. It has also gained approval from the Australian government to make drone deliveries in Canberra.
UPS Flight Forward acquired its Part 135 approval in October 2019. It immediately launched a drone delivery at the WakeMed hospital campus in Raleigh, N.C. Drone delivery is needed in healthcare operations, where the shortest time in transit can improve efficiency and help healthcare professionals serve their patients better, the company said in a statement.
A Drone With AI
Drone delivery, at least initially, will face some limitations. Their range is limited to six to eight miles. Wind, cold and heat can affect their performance. Then there are obstacles high buildings and power lines.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
They can also be attacked by birds, which see them as threats or sometimes prey, Enderle observed.
Crime rates will also affect where drone delivery is offered, he added.
Amazons latest drone, the MK27, takes on some of those challenges head on. For example, it uses artificial intelligence to determine what to do when confronted with an obstacle. If it cant evade it, the drone will either delay delivery of its payload or abort the mission altogether.
Most drones depend on a human pilot to make those kinds of decisions, but Amazons MK27 uses proprietary computer vision and machine learning algorithms to navigate the obstacles it may encounter when making a delivery.
The MK27 has another neat feature. It lands and takes off like a helicopter, but when in the air, it can fly like a plane for faster speed.
More Hurdles to Clear
Infrastructure and manpower will also be challenges for the first drone fleets.
You need drone-enabled depots, Enderle said. Then you need coordination between drone service providers, enough drones to handle the workload and trained drone operators to manage the fleet.
There could be problems with consumer acceptance, too.
Its also unclear how consumers will respond to the service, King observed.
While many are certain to be interested or enthused about the service, there will likely be others who are irritated or angered when autonomous drones fly by their homes, he said.
Theres also more regulatory hurdles in the wings for drone delivery organizations.
By the end of the year, its expected the FAA will finalize regulations that will be the framework for flying drones over crowds, which will be important to anyone wanting to make deliveries with drones.
That framework is expected to include rules requiring all but the smallest drones to broadcast their identities and locations, a measure aimed at thwarting terrorists and preventing midair collisions.
More regulations governing autonomous flights are also expected as well as standards for the drones themselves, such as what their acceptable level of noise should be.
In addition, the FAA needs to develop a new air-traffic system to manage low-altitude drones and keep the skies from becoming a 3D billiard table.
When all the problems are ironed out, however, drone delivery should be arriving relatively soon. We could have several areas spun up by the end of 2021, but the pandemic is harming execution in many markets, Enderle observed. Id expect drone delivery to be relatively common in dense rural areas in many parts of the country before 2026.
Schoolies who were hoping to travel to Queensland for their end-of-year celebrations could be eligible for a refund while others are likely to be left disappointed.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk cancelled this year's event on Friday to stop the spread of coronavirus leaving thousands disappointed.
Interstate revellers who planned to travel to the sunshine state for their post school celebration will be able to use COVID-19 travel restrictions as the basis for a refund.
However youngsters from Queensland looking to celebrate in their home state will need to check the terms and conditions of their bookings for a refund.
Fair Trading executive director Brian Bauer told Quest Newspapers Queenslanders may not be able to use coronavirus as an excuse.
Schoolies 2020 has been cancelled by the Queensland government due to coronavirus. Pictured: Holidaymakers arrive on the Gold Coast for Schoolies in 2019
'Queensland school leavers are still allowed to travel to the Gold Coast and so are able to take up their bookings and have an end-of-year celebration,' he said.
'But they will need to comply with the restrictions in place, including social distancing and limits on gatherings in holiday units.
'These consumers are unlikely to be automatically entitled to a refund. However they may still have options under their booking providers terms and conditions.'
All Schoolies Week 2020 official events have been cancelled by the state government.
This could be handy for Queenslanders, as anyone who has booked a package which includes an official Schoolies event would qualify for a refund if part of their deal is cancelled.
Mr Bauer said Schoolies should check the terms and conditions of their booking to see if they are able to receive a refund, voucher or credit.
Many revellers (pictured on the Gold Coast) will be looking to refund their bookings through interstate coronavirus travel restrictions
Ms Palaszczuk said cancelling the major end-of-high-school celebrations was a tough decision.
'It poses a high risk,' she said.
'High risk, not only the people who attend, all the young people, but also all the people they come in contact with, and of course their families and their friends and their grandparents.'
'So, we've had to take that very tough decision. So there will be, unfortunately, no concerts, no organised events, because there can be no mass gatherings.'
Ms Palaszczuk said the chief health officer and director-general of education will be writing to every school in the state to inform them and ensure students understand the rules.
A group of girls pose on Cavill Avenue in Surfers Paradise before a Schoolies event in 2019
The premier said students can still book end-of-school holidays with their friends but it should be a quieter celebration.
'Just as any other person can go along and book accommodation, people are welcome to continue to do that, in those small groups, right across Queensland,' she said.
'There is nothing wrong with small groups of people finishing school, booking somewhere close to where they live as well.'
Ms Palaszczuk is urging people to celebrate their achievement by holidaying in Queensland and supporting local businesses and tourism operators.
'It's a tough year for everyone. And hopefully, hopefully, things will get better by the end of next year, and we can have a double celebration.'
'But we're in a world pandemic, and I just hope everyone understands that.'
Hundreds of party goers dance to live music on the sand at Surfers Paradise Main Beach at Schoolies 2019
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the current Year 12 group has had a 'really difficult year'.
'This is a rite of passage. Your last year of school is such an important year... and so much of it has had to change for this group,' Dr Young said.
'But look, I think this group is one of the most resilient, innovative groups, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they will put in place instead of that traditional mass gatherings on the beaches and so forth.'
Schoolies week first began on the Gold Coast in the late 1970s in the weeks following final exams with the Broadbeach Hotel as the main meeting place.
Events began to be organised in 1980 when the Gold Coast started attracting students from all over the country to celebrate.
As a result, growing numbers of college officials are realizing that there are limits to what they can monitor on their own and are calling on students to help.
Colgate University sent students a memo encouraging them to report classmates who violate social-distancing guidelines and to include names so action could be taken. Similar instructions were sent out at schools across the country from the University of Colorado Boulder to the University of Pennsylvania. Yale University and some other colleges have hotlines in place for reports of risky activity.
Its an extraordinary situation, and students face a quandary: Report parties to campus officials? Or keep quiet and hope for the best? As one freshman said at Hunter College, which has a dorm open even though classes are remote this semester: I dont know if Id want to narc on people Im trying to become friends with.
For those in the middle of it, the choice is not as simple as they might have expected.
Before coming here, I remember thinking Yeah, Ill definitely report people if theyre going to parties, said Kyle Duran, a freshman at Binghamton University in upstate New York. But after spending just a few days on campus, Mr. Duran had second thoughts. Its a lot harder to want to when youre living and going to class with everyone.
Some faculty members at schools have warned against asking students to police their peers. They have said doing so could disrupt student life when classmates are pitted against one other, particularly when the consequences for breaking the rules can be harsh.
SUNY Plattsburgh, for example, placed 43 students on interim suspension last week after a large outdoor gathering. Fifteen others at Marist College, a small liberal arts school in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., were recently sent home for not following rules at an off-campus party, while at Ohio State University, more than 200 have been suspended for similar reasons.
Ariana Rebello, a freshman at Hofstra University on Long Island, said hearing about those punishments at other schools has dissuaded her from attending parties, but also from reporting her classmates. I dont think I could bring myself to snitch. I just wouldnt associate with them, she said.
SLI Medical and JobsOhio delivered 1.65 million masks and 15,000 bottles of hand sanitizer through six regional distribution sites to small and minority businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Highlighting the agility of small businesses in responding to changing customer requirements, SLI Medical has delivered more than 50M units of personal protection equipment (PPE) this year. Items that hospitals have found difficult to procure from larger medical companies including isolation gowns, N95 Masks, Nitrile Gloves, Thermometers, Covid-19 Sample Collection kits, Covid-19 Rapid Test Kits, Hand Sanitizer and more SLI Medical has delivered quickly through its secure international supply chain. SLI Medical has provided more than 20 million gowns, 20 million masks, 8 million gloves and 2 million face shields to protect healthcare workers in the U.S. from COVID-19.
JobsOhio is a private nonprofit corporation designed to drive job creation and new capital investment in the state of Ohio. To support small business re-opening efforts statewide and protect employees and customers from the spread of COVID-19, JobsOhio partnered with SLI Medical to design and deliver 15,000 PPE safety kits.
SLI Medical has multiple locations across the country which allows the company to respond quickly to incoming PPE requests. Currently, SLI has been able to stabilize its supply chain and maintain stock of PPE items in its U.S. facility, including masks, isolation gowns and sanitizer among others. SLI Medical is delivering PPE to hospitals, healthcare providers, state government, local municipalities, among other healthcare facilities across the globe within 5-7 days, versus 30+ days required by some competitors. The company's hands-on experience with emergency supply chain management has also helped reduce the cost of supplying essential PPE products, including but not limited to Level 1, 2, 3, and 4 gowns, surgical tieback Level 3 masks, 3-ply level 1 and level 2 procedure masks, face shields, shoe covers, bouffant caps, pulse oximeters, hand sanitizer, needles, COVID rapid testing, nasal swabs and COVID Preservation Testing Kits.
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In April 2019, the star of a headlining show at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival went out to dinner with donors, then drinks with friends in downtown Ashland.
Tony Sancho was intoxicated when police encountered him. Instead of detox, he ended up in county jail for more than 10 hours, handcuffed to a metal grate for much of that time. For nearly a minute a sheriffs deputy pinned his knee to Sanchos neck.
On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, Noelle Crombie talks about her recent story looking into Sanchos 2019 arrest and detention. The 43-year-old actor filed a federal lawsuit last month alleging excessive force by three deputies at the jail.
His case comes as the nation continues to wrestle with protests over police brutality involving Black men. But Sanchos attorneys argue its bigger than that. Im a brown man, Sancho told police officers after they moved in to handcuff him. Youre white.
We talked about the case, the ripple effect in Jackson County and the acting community, and what some cast members say its like to be a person of color in Southern Oregon.
Heres the full episode:
Theres been further fallout from the Indian Supreme Court decision to allow ten years for adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues repayment, with reports that the Vodafone Idea board plans to meet on 4 September.
According to the Indian press, the board of the cash-strapped operator now forced to budget for repayment of just under $7 billion worth of outstanding AGR dues (of which it has so far paid the equivalent of just over $1 billion) will meet to discuss strategies to pay these massive debts. It will also need to look at ways to continue investing in its networks to be able to compete with its rivals.
Potential ways forward to raise funds could include a public issue, a preferential allotment, a private placement and the sale of assets among other approaches.
Indias Economic Times has suggested that the company needs to raise at least $3-4 billion to be able to compete effectively in the market. And of course, the AGR payments come on top of this.
Obviously, now that Vodafone Idea knows where it stands it has something to base its calculations on, but that doesnt necessarily make its job any easier as it already has significant outgoings and a falling end user base.
Things are better for Bharti Airtel, which has paid off about half of its AGR dues of about $3.54 billion already, although the company now has to wait for input from the Department of Telecommunications, which has been asked by the Supreme Court to check if Jio and rival Airtel have pending AGR dues (on top of their existing dues) from their spectrum trading deals.
The courts order focuses on trading deals that Bharti Airtel had struck with the now bankrupt telecommunications companies Videocon and Aircel as well as Reliance Jio's deals with Reliance Communications (RCom), which is going through insolvency proceedings at the moment. RCom, Videocon and Aircel still owe significant sums in AGR dues.
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a consultative grand assembly, known as Loya Jirga, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 7, 2020. (Courtesy of Afghan Presidential Palace/Handout via Reuters)
Afghanistan Frees Nearly 200 Taliban Prisoners to Push Peace Talks
KABULAfghanistan has freed nearly 200 Taliban prisoners to spur long-delayed peace talks, as a team of negotiators readies to fly this week to Qatars capital, Afghan officials said on Wednesday.
The prisoners formed part of a group of 400 jailed hardcore Islamist separatists whose stalled release had appeared set to delay talks between the government and the insurgent group to end nearly two decades of war.
The Afghan government has released another batch of the remaining Taliban prisoners and the work is still underway to move the prisoner exchange process forward, Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani, said in a statement.
He did not give the exact number, however. Two officials said the releases from the main jail in the capital Kabul took place on Monday and Tuesday, at the same time that the Taliban freed six Afghan special forces.
About 120 prisoners remain to be freed in line with Taliban demands, including six whose release some Western governments, including Australia, have objected to.
A government-mandated negotiation team is likely to fly on Thursday to Doha, the initial venue for negotiations, said Fraidoon Kwazoon, the spokesman for Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation.
Tomorrow the team is leaving for Doha, he told Reuters, without saying when talks were expected to start.
The 400 prisoners were the last of 5,000 whose release was agreed in a February pact between the United States and the Taliban allowing for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The release was a condition for the start of talks between the Taliban and the government, which also wants the militants to free 24 members of the Afghan special forces and pilots.
The government was reluctant to release the last 400 prisoners, whom it blamed for involvement in some of the worst violence. After freeing 80 last month, it delayed further releases as the Taliban dismissed calls for a ceasefire.
Wednesdays release came amid a surge in Taliban violence and clashes with Afghan troops. In eastern Paktia province, a Taliban car bomb killed three Afghan security forces, a regional official said, while elsewhere, the defense ministry said, 24 Taliban were killed in the last 24 hours.
Thousands of Afghan security forces and civilians have been killed since the February peace deal, data from the United Nations, and the government shows.
By Hamid Shalizi and Abdul Qadir Sediqi
At first the coronavirus took away, but then it gave back again.
Janet Marston Harris, who owns the McNeal House, an Airbnb in Pasadena, normally has four units totally rented to a variety of people, including college students on internships and short-term workers from the petrochemical, aerospace and maritime industries. In recent years, Pasadena has developed as a hot spot for Airbnb rentals because of its proximity to industries in Houston and the Bay area.
On HoustonChronicle.com: Hundreds of nurses pour into Texas to help fight second COVID surge
But when COVID-19 hit, business ground to a halt as people worked from home and were reluctant to travel.
Harris had to take a hard look at the way she operated.
I didnt even have a business plan, she said. (At the beginning of the pandemic,) I had a cancellation. It was a college intern coming in for the summer and she canceled. (After that) I had empty apartments for two or three months, and that was pretty frightening. Then I got the stimulus check and that helped.
About two months ago Harris found a faint silver lining in the pandemic.
Then the traveling nurses came because of the virus, and now I have a different type of business, she said. Ive had traveling nurses before, but not to the extent I have them now.
'BANG FOR YOUR BUCK': What makes Pasadena No. 3 in U.S. for Airbnb rentals?
Traveling nurses are just what youd guess. They work for independent staffing agencies and are assigned to different areas to fill in short-term employment gaps. When their rotation is finished, they move on to the next location where they are needed.
Traveling nurses typically come in for 13 weeks, Harris said. Sometimes they come in longer. These nurses are here because of the virus.
To tap into the traveling nurse market, Harris did a bit of a pivot and signed on with Furnished Finder, which specializes in finding housing for those temporary employees.
Furnished Finder apartments come with various accouterments, such as towels linens, dishes and cookware. Harris units also have a washer and dryer, private patio and a dedicated parking space.
On HoustonChronicle.com: Coronavirus live updates: Jobless claims rise, positivity rate falls in Texas
I do whatever I can to make it nice for them, Harris said. They come here to work, and they dont want to go out and buy all of that stuff.
That aspect was attractive for Angie Schneider, a traveling nurse from Louisville, Ky.
My (work) consultant gave me a couple of different places (to look at), but I went to Furnished Finder because I didnt to have to bring my whole house, she said. I didnt want to have an apartment where I was going to have to bring furniture.
Schneider is a relative newcomer to traveling nursing and in the back half of a 13-week assignment.
This is my second assignment, she said. Ive been a nurse for almost 12 years. My husband (Myron) recently took an early retirement so that he could travel with me.
So far, its been great.
John DeLapp is a freelance writer. He can be contacted at texdelapp@gmail.com.
Ford Motor Co. will offer early retirement incentives with hopes of cutting its US white-collar workforce by 1,400 more positions.
The voluntary buyout offers won't apply to every part of the business but most of the reductions will take place in the area of Dearborn, Michigan, where Ford has its headquarters and large product development and engineering operations.
The offers will go to US salaried workers who are 55 years or older and have done at least 10 years of service, 65 years or older with five years of service completed or simply 30 years service completed.
Financial details of the the proposed offers have not been shared.
Information technology workers and those responsible for rolling out new vehicles will not be affected by the reduction which is about 5 percent of the US salaried workforce
Information technology workers and those responsible for rolling out new vehicles will not be affected by the reduction, which is about 5 percent of the US salaried workforce
They must snap up the offer by October 23 and are eligible to retire as of December 31, according to an email sent to employees on Wednesday.
Those approved to retire would leave the company by the end of the year.
Information technology workers and those responsible for rolling out new vehicles will not be affected by the reduction which is about 5 percent of the US salaried workforce.
The company said the cuts are part of an $11 billion restructuring plan that started more than a year ago.
Kumar Galhotra, the company's president of the Americas, told employees about the offers: 'We're in a multiyear process of making Ford more fit and effective around the world.
'We have re-prioritized certain products and services and are adjusting our staffing to better align with our new work statement.'
Kumar Galhotra, the company's president of the Americas, told employees about the early retirement offers Wednesday morning
A spokesman says Ford expects to meet its goals with the offers. If it doesn't, then it may consider involuntary separations.
Ford has about 30,000 white-collar workers in the US. The company has 56,000 hourly factory workers.
Last year Ford said it would cut 12,000 jobs in Europe and 7,000 white-collar positions worldwide as it trimmed expenses to prepare for a world of autonomous and electric vehicles.
The 7,000 salaried positions amounted to 10% of Ford's total worldwide workforce and included 2,300 in the US. The cuts were accomplished with buyouts and involuntary layoffs.
Those cuts were designed to reduce bureaucracy and allow the company to make faster decisions.
At the start of the year Ford had 190,000 employees worldwide.
Like other automakers, Ford has been struggling this year as the coronavirus forced factory closures for two months and chased customers away from showrooms.
Shares of Ford rose slightly in Wednesday trading to $6.91. From April through June, Ford's posted better-than-expected results with a $1.12 billion net profit
Factories have been reopened and demand is slowly returning.
From April through June, Ford's posted better-than-expected results with a $1.12 billion net profit.
It was pushed into the black by a $3.5 billion accounting gain on the value of its autonomous vehicle operation. Without that, it would have lost $1.9 billion.
Shares of Ford rose slightly in Wednesday trading to $6.91.
With CEO Jim Hackett retiring, current COO Jim Farley plans to accelerate the retirement effort when he takes over on October 1.
This summer their cleared out many offices as they said they were preparing for a future where many workers don't come into the office every day.
On Monday, BMW announced it was reducing staff 'to align with current market conditions,' Automotive News reported.
'The effects of COVID-19 are far-reaching,' BMW North America CEO Bernhard Kuhnt wrote in letter to dealers. 'Given the reduced size of the business, we now need to re-scale our business across the company accordingly.'
The German automaker's sales dropped almost 40 percent in the second quarter.
Syracuse, N.Y. The same day they authorized up to 250 layoffs to deal with a fiscal crisis, Onondaga County legislators today approved spending $1.6 million in hopes of attracting a tenant to the countys vacant 450-acre business park in Clay.
The money approved today would pay engineers to design a sewer system for the undeveloped site, including a major pump station and a 4-mile sewer main. The full construction cost for the sewer project would be about $16 million, which would require further authorization from lawmakers.
The expense comes at a time when the county is suffering big deficits caused by the coronavirus. But County Executive Ryan McMahon said the White Pine project will be paid for out of the county sewer fund, which gets money from sewer fees, and wont affect general operations. Meanwhile, the project could help lure a major new employer, he said.
Companies have expressed interest in White Pine but wont commit to the undeveloped site if theres a risk theyll have to wait for sewer service to be installed, he said. County officials hope to attract a high-tech manufacturer to the site at the northeast corner of Route 31 and Caughdenoy Road in Clay.
Weve had a lot of activity at White Pine, but what weve learned is there is a time-to-market challenge,' McMahon said. Nobody is going to go to a site that doesnt have (sewer) utilities.'
McMahon said he would like to see the sewer infrastructure in place next year.
Five Democratic legislators voted against spending the $1.6 million. Legislator Peggy Chase, D-Syracuse, said she would only support the expense if a tenant were committed to locating in the business park. She noted that county officials have tried to market the property for years.
If somebody could tell me today that we have a company who is interested in developing this, I would vote for it in a minute,' Chase said. When were looking at laying people off and were willing to take $1.6 million out of our fund balance, Im not buying that.'
A separate resolution approved today authorized McMahon to lay off as many as 250 county workers to balance the budget, which has been ravaged because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican legislators argued that the money for sewer engineering will come from a surplus in the sewer fund, which could not be used to pay for general county operating expenses. And Legislator Casey Jordan, R-Clay, said there is a prospective tenant that is considering White Pine against a rival site in Texas. But he said he did not know the identity of the company.
Depending on what tenant occupies the site, its possible that county government will spend even more in the future to help underwrite electric service at the site, McMahon said. Electric infrastructure capable of serving a major high-tech manufacturer could cost $20 million to $70 million, McMahon said.
McMahon said its important to have sewers at the site now, but he wont commit to spending money on electric infrastructure until a tenant signs a lease.
If you see us asking for $70 million in infrastructure spending, youll know we have somebody,' he said.
White Pine is one of four sites in National Grids Upstate service territory with the most potential to host advanced manufacturing, the utility said in an economic development report filed last October with the state Public Service Commission.
Two of the other sites already have high-tech manufacturers: Marcy Nanocenter in Oneida County, which recently recruited Cree to build a $1.2 billion, 600-worker semiconductor facility; and Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, home to a $13 billion GlobalFoundries chip factory with roughly 3,000 employees. The fourth Upstate mega-site, according to National Grid, is the Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park, a shovel-ready 1,250-acre site in Genesee County.
Onondaga County spent a total of $3.2 million over several decades to acquire land for the business park, which is owned by the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency. McMahon said improving the site will pay off in the future.
Government always plays a role on stimulus,' he said. Its role is to spend money on infrastructure thats going to drive job growth.'
News tips? Contact reporter Tim Knauss of syracuse.com/The Post-Standard: email | Twitter | | 315-470-3023
Emir met Trumps senior adviser in Doha following a US-brokered accord between UAE and Israel to normalise ties.
Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has told White House adviser Jared Kushner that Doha supports a two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, to end the conflict with Israel.
The emir met US President Donald Trumps senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in Doha on Wednesday following a US-brokered accord last month between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalise ties.
Sheikh Tamim told Kushner that Qatar remained committed to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, in which Arab nations offered Israel normalised ties in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
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During the meeting, they reviewed the close strategic relations between the State of Qatar and the United States of America, in addition to discussing a number of issues of common concern, especially the peace process in the Middle East region, Qatar News Agency reported.
Kushner visited the UAE this week with an Israeli delegation for normalisation talks before also travelling to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The UAE is the third Arab country to reach such an agreement with Israel after Egypt and Jordan. Kushner hopes another Arab country will normalise ties within months.
Israel exchanged embassies with neighbours Egypt and Jordan under peace deals decades ago, but all other Arab states had demanded it first cede more land to the Palestinians. However, UAEs decision to have an embassy prompted criticism from stakeholders across the region.
Palestinians have condemned the deal as a stab in the back by a major Arab player while they still lack a state of their own.
Turkey threatened to suspend relations with the UAE after normalisation was announced.
Israels rival, Iran, has been scathing in its criticism. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted Tuesday that the UAE betrayed the world of Islam, the Arab nations, the regions countries, and Palestine.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-03 07:24:36|Editor: huaxia
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MEXICO CITY, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Eight people were killed and another 14 wounded after assailants opened fire on mourners attending a wake, or vigil for the dead, in the town of Cuernavaca, a popular weekend getaway for Mexico City residents, local officials said on Wednesday.
Witnesses said the attackers arrived in vehicles at a private residence in the Antonio Barona neighborhood of Cuernavaca, capital of central Morelos state, and fired on those keeping vigil alongside the body of a young man who had died in a motorcycle accident.
The Attorney General's Office of Morelos and state police said in a statement that two adolescents, aged 15 and 16, were among the fatal victims of the attack, which occurred at 10:40 p.m. local time Tuesday.
Four of the deceased died outside the home, and the others on the way to the hospital or while receiving treatment.
Three women and 11 men who were injured, including two minors, were being treated at different area hospitals.
Authorities said the preliminary investigation implicated local organized crime.
"According to the initial forensic study of the ballistic material, the large calibre weapons used in the incident appear to be related to other high-impact crimes recently registered," authorities said, adding some 40 shots were fired.
Cuernavaca, a leafy city where many of Mexico City's well-heeled residents have weekend homes, has in recent years seen a rise in drug-related crime as it lies on the trafficking route between southern Mexico and the northern border with the United States. Enditem
By Azernews
By Ayya Lmahamad
Azerbaijan has taken an important step to create a mechanism for agricultural insurance.
Thus, for the first time in the country, a specialized joint insurance company Joint Agrarian Insurance Company has been established.
The company will enter into contracts with policyholders, receive complaints about the incidents and manage the system as a whole.
Moreover, the Joint Agrarian Insurance Company was established by seven companies working in the field of insurance, except life insurance in the country. Thus, the founders of the joint venture are Pasha Insurance, Qala Insurance, Mega Insurance, Azerbaijan Industrial Insurance, Xalq Insurance, AZSIGORTA and Baku Insurance.
The authorized capital of the company is set at AZN 2.1 million ($1.2M). The share of each founder is envisaged at the rate of AZN 312,500 ($183,823).
Likewise, the founding companies will act as insurance intermediary companies in the agriculture insurance system.
Additionally, after establishment of "Joint Agrarian Insurance Company", the final application will be submitted to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan for obtaining a license for insurance activities.
It should be noted that the Agrarian Insurance Fund states that other companies engaged in insurance activities in the country, except life insurance, may also participate in the activities of "Joint Agrarian Insurance Company".
Fourteen days of boredom in strict isolation in a hotel room its not the start to the school year 150 international students at Niagara College ever dreamed of.
They have had to quarantine for two weeks at a St. Catharines hotel after arriving in Canada over the past month or so, through a program arranged by the college.
Its fine at first, I start my day working out, taking a shower and getting ready, says Lena Chall, 22, who went into isolation Aug. 24 after arriving from Berlin, Germany.
But then its like 9:30 and I have the whole day to get through.
Most of the people she wants to stay in touch with are back in Germany, so theres a six-hour time difference to navigate.
Her state of mind is like a roller-coaster, she says. The other day I talked to my mom (via Facetime), she said, Your eyes look like youre going crazy. You look like youre not yourself.
Two weeks self-isolation is familiar to many Canadians during COVID-19, usually after they have travelled abroad.
But they isolated at home, not thousands of kilometres away from family and friends in a foreign country.
It can be a challenging time, we know that, says Dorita Pentesco, interim director international for the college.
We try to prepare them for it (before they come to Canada), and if anybody ever says to us they are sad or depressed we follow up with them right away.
The college expects about 3,400 new and returning international students this month, with the biggest numbers from India, South Korea and Mexico.
Only about 40 per cent of the colleges programs will involve a mix of in-person and online study. The rest are strictly virtual, as a safety precaution during the pandemic.
Pentesco says the college arranged hotel isolation for students who couldnt do it at the apartments or homes theyve rented for the year.
For just more than $700 it includes two weeks accommodation, meals and daily support including optional group Zoom meetings.
We do a virtual check-in every day with a survey that asks them how they are feeling, from a physical perspective and also from an emotional or wellness perspective, and if there is anything they need, she says.
It also takes into account cultural needs in planning meals for such a diverse group of students.
For Chall, the hotel stay is an expense she could have lived without. She already has an apartment lined up, but it has a shared bathroom and kitchen and wouldnt work for isolation.
Rules in the hotel are strict no visitors or staff are allowed in the rooms. Students clean their own rooms; supplies and meals are dropped off at their door.
Students can open the door to pick up the meal tray, but theyre not allowed to step into the hallway.
Violetta Derhun, 20, from Kiev, Ukraine, agreed its going to be a tough two weeks. A lot of Facetime, TV and looking out the window.
She cant see any friends from her balcony, but I see some people, some boys, on the other side of the hotel who are probably from the same country and they communicate balcony to balcony they scream, they shout, but they communicate.
Im happy for them.
She is also paying for both the hotel and a rented place. Her landlord, she says, wouldnt allow her to isolate there.
Derhun, like Chall, is a third-year broadcasting student. She went into quarantine Aug. 29. On the second day, when she got her daily college check-in, she replied she was sad.
The same day, she said, someone from the college showed up and they had a good talk the college staffer standing in the hallway, Derhun in her room, chatting through the open door.
It does help to know there is a person out there who is aware of your situation, she says.
There were some extraordinary moments last March and April on virtual Parliament Hill, but they seem to have slipped Erin OTooles mind.
It was a time of fear, but it was also a time of common understanding about what matters most. The coronavirus was spreading quickly, requiring quick, life-altering decisions many times a day.
Despite a bitter federal election just months earlier, the political parties stopped haranguing each other and instead focused on how to shutter the economy, encourage everyone but essential workers to go home, and slow down the spread of COVID-19.
And they largely succeeded, with a generosity of spirit that should make any parliamentarian proud.
Yes, there were shortcomings. The recession has hit women the hardest, revealing weaknesses in child care and workplace attachment. The virus hit poor neighbourhoods and racialized communities the hardest, revealing the fragile intersections of poverty, race and close quarters.
OToole, though, has seized his new podium as leader of the Conservative party and used it to lump everything in together and accuse the Liberals of screwing up the entire system of income supports.
Thats historical revisionism with serious implications for how a Conservative leader would deal with future outbreaks.
In an interview with Globals West Block after winning the leadership last week, OToole accused the Liberals of getting pandemic supports entirely wrong saying the governments CERB undermined its efforts to give employers wage supports to keep their workers.
Theres some legitimacy to the argument. It was something that the Liberals and government officials have fretted about for months. They were fearful that by rushing the $2,000-a-month emergency response benefit out the door early in the pandemic so that workers would stay home and not spread the virus, their jobs would disappear for good and make recovery much more difficult.
Indeed, former finance minister Bill Morneau spoke openly about the problem, begging employers to take back their employees and make full use of the government wage subsidy instead.
The problem was, the wage subsidy didnt hit balance sheets until many weeks after the CERB hit households. At first, it was 10 per cent of a struggling companys payroll, rising soon after to 75 per cent as opposition politicians cried out for more, and as the bureaucracy figured out how to handle the payments efficiently. By historical standards, they moved fast, but not fast enough for some companies that had to close their doors and lay people off while the wage subsidy was in limbo or just insufficient.
The take-up of the subsidy looked really low for a while, but as economist Kevin Milligan pointed out in a recent presentation, the success of the wage subsidy has been a bit of a sleeper. Companies could apply for it retroactively, and the numbers have crept up. More than 3 million employees were supported by the subsidy in each of March, April and May, and almost that many in June.
Milligan, who is now on loan to the federal government for a few months from his post at the University of British Columbia, also pointed out that in the job gains of the summer, most of the people who are now re-employed have returned to their prior workplaces. So, attachment to the workforce is not completely broken after all.
The problem with OTooles criticism is that he is now, several months later, saying the government should have save(d) the jobs first.
Part of that criticism is just anti-Liberal bluster designed to carve out space for the new Conservative leader to make his mark on economic policy.
But part of it points to OTooles priorities and a rewriting of history. In the spring, there was no question of putting the jobs first. Public health had to come first, or there would be no jobs to go to anyway. That was something every party agreed on almost immediately.
As the pandemic wore on and public health officials learned more about how to handle the spread of the virus, the Liberals and Conservatives alike turned their thoughts to a safe reopening.
Does OToole really want to suggest that jobs should have been prioritized over the spread of the virus? Probably not, but he is suggesting that payroll support for employers is far more effective in recovery than income support for individuals.
In the United States, pandemic support has tilted heavily in favour of those with work, rather than those who are completely out of the workforce, says economics professor Hilary Hoynes of the University of California (Berkeley) speaking at the same Queens University conference on social policy as Milligan.
What it means is that those at the very bottom of the income scale are left behind.
In Canada, we just dont need to go there. If the pandemic has taught us anything, its that we dont have enough systemic support for those at the low end.
OToole has talked about the need to get rid of CERB and reform employment insurance (which the Liberals are planning to do) while also increasing government benefits for families with children. He also wants to introduce measures for small business.
Thats all food for thought as political decision-makers and experts brainstorm about how to coexist with the virus and make ends meet at the same time.
But to reinterpret the tumultuous policy-making of the recent past risks obscuring some of the lasting messages the pandemic rescue package sent us. We now know full well where our most vulnerable people are, and they need the same kind of political collaboration that saved us all last spring.
Weekly reports released by the Department of Health are consistently missing data for more than 100 of the states 693 nursing homes. Read more
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HARRISBURG During the first three months of the coronavirus pandemic, the public had no way to measure which Pennsylvania nursing homes were hardest hit.
Amid mounting complaints from advocates and lawmakers, the state Department of Health in late May began releasing the number of resident cases and deaths by facility, but those early reports were incomplete and contained errors.
Even now, more than six months after COVID-19 arrived in Pennsylvania, the public still doesnt have a complete picture of how many people have died or been sickened by the virus inside these vulnerable facilities.
Weekly reports released by the Department of Health are consistently missing data for more than 100 of the states 693 nursing homes. In at least one case, those omissions obscured a deadly outbreak from the public. While the specific facilities missing data vary each week, 42 have not shown anything for more than two months.
Its not clear why, week after week, some facilities are still missing the counts.
The state Health Department said its working with facilities to accurately report case information but did not say why recurring problems have not been corrected. Many facility managers contacted by Spotlight PA said they are meeting reporting requirements, but could not explain why their data are not showing up in state reports.
Theres just not a lot of transparency here, said Diane Menio, executive director at the Philadelphia-based advocacy group CARIE.
Given that all nursing homes in the state were required to complete at least one round of state-mandated coronavirus testing by July 28, theres no excuse for any facility to be missing data at this point, she said.
For seven weeks, the state listed no data for the number of coronavirus cases and deaths among residents at the Cedarbrook Senior Care and Rehabilitation nursing home in Allentown.
But when the state released an updated report Aug. 18, the Lehigh County-run facility joined the ranks of some of the hardest-hit nursing homes in the state: 80 residents had died since the start of the pandemic, the second-highest death toll among the states 693 facilities.
Despite showing no data for weeks, the facility has consistently reported its data to state and federal systems and has maintained regular communication with the state Health Department, said Jason Cumello, administrator at Cedarbrook.
This area of Pennsylvania, the Lehigh Valley, maintained some of the highest per capita infection rates in Pennsylvania throughout a large part of the pandemic, particularly earlier in the pandemic, which is reflected in the number of cases seen in nursing homes throughout this area, Cumello said, adding that most of the facilitys deaths occurred before July 1.
Cumello acknowledged that Cedarbrook has had some problems with its data. The countys two Cedarbrook-run facilities, Allentown and Fountain Hill, initially were not reported separately. There was also some confusion about how to report daily and cumulative case counts.
Those issues were fixed by early August, Cumello said.
He deferred questions about state data to the Department of Health, which did not respond to questions from Spotlight PA about Cedarbrooks situation.
All facility-level data included in the states current weekly updates are self-reported by nursing homes. Early versions of the reports were supplemented with data from PA-NEDSS, the states disease reporting system, which collects data from health-care systems and labs.
Those reports were full of errors, with some facilities unable to explain where the numbers came from. By late June, the state stopped including PA-NEDSS data, relying only on self-reported nursing home data to populate its weekly updates.
Health Department officials have said they want to encourage facilities to self-report, but did not respond to follow-up questions from Spotlight PA about why the state continues to use these data if they are incomplete, contain errors, and if other data sources are available.
The state requires nursing homes to report facility information including resident and employee coronavirus cases, deaths, and the facility census daily through a platform called Corvena. They are also required to submit much of the same information through a separate platform called Survey123.
Additional reporting is required if a facility detects new cases. That doesnt include separate federal reporting requirements, said Anne Henry, chief of government affairs and senior vice president at LeadingAge PA, which represents about 360 nonprofit long-term care facilities statewide.
Software bugs and outages make it difficult for facilities to submit data or log in, adding more stress to an already taxing situation, she and other industry advocates argue.
It is just overwhelming, truly overwhelming, Henry said. And then when you have software glitches in the middle of that, it just throws everything into a whirlwind.
Even without a complete picture, its clear that COVID-19 has had a devastating toll on people inside the states nursing homes. At least 3,239 residents of facilities licensed by the state Health Department have died since the start of the pandemic, accounting for about 42% of all coronavirus deaths in the state.
Data posted to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website, which are reported by nursing homes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention weekly, further complicate the picture: Many of the totals listed for facilities resident case or death counts dont match the states numbers.
Spotlight PA contacted 18 of the facilities that have been consistently listed as having no data in the weekly state reports. Most officials said they have, in fact, been meeting reporting requirements, but couldnt explain why their data were missing.
I cant speak as to why the information is not showing up on the [Department] of Health reports, Mike Jacobs, who handles government affairs for Bedrock Care, said by email. We have complied as required by the state and federal governments with respect to our reporting.
Bedrock Care operates five Philadelphia facilities Care Pavilion, Cliveden, Maplewood, Tucker House, and York that have been missing data since June 30. Figures provided by Jacobs show that all of those facilities have had resident and staff cases. All but one, Maplewood, have had deaths: 140 in total.
With many facilities still limiting visitors, its hard for families of current or prospective residents to see whats happening inside nursing homes for themselves, making these case reports even more important, said Brian Lee, executive director of Families for Better Care, a national long-term care watchdog group.
Menio, of CARIE, said she continues to worry about those who are trying to pick a facility for a loved one.
If we at least knew the case numbers, it would be helpful, because some of the people who are calling us are worried about that, she said. We need to be a good source of information for families and consumers, and its hard to do that when we dont have the information.
The state Health Department did not respond to specific questions about why so many facilities are still reported as having no data. Instead, a spokesperson said the agency is calling and sending compliance letters to facilities to communicate the importance of reporting and its requirement by order.
As another resource for facilities, the department created an FAQ and offered webinars in order to ensure compliance, the statement said. Furthermore, the department is constantly working with all facilities to make sure the data we provide is accurate.
In a June 18 letter, the Health Department said nursing home administrators could face daily fines or prison time if they did not comply with reporting requirements.
A spokesperson did not say whether any state penalties have been issued, but said in a statement that the federal government is also working to provide further enforcement with these facilities.
Henry, of LeadingAge PA, said some facilities have faced federal fines but have since disputed those penalties. She is not aware of any facilities that have been fined by the state for failure to comply with data requirements.
Menio called the situation disturbing and questioned why the Health Department has not done more to enforce reporting requirements.
If facilities arent reporting it, they should be going after them, Menio said. But nothings happening.
100% ESSENTIAL: Spotlight PA relies on funding from foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. If you value this reporting, please give a gift today at spotlightpa.org/donate.
BRUSSELS, Belgium and NORWALK, Conn., Sept. 02, 2020(EC) to deliver comprehensive and up-to-date data on global supply chains.
The Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) will use FactSet content to analyze the supply chain links between global and European companies. It is responsible for European Union (EU) policy on the Single Market and has selected three sets of data:
FactSet's Supply Chain Relationships data, which will help the EC trace connections across global supply chains, revealing key customers, suppliers, and competitors of companies across the Single Market;
FactSet's Geographic Revenue data (GEOREV ), which provides detailed insight into companies' revenue exposure to countries affected by geopolitical, macroeconomic, and market threats, helping expand the Commission's understanding of the risk profiles of European companies and industries;
), which provides detailed insight into companies' revenue exposure to countries affected by geopolitical, macroeconomic, and market threats, helping expand the Commission's understanding of the risk profiles of European companies and industries; FactSet's Revere Business Industry Classification System (RBICS), which breaks down companies' revenues according to the products and services they provide, offering a granular view into how firms and sectors are likely to be impacted by COVID-19 developments.
"Strong policy development relies on strong data," said Alexandra You-Cappello, Senior Vice President and Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa, FactSet. "Tracing relationships across sectors, companies, and supply chains is a challenge in any market, much less one as interconnected as the EU's. We are seeing rising demand for data that can reveal connections and flag potential risk; risk analysis overall is changing before our eyes as a result of the pandemic."
"The European Commission is committed to evidence-based policy discussion and design," said Josefina Monteagudo, deputy head of the Economic Analysis unit at the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs. "The data we are acquiring from FactSet will help us better understand how supply chains are connected across Europe and the Single Market."
About the Directorate-General (DG) for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
The Directorate-General; coordinating the EU position and negotiations in the international intellectual property rights (IPR) system; and assisting innovators on how to effectively use IP rights.
About FactSet
FactSet. Learn more at www.factset.com and follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/factset .
FactSet
Media
Jennifer Berlin
+1 617 330 4122
jennifer.berlin@factset.com
Arab states continue to have mixed reactions to the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar reiterated support for a two-state solution to the United States today while Egypt said it backs the agreement.
Qatars ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, met with President Donald Trump's adviser Jared Kushner in Doha on Wednesday.
During the meeting, Al Thani voiced support for a just settlement of the Palestinian cause and a two-state solution to the conflict, according to the state-run Qatar News Agency.
Qatars leader also said the Gulf country continues to back the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which calls on Israel to withdraw to its borders from before the 1967 war in exchange for diplomatic recognition from Arab states.
Qatar has been the target of an embargo by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt and is therefore less likely to follow the UAE lead. In 2017, the four countries closed their airspaces and sea routes to Qatar, alleging that Qatar supports terrorism because of its support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egypts President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi praised the Israel-UAE deal in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, according to the state-owned Al-Ahram news outlet.
Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab states to recognize Israel besides the UAE. Egypt and the UAE are allies on many regional issues, including the war in Libya.
Egypt and Qatars reactions highlight the mixed views of Arab governments toward Israel and differing alliances in the region.
The Israeli and Omani foreign ministers spoke by phone in August amid speculation Oman will be the next Gulf country to recognize Israel. Bahrain, an ally of the UAE and also rumored to be considering a deal with Israel, declared its support for a two-state solution following US Secretary of State Mike Pompeos August visit.
The United States is also trying to get Sudan to recognize Israel, but the countrys transitional government has signaled it is not ready to do so, despite recent contact with Israeli leaders.
For their part, Palestinian leaders are currently conducting a strong diplomatic campaign to prevent further Arab countries from recognizing Israel. The Palestinian Authority feels further recognition harms prospects for an independent Palestinian state. There has been criticism of the UAEs decision throughout the Arab world.
New Zealanders are within a percentage point of legalising and taxing cannabis, according to a new poll six weeks out from a referendum on the matter.
News outlet Stuff reports support for the Yes and No campaigns in the 'reeferendum' is split at 49.5 per cent each, with one per cent saying 'don't know'.
The No campaign, which aims to keep the status quo, has an edge when just registered voters are counted, leading 50.8 per cent to 48.4 per cent.
New Zealanders are within a percentage point of legalising and taxing cannabis, according to a new poll six weeks out from a referendum on the matter (file picture)
The vote is being held alongside a similar referendum on euthanasia at the national election on October 17.
Voting and being on the electoral roll is optional in New Zealand.
The new poll, of 1,300 voters, shows the closeness of the debate.
Each survey conducted by pollsters aligned with major TV network polling has put the prohibitionist campaign ahead, while most online polls show the opposite.
Jacinda Ardern is sitting on the fence on the issue, refusing to be drawn on which way she will vote, and with a surprisingly blank history on the topic.
The vote is being held at the behest of the Greens, which made the referendum a condition of their support for Jacinda Ardern's Labour-led government back in 2017.
Ms Ardern is sitting on the fence on the issue, refusing to be drawn on which way she will vote, and with a surprisingly blank history on the topic.
That's drawn the ire of campaigners, hoping the country's most popular politician might intervene to tip the ballot their way.
Labour has offered its MPs a conscience vote while opposition National MPs are all voting against it.
Weapons that were confiscated during the sweep. (Seattle Police Department)
Seattle Police Find Spikes, Machete, and Makeshift Shields During Park Cleanup
Seattle police discovered spike strips, weapons, and numerous homemade shields inside tents at a park in the Capitol Hill area on Tuesday.
The department said in a statement that workers were repairing a structure that was damaged in Cal Anderson Park and were also removing garbage that was left behind after the park was closed on June 30.
Protesters and far-left activists had occupied the park in August, according to the Capitol Hill Seattle blog. The park had been vandalized after it was closed.
But when officials cleaned out a tent in the park, they found a number of weapons, said the police department.
They found a machete, hatchet, homemade spike strips, an unexploded mortar, and wooden shields. The items were taken as evidence, and no arrests have been made as authorities investigate.
The park is located within the area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), or the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ)formed by far-left activists in early June in the wake of George Floyds death in Minneapolis. The autonomous zone was eventually shut down after reports of violence and two fatal shootings. Officers also returned to the abandoned East Precinct building.
Last week, agitators targeted the precinct building again, allegedly trying to set the building on fire with people inside. Concrete barriers were also spotted being placed around the building following the alleged arson incident.
The Seattle Parks agency said that the park and park facilities have been repeatedly vandalized throughout the closure, adding that on Aug. 14, police removed people who had broken into a city facility (the shelterhouse) within the park.
Police removed dozens of makeshift shields from the tents. (Seattle Police Department)
Parks staff were on site to remove belongings and store any materials collected. In the days following, individuals returned to the closed park and have again broken into the locked city facility, the department wrote in a statement.
In August, Seattle police received about two dozen 911 calls about bonfires, garbage fires, and requesting medical assistance within Cal Anderson Park, the parks department said.
Residents living nearby have reported breathing issues as a consequence of smoke from the illegal fires and the types of items burned, the agency said. Due to firefighter safety and access issues, firefighters have been unable to safely respond to extinguish the illegal burns.
Police also cleared homeless camps that were set up inside the park in recent days, MyNorthWest reported.
Seattle police officials told the local news website that they were aware of at least seven arrests, including three for assault, three for trespassing, and one for a felony warrant.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Wednesday, September 2, that Tropical Storm Nana would likely become a hurricane before making landfall in Central America tonight.
The NHC warned that Nana could bring a dangerous storm surge to the coast of Belize on Wednesday night and as much as 12 inches of rain. The storm system, which was forming south of Jamaica, was moving westward and expected to also affect Guatemala, southeastern Mexico, and the Yucatan Peninsula.
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hurricane Hunter Nick Underwood shared this video from a flight on Wednesday morning to the center of Tropical Storm Nana. He said though the storm was not terribly powerful, residents in Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, and the Yucatan should stay aware of NHC advisories.
A hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning were in effect for the entire coast of Belize through Wednesday night. Credit: Nick Underwood/NOAA via Storyful
Imperial Valley News Center
Telecom Carriers Who Facilitated Hundreds of Millions of Fraudulent Robocalls to Consumers Shut Down
Washington, DC - The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a consent decree imposing a permanent injunction barring two individuals and two companies that transmitted massive volumes of fraudulent robocalls from conveying any telephone calls into the U.S. telephone system, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
As alleged in a civil complaint filed earlier this year in United States v. Nicholas Palumbo, et al., spouses Nicholas and Natasha Palumbo of Scottsdale, Arizona, and their companies, Ecommerce National LLC d/b/a TollFreeDeals.com and SIP Retail d/b/a sipretail.com, received millions of fraudulent internet-based calls every day from other entities, often located abroad. Those calls were then transmitted, initially to other carriers within the United States and ultimately, to the phones of individuals. The defendants are alleged to have knowingly allowed numerous foreign-based individuals and entities to transmit fraudulent government- and business-imposter robocalls through defendants network and on to victims in the United States. These fraudulent robocalls included millions of calls impersonating the Social Security Administration, threatening the recipients of the calls with arrest or asset seizure if they did not immediately transfer funds to the caller. The defendants also sold U.S. telephone numbers to foreign entities, which were used as victim call-back numbers as part of massive robocalling fraud schemes, to give the impression that the fraudsters were located in the United States. These calls led to massive financial losses to elderly and other vulnerable victims throughout the United States.
The Department is committed to protecting vulnerable Americans, particularly Americas seniors, from those who seek to steal their hard-earned savings, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan Davis of the Department of Justices Civil Division. The Department will pursue not only those who place fraudulent robocalls, but also those who knowingly facilitate such calls. The Department recognizes the exceptional work of the Social Security Administration and Postal Inspection Service in investigating this case.
The consent decree is a milestone in protecting the public, especially elderly and other vulnerable persons, from predatory robocall schemes that can cause catastrophic losses to victims in this district and throughout the country, said Acting U.S. Attorney Seth D. DuCharme.
We are pleased that all five companies named by the Department of Justice in this civil matter are now permanently enjoined from facilitating Social Security scam calls. The facts clearly show these companies, and their owners, knowingly did business with government imposter telephone scammers, resulting in financial and emotional harm to unsuspecting consumers, said Inspector General Ennis. I want to thank DOJs Consumer Protection Branch, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and our other law enforcement partners who provided assistance and support throughout this investigation.
In a written opinion issued in March of this year, the District Court found that, despite being warned more than 100 times of specific instances of fraudulent calls being transmitted through their network, the defendants never severed their business relationship with any entity they learned was associated with fraudulent call traffic prior to the United States filing of its lawsuit. The Court held that at the very least defendants failure to take meaningful action in response to these complaints demonstrates reckless indifference to the fraud they were enabling. Over time, it became increasingly clear that they knew or should have known the complaints evidenced a widespread pattern of fraudulent calls being transmitted over their network.
Under the terms of the consent decree entered today by the District Court, the defendants agreed to be permanently barred from, among other things, using the U.S. telephone system to: deliver prerecorded messages through automatic means, carry voice-over internet protocol calls destined for phones in the United States, and not to provide any U.S. phone numbers to other individuals or entities. In addition, the defendants are permanently barred from serving as employees, agents, or consultants to any person or entity engaged in these activities.
This case was handled by Trial Attorneys Ann F. Entwistle and Charles B. Dunn of the Civil Divisions Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bonni Perlin and Dara Olds of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York, in coordination with the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Investigative support was also provided by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations El Dorado Task Force and U.S. Secret Service. The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission also provided pertinent data.
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The body of a man involved in a one-vehicle crash in Salem County last week was found in a creek two days later, according to the New Jersey State Police.
Troopers responded to an accident on northbound Interstate 295 in Oldmans Township around 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 27.
They found a Toyota Tundra with heavy front-end damage from hitting a concrete barrier in the center median, NJSP Sgt. Philip Curry reported.
The vehicle was unoccupied and a search of the area turned up nothing.
The registered owner of the vehicle, Duff P. OConnor, 33, Swedesboro, was reported missing the following day.
On Saturday, the state police Marine Services Bureau searched the nearby Oldmans Creek, where OConnors body was found, Curry said. The interstate crosses over the creek.
OConnor was ejected from his vehicle, but its not known if he landed directly in the waterway or fell in the water, Curry said.
It wasnt clear Wednesday if his cause of death had been determined, but foul play is not suspected, according to police.
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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
Duchess Meghan of Sussex and Prince Harry. Photo: AP
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have signed a multi-year deal with Netflix (NFLX).
The deal, first reported by the New York Times, will see the Duke and Duchess of Sussex make exclusive documentaries, docu-series, feature films, scripted shows, and childrens programming through a new yet-to-be-named production company they have formed.
Netflix declined to provide a statement to Yahoo Finance UK but instead directed us to the statement in the New York Times.
Our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope, the Royal couple said in a statement. As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us.
They added that Netflixs unprecedented reach will help us share impactful content that unlocks action.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Markle, who became famous for her role in the TV drama Suits, has been publicly adamant that she has no plans to return to acting.
Netflix stock to watch
Investors will be watching the stock closely over the next few days along with any rumours on how much the deal is worth.
Netflix has 193 million subscribers worldwide and added nearly 25.9 million net new subscribers worldwide in the first six months of the year.
Just one week ago, the Netflix share price rocketed to a near all-time high, closing at $547.53 (411.45) per share.
Chart: Yahoo Finance
The share price rise pushed its market capitalisation to around $241bn, following its promising second quarter earnings. Analysts expect it to generate almost $25bn in revenue this year.
Investors have also been particularly positive on the stock after a Piper Sandler analyst published a positive research note about the streaming giant. Through the groups proprietary consumer research arm, the biggest finding was that Netflix was the number one service people plan to keep post-pandemic.
Netflix has furthered its position as the go-to streaming option, the analyst said. [W]hile we recognise some of the record-setting sub adds were pulled forward, we also believe the trend was an acceleration of an ongoing shift from broadcast TV to streaming.
Once more details of the deal emerge, stock watchers will be seeing if Harry and Meghan have the Joe Rogan Effect.
Earlier this year, Spotify (SPOT) shares surged after it announced it had signed an exclusive deal with one of the worlds biggest podcasts The Joe Rogan Experience. It ended up pushing the market capitalisation to its highest point in nearly two years to over $35bn.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Government blocks 118 Chinese mobile apps, taking the total tally so far to 224
Fresh list of blocked apps includes popular game PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik, PUBG MOBILE LITE
Government of India invokes Section 69A of the Information Technology Act
Government says these apps are "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order"
Following the ban of Chinses apps over the last couple of months, the Government of India has now blocked another 118 mobile applications including PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik, PUBG MOBILE LITE. In a statement on Wednesday, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said the blocked apps are engaging in activities which are "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order".
ALSO READ: Why India banned PUBG Mobile
ALSO READ: India bans PUBG and 118 Chinese apps
"There has been already an anticipation of a follow-up list to the already blocked apps. From this list the ban of PUBG will be widely discussed and will break hearts of many active gamers in India. We expect a greater outrage than what happened when TikTok was banned," says Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research. "These apps have been banned in India citing privacy and security concerns. The press release cites data harvesting practices, permission sought, information posted and functionality embedded in these apps as reasons to ban the apps and we think this development doesn't happen overnight and it might have been in the monitor list for long."
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India invoked the power under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats. Using the sovereign powers, the Government of India has decided to block the usage of certain apps, used in both mobile and non-mobile Internet enabled devices.
According to the press statement issued, MeitY has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures.
ALSO READ: PUBG ban in India triggers memes fest on Twitter
"While the grounds for blocking the additional apps are identical to the grounds for the earlier ban, to ensure that Chinese owned app companies in India are not unduly vexed, the government needs to unambiguously define its expectations so that it can be followed by app companies to avoid being blocked. This would set a compliance threshold, which is transparent and would significantly improve the ease of doing business in India for app companies, which have either ultimate ownership control traced to a Chinese entity," says Akash Karmakar, a partner with the Law Offices of Panag & Babu.
"Over two months have elapsed since the previous blocking actions of the Indian government, and over a month has elapsed since the deadline for responding to the government's 77-question checklist. What is conspicuous by its absence is clarity on whether responding to the queries to the government's satisfaction would result in un-blocking of the apps banned earlier, and what timeline can be expected for any decision in this regard," he further says.
The list of blocked apps include:
1. APUS Launcher Pro - Theme, Live Wallpapers, Smart
2. APUS Launcher - Theme, Call Show, Wallpaper, HideApps
3. APUS Security - Antivirus, Phone security, Cleaner
4. APUS Turbo Cleaner 2020 - Junk Cleaner, Anti-Virus
5. APUS Flashlight - Free & Bright
6. Cut Cut - Cut Out & Photo Background Editor
7. Baidu
8. Baidu Express Edition
9. FaceU - Inspire your Beauty
10. ShareSave by Xiaomi: Latest gadgets, amazing deals
11. CamCard - Business Card Reader
12. CamCard Business
13. CamCard for Salesforce
14. CamOCR
15. InNote
16. VooV Meeting - Tencent Video Conferencing
17. Super Clean - Master of Cleaner, Phone Booster
18. WeChat reading
19. Government WeChat
20. Small Q brush
21. Tencent Weiyun
22. Pitu
23. WeChat Work
24. Cyber Hunter
25. Cyber Hunter Lite
26. Knives Out-No rules, just fight!
27. Super Mecha Champions
28. LifeAfter
29. Dawn of Isles
30. Ludo World-Ludo Superstar
31. Chess Rush
32. PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik
33. PUBG MOBILE LITE
34. Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade
35. Art of Conquest: Dark Horizon
36. Dank Tanks
37. Warpath
38. Game of Sultans
39. Gallery Vault - Hide Pictures And Videos
40. Smart AppLock (App Protect)
41. Message Lock (SMS Lock)-Gallery Vault Developer Team
42. Hide App-Hide Application Icon
43. AppLock
44. AppLock Lite
45. Dual Space - Multiple Accounts & App Cloner
46. ZAKZAK Pro - Live chat & video chat online
47. ZAKZAK LIVE: live-streaming & video chat app
48. Music - Mp3 Player
49. Music Player - Audio Player & 10 Bands Equalizer
50. HD Camera Selfie Beauty Camera
51. Cleaner - Phone Booster
52. Web Browser & Fast Explorer
53. Video Player All Format for Android
54. Photo Gallery HD & Editor
55. Photo Gallery & Album
56. Music Player - Bass Booster - Free Download
57. HD Camera - Beauty Cam with Filters & Panorama
58. HD Camera Pro & Selfie Camera
59. Music Player - MP3 Player & 10 Bands Equalizer
60. Gallery HD
61. Web Browser - Fast, Privacy & Light Web Explorer
62. Web Browser - Secure Explorer
63. Music player - Audio Player
64. Video Player - All Format HD Video Player
65. Lamour Love All Over The World
66. Amour- video chat & call all over the world.
67. MV Master - Make Your Status Video & Community
68. MV Master - Best Video Maker & Photo Video Editor
69. APUS Message Center-Intelligent management
70. LivU Meet new people & Video chat with strangers
71. Carrom Friends : Carrom Board & Pool Game-
72. Ludo All Star- Play Online Ludo Game & Board Games
73. Bike Racing : Moto Traffic Rider Bike Racing Games
74. Rangers Of Oblivion : Online Action MMO RPG Game
75. Z Camera - Photo Editor, Beauty Selfie, Collage
76. GO SMS Pro - Messenger, Free Themes, Emoji
77. U-Dictionary: Oxford Dictionary Free Now Translate
78. Ulike - Define your selfie in trendy style
79. Tantan - Date For Real
80. MICO Chat: New Friends Banaen aur Live Chat karen
81. Kitty Live - Live Streaming & Video Live Chat
82. Malay Social Dating App to Date & Meet Singles
83. Alipay
84. AlipayHK
85. Mobile Taobao
86. Youku
87. Road of Kings- Endless Glory
88. Sina News
89. Netease News
90. Penguin FM
91. Murderous Pursuits
92. Tencent Watchlist (Tencent Technology
93. Learn Chinese AI-Super Chinese
94. HUYA LIVE - Game Live Stream
95. Little Q Album
96. Fighting Landlords - Free and happy Fighting Landlords
97. Hi Meitu
98. Mobile Legends: Pocket
99. VPN for TikTok
100. VPN for TikTok
101. Penguin E-sports Live assistant
102. Buy Cars-offer everything you need, special offers and low prices
103. iPick
104. Beauty Camera Plus - Sweet Camera & Face Selfie
105. Parallel Space Lite - Dual App
106. "Chief Almighty: First Thunder BC
107. MARVEL Super War NetEase Games
108. AFK Arena
109. Creative Destruction NetEase Games
110. Crusaders of Light NetEase Games
111. Mafia City Yotta Games
112. Onmyoji NetEase Games
113. Ride Out Heroes NetEase Games
114. Yimeng Jianghu-Chu Liuxiang has been fully upgraded
115. Legend: Rising Empire NetEase Games
116. Arena of Valor: 5v5 Arena Games
117. Soul Hunters
118. Rules of Survival
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs has also sent an exhaustive recommendation for blocking these malicious apps. Likewise, there have been similar bipartisan concerns, flagged by various public representatives, both outside and inside the Parliament of India. There has been a strong chorus in the public space to take strict action against apps that harm India's sovereignty as well as the privacy of our citizens, MeitY said in its statement.
On the basis of these and upon receiving of recent credible inputs that information posted, permissions sought, functionality embedded as well as data harvesting practices of above stated Apps raise serious concerns that these Apps collect and share data in surreptitious manner and compromise personal data and information of users that can have a severe threat to security of the State.
The Flights of Honor display is new this year, Parr said, and honors the 3,500 participating veterans from 385 communities across Nebraska who participated in 13 Flights of Honor organized during the past 11 years by Patriotic Productions.
These are similar to the Hero Flight program that has been popular in Hall County. Last October, Hall County sponsored its 10th Hall County Hero Flight. There were veterans from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War era on the flight. They spent three days in Washington, D.C., seeing the various memorials honoring our countrys veterans. As with every trip, they returned home to a heros welcome at the airport.
The Flights of Honor display highlights the various trips to Washington that Nebraska veterans have made during the years.
It is in recognition of those veterans who were able to make the fight, Parr said. It shows and tells a lot about how important that trip was for those veterans.
With the addition of the Flights of Honor exhibit at this years fair, she said, we wanted to pay homage to our veterans and those who fight for our freedoms. It is something we can do all 11 days of the fair.
White House adviser Jared Kushner has kicked-off a trip to other Gulf capital to seek more Arab support for the normalisation of ties with Israel. Earlier this week, US President Donald Trumps son-in-law accompanied an Israeli delegation to Abu Dhabi for formally finalising UAE-Israel ties after the two countries agreed to a historic deal.
Arab nations have been demanding a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine issue, which has been a major obstruction for the normalisation of ties. However, Kushner indicated that other Arab countries could soon follow the suit after Israel-UAE agreement, expressing hope that it will be within months.
Lets hope its months," Kushner was quoted as saying when asked about the next normalisation of ties with Israel.
Earlier, US National Security Advisor Robert OBrien had also said that more Arab and Islamic countries are likely to follow the lead of the UAE. While no Arab countries have publicly shown willingness to normalise ties with Israel, reports suggest that Oman and Bahrain might be the next countries heading in the direction. After holding talks in Abu Dhabi, Kushner flew to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and is also expected to visit Qatar.
Read: Israel, UAE To Open Embassies After Diplomatic Makeover: Here's All You Need To Know
Read: Hamas Reaches Agreement To End Latest Round Of Violence With Israel
Bahrain looks onboard with the deal
Bahrains state media had reported that Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa welcomed the initiative taken by the US to reach an agreement between the UAE and Israel which halted annexation of West Bank, the land claimed by Palestinians. Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa also reiterated the countrys commitment for a two-state solution to end Israel-Palestine conflict, during a closed-door meeting with US State Secretary Mike Pompeo.
The United States recently brokered a deal between Israel and the UAE to normalise their bilateral ties, forcing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to temporarily suspend his plan of West Bank annexation. Pompeo said that the deal has been a boon to peace and regional stability as it heralds a new era.
Its a natural fit. And the support of the United States makes this, I think, something with international ramifications, he told a press briefing on August 24.
Read: Iran's Khamenei Says UAE-Israel Deal 'betrayal' Of Islamic World
Read: Ivanka Trump Shares Video Of First-ever Flight Between Israel & UAE; Husband Jared Onboard
Dingle welcomed a very special visitor this week when the sailing ketch 'Ilen' made a stop in the harbour as part of a voyage delivering cargo around the south and west coasts of Ireland.
The voyage from Baltimore to the Aran islands and back to Cork was motivated partly by the aim of demonstrating that sailing ships are still a viable, and environmentally sustainable, way of delivering cargo between the small ports that dot the coast of Ireland. She was due to arrive in Dingle next Saturday but with the weather changing for the worse the schedule was altered and at 8pm on Sunday evening the Ilen left the Aran islands, arriving in Dingle 12 hours later after a "pretty wild" passage through the Blasket Sound.
In Dingle, the Ilen delivered a couple of cases of Inis Cleire gin to Garvey's Supervalu, beer from Limerick's Treaty City Brewery went to a local pub and elsewhere they will deliver consignments of Limerick bacon and Ishka water. The quantities of cargo were small but the point was made that sail-powered deliveries still work, as long as nobody is in too much of a hurry.
The 56ft Ilen was built in Baltimore in 1926 and worked for 70 years as a cargo vessel transporting sheep and goods between the Falkland Islands off Argentina before she was brought back to Ireland 20 years ago. She has since been restored by a team led by Limerick man Gary MacMahon and is described as Ireland's only surviving wooden, sail cargo vessel.
The Ilen now serves as a community floating classroom and in that role crossed the Atlantic to Greenland last year - with West Kerry box player Breanndan Begley among the crew - as part of a project linking youth in Limerick City with their peers in Nuuk, West Greenland.
In the voyage currently being undertaken the Ilen's cargo ship heritage is being explored as a way of demonstrating that sailing ships are a viable alternative to deliveries by truck, which only became established in Ireland after the expansion of the road network in the 1920s and 1930s.
"This symbolic voyage is looking to educate people that we have a network of small ports around the coast and the islands, which were built in the 19th Century for this purpose, and can be used again for eco-trading," said Gary MacMahon.
"All over Europe, sail cargo deliveries are springing up and people are using the trade winds to travel to Madeira and the Caribbean, bringing back rum and coffee. Worldwide, eco-trading is a growing movement and serious design time is being put into designing full sized modern cargo ships that can harness the wind and reduce fossil fuel use and air pollution," he added.
BRUSSELS : It is hard enough developing a vaccine in record time to halt a global pandemic. But what if you need to print the instructions with every dose in Portuguese, Lithuanian and Greek?
Drugmakers are asking the European Union to loosen rules that require medicines sold in the bloc to include full documentation in 24 separate languages, worried that this could slow down the rapid deployment of hundreds of millions of doses.
"We need an early agreement from EU authorities on the language to be used on the packs and labels for COVID-19 vaccines," said Michel Stoffel, head of regulatory affairs at Vaccines Europe, which represents big vaccine makers including GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi and AstraZeneca .
He told Reuters the industry was pushing EU regulators to quickly choose one language for all 27 EU states for labelling, packaging and instructions on possible COVID-19 vaccines.
The EU's executive Commission promised in June it would temporarily soften language requirements for COVID-19 vaccines, but has not yet put forward a proposal. A spokesman said work was underway to be flexible without compromising on safety.
An EU official said Brussels was considering having printed information in a limited set of languages. Other versions would be available online.
An industry official said even that might be too difficult: labels may not have enough space for more than two versions.
Consumer groups say leaving any languages off of packaging could hurt patients, particularly those less capable of looking up details online.
"The urgency of getting a vaccine should not be an excuse for companies to cut corners on consumer protection," said Monique Goyens, the head of BEUC which represents major European consumer organisations.
The EU translates all its rules into all member languages. Commission staff use English, French and German as working languages.
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was the victim of an attack and poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, the German government has said.
Mr Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator who is one of Russian President Vladimir Putins fiercest critics, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on August 20 and was taken to hospital in the Siberian city Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.
He was transferred two days later to Berlins Charite hospital, where doctors last week said initial tests indicated Mr Navalny had been poisoned.
Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement that testing by a special German military laboratory had now shown proof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group.
It is a dismaying event that Alexei Navalny was the victim of an attack with a chemical nerve agent in Russia, Mr Seibert said.
The German government condemns this attack in the strongest terms.
Mrs Merkel said Mr Navalny was the victim of an attempted murder by poisoning and the aim was to silence him.
She said there are very serious questions that only the Russian government can answer and must answer.
Germanys foreign minister Heiko Maas said the Russian ambassador has been summoned and told that Berlin expects a full and transparent investigation.
British authorities identified Novichok as the poison used in 2018 on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England.
The nerve agent is a cholinesterase inhibitor, part of the class of substances that doctors at the Charite initially identified in Mr Navalny.
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Germany demanded a response from the Russian government.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday it had not been informed yet of Mr Navalny being poisoned with a nerve agent.
Such information hasnt been relayed to us, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state Tass news agency.
Mr Seibert said the German government would inform its partners in the European Union and Nato about the test results.
He said that it will consult with its partners in light of the Russian response on an appropriate joint response.
Germany will also contact the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, he added.
Mr Navalnys allies in Russia have insisted he was deliberately poisoned by the countrys authorities, accusations that the Kremlin rejected as empty noise.
2020 , . : pic.twitter.com/qG9HuPwtYX Leonid Volkov (@leonidvolkov) September 2, 2020
To poison Navalny with Novichok in 2020 would be exactly the same as leaving an autograph at a crime scene, like this one, Mr Navalnys longtime ally and strategist Leonid Volkov said in a tweet that featured a photo of Mr Putins name and a signature next to it.
The Russian doctors who treated Mr Navalny in Siberia repeatedly contested the German hospitals poisoning conclusion, saying they had ruled out poisoning as a diagnosis and that their tests for cholinesterase inhibitors came back negative.
In Charites latest update, the hospital said Mr Navalny was still in an induced coma but in a stable condition.
Novichok is a class of military-grade nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War.
Western weapons experts say it was only ever manufactured in Russia.
After the Skripals were poisoned, Russia said the US, Britain and other Western countries acquired the expertise to make the nerve agent after the Soviet Union collapsed, and that the Novichok used in the attack could have come from them.
Expand Close The Skripals were targeted in Salisbury (Ben Birchall/PA) / Facebook
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According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, there is no record of Novichok having been declared by any nation that signed the chemical weapons convention.
Britain has charged two Russians alleged to be agents of the Russian military intelligence service GRU in absentia with the 2018 attack, which left the Skripals in a critical condition and killed a local woman.
Russia has refused to extradite the men to the UK.
British police believe the nerve agent was smuggled to Britain in a counterfeit Nina Ricci perfume bottle and sprayed on the front door of Sergei Skripals house in Salisbury.
More than three months later, the bottle was found by a local man, 48-year-old Charlie Rowley.
He was admitted to hospital and his girlfriend Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after being exposed to the contents.
The top diplomat has claimed some 200 Ukrainian nationals have already deployed after passing training.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said a neighboring Belarus is being destabilized by "extremists" from Ukraine, an UNIAN correspondent in Moscow reports.
"Peaceful people (of Belarus) simply want to be heard, but we also see and know for certain the things that don't appear on newspaper pages, about the people to whom our reporters have no access, but who are very interested in these peaceful the protests plunging toward confrontation," Lavrov said.
"There's confirmed information that such efforts are being made from the territory of Ukraine there's Stepan Bandera's Trident, C14, there's National Corps, and there is Right Sector. All these organizations are actively involved in provoking radical action in Minsk and other cities of Belarus," says Lavrov.
Read alsoU.S. considering sanctions if Russia intervenes in Belarus militarily mediaThese people "finance relevant activities" and "incite promising extremist leaders."
According to Lavrov, according to the Russian Federation, these people "were trained in the appropriate camps in Dnipropetrovsk and Volyn regions."
"Some 200 extremists trained on Ukrainian territory are now in the Republic of Belarus," Lavrov has claimed.
He stated that those who are trying to "rock the situation" in Belarus and "clumsily flirting" with Minsk seek to "tear Belarus away from the Russian Federation and undermine foundations of the Union State."
"We will respond with dignity, firmly, based basis of facts, based on demands to cease any interference in this country's internal affairs and proceed from the fact that any issues should be resolved based on the Republic's Constitution," Lavrov said.
He recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin in a recent interview said the presidential elections in Belarus were "valid".
According to Lavrov, Moscow also considers unacceptable any meddling in Belarus affairs or "annoying mediation services against the sovereign will of Minsk and the Belarusian people."
"We consider President Lukashenko's initiative to carry out constitutional reform a very promising one. We believe, and our contacts with Belarusian friends confirm this, that such a political process can become a useful platform for national dialogue and help overcome the current situation and ensure normalization and stabilization," said Lavrov.
Belarus protests: background
Telugu Desam Party National President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday slammed the YSRCP Government for 'unleashing' a reign of terror and its 'jungle raj' on all sections of people including the media in Andhra Pradesh.
Telugu Desam Party National President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday slammed the YSRCP Government for unleashing a reign of terror and its jungle raj on all sections of people including the media in Andhra Pradesh.
Mr. Naidu held the Governments negligence and indifferent attitude responsible for the latest attack on a journalists house and also suspicious death of two Dalits in Punganur assembly constituency represented by Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy.
The TDP chief wrote a letter to AP Director General of Police Gautam Sawang here, registering his protest and concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state in all respects. He told the DGP that the journalist was targetted just because was he was writing investigative reports against sand mafia in the Ministers assembly constituency limits.
Also read: India gains advantage over China, forces capture key heights near S Pangong lake
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Mr. Naidu deplored that in the series of attacks on media, the latest blatant attack took place in broad day light on the house of Telugu daily journalist Venkat Narayana in Kanduru Panchayat of Somala Mandal in Punganuru assembly constituency. His house was attacked as he was reporting about sand mafia in and around Punganuru. It is alleged that the police are attempting to cover up the role of some attackers as they belong to the ruling YSRCP.
Mr. Naidu said recently, it was in the same Punganuru assembly constituency that there were two suspicious deaths of people belonging to Dalit community. They were identified as M. Narayana and Om Prathap. This highlights deteriorated law and order in the Punganuru assembly constituency, represented by Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy himself. Such attacks in broad day light against journalists like Venkat Narayana are proof enough of pathetic law and order situation in Punganuru constituency and in the State.
The TDP chief said that the media is the fourth pillar of the countrys vibrant democracy. If such attacks on journalists continue unchecked, it is Indias democratic framework that becomes the casualty in the long run. Further, such attacks are to be seen as anti-constitutional as they tend to deny freedom of express as guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution.
Mr. Naidu made a strong appeal to the DGP to take strong action against the perpetrators and most importantly to prevent any such incidents taking place in the State.
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Editors note: The original version of this story contained quotes attributed to Mayor Tim Keller that were actually from Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair, and it included some direct quotes that should have been paraphrased. The story has been corrected. The revised article also omits incorrect information on the number of homicides so far this year compared to last year.
Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal
Albuquerques immigrant-friendly policies will not block the citys application for $9.7 million in federal grant money to hire 40 new officers and pay their salaries for three years, according to city officials.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said Tuesday there is not an issue in the city applying for the grant money, which has been in doubt since earlier this year.
There is a hefty amount of messaging going on about these funds, Keller said.
U.S. Attorney John Anderson said he was a little surprised, given the mixed messaging from the city on the acceptance of the grant funding.
The funding is a critical component to the anti-violence strategy, Anderson said.
Keller said the city has about 1,000 officers and plans to meet the goal of 1,100 officers this year.
Sarita Nair, the citys chief administrative officer, said the grant would help offset the cost of the 100 additional officers.
She said the grant application will be sent to the City Council for approval because it requires the city to agree to continue to fund the officers hired under the grant after it expires.
The money from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services was offered to the city earlier this year after DOJ announced Operation Relentless Pursuit.
The grant pays for entry-level salaries for 40 police officers for three years.
The Relentless Pursuit initiative was replaced by Operation Legend after the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country. But the plan for that operation is essentially the same 25 federal agents will be sent to Albuquerque to beef up existing task forces focused on violent crime.
The grant money allows the city to hire more officers to replace veteran officers who are assigned to the federal task forces.
One of the main goals of Operation Relentless Pursuit, now Operation Legend, is to increase the ability to prosecute cases in federal court by increasing the number of federal agents and local police assigned to the FBIs Violent Crime Task Force.
The sticking point appeared to be a few sections of a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Department of Justice that deal with immigration.
For instance, the memorandum of understanding the city must sign allows for an audit of city employee forms to determine whether the workers are legally in the United States.
Another section requires the city to share immigration information it collects, but the city doesnt collect such information, so it has nothing to share.
There was no requirement in the grant application that police officers inquire about a persons immigration status during the normal course of their duties.
Nair said the city was able to confirm that its immigrant-friendly resolutions were consistent with federal requirements.
Normally, a COPS grants requires local governments to provide matching funds a percentage of the overall grant but the Department of Justice waived that requirement, according to Anderson.
The city doesnt have to put up a dime, Anderson said. The grant is considered a critical component to drive down violent crime.
Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal
Two police pursuits and multiple abandoned vehicles in a Los Lunas neighborhood led officers to arrest three men suspected of working in a chop shop operation, according to New Mexico State Police.
State Police spokesman Dusty Francisco said Johnny Lopez, 32, and Martin Jaramillo, 36, have been charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle and aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer.
Celso Molina-Cornelio, 39, the owner of the home and alleged chop shop, was charged with receiving or transferring a stolen motor vehicle.
On Aug. 14, Francisco said, officers arrested Lopez after he fled a traffic stop in a stolen vehicle and drove it to a home at 37 Carmel in Los Lunas. Jaramillo was arrested in a separate chase, although Francisco did not give any details on that incident.
He said officers learned multiple stolen vehicles were going in and out of the home on Carmel. They found three stolen vehicles that had been abandoned near the residence.
Francisco said that on Aug. 23, police arrested Molina-Cornelio at the home after finding a disassembled stolen vehicle on the property.
The stolen motor vehicle was missing the engine and transmission, and it had also been taken apart into seven different pieces, he said.
In all, Francisco said, officers recovered six vehicles in Los Lunas that had been reported stolen from the Albuquerque area and Valencia County.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-03 06:31:14|Editor: huaxia
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BRUSSELS, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and Avdullah Hoti, the head of government of Kosovo, will meet in Brussels next Monday, the European Union (EU) external action service announced on Wednesday.
The second meeting in person between the two since the EU-facilitated peace process resumed in mid-July will address non-majority community arrangements and the settlement of mutual financial claims/property, according to a EU press release.
The dialogue will be hosted by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues Miroslav Lajcak.
Expert level meetings have been held regularly since the two sides met in Brussels on July 17 and agreed to continue the comprehensive dialogue aiming at normalization of the relations.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia rejects it and considers Kosovo its own province. Enditem
Staff from St Monicas Nursing Home on Belvedere Place say the closures will put 200 staff out of work and lead to the loss of 160 beds from the healthcare system.
Members of the Forsa, INMO, and SIPTU unions have been campaigning for fair treatment since the closure of the three Sisters of Charity sites was announced.
Staff at Caritas Convalescent Centre, St Marys and St Monicas nursing homes say they have lost their livelihoods.
More than 20 workers gathered for a socially distanced protest on Wednesday, calling for the Sisters of Charity and the HSE to fund their redundancy payments properly.
Despite working in the public sector, the liquidators of each facility claimed the workers do not qualify for public sector redundancy payments.
Meeting striking workers at St Monica's Nursing Home - workers from St Mary's and Caritas in attendance too. These front line hero workers have been treated disgracefully @HSELive pic.twitter.com/fSo8pfsFLk Advertisement Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) September 2, 2020
This was challenged in the Labour Court by the unions, with the court recommending the HSE and the Sisters of Charity engage with representatives to ensure that workers received public sector redundancy terms.
However, the recommendation has not yet been completed.
Sean McElhinney, Forsa assistant general secretary, said: Our members welcome the indication that the Sisters of Charity is scoping out the feasibility of releasing funds to compensate for job loss.
Nevertheless, some of the Sisters comments seem ambiguous.
We cannot allow a situation where the powers that be can use #Covid19 as some sort of cover to leave #FrontlineHeroes high and dry.
The Sisters of Charity workers, residents and their families deserve better. They deserve respect. #PayUpSisterspic.twitter.com/dAtWFQ8nHZ Paddy Cole (@PaidiCole) September 2, 2020
In that context, we will welcome the protest as an opportunity to share our explicit expectation: that the recommendation of the Labour Court will be satisfied in its completeness and applied to all three facilities.
The HSE has also been named in the Labour Court recommendation. They too should be paying attention to our protest.
Our members are calling time on the apparent HSE avoidance strategy.
We are committed to bringing the HSE to the table. They must play their part in implementing the recommendation of the court.
The staff are hero front line workers, who have been treated disgracefully.
Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald, who attended the protest, told the PA news agency: There needs to be urgent engagement with the HSE, workers representatives and the Sisters of Charity.
We are about to lose around 200-bed capacity. This is unthinkable when capacity is already overstretched and as we continue to endure a pandemic.
Those availing of services have been robbed of much-needed care and services. I am also conscious that for many long-term residents, this is about much more than just services it has also been their home.
The staff are hero frontline workers who have been treated disgracefully. Politicians were quick to praise workers and applaud them during the pandemic.
But workers need more than empty gestures and need to see action taken to protect their rights.
I am in touch with the HSE, Taoiseach and Tanaiste on this issue and will be pushing for urgent action to resolve it.
We need support quickly, and if we need to do more we can come back, Mr. Mnuchin said.
But after Mr. Mnuchin and Ms. Pelosi spoke for 36 minutes by phone later Tuesday afternoon, the speaker said there continued to be between Democrats and the White House serious differences understanding the gravity of the situation that Americas working families are facing.
In a statement, Ms. Pelosi said she was open to compromise, but she detailed a list of pointed questions she had put to Mr. Mnuchin about the White Houses defiance of science and aversion to spending at the levels Democrats argue are necessary suggesting she saw no reason to move further toward its position.
Does the White House think that Americas working families are not worth the investment needed to defeat the virus and the accompanying economic crisis? she said. Or would they rather spend the money another way?
While the Treasury secretary called on Congress to act, the chairman of the select subcommittee, Representative James E. Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina, scolded Mr. Mnuchin for the administrations handling of the pandemic and the recession and said the White House needed to find ways to help workers and businesses.
Todays hearing is a call to action, Mr. Clyburn said in his opening remarks. The most important step we can take to fix the economy in the long term is to get the pandemic under control. But American families are hurting now, and there are urgent steps the administration must take to prevent our nations economic crisis from becoming a catastrophe.
Mr. Clyburn challenged Mr. Mnuchin on President Trumps claims that the economy was roaring back, saying unemployment remained high and millions were still out of work.
Mr. Mnuchin acknowledged many workers had been sidelined and certain industries continued to struggle. But he said things were far better than many had expected in March, when the virus began to shutter large parts of the economy.
Nine injured as truck carrying migrant workers overturns downhill
PHUKET: Construction workers riding in the back of a truck while being transported home to their workers camp and their driver were injured after the truck swerved off the coastal road near Ao Yon yesterday evening (Sept 1) and overturned as it rolled down a steep roadside slope.
accidentstransportSafetyMyanmarconstructionpolice
By Eakkapop Thongtub
Wednesday 2 September 2020, 10:37AM
Debris from the truck lies high up the steep slope where the truck swerved off the road. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub
Rescue workers attend to one of the injured workers at the scene yesterday (Sept 1). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub
The truck came to rest at the bottom of the hill after overturning while rolling down the steep slope. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub
Rescue workers attend to one of the injured workers at the scene yesterday (Sept 1). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub
Among those riding in the truck was a young boy, the son of one of the construction workers.
Lt Col Narong Muangduang of the Wichit Police was called to the accident scene, on the Ao Yon Khao Khad Rd, at 5.30pm.
Police and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers arrived to find a white Phuket-registered Isuzu truck at the bottom of the roadside slope some 10-15 metres below where it had left the road.
Of the nine injured, one was deemed to have suffered serious injuries while three suffered moderate injuries. Five of the workers escaped being flung from the truck as it overturned with only minor injuries.
Four of the injured were taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town, and the remaining five injuries were taken to Phuket Provincial Hospital in Rassada.
The nine injured were named as Mr Aung Kyaw Moe; Ms Moe Moe Thin; Ms Nay Lin Nying;
Ms Zin Moe Oo; Mr Tun Tun Win; Mr Win Nying; Mrs Thin Thin Aye; Mr Je Zin Pure; and a boy named is Aow, age not reported but confirmed to be the son of one of the construction workers riding in the truck.
The truck driver, 33-year-old Myanmar national Je Zin Pure, told police that he was driving the workers from a construction at Ao Yon to their camp on Soi Pracha Ruamchai, located off the Khao Khad Rd, when the accident happened.
The front left wheel of the truck had left the road, causing the truck to swerve and sending it rolling downhill, he said.
Police confirmed that they are still investigating the accident and have yet to charge the driver.
Detroit police wrongfully arrested Robert Julian-Borchak Williams in January 2020 for a shoplifting incident that had taken place two years earlier. Even though Williams had nothing to do with the incident, facial recognition technology used by Michigan State Police matched his face with a grainy image obtained from an in-store surveillance video showing another African-American man taking US$3,800 worth of watches.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 2/9/2020 (505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Opinion
Detroit police wrongfully arrested Robert Julian-Borchak Williams in January 2020 for a shoplifting incident that had taken place two years earlier. Even though Williams had nothing to do with the incident, facial recognition technology used by Michigan State Police "matched" his face with a grainy image obtained from an in-store surveillance video showing another African-American man taking US$3,800 worth of watches.
Two weeks later, the case was dismissed at the prosecutions request. However, relying on the faulty match, police had already handcuffed and arrested Williams in front of his family, forced him to provide a mug shot, fingerprints and a sample of his DNA, interrogated him and imprisoned him overnight.
Experts suggest that Williams is not alone, and that others have been subjected to similar injustices. The ongoing controversy about police use of Clearview AI certainly underscores the privacy risks posed by facial recognition technology. But its important to realize that not all of us bear those risks equally.
Training racist algorithms
Facial recognition technology that is trained on and tuned to Caucasian faces systematically misidentifies and mislabels racialized individuals: numerous studies report that facial recognition technology is "flawed and biased, with significantly higher error rates when used against people of colour."
This undermines the individuality and humanity of racialized persons who are more likely to be misidentified as criminal. The technology and the identification errors it makes reflects and further entrenches long-standing social divisions that are deeply entangled with racism, sexism, homophobia, settler-colonialism and other intersecting oppressions.
How technology categorizes users
In his game-changing 1993 book, The Panoptic Sort, scholar Oscar Gandy warned that "complex technology [that] involves the collection, processing and sharing of information about individuals and groups that is generated through their daily lives is used to coordinate and control their access to the goods and services that define life in the modern capitalist economy." Law enforcement uses it to pluck suspects from the general public, and private organizations use it to determine whether we have access to things like banking and employment.
Gandy prophetically warned that, if left unchecked, this form of "cybernetic triage" would exponentially disadvantage members of equality-seeking communities for example, groups that are racialized or socio-economically disadvantaged both in terms of what would be allocated to them and how they might come to understand themselves.
Some 25 years later, were now living with the panoptic sort on steroids. And examples of its negative effects on equality-seeking communities abound, such as the false identification of Williams.
Pre-existing bias
This sorting using algorithms infiltrates the most fundamental aspects of everyday life, occasioning both direct and structural violence in its wake.
The direct violence experienced by Williams is immediately evident in the events surrounding his arrest and detention, and the individual harms he experienced are obvious and can be traced to the actions of police who chose to rely on the technologys "match" to make an arrest. More insidious is the structural violence perpetrated through facial recognition technology and other digital technologies that rate, match, categorize and sort individuals in ways that magnify pre-existing discriminatory patterns.
Structural violence harms are less obvious and less direct, and cause injury to equality-seeking groups through systematic denial to power, resources and opportunity. Simultaneously, it increases direct risk and harm to individual members of those groups.
Predictive policing uses algorithmic processing of historical data to predict when and where new crimes are likely to occur, assigns police resources accordingly and embeds enhanced police surveillance into communities, usually in lower-income and racialized neighbourhoods. This increases the chances that any criminal activity including less serious criminal activity that might otherwise prompt no police response will be detected and punished, ultimately limiting the life chances of the people who live within that environment.
And the evidence of inequities in other sectors continues to mount. Hundreds of students in the United Kingdom protested on Aug. 16 against the disastrous results of Ofqual, a flawed algorithm the U.K. government used to determine which students would qualify for university. In 2019, Facebooks microtargeting ad service helped dozens of public and private sector employers exclude people from receiving job ads on the basis of age and gender. Research conducted by ProPublica has documented race-based price discrimination for online products. And search engines regularly produce racist and sexist results.
Perpetuating oppression
These outcomes matter because they perpetuate and deepen pre-existing inequalities based on such characteristics as race, gender and age. They also matter because they deeply affect how we come to know ourselves and the world around us, sometimes by pre-selecting the information we receive in ways that reinforce stereotypical perceptions. Even technology companies themselves acknowledge the urgency of stopping algorithms from perpetuating discrimination.
To date the success of ad hoc investigations, conducted by the tech companies themselves, has been inconsistent. Occasionally, corporations involved in producing discriminatory systems withdraw them from the market, such as when Clearview AI announced it would no longer offer facial recognition technology in Canada. But often such decisions result from regulatory scrutiny or public outcry only after members of equality-seeking communities have already been harmed.
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Its time to give our regulatory institutions the tools they need to address the problem. Simple privacy protections that hinge on obtaining individual consent to enable data to be captured and repurposed by companies cannot be separated from the discriminatory outcomes of that use. This is especially true in an era when most of us (including technology companies themselves) cannot fully understand what algorithms do or why they produce specific results.
Privacy is a human right
Part of the solution entails breaking down the current regulatory silos that treat privacy and human rights as separate issues. Relying on a consent-based data protection model flies in the face of the basic principle that privacy and equality are both human rights that cannot be contracted away.
Even Canadas Digital Charter the federal governments latest attempt to respond to the shortcomings of the current state of the digital environment maintains these conceptual distinctions. It treats hate and extremism, control and consent, and strong democracy as separate categories.
To address algorithmic discrimination, we must recognize and frame both privacy and equality as human rights. And we must create an infrastructure that is equally attentive to and expert in both. Without such efforts, the glossy sheen of math and science will continue to camouflage AIs discriminatory biases, and travesties such as that inflicted on Williams can be expected to multiply.
Jane Bailey is a professor of law and co-leader of The eQuality Project and Valerie Steeves is a full professor at the University of Ottawa. Jacquelyn Burkell is associate vice-president, research, at Western University.
This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca.
The 'brutal, violent' memoirs of one of the UK's most prolific gangsters - who remarkably turned his life around at the age of 40 - are set to be made into a 30million Hollywood film.
For 28 years, Stephen Gillen, 49, who was brought up in Belfast at the height of The Troubles and now lives in Windsor, was one of the most feared characters in the UK's criminal underworld, and describes recounting his own history as like 'galloping through hell on horseback'.
New book The Monkey Puzzle Tree documents in unflinching detail the cat-and-mouse encounters with the police and the Flying Squad that saw Gillen 'cheat death 100 times' before he was finally brought to justice for armed robbery in the early Nineties.
Forced to serve almost 20 years in Category A high-security prisons for his crimes, Gillen's dramatic and eerie redemption - after a ghostly encounter with his late aunt - saw him finally turn his back on his former life as a gang boss in London's East End.
Stephen Gillen 'cheated death 100 times' in bloody turf wars during 28 years as an East End gang boss; after serving 20 years in prison for his crimes, his memoirs reveal how he finally decided to stop holding grudges and turn his life around
Childhood horrors: Stephen, pictured left, was born in England but spent the first nine years of his life in Belfast during the height of the The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Right: by his mid twenties, the former East End gang boss had already served prison time
The 'profound' epiphany saw him go on to become an International Peace Prize Nominee, philanthropist and entrepreneur - who was once flown to New York to meet with the Secretary-General of the United Nations - as he now helps others to reform against gang life.
A childhood in Belfast's slums saw the seeds of brutality grow in Gillen, he says.
Despite the efforts of his Aunt Madge, who tried to protect him from the 'horrors' of The Troubles outside their front door, the reformed gangster says he frequently witnessed death and destruction as Northern Ireland's communities were at war.
As a seven-year-old, he watched a young man 'beg for his mother' as he bled to death in front of him after being shot on the street.
After moving back to England following his Aunt Madge's death, Gillen spent time with various foster families and was in and out of the care system. He had addiction problems, something he's clean of now, from his early teens.
His unsettled upbringing saw him lured into a life of crime. He describes how 'anger had been my fuel, rebellion my guide. I had been forged with gritted hardness from the inside out'.
Back to his manor: Stephen pictured in London's East End, where teenage petty crime quickly escalated to major organised crime, during a life he describes as 'galloping through hell on horseback'
A life reformed: A ghostly encounter with his late aunt saw him finally turn his back on his former life as a gang boss in London's East End and Stephen hasn't looked back
By the time Gillen was just 10, he was already starting to dominate his peers on the council estates of London's East End, and would be escorted back to the home he shared with his foster family after 'throwing stones or being where I shouldn't have been', the book reveals.
The screenplay of Gillen's life is being written by Kieran Suchet, son of broadcaster John Suchet and nephew of David, best known for his role as Agatha Christie's Poirot, and looks set to bring the violence Gillen experienced to screen.
A particularly bloody encounter in the book sees Gillen faced with 'rivers of blood' from his own head after a deep slice to the side of his head following a turf war fight in Camden.
Despite the severity of his injury - his head 'spun like the final cycle of a washing machine' - a shirtless Gillen said vengeance was all he cared about in a city where 'you had to eat or be eaten'.
Elsewhere Gillen plays out some of the major crimes he's been involved in during decades as a gang boss, including listening in as police helicopters chase stolen Securitas vans containing thousands of pounds - and watching his closest criminal confidantes come unstuck as the police successfully honed in on them.
The screenplay of Stephen's book is being written by Kieran Suchet (right), whose father is respected broadcaster John Suchet and uncle David known for playing Agatha Christie's Poirot
His past catches up with him; Gillen describes how he eventually meets the father of the young man whose life he watched ebb away while getting caught up in the riots.
Gillen describes how he notices the man has missing digits as he reveals he was struck by a letter bomb: 'He took his hand from his pocket and rubbed the slight stubble on his skin, and I saw he had only three fingers.
'A claw-like hand with two smooth stumps where once there had been active moving fingers.'
He also speaks of watching 'a few people murdered' in front of him and 'unspeakable acts of cruelty' in prison, where there is a hierarchy with 'top villains, gangsters, importers and terrorists' at the top, and grudges could last 'for decades'.
During his time in Full Sutton Prison, Gillen recalls how he and his friend Shane, both 'tooled up' with two homemade knives, confronted a group of four violent inmates to assert their authority.
After hitting rock bottom while in a segregation unit reserved for high risk, disruptive inmates, Gillen says he believes he was visited by the spirit of his late Aunt Madge, who helped bring him up as a child
As a Category A prisoner, Gillen told how he was moved around the country, and would sometimes arrive where he had friends, and other times, the jail would be 'full of your enemies'.
'I even saw the prison service move people into serious circumstances on purpose,' he writes in the book. 'The bitter years of high security imprisonment had battered and clawed away my emotions, ripped and torn them like a thief in the night. My humanity had been stolen. Anger had been my fuel, rebellion my guide. I had been forged with gritted hardness from the inside out.'
After hitting rock bottom while in a segregation unit reserved for high risk, disruptive inmates, Gillen says he believes he was visited by the spirit of his late Aunt Madge, who helped bring him up as a child.
The spiritual encounter offered a full stop on his life of crime, as he vowed to let go of the grudges that had led him to gang violence.
The Monkey Puzzle Tree by Stephen Gillen is published by Filament Publishing on September 2.
An independent presidential candidate for the 2020 polls, Marricke Gane is calling for an overhaul of the 1992 Constitution.
According to him, the world has evolved thereby making the 1992 constitution lose its relevance.
We have a constitution that has not grown at the rate at which the people have evolved. We have a constitution that has not evolved at the rate at which businesses it is trying to organise have evolved. We have a constitution that has not grown at the rate in which the world in which we live in has evolved. So Ghanas constitution needs to be overhauled to provide leadership with the mindset required for the countrys growth, he said on Face to Face on Citi TV.
Mr. Gane further made a specific call for the amendment of the 40-year age requirement for presidential aspirants.
He insisted that most of the developing and developed countries have youthful leaders.
He explained that the evolution of the world requires the involvement of youth in leadership positions.
We've always said wisdom is connected to age but that sentiment has changed. You can find a kid today who very is plugged in more than somebody who is twice or thrice his age.
I think at the time it was set, it was reasonable but I think demography is changing, the rate of absorption of knowledge is changing and so some of these things do need to change. I would say that something from [the age] 37 is reasonable and will make a lot of difference.
The world is moving in a totally different direction and it takes a certain kind of mindset to either move in that direction or move ahead of it and you will find that mindset in a lot of young people, and we have to start grooming our young people and position them to be ready for the future because the truth of the matter is that the future is going to come no matter how you look at it, he added on Face to Face.
Vote for me; I have integrity, proven track record
During the interview, Mr. Gane also called on Ghanaians to vote for him in the upcoming 2020 presidential polls .
He argued that he has integrity and a proven track record of accountability to lead Ghana as its president.
I'm offering a choice that political parties have not been able to deliver and its because the political parties have treated the business of running the state as though they are running their political parties and family businesses. So when somebody messes up, they just pull the person back without punishing the person. We've seen this happen over and over again, he said.
citinewsroom
Executives of social media giant Facebook were questioned on Wednesday by an Indian parliamentary panel after allegations of bias on how the companys in-house policies for regulating hate speech were applied on the platform.
The panel called Facebook Indias representatives after a report in the Wall Street Journal newspaper alleged the company overlooked hate speech posts by leaders and right-wing Hindu groups affiliated with the countrys ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Wall Street Journal report accused Facebook of not applying its hate speech rules to anti-Muslim rhetoric, and provided examples of when posts were not removed even after being flagged.
Facebook has denied any bias, and said it is a non-partisan platform.
We take allegations of bias incredibly seriously, and want to make it clear that we denounce hate and bigotry in any form, Facebook India Director Ajit Mohan said in a statement soon after the controversy broke.
The meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology was not open to the public or media.
The parliament secretariat said the panel would hear the Facebook representatives views on safeguarding citizens rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms.
The panel is chaired by Shashi Tharoor, a member of the opposition Indian National Congress.
ALSO READ: Facebook removes Trump campaign ads featuring Nazis symbol
The row has led to a political slugfest in India, with the BJP also accusing Facebook of bias against it.
With 346.2 million users in India in 2020, Facebook sees the country as one of its most promising markets.
In 2015, the platform had 135.6 million users, according to online business data platform Statista. (dpa/NAN)
TOKYO, Sept 2, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) today announced that Hitachi Elevator Asia Pte. Ltd. (Hitachi Elevator Asia) has successfully clinched another large contract for the supply and installation of lifts from the Housing & Development Board (HDB) of the Republic of Singapore (Singapore). Hitachi Elevator Asia has been awarded the 30th term contract to supply and install another 300 lifts at HDB blocks in Singapore. This is the largest single contract for Hitachi group for the second time; the first was the 28th term contract(1). Hitachi Elevator Asia aims to maintain their position among the top 3 in the new installation market of Singapore with the contribution of this contract in FY2020."We are honoured by HDB's continued confidence in our people, our lifts and our services," said Victor Sia, Managing Director, Hitachi Elevator Asia. "We are proud to extend our relationship with HDB with this latest contract and look forward to providing services for the people in the years to come."Hitachi Elevator Asia was awarded the 28th term contract in 2019, which was the largest single order for the Hitachi group's lifts and escalators business in Singapore at the time (1). Apart from HDB blocks, Hitachi Elevator Asia has also provided lifts, escalators and moving sidewalks for major facilities and buildings like the National University of Singapore, Changi International Airport and Guoco Tower, the tallest building in Singapore. In 2019, an advanced lift remote monitoring and maintenance service was introduced in Singapore, where real-time operational data about the lifts and implementation of preventive maintenance are provided(2).Moving forward, Hitachi will continue to broadly use cutting-edge digital technology, including the Internet of Things (IoT) and globally provide safe, secure and comfortable elevators and escalators as well as services that help resolve customers' issues in urban spaces to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.(1) News release dated May 19, 2020 titled "Hitachi Awarded Contract to Supply, Install 300 Lifts at HDB Blocks in Singapore"(2) News release dated September 26, 2019 entitled "Hitachi to Commence Initiatives to Establish a Full-Fledged Global Lift Remote Monitoring and Maintenance Service"About Hitachi, Ltd.Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is focused on its Social Innovation Business that combines information technology (IT), operational technology (OT) and products. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2019 (ended March 31, 2020) totaled 8,767.2 billion yen ($80.4 billion), and it employed approximately 301,000 people worldwide. Hitachi drives digital innovation across five sectors - Mobility, Smart Life, Industry, Energy and IT - through Lumada, Hitachi's advanced digital solutions, services, and technologies for turning data into insights to drive digital innovation. Its purpose is to deliver solutions that increase social, environmental and economic value for its customers. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at https://www.hitachi.com.About Hitachi Elevator Asia Pte. Ltd.Hitachi Elevator Asia Pte. Ltd., renamed in 2010, was established in 1972 as Hitachi Elevator Engineering (S) Pte. Ltd. The company is well recognised for its quality products and high service standards, having installed lifts and escalators for residential, hotel and office buildings. The company leverages on its talented team and proven experience in global markets to bring high-quality innovations, reliable technologies and efficient production processes to our customers. For more information on Hitachi Elevator Asia, please visit the company's website at http://www.hea.hitachi.com.sg.Source: Hitachi, Ltd.Copyright 2020 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Inside the store, deputies found a man on the floor. It wasnt immediately clear whether the man had any visible injuries; the East Joliet Fire Department took the man to an area hospital where he later died. Authorities identified him as Zachary Stohr, 29. It was not known whether Stohr worked at the store or if he was a customer.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has recently focused on another suspect, who is only 17 years old, who may be responsible for hacking the social media platform Twitter in July that compromised several dozens of high-profile accounts.
17-year-old mastermind
Florida officials said that 17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark is being accused of playing the mastermind behind the social media hack that targetted the accounts of politicians and business leaders, including former United States President Barack Obama and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
According to Fox News, the alleged scammers powered through the accounts' security and sent out tweets that made it seem like the wealthy individuals were asking for donations to be sent through bitcoin. However, the ruse was so that they could amass their own fortune where they took home more than $100,000.
Authorities believe that the 17-year-old suspect played a vital role in the attack compared to his associates. FBI agents allegedly searched Clark's residence in Massachusetts, where his parents also lived on Tuesday. The case could potentially be transferred over to Massachusetts authorities to who has the power to charge minors as adults.
On July 31, authorities also charged two other individuals concerning the crime; 22-year-old Nima Fazeli and 19-year-old Mason Sheppard. The FBI said their investigation was still ongoing and that so far, only the three suspects have been charged.
A special agent in charge with the FBI, John Bennett, said that while investigations into cyberattacks could take years, investigators have successfully discovered the three hackers and brought them into custody in only a few weeks.
A spokeswoman for the bureau revealed that while only three suspects have been charged so far, the continuous investigations could result in more individuals being arrested and charged, as reported by The New York Times.
Also Read: Twitter Accounts Get Massive Cyber-Breach for Cryptocurrency Fraud Including Musk, Gates, Obama
Specialized account hackers
Cybersecurity experts said that the three suspects were part of a loose-knit community of hackers who specialize in taking over accounts. The criminals use a method known as SIM-swapping and are known to frequently target telecom companies to compromise the phone numbers of their victims and steal their login credentials.
The three hackers focused on employees of the social media platform Twitter. They got hold of their account credentials, giving them access to the site's internal system and gaining the power to reset passwords of nearly all of the platform's users. Some accounts, including US President Donald Trump's, have an extra security layer to prevent hacking attempts.
The chief research officer of the security firm Unit 221B, Allison Nixon, said that the suspects were trained to be efficient at what they do and conduct their attack creatively using unconventional methods.
Usually, hackers set their sights on financial fraud, but the recent compromise of political figures could attract new and more wicked customers, said Nixon.
Nixon said that one thing that worries her is that these criminals will have more opportunities to deal with nefarious customers with the added capability of breaching high-profile political accounts.
Twitter officials released a statement thanking law enforcement in their swift and decisive actions and said it would be willing to continue cooperation with local authorities to further the investigations.
Related Article: Fact Check: Is Ellen DeGeneres Dead? Famous Host's Death Trending on Twitter
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Police may increase the use of Tasers and controversial spit hoods after a rise in reported assaults on officers in England and Wales.
A review by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) said that all regional chief constables must consider increasing the availability of Taser, body armour, spit and bite guards, protective gloves and high-visibility clothing to proportionate levels.
Spit hoods have been used on several people who have died in police custody in both Britain and the US, while footage of their use in public in the UK has provoked outrage.
There is also concern about the disproportionate use of Tasers against black suspects, and safety warnings over a new and more powerful model being made available to forces.
The NPCC said it had also commissioned research to examine the causes of racial disparity in the use of Taser.
Amnesty International UK said that although Tasers can prevent injury and loss of life, it cant be stressed enough that they are potentially lethal weapons.
Oliver Feeley-Sprague, a member of the independent advisory group to the NPCC lead on Tasers, said: Tasers are linked to hundreds of deaths in the USA and a growing number in Britain, and weve always said that UK police forces needed to restrict their use to highly-trained specialist officers.
Police officers must undergo training before being issued with a Taser and are not allowed to use them unless they meet requirements.
A major survey of more than 40,000 police officers and staff in England and Wales, thought to be the biggest of its kind, found that three quarters of police officers want to deploy with Taser every day.
Nearly all officers said they thought more frontline staff in their force should be given the weapons, while similar proportions said they should all at least have the option of carrying stun guns.
Around three in five of those surveyed - 61 per cent - said that all frontline officers should be armed with Tasers.
Spit hoods are used to prevent prisoners from biting or spitting on officers (PA)
Martin Hewitt, chair of the NPCC, said they were not the answer to all violent and threatening situations.
In this review, we have followed the evidence, listened to the concerns of those within the service, and heard the views of the public, he added.
The review and the breadth of its recommendations show that there is no one piece of equipment that is the answer to all violent and threatening situations. Instead, chief constables have agreed a broad package of measures that will significantly enhance the safety of our brave and hard-working front line.
Kent chief constable Alan Pughsley, who is the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) lead on officer safety, stressed that Tasers had drawbacks.
They are fallible and they sometimes do not achieve operational intent, he told a press conference on Wednesday.
They can sometimes not work, leading to injuries to the officers, the public and the subject.
It should not be viewed as a guarantee of operational safety and officers should not become over-reliant on them. Verbal conflict management and other skills are vitally important.
The review cited research by the College of Policing and the University of Exeter that suggested that drawing a Taser might act as a deterrent to suspects.
It found that the odds of officers being assaulted were lowered when a Taser was drawn, but increased when it was discharged.
Rapper Wretch32 shares video of 65-year-old father being tasered by Metropolitan police
The number of recorded attacks on police officers has risen in the past five years, and the latest figures show that assaults on emergency workers rose almost a third in July, compared with the same period last year.
Mr Hewitt admitted that police leaders had pushed very hard for effective reporting by officers, which may have contributed to the rise.
In the majority of cases there wont be a physical injury, it will be some other form of assault, he added.
The dramatic rise in recent months is believed to have been largely caused by deliberate spitting or coughing by people claiming to have coronavirus, which is recorded as assault.
In the survey, 88 per cent of officers said they had been assaulted during their career, with 39 per cent having been attacked in the past year.
The NPCC called for a number of legal changes, including the creation of a specific offence of targeting an officer with a vehicle, tighter laws around the possession of ammonia and similar corrosive liquids.
It also called for spitting and hate crimes to be considered as aggravating factors when suspects are brought to court for attacking officers.
The College of Policing said it would be introducing a national curriculum for safety training to improve consistency between different forces.
Che Donald, vice chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents more than 120,000 rank-and-file officers, said: Chief officers must now take swift action to implement all immediately, so they are meaningful, make a tangible difference and are directly felt by officers on the ground.
UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 14 January 2022 Ecologist Emma Smart (left) and retired GP Dr Diana Warner outside HMP Bronzefield, in Surrey, following their release from the prison where Emma undertook a 26-day hunger strike during her incarceration. Ms Smart was sentenced in November, along with other members of Insulate Britain, to serve four months for breaking a High Court injunction by taking part in a blockade at junction 25 of the M25 motorway during the morning rush hour on 8 October last year PA UK news in pictures 13 January 2022 A TV presenter holds a copy of a newspaper outside 10 Downing Streetafter the Prime Minister apologised for attending a gathering of colleagues in the Number Ten garden in May 2020, while the UK was in strict lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic Getty UK news in pictures 12 January 2022 Fitness guru Derrick Evans after receiving an MBE during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 11 January 2022 A couple walk underneath an umbrella during wet weather on Westminster Bridge in central London PA UK news in pictures 10 January 2022 A jogger passes the Covid Memorial Wall in London AP UK news in pictures 9 January 2021 The sun rises over horses at Seaton Sluice in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 8 January 2022 Riders compete during the Veterans Men's race at the UK Cyclo-Cross National Championships 2022 in Ardingly, south of London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 7 January 2022 A dog looks out of a car window at the wintry conditions in Killeshin, Co. Laois PA UK news in pictures 6 January 2022 People walk through frost and mist alongside a frozen lake during sunrise in Bushy Park, London REUTERS UK news in pictures 5 January 2022 A skier jumps on the slopes at Allenheads in the Pennines to the north of Weardale in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 4 January 2022 Freshly-fallen snow covers houses in Corbridge, near Hexham in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 3 January 2022 Dean Morrison, 13, receives his Covid-19 vaccine from student nurse Anthony McLaughlin during a vaccination clinic at the Glasgow Central Mosque PA UK news in pictures 2 January 2022 Konastantinos Tsimikas of Liverpool with Chelseas Mason Mount during the Premier League match at Stamfrod Bridge Liverpool FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 January 2022 New Years Eve Lasers, drones and fireworks illuminate the sky in front of the Royal Naval College in Greenwich shortly after midnight in London EPA UK news in pictures 31 December 2021 Competitors in fancy dress run across the Pennine tops near Haworth, West Yorkshire, in the annual Auld Lang Syne Fell race which attracts hundreds of runners every year PA UK news in pictures 30 December 2021 Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 29 December 2021 The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket PA UK news in pictures 28 December 2021 Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queens Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London PA UK news in pictures 27 December 2021 A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London Getty UK news in pictures 26 December 2021 Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham PA UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip PA UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London Reuters UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester PA UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge. Getty UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year PA UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton PA UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent PA UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election PA UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire PA UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster Getty Images UK news in pictures 12 December 2021 People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds, PA UK news in pictures 10 December 2021 Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judges decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange PA UK news in pictures 9 December 2021 Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service PA UK news in pictures 8 December 2021 Margaret Keenan and Nurse May Parsons, a year after Margaret was the first person in the UK to receive the Pfizer vaccine PA UK news in pictures 7 December 2021 Snowfall in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK with disruptive winds, heavy rain and snow PA UK news in pictures 6 December 2021 A person tries to avoid sea spray on New Brighton promenade in Wallasey as the UK readies for the arrival of Storm Barra Getty UK news in pictures 5 December 2021 People release balloons during a tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin's former address in Solihull, West Midlands, where he was murdered by his stepmother PA UK news in pictures 4 December 2021 People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square Reuters UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 2 December 2021 Duchess of Cambridge inspects a Faberge egg at the Victoria and Albert Museum Getty UK news in pictures 1 December 2021 Meerkats at London Zoo with an advent calendar PA UK news in pictures 30 November 2021 Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week PA UK news in pictures 29 November 2021 Home Secretary Priti Patel is greeted by a police dog at a special memorial service for Met Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana Getty UK news in pictures 28 November 2021 Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City battles for possession with Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during a match at the Etihad during snow Manchester City/Getty UK news in pictures 27 November 2021 Residents clear branches from a fallen tree in Birkenhead, north west England as Storm Arwen triggered a rare red weather warning AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 26 November 2021 A killer whale (orca in the fjord of Skjervoy, northern Norway AFP/Getty
This review must not become just another door stop and be forgotten about a year down the line. That would mean letting down my colleagues even further.
Along with the majority of the public, the federation is appalled by the atrocious levels of violence colleagues have faced recently and has been demanding action.
The government is currently consulting on doubling the maximum sentence for assaulting emergency workers.
Priti Patel, the home secretary, said: It is without doubt that our brave police do one of the most difficult jobs out there, putting their lives on the line and confronting violent situations every day to keep the public safe.
The increase in assaults on these brave men and women is simply unacceptable.
Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is scheduled to pay an official visit to Israel and Palestine today and tomorrow to meet with the prime ministers of the two countries and his counterparts.
According to Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE), Aurescu's schedule in Israel includes consultations with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabriel Ashkenazi, and meetings with President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Benjamin Gantz, Minister of Regional Co-operation Ofir Akunis, and the leader of the opposition and Yesh Atid-Telem party in the Knesset, Yair Lapid.Discussions with Israeli officials will focus on ways to develop and deepen bilateral relations of a strategic nature between the two countries, with emphasis on politics, economy and security to the benefit of Romania and Israel.At the same time, the officials will discuss in depth the latest developments in the region, especially the latest developments in the Middle East Peace Process.In Palestine, the schedule includes consultations with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riad Malki, and meetings with Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and Minister of Labour and Social Development Ahmed Majdalani.Discussions will focus on the development and diversification of Romanian-Palestinian bilateral relations and ways to strengthen co-operation as a concrete contribution to the institutional construction and development of Palestine.The officials will approach the latest regional and security events, focusing on the prospects for the Middle East Peace Process."We are at an extremely dynamic time in terms of developments in the Middle East. We have had an open and in-depth dialogue in recent months with both my Israeli counterpart, Gabriel Ashkenazi, and my Palestinian counterpart, Riad Malki in agreement with the traditional position of Romania, which has friendly and trusting relations with both sides," Aurescu was quoted as saying in a statement.According to him, his conversation with the Israeli counterpart will also include the start of preparations for a third joint meeting of the Romanian and Israeli national governments, "based on the excellent state of Romanian-Israeli relations, with strategic valences consolidated during the over seven decades of uninterrupted diplomatic ties.""In Palestine, I will highlight the interest in continuing and deepening our co-operation, including in generating the necessary substance for the proper organisation of the next meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental committee," Aurescu said.The Romanian minister says that both in Israel and in Palestine he will support "Romania's constant position in support of a lasting solution generated by the Peace Process based on the solution of two states coexisting in peace and security as the only viable option to meet the aspirations of both sides."
NASA
The International Space Station has a small leak.
The orbiting lab always leaks a tiny bit of air, but the rate increased recently.
Space-station crew members and data specialists have been looking for the source but not found it yet.
NASA said technicians should finish reviewing the data in "the coming days."
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
A tiny bit of air always leaks from the International Space Station but not quite as much as is leaking now.
Officials first noticed a leak last September, but they didn't do anything about it for nearly a year, since the leak wasn't major. Plus, station operations like space walks and crew exchanges kept crew members too busy to collect enough data about the issue.
Recently, however, technicians detected an increase to the already elevated leak rate. So NASA announced on August 20 that the three men aboard the station NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner would begin a hunt for the source.
That search is "taking longer than expected," NASA spokesman Daniel Huot told Business Insider last week.
Indeed, Huot said on Tuesday that technical teams were still reviewing the data collected by the crew. They've now ruled out most of the station's modules, Huot added, and should complete their review "in the coming days."
If specialists still can't pinpoint the leak after that, he said, they'll need a new action plan.
'No concern for crew or vehicle safety'
Usually, the little bit of air that the space station loses can be replaced by launching large highly pressurized tanks filled with nitrogen and oxygen up on resupply missions. But such tanks might not be able to replace air quickly enough if this small leak were to become major.
From left: Expedition 63 crew members Chris Cassidy, Anatoly Ivanishin, and Ivan Vagner. NASA
So on the weekend of August 22 and 23, the three crew members hunkered down in the space station's Zvezda service module, the section that provides its life-support systems, and closed the hatches between each of the other modules. From there, the crew members and teams on the ground monitored the air pressure in each section to figure out which is leaking.
Story continues
NASA originally thought US and Russian specialists would find the leak by the end of last week, though that didn't happen. The teams decided to spend an extra few days collecting data from the hatches after the initial weekend of monitoring, Huot said.
Still, he added, the leak is too small to be a threat to the crew or the station right now.
"The leak rate is still stable and well below the design specifications for the station and presents no concern for crew or vehicle safety," Huot said.
In the event of an emergency on the space station, the crew members could return to Earth via the Soyuz MS-16 spaceship that's docked there. In a less extreme scenario, the crew could also cut off the leaking module and isolate it.
The space station has sprung a leak before
This isn't the first leak on the station, nor the most frightening. In August 2018, crew members discovered a 2-millimeter drill hole in part of a Russian Soyuz MS-09 spaceship that was docked to the station at the time.
That hole seemed to indicate a manufacturing defect it appeared that someone on Earth had attempted to plug the hole with paint, but that paint broke off after the Soyuz reached the space station.
Left: A hole that appears drilled into part of a Soyuz spacecraft at the International Space Station. Right: A patch made by the crew using epoxy. NASA via Chris Bergin/Twitter
In December 2018, two cosmonauts donned spacesuits and floated to the outside of the Soyuz ship to study the hole in detail. They spent nearly eight hours hacking away at the insulation with a knife to find and document it.
After that, the space-station crew successfully patched up the hole with an epoxy sealant.
Roscosmos has stayed relatively quiet about that incident.
"We know exactly what happened, but we will not tell you anything," Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin said at a youth science conference in September 2019, according to the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.
Keith Cowing, the editor of the site NASA Watch, told the Houston Chronicle that he thought Roscosmos' secrecy stemmed from embarrassment.
But even that leak wasn't a major issue, he added.
"Nothing is perfect. All you can do is strive not to have anything happen," Cowing told the Chronicle. "The problem was found, it was remedied, it was fixed in short order, and no one's life was at risk."
Read the original article on Business Insider
D onald Trump branded Kenosha's Democratic mayor a "fool" ahead of arriving in the city to support the police.
The Wisconsin city saw days of violence after Jacob Blake was shot several times in the back by police.
The president defied requests from local leaders to stay away from Kenosha as he arrived on Tuesday morning to offering support for law enforcement.
Before boarding Airforce One to visit the city, Mr Trump took aim at mayor John Antaramian as he continues to point fingers at local Democrats for the ongoing civil unrest in US cities.
Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian / REUTERS
"I think a lot of people are looking at what's happening to these Democrat-run cities and they're disgusted," the president said.
"They see what's going on and they can't believe what's taking place in our country. I can't believe it either."
He cited reports that protesters had tried to break into Mr Antaramian's house.
Wisconsin, Kenosha: Jacob Blake Protests - In pictures 1 /21 Wisconsin, Kenosha: Jacob Blake Protests - In pictures REUTERS Law enforcement officers walk amidst tear gas during a protest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS Protestors run for cover as police shoots tear gas in an effort to disperse the crowd during the demonstrations AFP via Getty Images Police clash with protesters in Kenosha on Monday night AP Flames roar from cars torched by protestors a few blocks from the County Court House AFP via Getty Images Protesters clash with officers during demonstrations against the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha AFP via Getty Images Kenosha County Sherriff and police officers in riot gear form a line behind a burning truck during demonstrations against the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin AFP via Getty Images A protester stands in a cloud of tear gas near a burning garbage truck outside the Kenosha County Court House AP AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images AP AP
"I saw last night where these radical anarchists are trying to get into the mayor's house and lots of bad things were happening to this poor foolish, very stupid mayor. I mean how he can be mayor I have no idea," he said.
"They had tremendous numbers of people really harassing him horribly and I guess trying to break into his house and he still sticks up for them because he's a fool. Only a fool would stick up for them like that."
With the United States polarised over issues of racial injustice and police use of force, Mr Trump is appealing to his base of white supporters with a "law and order" message as opinion polls show him narrowing the lead of his Democratic rival, former vice president Joe Biden.
Wisconsin is a political battleground state that the Republican Trump won narrowly in 2016. He badly needs to keep the state in his column as he seeks re-election on November 3.
Donald Trump compares police shooting Jacob Blake to golfers missing a shot
The president visited a burnt-out furniture store that was destroyed in the upheaval and then a makeshift command centre to praise National Guard troops who are reinforcing local police.
"This ended within an hour," Mr Trump said, referring to the relative peace that followed the arrival of federal law enforcement officers.
"You have to be decisive, you have to be tough, and you have to be strong. And you have to be willing to bring people in," He added.
The state's Democratic governor and the city's Democratic mayor both urged Mr Trump to avoid Kenosha to prevent inflaming tensions and allow citizens to heal, but the president dismissed their appeals in order to show support for law enforcement and business owners whose stores were looted and set ablaze.
Mr Trump has sought to blame Democrats, calling them soft on the violence and property damage that has broken out at anti-racism protests since George Floyd's death in Minneapolis died on May 25.
The country was still reckoning with that case when a white officer in Kenosha fired seven shots at the back of Jacob Blake, 29, as he entered his car on August 23.
Kenosha has become one of the flashpoint cities where anti-racist demonstrators have clashed with Trump supporters who have converged on protest sites, sometimes openly carrying arms while vowing to protect property from looters.
A 17-year-old Trump supporter has been charged with killing two people and wounding another with a semi-automatic rifle in Kenosha.
Mr Trump defended the white teenager, who faces six criminal counts, and declined to condemn violence from his supporters.
But in Portland, Oregon, site of three months of nightly protests that have often turned violent, a Trump supporter was shot dead on Saturday and the president lamented that "they executed a man in the street."
Kellyanne Conway, a Trump adviser until Monday, said last week the president stood to benefit politically from the kind of unrest that erupted in Kenosha.
Hurricane Puts NREL Resilience Analysis Tool to the Test
Sept. 2, 2020
Hangars once used to keep aircraft out of the elements lie scattered across the Tyndall Air Force Base flightline, Oct. 10, 2018. Photo by Army Staff Sgt. Alex Henninger
The devastating hurricane that struck northwest Florida in October 2018 proved an ideal case study for a risk assessment tool developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Prior to Hurricane Michael making landfall, the U.S. Department of Defense had tasked NREL with developing a means to identify hazards and threats to the energy grid, analyze risks to energy infrastructure, and identify and prioritize investments in making bases and installations more resilient. The Category 5 hurricane struck Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City with such force that 484 buildings were destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
Natural disasters are unfortunate when they occur, but they put our findings and resilience solutions to the test, said Eliza Hotchkiss, technical group manager of the Resilient Systems Design and Engineering Group at NREL and co-author of the newly published paper, After the Hurricane: Validating a Resilience Assessment Methodology, which appears in the International Journal for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Vehicles at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, are reduced to smashed metal after Hurricane Michael made landfall on Oct. 10, 2018. Photo by Army Staff Sgt. Alex Henninger
The initial assessment of vulnerabilities at Tyndall was completed two months before the hurricane. Kate Anderson, corresponding author of the paper, was among the researchers who returned to Tyndall seven months after the storm.
We saw large swaths of forest where all the trees had snapped cleanly in half, huge piles of debris as many buildings were demolished, and large hangars that typically housed F-22s, now covered in tarps after their roofs had blown off, said Anderson, manager of the Modeling & Analysis Group at NREL.
In addition to Hotchkiss and Anderson, other co-authors are Lissa Myers, Sherry Stout, Nick Grue, and Nicholas Gilroy, all from NREL; and Maj. Josh Aldred and Michael Rits from the Air Force Civil Engineering Center (AFCEC). AFCEC is based at Tyndall.
The Department of Defense must report on the most climate-vulnerable installations for each branch of service and improve the resilience of its infrastructure and grid by better accounting for extreme weather events and future sea-level rise.
Historically, resilience assessment efforts external to NREL provide insight into where vulnerabilities exist, but do not offer solutions. The methodology NREL developed in collaboration with AFCEC established a baseline, identified potential hazards, threats and vulnerabilities, and gave each a score to assess the highest risks. The tool also offers options to reduce the exposure or consequence of each vulnerability.
The 325th Maintenance Group's building on Tyndall Air Force Base was in ruins following Hurricane Michael, Oct. 10, 2018. Photo by Army Staff Sgt. Alex Henninger
The return to Tyndall after the hurricane revealed new risks. The downed trees, the researchers noted, increased the possibility of both wildfire and flooding.
Hurricane Michael knocked out electricity across the base for about a week, but diesel generators were able to provide backup power. The analysis reported relying on a single type of fuel for backup generators and transportation could still pose a problem in future events and recommended vehicles using alternative fuels.
Because the hurricane hit before Tyndall could implement any of the recommended changes to reduce vulnerabilities, the effectiveness of the proposed mitigation actions could not be quantified. However, many of the suggested mitigation measures likely would have increased the bases resilience during Hurricane Michael. For example, having backup analog communication channels could have helped when cellular phones and VoIP service failed.
The Department of Defense funded the research. Learn more about NREL's partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-01 23:09:41|Editor: huaxia
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People carry plastic bags on a street in Reading, Britain, on Sept. 2, 2020. As part of its strategy to protect oceans from plastic waste, the British government has decided that all shops in the country must charge 10 pence (about 13 U.S. cents) for single-use carrier bags from next April. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)
LONDON, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- As part of its strategy to protect oceans from plastic waste, the British government has decided that all shops in the country must charge 10 pence (about 13 U.S. cents) for single-use carrier bags from next April.
Doubling the current charge of five pence (about 6.5 cents), the new tax on plastic bags will apply to all small shops as well as major large supermarkets, the government said Monday.
Latest official statistics show the current levy has led to a 95 percent cut in plastic bag sales in the country's major supermarkets since 2015.
Currently, thousands of small corner shops do not have to charge for bags, but many do so on a voluntary basis.
It will take Britain closer to its ambition to eliminate avoidable plastic waste through a 25-year environment plan, said the government. Enditem
While Lanning's case was pending in Elma Town Court, the others came forward.
Prosecutors allege Lanning committed the following:
Between June 6, 2019, and Sept. 19, 2019, he knowingly and falsely represented himself as a state trooper to gain the trust and personal information from a second victim with whom he was engaged in a personal relationship.
In the summer of 2016, he forcibly engaged in sexual intercourse with a third person. The woman alleged that Lanning falsely represented himself as a state trooper when she met him through an online dating site.
In the winter of 2012, he forcibly engaged in sexual intercourse and forcible sexual conduct with a fourth person. That woman also alleged that Lanning falsely represented himself as a state trooper when she met him through an online dating site.
Lanning is scheduled to return to court Sept. 24 for an initial appearance before State Supreme Court Justice Deborah A. Haendiges, who will preside over the case. He was remanded without bail.
Lanning faces a maximum possible sentence of up to life in prison if convicted on all counts.
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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung, West Java Wed, September 2, 2020 13:50 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c422b586 1 National coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-vaccine,clinical-trial,human-trial,pandemic,West-Java,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free
The team of scientists conducting phase III clinical trials for a COVID-19 candidate vaccine developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech has announced that it will extend volunteer registration for the vaccine trials.
Team spokesperson Rodman Tarigan said 2,300 people had volunteered for the trial, exceeding the 1,620 initially targeted.
"We decided to extend the registration because we're worried some volunteers will not show up. It's also to anticipate volunteers who don't meet our criteria," Rodman told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He said registration would remain open until 1,620 subjects had been injected with the candidate vaccine.
The clinical trials are conducted in six different locations in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung, including four community health centers (Puskesmas) that are respectively located in Sukapakir, Garuda, Ciumbuleuit and Dago and in Padjajaran Universitys (Unpad) hospital and health center.
Rodman explained there were three stages of the trials. The first stage is called V0, where volunteers would be tested for COVID-19 using a polymerase chain reaction test and receive a clear explanation about the process from doctors. They would then sign an agreement to state their ability to be test subjects.
Read also: 'It's for humanity': Indonesians step up to volunteer in vaccine trials
In the second stage, which is called V1, subjects who tested negative for COVID-19 would be injected with the candidate vaccine. Two weeks later, in the third stage called V2, the subjects would receive the second injections.
The process will end six months after the first visit. During the period, blood samples will be taken three separate times.
The subjects are also required to report their health condition after the injections.
According to Rodman, since the start of the clinical trials, 248 people had been injected with the candidate vaccine, 21 of whom had received second injections.
"In general, they only reported sores around the injection area, without any fever. It's a very common reaction," he said.
Head of Unpads clinical trial team, Kusnandi Rusmil, said the team would focus on analyzing 540 subjects' blood samples to assess the vaccines efficacy, immunogenicity and safety.
"The remaining 1,080 samples will be used to discover the side effects of the vaccine," Kusnandi said.
"We expect to finish the trial for the 540 volunteers before December," he added. (nal)
Germany said that testing by a military laboratory showed proof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group' used in a 2018 attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England
Berlin: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the same type of Soviet-era nerve agent that British authorities identified in a 2018 attack on a former Russian spy, the German government said Wednesday.
The findings which experts say point strongly to Russian state involvement are likely to increase tensions between Russia and the West. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the poisoning on Navalny attempted murder and said it was meant to silence one of Russian President Vladimir Putins fiercest critics.
The Berlin hospital treating the dissident said he remains in a serious condition though he is improving. It said that it expects a long recovery, and it still cant rule out long-term consequences from the poisoning.
The German government said that testing by a German military laboratory showed proof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group.
There are very serious questions now that only the Russian government can answer, and must answer, Merkel said. He was meant to be silenced, and I condemn this in the strongest possible manner.
Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator who is one of Russian President Vladimir Putins fiercest critics, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on Aug 20 and was taken to a hospital in Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.
He was transferred two days later to Berlins Charite hospital, where doctors last week said initial tests indicated Navalny had been poisoned.
British authorities identified Novichok as the poison used in 2018 on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the Russian ambassador was summoned to his ministry Wednesday and told in unmistakable" terms of Germany's call for the Navalny case to be investigated in full and with full transparency".
His British counterpart, Dominic Raab, said it was absolutely unacceptable that this banned chemical weapon has been used again".
He added that the Russian government has a clear case to answer and must tell the truth about what happened to Mr Navalny."
After the initial indications Navalny had been poisoned, multiple Western and European officials, including Merkel, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, called on Russia to conduct an investigation.
Russian authorities on Wednesday remained tight-lipped and appeared reluctant to comment on the politicians poisoning, with the Kremlin saying it hadnt been informed of the latest findings yet and the Foreign Ministry adding that they are still waiting for the German authorities to respond a formal request for information the Russian prosecutor generals office sent last week.
The German government said it would inform its partners in the European Union and NATO about the test results and would consult with them on a response. Germany also will contact the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Russia itself should have a serious interest in good relations with its neighbors in Europe," said Maas, the foreign minister. "Now at the very latest, it is the time to make a decisive contribution toward this.
In an update shortly after the findings of the test results were announced, the Charite hospital said that Navalny is still in intensive care and remains on a ventilator. But it said that he continues to improve".
The hospital said that the chemical receptors in Navalnys nerves, which were blocked by the poison, were gradually returning to normal function, resulting in an improvement in his condition.
Recovery is likely to be lengthy, it said in a statement. It is still too early to gauge the long-term effects, which may arise in relation to this severe poisoning.
Navalnys allies in Russia have insisted he was deliberately poisoned by the countrys authorities, accusations that the Kremlin has rejected as empty noise".
To poison Navalny with Novichok in 2020 would be exactly the same as leaving an autograph at a crime scene, like this one, Navalnys longtime ally and strategist Leonid Volkov said in a tweet that featured a photo of Putin's name and a signature next to it.
The Russian doctors who treated Navalny in Siberia have repeatedly contested the German hospitals poisoning conclusion, saying they had ruled out poisoning.
Novichok is a class of military-grade nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Western weapons experts say it was only ever manufactured in Russia. After the Skripals were poisoned, Russia said the US, Britain and other Western countries acquired the expertise to make the nerve agent in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that the Novichok used in that attack could have come from them.
Several Russian lawmakers have said Russia isnt manufacturing Novichok-type agents.
Unless you are working for the military, it is impossible to be accidentally exposed," Richard Parsons, a senior lecturer in biochemical toxicology at King's College London, said. "It is unavailable from anywhere except the Russian military as far as I am aware.
Britain charged two Russians alleged to be agents of the Russian military intelligence service GRU in absentia with the 2018 attack that left the Skripals in critical condition and killed a British woman. Russia has refused to extradite the men to the U.K.
British police believe the nerve agent was smuggled to Britain in a counterfeit Nina Ricci perfume bottle and sprayed on the front door of Sergei Skripals house in the city of Salisbury in southwest England.
More than three months later, the bottle was found by 48-year-old Charlie Rowley. He was hospitalised and his girlfriend, Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after being exposed to the contents.
MOSCOW -- A court in Moscow has extended the pretrial detention of former journalist Ivan Safronov, who is charged with high treason.
The Lefortovo district court on September 2 ruled that Safronov must be held at least until December 7. The hearing took place behind closed doors as the case is classified.
The 30-year-old Safronov, who has worked since May as an adviser to the head of Russia's Space Agency (Roskosmos) Dmitry Rogozin, is a prominent journalist who covered the military-industrial complex for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti.
He was arrested on July 7 amid allegations that he had passed secret information to the Czech Republic in 2017 about Russian arms sales in the Middle East.
Safronov has rejected the accusations and many of his supporters have held pickets in Moscow and other cities demanding his release.
Human rights organizations have issued statements demanding Safronovs release and expressing concerns over an intensifying crackdown on dissent in Russia.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Mission Karmayogi, a national programme for civil services capacity building. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that officers and employees in government will get the opportunity to improve their performance with Mission Karmayogi.
"Mission Karmayogi is constituted to build future-ready civil service with right attitude, skills & knowledge, aligned to the vision of New India. It focuses on competency led capacity building," said C Chandramouli, Secretary Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievance and Pensions.
He added, "Mission Karmayogi looks at a new national architecture for civil services capacity building. It focuses not only on the individual capacity building but on institutional capacity building and also on process."
"At present, there is a diverse and fragmented training landscape. There are inconsistencies in training priorities by various training institutions in various ministries; this has prevented shared understanding of India's developmental aspirations," he added.
"A civil servant should be imaginative & innovative, proactive & polite, professional & progressive, energetic & enabling, transparent & tech-enabled, constructive & creative in order to meet the challenges of the society," further added Chandramouli.
Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh said that Mission Karmayogi is an "endeavour to reincarnate a government servant into an ideal karma yogi to serve the nation. It will provide a mechanism for continuous capacity building and constant updating of talent pool".
"Earlier it was rule-specific, now it will be role-specific. There is now an institutionalised capacity building. Working of departments in silos is eliminated, training opportunities available for all," added Singh.
The programme will prescribe and monitor annual capacity building plans for all departments and services. The digital learning framework (IGOT-Karmayogi Platform) will provide anytime-anywhere learning to 2.5 crore civil servants.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved launching of a National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB) with the following institutional framework:-(i) Prime Minister's Public Human Resources (HR) Council, (ii) Capacity Building Commission, (iii) Special Purpose Vehicle for owning and operating the digital assets and the technological platform for online training, (iv) Coordination Unit headed by the Cabinet Secretary.
Salient Features: NPCSCB has been carefully designed to lay the foundations for capacity building for Civil Servants so that they remain entrenched in Indian Culture and sensibilities and remain connected, with their roots, while they learn from the best institutions and practices across the world. The Programme will be delivered by setting up an Integrated Government Online Training-iGOTKarmayogiPlatform.
The core guiding principles of the Programme will be: supporting the transition from 'Rules-based' to 'Roles based' HR Management, aligning work allocation of civil servants by matching their competencies to the requirements of the post, to emphasize on 'on-site learning' to complement the off-site learning, to create an ecosystem of shared training infrastructure including that of learning materials, institutions and personnel, to calibrate all Civil Service positions to a Framework of Roles, Activities and Competencies (FRACs) approach and to create and deliver learning content relevant to the identified FRACs in every Government entity, to make available to all civil servants, an opportunity to continuously build and strengthen their Behavioral, Functional and Domain Competencies in their self-driven and mandated learning paths.
It also includes enabling all the Central Ministries and Departments and their Organizations to directly invest their resources towards co-creation and sharing the collaborative and common ecosystem of learning through an annual financial subscription for every employee, to encourage and partner with the best-in-class learning content creators including public training institutions, universities, start-tips and individual experts, to undertake data analytics in respect of data emit provided by iGOT- Karmayogi pertaining to various aspects of capacity building, content creation, user feedback and mapping of competencies and identify areas for policy reforms.
Objectives: It is also proposed to set up a Capacity Building Commission, with a view to ensuring a uniform approach in managing and regulating the capacity building ecosystem on the collaborative and co-sharing basis.
The role of Commission will be as under-
To assist the PM Public Human Resources Council in approving the Annual Capacity Building Plans.
To exercise functional supervision over all Central Training Institutions dealing with civil services capacity building.
To create shared learning resources, including internal and external faculty and resource centres.
To coordinate and supervise the implementation of the Capacity Building Plans with the stakeholder Departments.
To make recommendations on standardization of training and capacity building, pedagogy and methodology
To set norms for common mid-career training programs across all civil services.
To suggest policy interventions required in the areas of HR Management and Capacity Building to the Government.
The iGOT-Karmayogi platform brings the scale and state-of-the-art infrastructure to augment the capacities of over two crore officials in India. The platform is expected to evolve into a vibrant and world-class market place for content were carefully curated and vetted digital e-learning material will be made available. Besides capacity building, service matters like confirmation after probation period, deployment, work assignment and notification of vacancies etc. would eventually be integrated with the proposed competency framework.
Mission Karmayogi aims to prepare the Indian Civil Servant for the future by making him more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology-enabled. Empowered with specific role-competencies, the civil servant will be able to ensure efficient service delivery of the highest quality standards.
Financial implications: To cover around 46 lakh central employees, a sum of Rs 510.86 crore will be spent over a period of 5 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The expenditure is partly funded by multilateral assistance to the tune of USD 50 million. A wholly owned Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for NPCSCB will be set up under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013.
The SPV will be a "not-for-profit" company and will own and manage iGOT-Karmayogi platform. The SPV will create and operationalize the content, market place and manage key business services ofiGOT-Karmayogi platform, relating to content validation, independent proctored assessments and telemetry data availability.
The SPV will own all Intellectual Property Rights on behalf of the Government of India. An appropriate monitoring and evaluation framework will also be put in place for performance evaluation of all users of the iGOT-Karmayogi platform so as to generate a dashboard view of Key Performance Indicators.
Background: Capacity of Civil Services plays a vital role in rendering a wide variety of services, implementing welfare programs and performing core governance functions. A transformational change in Civil Service Capacity is proposed to be affected by organically linking the transformation of work culture, strengthening public institutions and adopting modern technology to build civil service capacity with the overall aim of ensuring efficient delivery of services to citizens.
A Public Human Resources Council comprising of select Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, eminent public HR practitioners, thinkers, global thought leaders and Public Service functionaries under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister will serve as the apex body for providing strategic direction to the task of Civil Services Reform and capacity building.
September 02 : Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures released a poster for upcoming James Bond film No Time To Die on Tuesday and they also announced that the movie's first trailer will drop Thursday.
The poster, unveiled on the official Instagram account of MGM Studios and James Bond 007 film series, features Bond actor Daniel Craig suited up and ready for action, it reads, Man on a mission. Check out the new poster for #NoTimeToDie, in cinemas this November. New trailer coming this Thursday.
The studio said No Time to Die will find agent 007 (Daniel Craig) "enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica" after having left active service at MI6, Britain's secret intelligence service.
Man on a mission. Check out the new poster for #NoTimeToDie, in cinemas this November. New trailer coming this Thursday. pic.twitter.com/QeaiX6tWdw MGM Studios (@MGM_Studios) September 1, 2020
"His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology."
The film, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, is written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, and Cary Joji Fukunaga and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
With the film, Daniel returns as the dapper British spy James Bond one last time. It is the 25th film in the 007 franchise. The film also stars Lea Seydoux, who reprises her role of Dr Madeleine Swann from the 2015 release, 'Spectre'.
Among other cast members who return from recent films in the franchise are Ben Whishaw as Q, Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, Christoph Waltz as Blofeld, Ralph Fiennes as M, and Naomie Harris as M's secretary Moneypenny. Ana de Armas and Lashana Lynch are new additions to the Bond family in 'No Time To Die'.
No Time To Die was originally expected to be out this past April, but it was among the many movies to have their release dates moved back due to the corona virus pandemic.
Its release date is now November 20 in the United States. As per usual for a 007 movie, it'll be out prior to that in the United Kingdom, where it debuts on November 12.
Betty Irabor
Accomplished Nigerian writer, publisher and founder of Genevieve magazine, Betty Irabor has finally opened up how she battled depression for 8 years.
The 63 year old publisher said she won the battle about five years ago.
She revealed that she wrote a book on what she went through during the 8 years of being depressed.
Betty Irabor however used the medium to appreciate everyone who stood by her during her trying times.
In her words My battle with depression lasted 8 years. I have been out of that dark hole for some 5 years now & I wrote a book on my experience. I am fantastic thanks to my family especially hubby, God & my therapists. Theres a lot of self effort required on the journey to recovery.
See her tweet below:
[Read more on Modernas Covid-19 vaccine.]
In planning documents sent last week to public health agencies around the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described preparations for two coronavirus vaccines they refer to simply as Vaccine A and Vaccine B. The technical details of the vaccines, including the time between doses and their storage temperatures, match well with the two vaccines furthest along in clinical tests in the United States, made by Moderna and Pfizer.
Heres what you need to know about how the vaccines work, how theyre being tested and how they might be rolled out to the public if, and its still a big if, they are proven to work.
How do these vaccines work?
Vaccines can take many different forms. The most common in use today contain inactivated viruses, weakened live viruses, or pieces of proteins. Moderna and Pfizer are testing a new kind of vaccine that has never before been approved for use by people. It contains genetic molecules called messenger RNA. The messenger RNA is injected into muscle cells, which treat it like instructions for building a protein a protein found on the surface of the coronavirus. If all goes well, the proteins stimulate the immune system and result in long-lasting protection against the virus.
What do we know about how well these vaccines work?
Both vaccines have gone through extensive early tests, but we still dont know for sure if theyre safe and effective.
Q: I have had an orchid for more than five years. Originally, there were two tall stems with lovely blooms. When these died, no new blooms reappeared. I have fertilized it. How can I get it to flower?
June Mitschke, Houston
A: Your emailed photo appears to be of a moth orchid, perhaps most popular of all orchids. The graceful, elegant blooms last for up to three months, and these members of the genus Phalaenopsis are among the easiest orchids to grow.
Many phalaenopsis bloom February-April, or longer. The airy blooms are available in many colors, each stunning, whether a solid hue or flecked or infused with other colors.
Here are some basic phalaenopsis needs I have learned from various Houston orchid experts. Included are tips on coaxing your plant to flower again.
Light. Provide bright light but no direct sun. An east or shaded south window in your home or office works well.
Healthy foliage, with adequate light, is olive-green and firm. Limp, dark-green foliage is a sign of inadequate light and possibly overwatering.
Temperature. Orchids like temperatures comfortable to us. Day temperatures between 75-85 degrees and night temperatures of 60-65 degrees are ideal.
Note: Provide mature plants with a 15-20 degree drop in nighttime temperature beginning in mid-September and continuing for about four weeks to encourage bloom set. Phalaenopsis do well on the patio (no direct sun) for exposure to temperature drop. This requires monitoring for pests and rotating plants inside and out when temperatures drop into the 50s day or night.
Water. Mature plants grown in 76- to 78-degree rooms generally need watering every seven to 10 days. Frequency varies with potting medium and temperature. Overwatering is a common mistake and causes premature bloom drop and possibly death if continued long enough. Allow the pot to drain well after watering; dont let the orchid sit in water.
Humidity and circulation. Place indoor-grown phalaenopsis on trays of wet pebbles to increase humidity. Fans boost air circulation, but avoid blowing directly on the plants. Plants thrive in humidity on a covered patio, so trays are not necessary, but good air movement is still important.
Fertilizer. Apply a 10-10-10 or 20-20-20 water-soluble fertilizer at one-quarter strength when watering. On the fourth watering, flush with clear water to minimize salt buildup.
Potting. Repot every year or two, ideally following blooms and by August to allow plants time to settle before fall bloom set. If a lot of roots have climbed outside the container, its time to repot.
After blooms. If the orchid is a branching variety, leave the inflorescence (flower spike) in case a keiki (Hawaiian word for a new plant or offshoot) forms at one or more nodes. A plantlet may be removed when it has sufficient roots and is large enough to survive in a 1- or 2-inch pot. If no keiki forms, remove the inflorescence when it turns brown. Use a sterile blade to make the cut about 1 inch above its origin.
Q: I have a weed in my lawn that looks like dense St. Augustine but has little purplish flowers. I want to find out what it is and how to get rid of it without killing the grass. It appears to be very hardy.
Mike Grant, Houston
A: While untreated lawns are taking a hit from sod webworms, doveweed is thriving unchecked. Doveweed can be confused with St. Augustine, so its easy to go unnoticed until theres a sizable patch. The weed spreads by seed and by creeping stolons. It is easy to pull, especially when the soils moist, so I try to keep an eye out so I can pop out single sprouts or small patches.
There are various herbicides that can help, including an organic crabgrass herbicide.
Q: How do I know when pomegranates are ready to pick? I have several that look as they are, but want to be sure.
Ike Harper, Houston
A: Pomegranates ripen from early August to late September, sometimes into October. When the fruit has a good color, the blossom end is dry, and it comes off the stem easily. Pick one fruit, open it. If you see colorful seeds and juice, the pomegranate is ripe. If the seeds arent fully colorful, wait and week and check another fruit.
kathyehuber@gmail.com
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines Life) When the pandemic hit the country last March, Hannah Hussin was one of the many students stranded in their respective university towns. Stuck in Zamboanga City and without a choice, she faced an abrupt shift to online learning, using only her cellphone and enduring arduous group chat interactions to finish the last three months of schooling.
Since June, Hussin has returned home, a remote town in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay where access to services is even more scarce and difficult. With the pandemic restrictions greatly hurting her fathers income as a seaweed farmer, and the new school year fast-approaching, she fears for the future of her and her six younger siblings education.
Hussins story has been a familiar tale as of recent. Through the #PisoParaSaLaptop initiative, countless number of students appealed for financial help on social media to buy a device in aid of learning. Despite feelings of shame and littleness, many sought refuge in this online campaign, firmly believing that finishing their education is their ticket to uplifting their families from poverty.
Launching an online campaign
A click on the hashtag using Facebook and Twitter would instantly reveal the massive number of students in need, from Metro Manila to far-flung communities across the regions. Their online posts, as if following a template, included basic personal details, familys financial situation and current challenges, a valid school identification card, and a GCash account for the monetary donations.
Sometimes, a copy of grades, certification of enrollment, and photos of their medals were attached to their plea to further prove authenticity of identity, sealed with a promise that theyll study harder and maximize the opportunity.
This call effortlessly trended last July as classes were nearing the supposed August opening of classes, springing both hope and alarm from the public. Classes are now slated to open in October.
It has also led to multiple criticisms of institutional unpreparedness and lack of support for students in public schools and state universities, where Hussin and five of her siblings are all currently enrolled for the incoming school year.
So, what are the learning methods under the pandemic? How are underprivileged students and families faring in these prototype school systems?
Shift to distance and blended learning
In preparation for the academic year 2020-2021, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) which cover K to 12, and colleges and universities respectively, have recommended two major learning methods: distance learning and blended learning.
To be implemented by DepEd starting October 5, distance learning means that the delivery of learning will be remote and beyond the conventional classroom set-up. During a virtual conference last May, DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan explained the three approaches under this strategy, which will accommodate even those who do not have access to the internet. These included modular learning, online learning, and traditional media learning through utilization of television and radio-based instructions.
Meanwhile, blended learning, which may be applicable to college and university students, will involve a mix of distance learning and scheduled traditional on-campus classes. The tertiary education schools opening and learning modalities will be dependent on the health situation of the area and the college or university boards approval, according to CHED.
Despite preparations for the learning method changes, these mandates have earned criticisms, mainly from parents who continue to feel the economic brunt of the health crisis. As consistently shown in surveys and by the students in their online posts, many parents have been losing their jobs and struggling to provide daily for their families.
Barriers to quality education
For students like Hussin who live in distant, poor communities, a key challenge in coping with these arrangements is the lack of resources such as a gadget and a stable internet connection. The digital space is also an uncharted territory for most, she added. These factors make online video call sessions an unfeasible option for learning.
Hussin also observed that schools in their area have been meeting with parents wholl share a crucial responsibility in assisting younger children given the distance learning format.
Paano na lang ang mga nanay na walang pinag-aralan? Paano nila tuturuan ang mga anak nila? she asked while remarking that theyre fortunate to have parents who finished at least basic education.
Hussin further stated that modular learning, wherein parents or students can either pick-up the printed modules or have it delivered to their areas, will be physically and financially grueling.
In her case, where the university is roughly eight hours away, a possible system would be to send the modules via delivery centers which are also far from her place. Getting these educational materials will entail additional resources such as time, transportation and shipment expenses, especially if to be done weekly.
"Kung may puso ka para sa bayan, huwag na huwag ka muna susuko kasi may mga mabubuting tao na kailangan lang natin mabigyan ng chance for them to reach success."
Toiling for hope and chances
Kathy Sajulga, a 21-year-old incoming third year Bachelor of Science in Computer Science student at Bohol Island State University Candijay Campus, shared similar experiences and sentiments.
For the remainder of last school year, she borrowed her neighbors laptop to finish school requirements. Sajulga also used her cellular phone and persevered with group chat participation. She personally paid an estimated total of 840 for three months of mobile data to attend her classes and submit assignments.
Sajulga disclosed that her father who works as a PUV driver had to stop labor from March to June. Now that hes returned to work, he makes around 300 for two days-worth of trips, a much lower income compared to his earnings prior to the pandemic.
This pushed Sajulga, the eldest of three siblings, and her mother to start selling native delicacies so they can fund their basic and incoming schooling needs. Although they are earning from this business venture, the savings have not been enough.
Because of this, Sajulga, who took two summer jobs last year to support her and her siblings schooling, tried to find work again in the past months. She failed to get a gig given the pandemic, leading her to almost defer studies for a year if she wasnt stopped by her parents.
Like Hussin, the dire situation has pushed Sajulga to resort help online this August.
Transforming community struggles
But not all is lost amid these learning divides.
A few weeks ago, the #PisoParaSaLaptop posts caught the attention of a young, corporate professional who intentionally browsed Twitter to destress. But overwhelmed and bothered by these appeals, she ended up rapidly building an idea to address the gap.
On August 1, Diane Reyes created the private Facebook group #AyudaPangEskwela, an initiative which links students in need to potential donors, and empowers them into transitioning toward the current learning set-ups.
Through an organized and transparent school-themed system, the group has raised 2,637,461.80 and helped 542 students from communities in the National Capital Region to provinces such as Pampanga, Bohol, and Davao within 31 days.
Building trust with beneficiaries and donors is key, Reyes shared, as they converse with each student or parent, who act as representatives for minors, requesting for financial aid. Together, they level expectations and set target amounts for gadgets needed.
Once this is determined, #AyudaPangEskwela posts needs and gadget fulfillment by batch to allow more airtime for beneficiaries and to monitor the donations. The fastest batch fulfillment rate is two to three days.
Maliit na bagay pero para sa akin walang maliit na bagay sa tulong kasi hindi mo mabubuo yun [gawain] kung hindi ka natulungan, shared Daisy Caspe, a mother of a student beneficiary from the earlier batches. Nabigyan nila ng mga pag-asa [yung mga bata] ngayong pandemic na matututo ka pa rin.
With the nature of operations and increase in public exposure, #AyudaPangEskwela has also been experiencing online disinformation. Reyes said that there are at least nine fake groups and pages which have copied their name and artwork.
The initiative has since actively implemented stricter measures to protect member security and the groups cause. This is where Ayuda Pang Eskwela Kabataan, whose volunteers are successful student beneficiaries from the first two batches, helps in verifying accounts, keeping documentation, and assisting current and upcoming beneficiaries in the group.
For Reyes, these acts of paying it forward, which she consistently witnesses from collaborating with students, parents, and donors have been a driving force to continue their work.
Dito mo ma-rerealize, hindi ka talaga dapat sumuko sa Pilipinas, said Reyes. Kung may puso ka para sa bayan, huwag na huwag ka muna susuko kasi may mga mabubuting tao na kailangan lang natin mabigyan ng chance for them to reach success. And eventually, they will grow to be really good people and pay it forward.
Testing institutional response
As of writing, Hussin and Sajulga are still waiting for final announcements from their universities regarding the learning set-up and policies for the students once classes open this September. Both, without much success in sourcing funds through the #PisoParaSaLaptop campaign, are exploring other ways to acquire gadgets for their and their siblings studies.
In separate public appearances, President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo previously expressed doubt over the countrys readiness for distance learning, given the limitations with tools and internet access, especially of distant towns like Hussins and Sajulgas.
Duterte, however, said that the government will aid in procuring gadgets. Robredo suggested that barangay internet hubs be established for students to use in online learning, a call heeded by the Pasig City local government.
DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones has since maintained that offline modalities will be utilized given this concern. The department also launched Handang Isip, Handa Bukas National Readiness Kick-off to support educators, parents, and learners in the transition.
The program showcased 10 schools across different regions that have conducted dry-runs for a localized implementation of learning. DepEd added that psychosocial first aid and explanation of learning models will be part of this school years first week of classes orientation.
Other preparation efforts include CHEDs partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology to train teachers for distance learning, and Robredos recently released Bayanihan E-skwela, an online series aimed at guiding education stakeholders with the new learning formats.
But Hussin, who joined multiple online groups to look for scholarship and funding opportunities before posting online, wishes that things would go back to normal, where face-to-face classes are accessible, as distance learning isnt suitable in the long-term for poverty-stricken and remote communities such as hers.
Now a 22-year-old incoming third year Bachelor of Science in Community Development student at Western Mindanao State University Main Campus, she is awaiting how schooling will turn out, given the changes.
Hussin dreams of becoming a policewoman someday so she can serve the people. But living without many choices, she is willing to take on any work that may be available in the future.
Siguro, kung ano yung oportunidad na para sa akin, yun tatanggapin ko, she said, as if resigned.
Elder Caregiver Concerns Employees are burnt out, wrestling with their own mental health challenges brought on by COVID-19 and caregiving. With the education system turned upside down, children are suffering from education disparities, worsening anxiety, and in some cases, other mental health struggles.
Torchlight, a leading provider of employee-caregiver support solutions, today announced the results of its multi-phased report of the hardships U.S. employees are facing during COVID-19. The Torchlight Report of Working Caregiver Concerns found that U.S. employees are under siege on multiple fronts as they manage escalating education issues with their children, surging mental health and social challenges with both their children and elderly family members, and their own increasing burnout due in part to struggles with self-care. The Phase Two of the Torchlight Report compared user data from June 1, 2020 August 15, 2020 to Phase One data which ran from March 16, 2020 May 31, 2020.
The second phase of our report should serve as a clear call to action for U.S. employers, said Adam Goldberg, CEO and founder of Torchlight. Employees are burnt out, wrestling with their own mental health challenges brought on by the companion crises of COVID-19 and caregiving. With the education system turned upside down, children are suffering from education disparities, worsening anxiety, and in some cases, other mental health struggles. On top of this, the increased isolation and fear that many employees elderly family members are enduring contributes to employees own deteriorating mental health and already challenging caregiving responsibilities.
Key findings from Torchlights client data since the onset of COVID-19:
Families of children with special needs and other learning challenges reported increasing concerns. Phase Two data reveals a 48.4% increase in concerns about Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), along with a 21.7% increase in learning concerns compared to the first phase. With nearly 14% of U.S. students receiving special education and related services through IEPs (U.S. Department of Education), the widespread worry that childrens learning and social-emotional development will regress is especially pronounced given the current looming uncertainty about providing quality education safely to the nations children during this phase of the pandemic. In many cases, logistical challenges imposed by the pandemic are preventing children on IEPs from receiving services such as speech/language, occupational, physical, and other therapies, among other supports, provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), federal special education law.
Children have struggled with increased emotional challenges since the onset of the pandemic. In Phase Two, 30.83% of employee caregivers reported emotional challenges with their children versus 22.42% in the first phase, a 37.5% increase. Emotional challenges include anxiety, depression, stress, isolation, irritability, and mood dysregulation.
Anxiety and depression concerns for elderly adults also rose sharply over the first two phases of the Torchlight Report. Overall, there has been a 53.3% increase in depression and anxiety concerns since the outbreak of the pandemic, with a 35.5% jump coming in the second phase. Social isolation, loss/grief, and fear of contracting COVID-19 are risk factors for elevated anxiety and depression among elderly adults.
Perhaps the most important factor for employers to recognize, employees who are caring for children, elderly family members, or both reported that they are struggling with their own self-care. In the second phase of the report, there was a 31.9% increase in employee caregivers expressing concerns about their own wellbeing. Increased stress, fatigue, and ultimately burnout associated with caregiving pose new challenges for employers.
We undertook this data analysis and report to better understand key factors informing rapidly evolving workforce needs. The data reveals an emerging trend that the protracted pandemic is accelerating the burnout of millions of caregivers in the American workforce. This widespread mental health curve, lagging that of the virus, will require a systemic undertaking to flatten in the years to come, said Goldberg. The human resource leaders Im speaking with are recognizing and eager to address -- now more than ever -- the parenting and caregiving needs of their employees during this unprecedented crisis. This is a good thing. Hopefully, we will look back at this period as the inflection point when U.S. employers committed to making caring their business, too.
Methodology
The Torchlight Report of Working Caregiver Concerns is an aggregation of data analytics representing thousands of employed U.S. caregivers of both children and elders. Data from real-time caregiver interactions within the Torchlight platform yield concern indicators comparing pre-COVID-19 levels with those found in subsequent, comparable 75-day timeframes. Pre-COVID-19 is defined as January 1, 2020 March 15, 2020. Phase One is March 16, 2020 May 31, 2020; Phase Two is June 1, 2020 August 15, 2020; and Phase Three will be August 16, 2020 November 30, 2020.
About Torchlight
At Torchlight, we believe that caring is everyones business and caring is good business. We are the only complete caregiver support solution for employers and member organizations. We offer solutions informed by data and, thus, are built for better results. Our approach includes a user-friendly digital platform and a team of expert advisors. No matter the age, stage or concern, Torchlights decision-support tools, caregiving knowledge base, and human expertise combine to reduce stress and enhance outcomes for both families and their sponsoring organizations more cost-effectively than call center or concierge-only solutions. Because getting caregivers the right resources, in the right ways, right from the beginning should be business as usual. Learn more at http://www.torchlight.care, or email press@torchlight.care.
The Opposition parties slammed the Centre on Wednesday for cancelling the Question Hour session in the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
The Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha secretariats issued a notification that said, there will be " no Question Hour and private members' business" during the Monsoon Session due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Question Hour, the first hour in the House, allows MPs to ask the government questions. Moreover, the Zero Hour, slotted for members to raise matters of public importance, has been cut short to 30 minutes.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament is scheduled to begin from September 14 and conclude on October 1.
There will also be no breaks during the session, and both Houses will function on Saturdays and Sundays as well. The session will be held in two shifts -- 9 am to 1 pm and 3 pm to 7 pm. Except for the first day, the Rajya Sabha will sit in the morning shift and the Lok Sabha will sit in the evening, according to the notifications.
Following the notice, Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien of Trinamool Congress said, "Pandemic an excuse to murder democracy".
In a tweet, he said, "MPs required to submit questions for Question Hour in Parliament 15 days in advance. The session starts on 14 September. So Question Hour cancelled? Opposition MPs lose the right to question govt. A first since 1950? Parliament's overall working hours remain the same so why cancel Question Hour? Pandemic excuse to murder democracy."
MPs required to submit Qs for Question Hour in #Parliament 15 days in advance. Session starts 14 Sept. So Q Hour cancelled ? Oppn MPs lose right to Q govt. A first since 1950 ? Parliament overall working hours remain same so why cancel Q Hour?Pandemic excuse to murder democracy Derek O'Brien | ' (@derekobrienmp) September 2, 2020
During the 33rd (1961), 93rd (1975), 98th (1976) 99th (1977) Sessions
there was no Question Hour as these sessions were summoned for
SPECIAL PURPOSES: Orissa, Proclamation of
Emergency, 44th Amdmt, Presidents Rule TN/Nagaland. The upcoming Monsoon Session is a REGULAR SESSION Derek O'Brien | ' (@derekobrienmp) September 2, 2020
My 3rd tweet today on Question Hour in #Parliament. More instances of sessions called for SPECIAL PURPOSES when no QH was held: 41st (during Chinese aggression), 201st & 216th (only Presidents Address).Coming up is a REGULAR monsoon session of two weeks. So why the exception? Derek O'Brien | ' (@derekobrienmp) September 2, 2020
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that "Questioning the government is the oxygen of parliamentary democracy". He accused the government of seeking to "reduce Parliament to a notice-board and using its majority as a rubber stamp".
2/2 Questioning the government is the oxygen of parliamentary democracy. This Govt seeks to reduce Parliament to a notice-board & uses its crushing majority as a rubber-stamp for whatever it wants to pass. The one mechanism to promote accountability has now been done away with. Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 2, 2020
VANCOUER, B.C. - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ottawa is moving forward "aggressively" on ensuring a safe drug supply amid an ongoing overdose crisis that's claimed more than 900 lives in B.C. alone this year.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 2/9/2020 (505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with local business owners to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 in a bistro in Montreal, on Monday, August 31, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
VANCOUER, B.C. - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ottawa is moving forward "aggressively" on ensuring a safe drug supply amid an ongoing overdose crisis that's claimed more than 900 lives in B.C. alone this year.
Speaking on CBC Radio in Vancouver, he said Wednesday that his government is basing its approach on science and evidence, looking at the crisis through the lens of health rather than justice.
Trudeau said the government is heeding the advice of top public health officials, including B.C.'s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, and Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam.
Both doctors have called for increased access to a safe supply of illicit drugs to prevent deaths from toxic substances and extreme concentrations of powerful opioids, such as fentanyl.
Henry continues to call for the decriminalization of small amounts of drugs for personal use, and last month, Tam made the same suggestion.
Pressed on whether his government would consider that move, Trudeau said a safe supply is the key "and that is what we've moved forward on without having to take the step to decriminalization."
He said significant investments are still needed on housing, mental health and other support services for people battling addictions and homelessness.
"We know there's more to do, but we are going to do it responsibly and make sure that we are prioritizing the things that are going to make the biggest difference immediately," he added.
Trudeau said his government has moved forward on supporting safe consumption sites and safe supply options despite pushback from political rivals.
Last week, Health Minister Patty Hajdu sent a letter to her provincial and territorial counterparts and regulatory colleges encouraging them to act, including increasing access to safer, pharmaceutical-grade alternatives to the contaminated illegal drug supply.
Judy Darcy, B.C.'s minister of mental health and addictions, said Wednesday the province will continue to press the federal government on decriminalization as they work together on increasing the safe supply.
Darcy said pilot projects that pair patrol officers in places like Abbotsford with peer support workers are showing good results.
"Instead of criminalizing people with small amounts of drugs for personal use, they are connecting them with health supports, with mental health and addiction supports," she said at an announcement on mental health programs for schools.
"We believe that is the way to go."
Much of Trudeau's schedule on Wednesday involved meetings with political, business, environmental and academic leaders in B.C. He will do a similar virtual tour of the Atlantic provinces on Thursday.
The summer is usually an opportunity for the prime minister and other federal political leaders to travel widely, but the need to curb the spread of COVID-19 has cut much of that travel this year.
Apart from the occasional trip to Toronto, Montreal and communities near Ottawa, Trudeau has stayed home and found other ways to conduct regional outreach.
The Liberal government is due to present a throne speech on Sept. 23, detailing what Trudeau has promised will be a bold plan for economic recovery. Trudeau's virtual tours of B.C. and the Atlantic provinces are at least in part devoted to consultations on that plan.
Trudeau also scheduled a meeting with B.C. Premier John Horgan and held a roundtable with the province's business and environmental leaders on a sustainable economic recovery.
"It was really about, how do we use this situation, this crisis of the pandemic, to build back better," Merran Smith, executive director of Clean Energy Canada, said in an interview after the meeting.
As an example, she said Trudeau heard the B.C. government has a successful initiative requiring automakers to sell an escalating annual percentage of new zero-emission vehicle sales and leases.
"It's really working here. Last year, electric vehicle sales were nine per cent of new car sales," she said.
Those kinds of mandates could be coupled with a complementary manufacturing industry that creates jobs, she said.
Canada has the metals and minerals required for the components to make electric batteries, as well as automakers in Ontario. With federal support, Merran said battery manufacturers could be attracted to Canada.
With files from Joan Bryden in Ottawa.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2020.
New Delhi: A day after Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg alleging that it was 'problematic when Facebook employees on record abuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Trinamool Congress too shot off a letter to Zuckerberg raising the issue of alleged bias by the social media giant towards the BJP.
The letter has been written by party MP Derek O'Brien who claimed that there is enough evidence in public domain to substantiate this charge. He also makes a reference to an earlier meeting between the two, where some of these concerns were raised. Notably, O'Brien had written the letter on August 31.
"We, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), India's second-largest opposition party, have had serious concerns about Facebook's role during the 2014 and 2019 general elections in India," O'Brien wrote in the letter, as reported by PTI.
"With the elections in the Indian state of West Bengal just months away, your company's recent blocking of Facebook pages and accounts in Bengal also points to the link between Facebook and the BJP. There is enough material now in the public domain, including internal memos of senior Facebook management, to substantiate the bias," the letter read.
The Rajya Sabha MP further informed Zuckerberg that the matter had been raised by the party in the Parliament as well in June 2019.
"This was done during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address. We are enclosing the relevant portion (video) of that Parliamentary speech, along with this letter.
"We were optimistic that the issues and concerns we raised on the floor of Parliament 14 months ago would empower other political parties and the media to also address this substantive issue," he wrote. "The recent series of articles that appeared in the BBC, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Time Magazine and others, vindicate our stand," the letter stated.
According to party sources, O'Brien met Zuckerberg in October 2015 in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the letter written by Prasad to Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday pointed out that it is problematic when Facebook employees while still working and managing important positions abuse the PM.
In a letter to Zuckerberg, Prasad wrote, "It is problematic when Facebook employees are on record abusing the Prime Minister and senior Cabinet Ministers of India while still working in Facebook India and managing important positions. It is doubly problematic when the bias of individuals becomes an Inherent bias of the platform."
Prasad's letter comes at a time when the Congress party and opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi have accused Facebook and WhatsApp of interfering in Indias internal affairs. Rahul has also demanded an investigation into the allegations against Facebook.
On Wednesday, the Parliamentary committee will meet where the opposition parties will likely raise the issue of alleged bias among Facebook's senior management in India.
Last month, a Facebook spokesperson had said, "We prohibit hate speech and content that incites violence and we enforce these policies globally without regard to anyone''s political position or party affiliation. "While we know there is more to do, we're making progress on enforcement and conduct regular audits of our process to ensure fairness and accuracy."
OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Shield of California today announced its new "Neighborhood Health Dashboard," an online tool that will advance public health services, and increase transparency around community health and help address health disparities in California.
The Neighborhood Health Dashboard uses data intelligence from dozens of sources to create a comprehensive picture of a community's health including: health outcomes, preventative health care, utilization and access, health behaviors, social risk factors, and environment and economic health conditions.
The innovative online tool is available free to the public. The goal is to provide support to organizations and individuals such as community organizations, health advocates, hospitals, physicians, public health officials and policymakers to better understand the health of their neighborhoods and address the needs within their communities. The tool was developed in collaboration with mySidewalk and initially made available to Blue Shield's Community Health Advocates, including those serving in the L.A. Care Health Plan/Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan Community Resource Center.
"Community health needs assessments are important tools in helping to align disparate organizations in a common strategy to improve the health of the community and address health disparities," said Peter Long, senior vice president of Healthcare and Community Health Transformation at Blue Shield of California. "By making the data publicly available, anyone can gain a deeper understanding of the unmet social needs in their community and serve the population with increased knowledge about issues that have an impact on people's health and wellbeing."
A user can simply enter an address or zip code to generate an interactive, Web-based dashboard that is customized to a zip code level with a unique URL that can be shared with others. The tool includes nearly 100 data indicators that capture a holistic view of a community's health to help inform advocacy and action for improvement.
"We are proud to work with Blue Shield of California to provide this opportunity to democratize data and align our vision for improving community health across the state," said Sarah Martin, vice president of Health Solutions for mySidewalk. "Our mission is to empower city leaders and the public with the most complete, clear and real-time understanding of their communities so they can improve and innovate together."
Most recently, the platform was used to produce California's Vulnerability Index, which focuses on social and economic vulnerability of communities to start conversations about equitably prioritizing the allocation of resources for COVID-19 recovery efforts. In addition to the health impact of the pandemic on different communities, the report also considers which areas are likely to have a more difficult time recovering from the coronavirus-related shutdowns, job reductions and layoffs.
"The Neighborhood Health Dashboard is a critical resource that will help Community Health Centers in California identify community health needs and align programming and resources accordingly," said Mike Witte, chief medical officer, California Primary Care Association. "Ultimately, patients and providers of Community Health Centers will benefit when our members and communities are able to collectively work to identify opportunities to improve individual and community level health."
The Neighborhood Health Dashboard is the latest example of Blue Shield of California's Health Reimagined initiative. The collaboration with mySidewalk seeks to transform the healthcare system for individuals, families and communities by sharing important information with all Californians to identify local drivers of health inequities that result from historical and systemic injustices including racism, bias, and discrimination.
About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California strives to create a healthcare system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainably affordable. Blue Shield of California is a tax paying, nonprofit, independent member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association with over four million members, 6,800 employees and more than $20 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 in San Francisco and now headquartered in Oakland, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare healthcare service plans in California. The company has contributed more than $500 million to Blue Shield of California Foundation since 2002 to have an impact on California communities.
For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com.
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About mySidewalk
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Paramilitary police officers march next to the entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing on May 22, 2020. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images)
Majority of Americans Have Unfavorable View of Chinese Communist Party: Epoch Times/Big Data Poll
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is widely unpopular among Americans, according to an Epoch Times National Poll conducted by Big Data Poll.
The survey, conducted last month, found that 63 percent of American voters hold an unfavorable view of the CCP, with only 7 percent saying they hold a favorable view. Nineteen percent of respondents had no opinion about the political entity that presides over Chinas one-party state, while 11 percent said theyve never heard of the CCP.
The results are consistent with recent polling by the Pew Research Center, which found that Americans had souring perceptions of the Chinese regime amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The July poll found 73 percent of respondents held unfavorable opinions of the regime, an increase of 7 points since the previous poll in March.
The Epoch Times National Poll, which was conducted by Big Data Poll, interviewed 2,169 likely voters nationwide sourced via voter file-verified online survey panels from Aug. 26 to Aug. 30. The sampling error is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence interval, projecting the electorate at 145 million.
Results were weighted based on gender, age, race, education, and region. The partisan affiliation breakdown was 36 percent Democratic, 32 percent Republican, and 32 percent independent/other, mirroring the Aristotle National Voter File Database.
President Donald Trump, who is seeking reelection, and his opponent, Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden, both have campaigned on a platform of getting tough on the regime in Beijing. The Trump administration has in recent months accelerated its pressure campaign on multiple fronts, including Chinas state-sanctioned theft of U.S. technology and research, military aggression in the South China Sea, and human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Based on The Epoch Times National poll, Republicans (69.2 percent) and independents were more likely than Democrats (53.5 percent) to hold an unfavorable view of the CCP. Democrats (22 percent) are also more likely than Republicans (12.2 percent) to have no opinion about the regime.
Meanwhile, a large proportion of Americans (78 percent) blame the Chinese regimes initial handling of the CCP virus outbreak for causing its global spread, according to the July Pew survey. Half of the respondents to that poll thought that the United States should hold Beijing responsible, even if it means worsening relations with the country.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the regime for covering up the outbreak and causing the global pandemic. In a recent Fox interview, Trump said hes willing to decouple from Chinas economy if they dont treat us right.
As part of his reelection bid, Trump has pledged to end U.S. reliance on China and bring back 1 million manufacturing jobs in his second term. Biden, meanwhile, has also promised to return critical supply chains to the United States.
Read: AAPOR Transparency Initiative Checklist (pdf)
Read: Full Survey Results (pdf)
NEWS FLASH
Qatar Airways will again be temporarily suspending flights between Doha and Zagreb for a two-week period. After operating its last service today, the carrier has cancelled all departures to the Croatian capital until September 14. The airline had previously temporarily suspended services to Zagreb from late July until mid-August, while a number of subsequent flights were cancelled. In total, it ran just three rotations on the route last month. Qatar Airways handled 148.073 passengers on services to and from Zagreb last year on two daily flights which were operated throughout the year.
The U.S. Department of Justice building is seen in Washington on July 22, 2019. (Alastair Pike/AFP/Getty Images)
DOJ Announces 33 Murder Suspects Among 355 Arrests as Part of Operation Legend
Attorney for the Western District of Missouri Tim Garrison announced on Tuesday that 33 murder suspects were among the 355 arrests made by law enforcement officers since Operation Legend was launched. He also noted that agents and officers have seized 122 firearms during the operation.
Operation Legend was launched in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 8, as an initiative of the Trump administration to address the increase in homicides and violent crime across the United States by stepping up the activity of anti-crime task forces in hard-hit cities. The operation is named after 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed while he was asleep in his home in Kansas City on June 29.
President Donald Trump holds up a photo of LeGend Taliferro, a victim of a crime, during a news conference in the White House in Washington, on Aug. 13, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Of the 355 arrested since the launch of the operation, 33 were homicide cases. The remaining cases include the following:
88 federal defendants in the Western District of Missouri
21 federal defendants in Kansas (18) and Texas (3)
62 fugitives with either state or federal warrants for their arrest
151 non fugitive arrests, which comprise supervised release violators, or those who have been referred for prosecution in state court
Garrison noted that during the operation, agents and officers seized 122 firearms in addition to the arrests.
Operation LeGend aims to immediately help our police agencies and our local leadership to prevent additional victims, Attorney General William Barr said of the operation on July 22. He said that the operation involves committing more federal law enforcement agents to work hand in glove with state and local law enforcement.
Attorney General William Barr delivers remarks on Operation Legend at the White House in Washington on July 22, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
The operation has seen the cooperation of federal agents from various agencies including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Its important to stress that the operations were talking about are the standard anti-crime fighting activities we have been carrying out around the country for decades, Barr said. We will be adding federal agents to the task forcesthese are street agents, theyre investigatorswho will be working to solve murders and to take down the violent gangs. And theyll be working shoulder to shoulder with our state and local colleagues.
Barr noted that Operation Legend is different from the tactical teams sent out to defend against riots and mob violence, which have been recently observed across the United States since late May after George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis.
According to Garrison, the 88 federal charges in the Western District of Missouri that resulted from the operation include the following:
35 charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm
26 charged with drug trafficking
Five charged with being a drug user in possession of a firearm
Six charged with being in possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking
Five charged with being in possession of a firearm in furtherance of violent crime
Two charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition
Four charged with armed robbery
Three charged with carjacking
Two charged with arson
The AGR verdict is a positive for Bharti Airtel as it has got ten years to pay the spectrum charges out of which it needs to pay only 10 percent upfront.
As per media articles, the total dues of Bharti Airtel works to nearly Rs 44,000 crore out of which it has already paid nearly Rs 18,000 crore.
Hence, Bharti has already paid more than 10 percent of the upfront requirement. Bharti has already provided for nearly Rs 47,000 crore in its books, hence, there should not be any negative impact on P&L going forward.
Impact, if any, could be positive on any reversal of provision. As per our estimates, the company should be generating healthy free cash flows from FY21 onwards and in this context annual AGR payment of nearly Rs 4,400-4,700 crore should not be an issue.
We remain quite optimistic about Bharti Airtel with a price target of Rs 710.
The Supreme Court verdict is not as beneficial for Vodafone Idea as it is to Bharti Airtel. Vodafone was looking forward to a 20-year payment cycle which has now reduced to 10 years.
Out of the total AGR dues of nearly Rs 58,000 crore Vodafone Idea has paid only about Rs 7,900 crore till now.
Considering the high annual interest, depreciation and amortization cost the annual AGR dues could put further strain on the cash flows of the company.
However, if there is across the board increase in tariffs by the three players then it could provide a reprieve to Vodafone Idea in the future.
In regards to the spectrum obligation of insolvent companies, the Supreme Court has referred the matter to NCLT.
In the worst case, there could be a further liability on Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel who have taken the spectrum from Reliance Communication, Videocon and Aircel.
After the Supreme Court verdict, the hangover of the AGR case is removed and going forward we need to watch how telecom operators increase tariffs.
(The author is Executive Vice President & Head of Fundamental Research at Kotak Securities)
The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Boris Johnson repeatedly refused to commit to extending the furlough scheme that has supported millions of peoples jobs through the coronavirus pandemic, despite warnings that unemployment is set to surge to levels last seen in the 1980s.
Economists, unions and lobby groups have warned that millions of people could be out of work by early next year unless the government extends its Job Retention Scheme beyond its current end date of 31 October.
Labour leader Keir Starmer pressed the prime minister in the House of Commons on Wednesday, asking whether he would act now to provide further support for sectors and workers that desperately need it.
Mr Johnson pointed out that the furlough scheme has cost 40bn so far, adding: What this government would rather do is get people into work through our Kickstart Scheme, which we are launching today, 2bn to help young people get the jobs they need.
Under the scheme, employers will receive grants of 1,500 to provide six-month placements for people aged under 24. But the Federation of Small Businesses warned this week that more government action is needed to prevent a lost generation of jobless young people.
The prime minister accused the his opposite number of wanting to keep people out of work and in suspended animation rather than getting them back into employment.
He claimed that his governments actions had resulted in a country that is not only going back to school but going back to work.
Scottish National Party Westminster leader Ian Blackford warned that a refusal to extend the furlough scheme would amount to a political choice to accept levels of unemployment last seen under Thatcher in the early 1980s.
Mr Johnson responded that people on furlough were languishing out of work.
Mr Blackford added: Languishing out of work, my goodness Mr Speaker. The furlough scheme is there to protect people so they can go back to work.
The government has come under additional pressure in recent weeks to extend its central job support measure, which, as of 1 September pays employers up to 70 per cent of each furloughed employees wages.
Governments of France and Germany have both announced that they will continue their own schemes for up to two years.
WSU Offers Discount on Smart Thermostats, Free LED Light Bulbs
September 2, 2020
Weber State Universitys Empower Northern Utah program is helping Weber and Davis County residents to be more energy efficient by offering steep discounts on the Nest Thermostat E while also providing free LED light bulbs in exchange for old inefficient bulbs.
The sustainability team at WSU, in a partnership with Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR), the Lawrence T. and Janet T. Dee Foundation, Futures Through Training HEAT Program and others, is able to offer the Nest Thermostat E for under $60, a savings of approximately $110, and to provide thousands of new LED light bulbs for exchange.
Pre-registration is required for both the smart thermostats and LED light bulbs. Registration opens Sept. 16 at noon at weber.edu/empower. The program is offering 3,000 LED bulbs split between two exchange events, Sept. 23 and Sept. 26, at the Weber County Library Main Branch (2464 Jefferson Ave.) The program is also offering 200 Nest E smart thermostats, which successful registrants will be able to pick up Oct. 3 at the WSU Ogden campus.
Empower Northern Utah is Weber States community engagement effort to help residents take action to reduce pollution and save energy and money on a community-wide scale, making clear the connection between environmental issues and their social implications.
Residential energy efficiency not only saves money but helps clean Utahs air by reducing emissions that come from the combustion of natural gas for heating and coal-fired electricity production, said Bonnie Christiansen, WSU academic sustainability coordinator. Reducing energy waste helps Utahns be better stewards of our climate and can speed our transition to renewable energy.
For the last five years, Weber State Sustainability has offered sustainability-focused community programs such as the Susie Hulet Community Solar program and the 2019 Empower Northern Utah Light Bulb Exchange, which served nearly 500 community households.
Unlike conventional thermostats, smart thermostats such as the Nest Thermostat E make it easy to save energy on heating and cooling costs. Using a Nest Thermostat E has been shown to cut heating bills by 10%-12% and cooling bills up to 15%. This translates to an average utility bill savings of $131-$145 per year. Additionally, LED light bulbs are over 85% more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs and typically 47% more efficient than compact fluorescent light bulbs.
The smart thermostat discount is made possible through grants from the Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR) and the Lawrence T. and Janet T. Dee Foundation. UCAIR is a statewide clean air partnership created to help individuals, businesses and communities make small changes to improve Utahs air. Now in its 49th year, the Dee Foundation is a family foundation dedicated to furthering the growth and well-being of the people of northern Utah.
For more information about the Empower Northern Utah program, important dates and how to register, visit weber.edu/empower.
For more news about Weber State University, visit weber.edu/wsutoday.
Police have introduced the Interception protocol to identify and apprehend the two attackers.
Unidentified perpetrators assaulted People's Deputy Anton Poliakov (non-faction) in Kyiv on the morning of September 2.
The incident unfolded outside a cafe in Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky district in the early hours of Wednesday, Obozrevatel reports citing sources in law enforcement.
The report claims there were two attackers, who are still at large after fleeing the scene in a Toyota car.
Read alsoUkraine's MP Leros expelled from Servant of the People factionPolice have introduced the Interception protocol to identify and apprehend the two attackers.
It is reported that Poliakov received immediate medical assistance for the bodily injuries sustained and refused from hospitalization.
Who is Anton Poliakov
New Delhi: Flipkart Wholesale, the digital B2B marketplace of e-commerce major Flipkart Group, on Wednesday launched a digital platform for kiranas, local MSMEs with an aim to connect local manufacturers with retailers and bring the entire wholesale marketplace at their fingertips using technology.
The development comes at a time when the Indian online marketplace has been buzzing more than ever, especially after Reliance Retail's mega acquisition of Future Group's key businesses, including retail and wholesale.
The Walmart-owned e-commerce major had entered the B2B Wholesale sector with fashion category.
"Flipkart Wholesale is a one-stop solution for the retail ecosystem which will offer Indian businesses a wide selection of products at significant value, powered by technology and with an aim to grow their business. The platform is currently available for fashion retailers, especially footwear and apparel, in Gurugram, Delhi and Bengaluru, with plans to expand to Mumbai as well," the company said in an official release.
By this year end, Flipkart Wholesale also plans to expand to 20 more cities and in categories such as Home & Kitchen and Grocery. The B2B digital platform that is accessible to retailers via the app on Google Play Store, aims to rope in over 300 strategic partners and have over 2 lakh listings in 2 months. Additionally, the platform will enable the onboarding of 50 brands and over 250 local manufacturers in the near future.
Adarsh Menon, Senior Vice President and Head -Flipkart Wholesale, said: Flipkart Wholesale is built on the core value proposition of bringing prosperity to Indian Kiranas and MSMEs by making their business easier using technology. With the strong capability within the group in B2B, we will focus on meeting the needs of kiranas and MSMEs by providing these small businesses a wide selection at significant value, powered by technology to make their lives easier. Whether in grocery, general merchandise or fashion, these businesses will have one-stop access to an extensive selection of products with attractive schemes and incentives, supplemented with data-driven recommendations for stock selection, delivered through a fast and reliable network to drive greater efficiencies."
Flipkart Wholesale customers will have access to an easy credit facility to manage cash flow, a wide range of Flipkart assured quality products, simple and convenient order returns and speedy product delivery directly to their shops with an easy order tracking facility, the company said.
"Flipkart Wholesale customers will also be able to leverage micro-market level B2B and B2C insights from the Flipkart ecosystem to better understand customer demands specific to their area so that they can buy and sell the right products. Flipkart Wholesale will draw on the strong merchandising experience of the Best Price team, its strong relationships with brands, deep DNA of servicing kiranas and 12+ years of experience in operating Best Price stores. This will provide invaluable insights and on-ground expertise to further develop and nurture a model that puts the needs of kiranas and MSMEs at the centre of Flipkart Wholesales business," the company said.
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On Tuesday, President Klaus Iohannis signed the decree conferring the National Order 'Star of Romania' in the rank of Grand Officer to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Tod D. Wolters.
"The National Order of the Star of Romania is conferred in the rank of Grand Officer, with insignia for the military staff, in peace time, to General Tod D. Wolters, Supreme Allied Commander Europe", reads the decree published on Tuesday in Official Gazette.The award is given '' as a sign of high appreciation for the support given to Romania by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the real commitment to strengthen cooperation within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as well as for involvement in defining future security challenges.''
The management of Nigerias premier university, the University of Ibadan (UI), has repeatedly failed to deliver projects placed under its supervision and for which millions of naira have been released, a PREMIUM TIMES survey of some Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIP) in Oyo State has revealed.
ZIPs were introduced by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999. It aims to ensure equity in the allocation of projects sited in the constituencies of state and federal lawmakers. They are proposed by federal lawmakers but are usually placed in the budgets of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) who then award the contracts and are supposed to ensure the projects are executed.
In the case of ZIPs mentioned in this report, the projects were placed in the annual budgets of UI between 2017 and 2019, with the approval of the vice-chancellor, but were either poorly done or not executed despite the release of funds for them.
Failed lockup shop project
One of such projects is the construction of 12 lockup shops in Abadina, a small community within the university premises. Many residents of the community are employees of the university.
Between 2017 and 2019, a total of N15.4 million was released for the construction of lockup shops in the community. The project, which was sponsored by Dada Awoleye, a former House of Representatives member for Ibadan North Federal Constituency, was meant to house members of the community who sell groceries outside their residence.
The university management had complained that the makeshift shops built outside the residences were defacing the houses in the community.
A representative of the community, Adebayo Adedigba, said when the project is completed, residents will not have to travel far before getting their groceries.
After three years, however, the project, which involves the construction of 12 lockup shops, has barely taken off with work done on it intermittently. Although the foundation for the 12 shops has been laid, brickwork has only been done on two of the proposed shops.
Members of the community said they were concerned at the slow pace of work on the site.
I am just one year in office and the project had been allocated before that time. They started work in my tenure around September or October last year. I did not expect it to take this long since it is just twelve shops they are building. There have been lots of breaks in-between, said Ikechukwu Egbuna, the president of the community.
When this reporter visited the site of the project, there were only three bricklayers working. One of them, who identified himself as Seun, said the entire project could be completed within three months if funds were made available.
Construction site of lock up shops, Abadina Community
If they give us our money steadily because it is money that will determine how fast we will work, he said.
Meanwhile, there is a possibility that members of the community will have to grapple with another problem once the shops are built.
For the community, twelve shops can never be enough. It cannot do anything. We will have to start lobbying again for more shops. The issue is that the community is under the management of the University of Ibadan and the University of Ibadan has the overall say because we are also governed by the rules of the university. The university welcomed the project, said Mr Egbuna.
Former site designated for the construction of lock up shops
Pointing at the makeshift shops in front of the houses, he said if the university is saying they have to leave this place, how many shops are there? Since it is just twelve, it can only be given to twelve people. After that twelve, what happens to the remaining people? It is going to be a serious problem when they finish.
When reached for comments, Sapient Vendors, the contractor handling the project, denied that the project was moving at a snails pace.
When you ask, people will always give you their own view. They dont have the technical knowledge of the project. It is not our fault. Initially, we had issues with the land. The land caused a lot of delays. It got to our notice that a cable passed through that place and it took a long time to resolve. And as you can see, we are working, Oluwole Ajayi, an official of the company, said.
Makeshift shop at Abadina
The spokesperson of the University of Ibadan, Olatunji Oladejo, however, said he was not aware of the lockup shops.
This will not be the first time that people from your office will be calling me on the same matter. Go and investigate now. UI is which agency? UI is what? How do we come in? Constituency projects cannot be awarded by UI, thats not true, he said, despite facts to the contrary.
It must have been awarded by the Honorable or Senator in charge. UI cannot be in charge of that. We can only monitor, you cant say UI awarded the contract when we did not get the money. The money did not come to UI. It is a constituency project, he added.
However, contrary to the claim by the spokesperson, the project, though nominated by the lawmaker, was placed in the budgets of UI, which approved the contract. Nine million naira was approved for the shops in the 2017 budget, N5 million in the 2018 budget while N1.5 million was approved for the completion of the project in the 2019 budget.
Makeshift shop at Abadina 2
All the funds have been released, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
PREMIUM TIMES could not reach Mr Awoleye for comment, but he had told the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) in 2019 that he sponsored the project to meet the yearnings of members of the community.
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Before I included it in the budget, the community and I went to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan to get his consent since it was going to be done inside the institution. I included it in the budget the following year. In essence, I facilitated the construction of the lock-up shops for them in Abadina.
That was it. My obligation stops there at facilitating the project. I made sure funds were appropriated for the lock-up shops. As an honourable member of the house, we are not permitted to carry out the project, so you have to domicile it in a government agency.
Abandoned block of classrooms, Christ Apostolic Church primary school, Oke Apon
UI does its own procurement processes for its own projects, so there was nothing wrong in domiciling it inside UI. I learnt that when the job was started, they relocated the contractor somewhere. I think they have started the project. I am no more the member representing the constituency. Whatever you want to do about the project, the level it is, where the fund is should be with UI, he said.
Christ Apostolic Church Primary School
Similarly, another project selected within the same period (2017 -2019) as the lockup shop has been left uncompleted.
University of Ibadan Budget 2017
A total of N21.4 million was budgeted for the project the construction of a perimeter fence at Christ Apostolic Church Primary School, Oke Apon. Mrs Jimoh (She refused to say her first name), one of the teachers who spoke to this reporter, said the contractor did a shoddy job, saying the fence was already crumbling.
University of Ibadan Budget 2018
She said that the poor state of the fence has now given miscreants in the area the chance to turn the school premises to a site for open defecation.
University of Ibadan budget 2019
You can see by yourself. The fence is not high at all and area boys always jump inside every time. Apart from jumping, when they started the fence there was an old one. Instead of them to break everything and re-do it, they did not. Immediately they finished this new one, the old one collapsed. See. That is why area boys, they will litter the entire place with faeces. The children dont have toilets. It is here they will defecate, she said.
Another female teacher, who refused to give her name for fear of victimisation, added that the entire premises and surrounding area are unconducive for learning.
When PREMIUM TIMES visited the school, following the resumption of schools for exit classes in Oyo State on July 6, primary six students of the school were seen receiving lectures in one of the two available classrooms in the renovated block.
Old fence, Christ Apostolic Church primary school, Oke Apon
According to Mrs Jimoh, students of other classes used to take their lessons in the open space of the compound before the shutdown of schools due to COVID-19.
See where they said students should resume. When all classes resume, what will we do? Mrs Jimoh asked.
Newly constructed fence, Christ Apostolic Church primary school, Oke Apon
Adijat Adeniyi, the head girl of the school, while returning from where she had gone to fetch water with other pupils, said the school lacked basic facilities such as toilets.
Mr Awoleye had told ICIR that he decided to domicile the fence project with UI for the purpose of close supervision. But it does appear the decision is wrong going by the current fate of the fence.
First gate at the Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Apon
If I should put it under an agency in Abuja, the job may even linger more than what we are talking now. They may tell you the engineers would have to go to Ibadan to supervise and before they finish all that, the whole thing would become nauseating.
When you domicile a project inside an institution, it is left for that institution to carry out the procurement processes.
They invite this and invite that and say this contractor has won at the end of the day. They have to continue to monitor to make sure the job is done, the former lawmaker said.
Sapient Vendors, which was also contracted to build the fence of the school, explained that the contract it was awarded was just for a section of the fence and not the entire perimeter of the fence. It, however, argued that the fence was high enough.
Newly constructed fence at the entrance of Christ Apostolic Church primary school, Oke Apon
The fence is not low, nobody can scale that. All we have to do is according to the bill. You cannot work outside the bill. We cannot be given N10 to work and say because you dont want people to scale the fence you will do the work of N20. The height is a good height for a school. For academic fencing, it is not good to be too high, said Mr Ajayi.
Healthcare centre
Within the CAC Primary School compound is a newly constructed healthcare centre. In the last three years, N53.5 million was budgeted for the construction of the centre. However, at the centre of the healthcare centre is an open septic tank filled to the brim with water.
Newly constructed fence around the primary healthcare centre, Ibadan North
Before we went on coronavirus break, one of our children fell inside this soakaway. But he was quickly rescued by his elder brother who was with him, said Mr Jimoh, who took this reporter round the facility.
A second-hand clothes seller in the area, who refused to give his name, said work at the healthcare centre started in 2018.
Mrs Ayoola (she refused to say her first name), a teacher and resident of the area, said that there is no primary healthcare centre in the area apart from the one within the CAC Primary School. She said the nearest medical facilities are the University College Hospital (UCH) and Oluyoro Hospital which are not as affordable as the primary healthcare centre.
The primary healthcare centre, Ibadan North
When asked about the open septic tank and state of the healthcare centre, Mr Ajayi of Sapient Vendors, the contractor in charge of the project, said it was impossible for a person to fall into the open septic tank.
People always give you unrealities. People will always give you stories. How will someone fall inside? Whats the height? It is even filled up with water, so nobody fell inside, he said.
When asked for the amount released to him for each of the projects, Mr Ajayi declined to say.
No, I cant. That is not my jurisdiction, he said.
Like the UI spokesperson, the spokesperson of the universitys College Hospital (UCH), Toye Akinrinlola, said he was not aware of the project.
Open septic tank at the primary healthcare centre, Ibadan North
All these things you are saying, I dont even know the place. It is someone that is doing that. It is a constituency project for someone, so he is only in collaboration with us. I dont know the place so all of this, I dont know. UCH is not the agency in charge. When you say constituency project, it must be sited in a place, but the funding does not come to those places. For every constituency project, it is probably the politician in charge that takes the money and when it is released, they owe the contractor. We are only a branch, he said.
This investigation was done as part of the UDEME project.
Bihars deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi has welcomed the Election Commissions decision to proceed with the assembly polls due to take place in the eastern state later this year even amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Modi, who belongs to the Bharatiyas Janata Party (BJP), also said there was no sense of panic in Bihar ad claimed that the ruling Janata Dal (United), BJP and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) coalition will win a three-fourths majority. Edited excerpts:
There are going to be polls in Bihar in the middle of a pandemic, which is an unprecedented situation. How will this election be different for you?
Yes, it is a very different election. To conduct it with all the Covid restrictions is a challenge but no one knows how long the pandemic will stay. We know the floods will end by September and we would know how long a drought lasts, but with this pandemic, we dont know if its here for another six months or two years. So a democratic process cannot be stopped. Polls have been conducted in 34 countries across the world. So even though it will be very difficult, there is no other option but to conduct them. I think the Election commission has taken the right decision.
But a lot of countries opened up after Covid numbers started going down. In India, the numbers are still rising and now the daily case figures are the highest in the world. One of your own allies, Chirag Paswan (of the LJP), has also joined the opposition in demanding that the polls are deferred. What if the polls spread the disease?
It is for the EC to decide, firstly. Number 2, now there is no panic in Bihar. Now Bihar is also Number 1 in testing ( testing more than 100,000 patients a day). Most of the hospitals are empty, AIIMS {All India Institute of Medical Sciences}, Patna, which was filled in the first week of August, is now 70% empty. So now people are also used to tackling Covid and the kind of scare that was there before is no longer there. Eight percent of patients are in home quarantine, which is the best option. Only 5% of patients need ventilator support. So there is a big difference from before.
As campaigning begins, how much will the BJP rely on physical campaigning?
More than 70% will be physical campaigning. Even earlier, the Bihar campaign was very different from {that in} other states. There are three kinds of campaigning. The big rallies by hiring helicopters will no longer be there. The ones that attract 40,000-50,000 or 1 lakh crowds, will not be there. Door-to-door was the most effective campaign because all voters dont attend meetings. Earlier and this time as well, there is no bar on door-to-door meetings. When I was fighting the Bhagalpur election, I only organised {LK} Advanijis meeting and no other meeting. These meetings dont fetch votes. In the last assembly elections, Narendra Modiji had more than 30 meetings and we only won 53 seats. So instead of these meetings, door-to-door campaigns and road shows work. Anyway, in the last moment of an exam, what you do doesnt matter, what matters is what we have done in the last 4.5 years. Big manifesto and promises doesnt make a difference, voters normally make up their minds earlier.
Today is the day that the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is starting and the opposition has pointed out that it shouldnt have taken place because of not just Covid but also because of floods. The fact that the exams are going ahead -- will there be anger in the community? Will that be a factor in the polls?
It is not going to be a factor as most students are happy with the exams. Imagine, the number of students appearing would be double and the seats would be the same. There is no problem in Bihar as the floods are in remote areas, but the {exam} centres are mostly in district headquarters. Students preparing for exams are either in block headquarters or district headquarters and there is no problem in any of the blocks or districts. I have not seen a single demonstration with more than 100 people and most of them are political workers. Have you seen any student participating in those? Media is showing 10 people standing with placards, dont know who they are.
What about migrants? So many have had to come back to their villages jobless, some of them walking back. Wont it be a factor?
People know that its not the governments fault, they are intelligent enough. MIgrants came back to Bihar, more than 21 lakh migrants of the state used the free train service and didnt have to pay. And when they reached their home, they were so happy. And now when Narendra Modi announced free ration, they have five months of food in their home and so they are not worried.
But we also so many people walking. Some people died on the way. They could blame the government for not giving them any warning of the lockdown.
Was it possible to announce it before? It took one month to transport 21 lakh people by train...People are happy that they reached home. How many people walked from Bombay to Patna? Is there a single example? Is it possible to walk 2,000 km? I understand their misery, their problems but they also understand that it wasnt possible for the government to organise everything. There were some issues initially. but ultimately they were happy when they reached home.
If what youre saying is correct, then why is it that your own alliance partner Chirag Paswan criticising the chief minister {Nitish Kumar} for his handling of Covid?
I will not answer anybody elses question. Everybody has the right to make their point. Its for the people of Bihar to decide.
Do you think Paswan may be on his way out of the alliance?
We are confident that Lok Janshakti Party and the BJP will fight elections together.
Last time, Kanhaiya Kumar fought election on a Left ticket and his not being with Mahagathbandhan divided their votes. This time they are all fighting together. Will it impact your chances?
The Left is hardly a force in Bihar, they are a spent force. So RJD {Rashtriya Janata Dal} aligning with any other party doesnt mean anything. There is a huge gap in the vote share between BJP and these parties. The credibility of these parties- the RJD, the Congress -- they dont have a leadership. And leaders like Lalu Yadav--we cant help him come out of jail but if he comes out of jail, and he campaigns, it will benefit NDA {National Democratic Alliance} more. We will not have to remind people that here is the man who gave jungle raj to Bihar. So RJD is a polarising party and wherever they fight an election, they create a combination of two castes; all other castes and social groups combine together. These smaller parties dont make any difference. When BJP, JDU came together in 2010 elections, RJD got only 22 assembly seats and Lalu Yadav campaigned like anything. So when JDU and RJD combined, they defeated BJP. Its much stronger and we dont think there will be any difficulty in getting three-fourths majority in Bihar.
China's first homemade carrier Shandong sets out for exercises
Global Times
By Liu Xuanzun Source: Global Times Published: 2020/9/1 18:38:40
Warship aims to be combat-ready within 2020: experts
The Shandong, China's first domestically developed aircraft carrier - the country's second overall - set out from shipyard on Tuesday for military exercises, which will reportedly be held in the Bohai Sea in the next 22 days. Experts expect the carrier to integrate with J-15 fighter jets that were newly produced for it, as it continues to establish actual combat capability, and it will hopefully become combat-ready by the end of 2020.
Two combat-ready aircraft carriers will have strategic significance for China to resist military pressure from countries like the US in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea, and potentially from India on China's key maritime transport lanes, experts said.
After a display of fireworks and under the assistance of several tug boats, the Shandong embarked from the Dalian Shipyard in Northeast China's Liaoning Province on Tuesday morning, Hong Kong-based news website wenweipo.com reported on the same day.
The carrier had full-scale models of a J-15 fighter jet and a Z-18 helicopter on its flight deck when it left Dalian, the report said.
The voyage coincided with a notice released by China's Maritime Safety Administration on Monday, which set a navigation restriction in the Bohai Sea from Tuesday to September 22 for an undisclosed military mission.
The restriction zone is in the waters off a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy Aviation Force base, so putting these factors together, the Shandong's voyage will likely feature integrated training with fighter jets in the sea area, wenweipo.com predicted.
China has been producing new J-15 aircraft carrier-based fighter jets and training new pilots for the Shandong in recent years, and this voyage could see the carrier integrated with those capabilities as a crucial part of its combat preparedness, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Tuesday.
According to photos released by the Shenyang Aircraft Co under the Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC), the manufacturer of the J-15, on its website in February, the company was producing new J-15s at that time. A J-15 under assembly was seen getting new, green priming paint instead of the previous yellow one, which indicated that it features a new type of anti-corrosion material for better performance at sea, reports said then.
Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie told the Global Times on Tuesday that after the latest exercise, it will not take the Shandong long to become combat capable, thanks to experience garnered on the country's first carrier, the Liaoning.
Hopefully within this year, the Shandong will conduct another training session, which will eventually give it the basis for initial combat capability, Li predicted.
The Shandong was commissioned into the PLA Navy on December 17, 2019 in Sanya, South China's Hainan Province and it returned to the Dalian Shipyard later that month. This is the second time since then that it has embarked on a training voyage. The first time was in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Bay between May 25 and June 17, lasting 23 days, wenweipo.com reported.
"Troops on the aircraft carrier need to achieve independent comprehensive combat capability and integrate into the combat group system as soon as possible," Li Yongxuan, executive officer of the Shandong, told China Central Television during May's training.
Recently, China has been facing military pressure from countries like the US in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea, and potentially from India on China's key maritime transport lanes, and Li Jie said that the Shandong, together with the first carrier Liaoning, will become key forces.
Two aircraft carriers can squeeze the island of Taiwan from different angles, and together with the DF-21D and DF-26 anti-ship ballistic missiles of the PLA Rocket Force, they can lock down the island and deny possible US intervention, Li Jie said, noting that they can also play a role in protecting crucial maritime transport lanes like the Strait of Malacca.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump did not have a stroke and remains healthy, his physician said on Tuesday in response to a new book suggesting Vice President Mike Pence was put on standby to assume presidential powers during a sudden Trump medical visit last year.
In the book, titled "Donald Trump v. The United States," New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt writes that word went out in the West Wing around the time of the visit last November for the vice president to be on standby if Trump had to undergo a procedure that would require he be anesthetized, according to news outlets that obtained a copy.
"I don't recall being told to be on standby," Pence said on Tuesday in an interview with Fox News. "I was informed that the president had a doctor's appointment," he said.
Trump and his physician appeared to respond on Tuesday to author Don Winslow's posting on Twitter last month that Winslow had received three communications from administration whistleblowers that Trump had "a series of mini-strokes."
"I can confirm that President Trump has not experienced nor been evaluated for a cerebrovascular accident (stroke), transient ischemic attack (mini stroke), or any acute cardiovascular emergencies, as have been incorrectly reported in the media," Dr. Sean Conley said in a statement.
"The president remains healthy and I have no concerns about his ability to maintain the rigorous schedule ahead of him. As stated in my last report, I expect him to remain fit to execute the duties of the Presidency," Conley added.
On Twitter, Trump also denied having suffered a series of mini-strokes.
At the time, the White House described Trump's unexpected and unscheduled visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as a start to his annual physical that included a quick exam and some laboratory tests.
But the trip triggered questions on social media since it occurred months before the annual physical had been carried out in the past.
Trump, known for his love of hamburgers and well-done steaks and an aversion to the gym, gained weight from his physical in 2017, pushing his body mass index into the obese category.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason, Diane Bartz and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Howard Goller and Lisa Shumaker)
On September 2 2020, the open-access journals PLOS ONE & PLOS Medicine launched a Special Collection of manuscripts centered around the healthcare provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the primary U.S. federal agency for improving healthcare in underserved or vulnerable populations.
HRSA, which operates under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was created in 1982, and helps those in need of high-quality primary care, people with HIV/AIDS, pregnant women, and mothers. HRSA also supports the training of health professionals; oversees organ, bone marrow, and cord blood conation; compensates individuals harmed by vaccination; and maintains databases that protect against healthcare malpractice, waste, fraud and abuse.
Research into the populations that HRSA serves is critical to improving healthcare in a variety of ways for these populations. The new collection, which includes 6 research articles and a policy forum article, addresses such wide-ranging issues as how home visits can address maternal depression, how to increase access to housing services for people with HIV, and how to identify at-risk populations to inform health workforce and health care planning.
In one research article, Sue Lin of HRSA and colleagues used data from the 2014 Health Center Patient Survey to assess the prevalence of self-reported mental health conditions among female patients of reproductive age and examine the association between depression and health conditions including obesity, hypertension, smoking and diabetes. Patients with depression had two to three times higher odds of experiencing co-occurring physical health conditions, the study found.
In another, Marci Sontag of the University of Colorado Denver and colleagues assessed the timeliness and quality of newborn screening programs across the country. These programs are critical to early identification and treatment of affected infants prior to onset of symptoms. The researchers showed that the percent of specimens collected before 48 hours of life improved from 95% in 2016 to 97% in 2018 and that time-critical result reporting also improved during this time frame. The results help inform future efforts to improve newborn screening.
A third manuscript described how Veni Kandasamy of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and colleagues examined the regional variation in Black infant mortality around the United States. The mortality rate among Black infants varied 1.5-fold across regions, they showed. Factors including a state's maternal and child health care budget helped, in part, explain this variance.
These articles, and the others included in the Special Collection, not only help provide quantitative measures of the progress that HRSA has made in improving care for underserved communities around the country over recent years, but will shape future endeavors to improve this care.
"The wide range of topics covered in this collection demonstrate the diverse needs of the populations HRSA serves," said Tom Engels, the HRSA Administrator. "We hope the insight shared in these articles can raise awareness on key issues and inform future health care."
#### ________________________________________ About HRSA: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is the primary U.S. federal agency for improving health care through its 90-plus programs and more than 3000 grantees to people who are geographically isolated, economically or medically vulnerable. HRSA's mission is to improve health outcomes and address health disparities through access to quality services, a skilled health workforce, and innovative, high-value programs.
For more information about HRSA, visit https://www.hrsa.gov/ ________________________________________ Image Credit: Hush Naidoo, Unsplash, https://unsplash.com/photos/pA0uoltkwao
Image Caption: A woman getting her blood pressure tested.
Funding: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
###
Standing by the most attractive aperture of the facility are residential apartments, Grade A Worc@Q2 office spaces, and luxury commercial units. The Q2Terrace is not only a shopping area but also represents major brands in bakery, cafes, restaurants, and convenience shops.
Concluding the final stage of the development of the Q2 Thao Dien project, the luxury residential developer welcomed two reputable and well-known food and beverage (F&B) brands as tenants: Annam Gourmet and Dinh Phong The Butcher & Seafood.
Annam Gourmet is Vietnam's high-end local supermarket and cafe chain specialising in supplying organic food and beverages, mainly imports from the world's leading brands.
Eric Jean Bernard Merlin, CEO of Annam Gourmet, and Lim Hua Tiong, CEO of Frasers Property Vietnam at the ceremony
Dinh Phong - The Butcher & Seafood is a speciality meats and seafood chain store providing imported food products from Australia, Japan, Northern Europe, and the U.S. With a decade of experience in distribution, the brand recently opened restaurants concepted under The Butcher Steakhouse in 2 locations within the city and additionally launched the home delivery service The Butcher Eats, bringing new gastronomy experiences for steak enthusiasts. At Q2 Thao Dien, Dinh Phong aims to deliver a new shopping and dining experience to the Vietnamese market which is similar to the Latin American style.
Pham Thanh Son - Business Founder & Executive Director of Dinh Phong - The Butcher & Seafood and Lim Hua Tiong CEO of Frasers Property Vietnam at the ceremony.
Q2Terrace is integrated into Q2 Thao Dien, possessing a prime location on three street fronts: Vo Truong Toan, Street No.9 and Street No.10, of Thao Dien ward, District 2. This area is developing day by day into an attractive and active multicultural community, including for expatriates and multinationals. This high-income group of potential customers helps bring and make for the upscale Q2Terrace shopping experience.
Q2Terrace becomes the most classy and active shopping space in District 2
Q2Terrace with its limited availability of 13 shoplots located on the ground floor of the apartment tower reveals many outstanding factors. With three levels of modern design, each floor encapsulates an area from 95-259 square metres, with an interior height at 6.5m, creating openness and optimal space for owners. The shoplots area also hold separate automobile and pedestrian walkways, providing a convenient and safe shopping and business experience. The footpaths are up to 8.5m wide, permitting a bustling and lively street.
For businessmen, this is the ideal location to build a classy and high-end brand to serve premium customers.
Q2Terrace has many advantages in attracting famous brands
Q2 Thao Dien is developed by Frasers Property, a multinational development corporation headquartered in Singapore with business activities in the five fields of residential, retail, shopping and service centres, logistics, and serviced apartments spanning over 70 countries and territories throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe, and China.
A Dallas man who joined the Islamic State (IS) has pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to terrorism, the US Department of Justice said today.
Omer Kuzu was captured in Syria by the US-partnered Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in March 2019 and then handed over to FBI custody. Kuzu's sentencing is scheduled for January and faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
"This defendant, an American citizen radicalized on American soil, pledged allegiance to a brutal terrorist group and traveled halfway across the world to enact its agenda," Erin Nealy Cox, US attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said in a statement. "I am gratified Mr. Kuzu faced justice in an American court."
According to court documents, Kuzu admitted traveling from Texas to Istanbul, Turkey, with his brother in October 2014. From southeastern Turkey, he was smuggled across the Syrian border in an "ISIS taxi" and stayed in several "waiting houses" before making it to Iraqs second-largest city of Mosul. IS is also known as ISIS.
After weapons and physical training in Iraq, Kuzu traveled back to Syria where investigators say he pledged allegiance to IS and was given a monthly stipend, a Chinese-made AK 47, and an ISIS bride."
His role in the group involved providing communications support in the Syrian cities of Kobani and Hama for fighters on the front lines, according to court documents. Kuzu was then among some 1,500 IS members rounded up in Syria as the Kurdish-led SDF seized the last stretch of territory held by the terrorist group in March 2019.
Some 2,000 foreign fighters, as well as their families, remain in SDF-run facilities across northeastern Syria. Many of their home countries have been reluctant to bring them home for prosecution despite pleas from the Syrian Kurds who control the prisons and have been left to deal with the militants and their families.
As of December 2019, the United States had repatriated nearly two dozen US citizens from Syria and Iraq eight adults and 15 children and charged six with terrorism-related crimes.
The Donald Trump administration has urged countries to follow its lead and repatriate their nationals who joined IS. On Monday, the United States vetoed a UN resolution aimed at prosecuting, rehabilitating and reintegrating foreign terrorist fighters on the grounds that repatriation wasnt addressed.
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EastEnders' brand new 87 million set in Borehamwood is almost complete following months of work to create a replica of the original set-up.
And amid the huge renovation, the BBC soap's iconic Queen Vic pub took centre stage after undergoing an impressive transformation, with its infamous red exterior shining bright amid Albert Square following the removal of scaffolding.
Albert Square had previously been a pile of rubble but the well-loved area now looks dramatically different as work continued in new images released on Wednesday.
New look: EastEnders' Queen Vic pub took centre stage after undergoing an impressive transformation, with its infamous red exterior shining bright amid Albert Square
The Queen Vic plays a central role in the soap, with the watering hole playing host to plenty of rows, huge fights and the airing of dirty laundry from the Walford residents.
And after being covered in scaffolding, the updated red-walled tavern has now been unveiled with a fresh coat of paint and improved exteriors.
The newly-built building was first revealed in May, and saw the roof painted a white colour as it neared its final stages to match the original inn.
Amid the new pictures of the set being unveiled, it's said that the Black Lives Matter mural, which was painted on the side of Ian Beale's house and unveiled in June, didn't make the transition to the new set.
Transformation: EastEnders' brand new 87 million set in Borehamwood is almost complete following months of work to create a replica of the original set-up
The new set was littered with workmen as they continued to work on building a replica of the old set, which was built in 1984.
Earlier this year, images showed the set buzzing with activity as work continued amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Construction sites were able to work 'if it is done safely' yet the project may not have been, to some, classed as 'essential'.
The BBC was accused of 'complacency' over the astonishing 87 million bill for its new EastEnders set in March.
The project, nicknamed E20 after the soap's fictitious postcode, is already 27million over budget and is not expected to be fully completed until May 2023, nearly five years late.
Much better: After being covered in scaffolding, the updated red-walled tavern has now been unveiled with a fresh coat of paint and improved exteriors
Looking good: Albert Square had previously been a pile of rubble but the well-loved area now looks dramatically different as work continued in new images released on Wednesday
Centre of drama: The Queen Vic plays a central role in the soap, with the watering hole playing host to plenty of rows, huge fights and the airing of dirty laundry from the Walford residents
MPs said BBC bosses 'badly' managed the construction and that they made 'a serious error' by failing to consider what project management skills they needed. The public accounts committee said they secured a contract poorly, drastically increasing costs.
The committee also found that contract negotiations took six months longer than planned, partly because of discussions about what bricks to use for the set. Meanwhile, the corporation spent 50,000 on samples.
MPs added that they were 'disappointed by the BBC's complacency in managing this project, particularly in its early stages'.
And they said the BBC 'underestimated the scale and complexity of the project, including how it would age the new sets so that they either exactly replicate what viewers are used to, or look realistic where there are new locations'.
Update: And after being covered in scaffolding, the updated red-walled tavern has now been unveiled with a fresh coat of paint and improved exteriors
Improvements: The newly-built building was first revealed in May, and saw the roof painted a white colour as it neared its final stages to match the original inn
The set consists of a 'front lot' a brickwork replica of the current set and a 'back lot', which will provide extra locations to 'better reflect modern East End London'.
A BBC spokesman said at the time: 'We strongly reject the notion that there has been any complacency in managing this project.
'Like any building work of this scale, there have been challenges along the way including construction market issues beyond our control and working on a brownfield site.'
The extended sound stage sees a new railway line and block of flats in place, replicating the soap's original set up.
Original: The famous red-walled Queen Vic pub pictured on the original set
Missing: Amid the new pictures of the set being unveiled, it's said that the Black Lives Matter mural, which was painted on the side of Ian Beale's house and unveiled in June, didn't make the transition to the new set
EastEnders' brand new set was first announced four years ago when it was also revealed that the show's old 1984 set was in poor condition.
As well as an extension of the famous Albert Square, EastEnders' new set will feature a brand new block of flats to house all manner of colourful characters.
It is being perfectly built to replicate the old set, which had been in use since the soap first began.
According to The Telegraph last year, ongoing maintenance issues on the old set hampered the show's filming schedule and presented health and safety concerns.
EastEnders: Real-life partners as body doubles, CGI trickery and kissing through Perspex screens bosses have revealed the secrets to filming during COVID-19 crisis as soap returns
The updated set will allow the crew to film the programme in HD as bosses feared filming above standard definition on the current set would allow viewers to notice that the fronts of the Queen Vic and its surrounding buildings are made of plaster and plywood.
The HD set's buildings are made entirely out of brick, however the crew are working diligently to ensure they appear identical on camera to the buildings that viewers are familiar with.
The long-running drama is currently on a 12 week break after it ran out of episodes while filming was halted amid the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year.
Transition: EastEnders are trying to alter their filming and production to follow the ever-changing COVID-19 guidelines proved to be the biggest challenge
After almost three months off air, BBC bosses joked that they 'can't wait for series two', after the soap previously ran uninterrupted for 35 years.
EastEnders is set to return to screens on Monday, September 7, with filming techniques updated to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
Bosses have 'cheated' the social distancing rules with CGI trickery and have drafted in the help of stars' real-life partners as body doubles for intimate scenes
While Perspex screens have also been used during passionate kissing scenes.
Aug. 28, Friday
Kobe Adonis Smith, 21, was arrested on Friday at the 2600 block of Olton Road during a traffic stop at 10:15 p.m. Smith was found to be in possession of a stolen firearm. He was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and with theft of a firearm, both of which are felonies.
A burglary was reported at the 2400 block of W. 16th St. on Friday around 1:15 a.m.
A crash was reported at the 400 block of W. 5th St. on Friday around 9:45 a.m. Vehicle damage was reported.
Forgery and identity theft were reported at the 600 block of N. Broadway on Friday around 12:45 p.m.
A hit-and-run crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 1100 block of W. 10th St. on Friday around 8:40 p.m.
A terroristic threat against a person was reported at the 900 block of Amarillo St. on Friday around 11:20 p.m.
Aug. 29, Saturday
A 49-year-old man was arrested Saturday at the 1400 block of Lexington St. around 12:45 p.m. The individual was arrested for three misdemeanor warrants for failure to appear/bail jumping, wide right turn and driving with an invalid license.
An assault was reported Saturday at the 1100 block of Joliet St. around 10:45 a.m.
Burglary of a vehicle was reported at the 400 block of W. 8th St. on Saturday just after 1:30 p.m.
An assault was reported at the 4000 block of Olton Road on Saturday around 2:20 p.m.
Police responded to the 2200 block of W. 19th St. on Saturday around 11:20 p.m. in reference to a deadly conduct callout. An officer observed someone firing a weapon. No arrests were indicated.
Aug. 30, Sunday
Plainview police arrested 20-year-old Jonathan Gaige Enriquez on Sunday at the 900 block of N. Columbia. Police responded to the location just after 4 p.m. and found Enriquez to be in possession of a stolen firearm. He was arrested and charged with theft of a firearm, which is a felony, unlawfully carrying a weapon and possession of marijuana.
An assault was reported at the 800 block of W. 27th St. on Sunday around 7:45 a.m.
A 50-year-old man was arrested at the 3700 block of Olton Road on Sunday around 1:20 p.m. after a crash resulting in vehicle damage. The individual was charged with an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for driving while intoxicated.
A 35-year-old man was arrested Sunday at the 1300 block of Smythe St. Police responded to a call about criminal trespassing at the location just after 7 p.m. The individual was charged with two outstanding misdemeanor warrants for failure to maintain financial responsibility and failure to control speed and with criminal trespassing.
Labor Day is a federal holiday thats celebrated on the first Monday of September and this year it falls on the 7th to recognize the American labor movement and the works and contribution of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States.
When did it start?
The labor movement started in the late 19th century and became an official federal holiday in 1894. This holiday also symbolizes the end of summer for many Americans and like any long weekend it is celebrated with parties, parades and all sorts of events.
During the industrial revolution in the late 1800s the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-days a week just to make ends meet. In many states around the country children could start working from 5-years and upwards in the mills, factories and mines just to earn a fraction of what adults made.
Work conditions were unsafe, no full access to fresh air, sanitary facilities and breaks. As manufacturing work started to outgrow agriculture work, in the late 18th century workers started organizing strikes and rallies to protest the poor work conditions, the long hours and the amount of days they worked.
Protests across the country
There were protests all over the country and some even turned violent. On 5 September, 1882, roughly ten thousand workers took unpaid time to march from City Hall to Union Square in New York. This event is known as the first Labor Day parade in the history of this holiday.
It took Congress 12 years to legalize the holiday. On 28 June, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed it into law and after all this time it is not known who was the original founder of Labor Day.
Coronavirus pandemic could be a factor
Given that we are in the middle of a pandemic, each holiday that it is celebrated in the United States prompt fear from health experts that there could be an increase in cases just as the curve seems to be flattening in many states.
Currently there are more than 6 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and over 180,000 deaths in the United States. There was a spike in cases after the celebration of Memorial Day and Fourth of July so we could see a new surge two weeks after Labor Day weekend.
Norway finished its public hearings on the government's plans to develop nine new deposits that are located north of the Arctic Circle. Experts believe that these deposits may be risky both in terms of the environment and for commercial benefit. The decision to extract oil so far north of the polar circle could also spoil the northern kingdom's relations with other countries that have also signed the Spitsbergen Treaty (now called the Svalbard Treaty) that recently observed its centenary. This international treaty determines the international legal status of the Spitsbergen Archipelago and regulates economic and other activities in the surrounding waters.
Professor of Norwegian University of Agder Ilan Kelman says safe oil production in the Arctic is impossible in principle. At any rate, it remains impossible now because despite the considerable climate changes this region has remained very difficult for human existence over the years.
In their open letter to the government of Norway, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Greenpeace and the Nature and Youth organization recalled that the government agency responsible for preserving the Arctic, resolutely objected to all 24 oil permits that were issued by the government of Norway for oil production in the northern areas in 2002-2019.
Prof. Kelman believes that there is no point in talking about oil production in the northern altitudes before an oil spill cleanup technology is developed for the Arctic.
Over 30 years ago, the Norwegian parliament opened almost the entire Barents Sea to the oil industry with the exception of its southeastern part. Development in this part of the sea was allowed in 2013 after the signing of an agreement with Russia on sea boundaries in the region.
According to the Spitsbergen Treaty signed by 46 states, the archipelago belongs to Norway but with some reservations. Thus, the treaty regulates issues of militarization and allows the signatories to engage in commercial activities in its waters. Only Norway and Russia are conducting commercial activities so far.
Thus, the decision on oil production in the far north could spoil relations between Norway and Russia for which this region is of enormous strategic importance. In the past few years, Russia has upgraded its northern nuclear-powered submarine fleet and built up its military presence on Franz Josef Land that is not far from Spitsbergen.
At present, reports indicate that applications for developing oil deposits north of Norway will be accepted until the beginning of 2021. It is quite possible that oil production in this region may start soon after the tender is over.
Source: expert.ru
Inter have ruled themselves out of the race to sign Lionel Messi this summer.
The Argentine has been strongly linked with the Serie A club in recent months, even before his transfer request at Barcelona.
"We're not going to sign Leo Messi," Piero Ausilio, Inter's sporting director, told Sky Sport.
"I don't even know where these crazy rumours are coming from."
Ausilio also signalled a hands-off warning to Barcelona regarding Lautaro Martinez.
"We never started official talks with Barcelona over Lautaro," Ausilio added.
"The day after his release clause expired, we considered him not for sale.
"It's over."
A resident of Vasna Road in Gujarats Ahmadabad has been was booked under the Disturbed Areas Act, cheating and forging documents, to sell his property to a person from a different religion.
The act prohibits sale of property in an area covered under the act to a person from different religion without permission from the district collector. The accused has been identified as Feroze Contractor and reportedly concealed his religion and forged documents to sell the plot of land in Samarpan Society on Vasna Road to a person named Feroze Patel, his mother Hanifa and brother Sabir Patel, the Times of India reported.
The case was reported by Manish Malhotra, the president of the society. He alleged that Contractor is a Parsi but did not reveal it while applying for permission from the district administration to sell the plot to Patel.
He said that Contractor kept his religious identity hidden to create an impression that he and Feroze belonged to the same religion.
Contractor has also reportedly been accused of mentioning Tandalja as his address even though he does not live there. Contractor had purchased the land from Dashrathlal Panchal and knew about the procedure of selling and buying the land and the Act. The case of hidden identity came to light recently when Patel started construction on the plot. The residents came to know that the current owner is Patel and then shut one of the gates of the society. They approached the police and filed a complaint against Contractor.
Police said that Contractor is yet to be arrested as they are collecting documentary evidence against him, the TOI report said.
The Act, also known as the Gujarat Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property and Provision for Protection of Tenants from Eviction from Premises in Disturbed Areas Act, 1991, is aimed at preventing sale of properties in communally-sensitive areas. The Act is currently applicable in parts of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Bharuch, Kapadvanj, Anand and Godhra towns. This Act mandates the permission of district collector for the sale or transfer of property in the areas notified as disturbed to ensure that the sale was not out of any distress or compulsion, and to see that the seller had received a fair price.
The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and one of her top aides for continuing to investigate Americans in connection with alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the move on September 2, calling the ICC a "a thoroughly broken and corrupt institution and saying the United States "will not tolerate its illegitimate attempts to subject Americans to its jurisdiction.
Pompeo announced the sanctions against chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and head of jurisdiction Phakiso Mochochoko at a news conference at the State Department. The sanctions include a freeze on any assets they hold in the United States or assets subject to U.S. law.
The ICC in March gave Bensouda the go-ahead to investigate whether war crimes were committed in Afghanistan by the Taliban, Afghan military, and U.S. forces.
Pompeo said people who provide Bensouda and Mochochoko with material support in investigating Americans could also face U.S. penalties.
The sanctions are the latest moves against the tribunal by the Trump administration for investigations into the United States and its allies.
The ICC, which the United States has never joined, said in a statement it stands by its employees and its mission and denounced the sanctions.
"I strongly reject such unprecedented and unacceptable measures against a treaty-based international organization," said O-Gon Kwon, president of the ICC's Assembly of States Parties.
Pompeo had previously imposed a travel ban on Bensouda and other tribunal employees because of an ICC investigation into allegations of torture and other crimes by Americans in Afghanistan.
The sanctions announced on September 2 came nearly three months after President Donald Trump issued an executive order authorizing economic sanctions and travel restrictions against ICC officials who are directly involved in investigating U.S. troops and intelligence officials for possible war crimes in Afghanistan.
The United States has not joined the ICC because of concerns the court might be used for politically motivated prosecutions of U.S. troops and officials. The U.S. Congress also opposes an international court interfering in U.S. sovereignty.
The United States is among dozens of countries that are not party to the treaty that established the ICC in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in areas where perpetrators might not otherwise face justice.
Human rights groups and others have condemned the Trump administration's moves against the court.
Todays announcement is designed to do what this administration does best bully and intimidate," said Daniel Balson of Amnesty International USA said on September 2. It penalizes not only the ICC, but civil society actors working for justice alongside the court worldwide.
He accused the United States of demanding the a political carve-out of impunity for Americans accused of crimes under international law in Afghanistan.
No one responsible for the most serious crimes under international law should be able to hide from accountability, under a cloak of impunity, he said.
Richard Dicker, the international justice director at Human Rights Watch, called it a stunning perversion of U.S. sanctions, devised to penalize rights abusers and kleptocrats, to persecute those tasked with prosecuting international crimes.
The Trump administration has twisted these sanctions to obstruct justice, not only for certain war crimes victims, but for atrocity victims anywhere looking to the International Criminal Court for justice, he said.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
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In deducing the revenue projections of the global Market for Biopharma Downstream Processing, our analysts have gathered data from secondary sources such as company websites, white papers, press releases, annual reports, financial documents, and industry association reports. Additional statistics have been obtained from paid publications such as Morningstar, Genios, Factiva, BVD, Meltwaters, and GBI. The Market numbers have been validated through extensive interviews with key stakeholders in the industry through direct personal interviews as well as through sources such as Salesforce, Research Gate, Zoominfo, Avention, and LinkedIn. Our research process primarily comprises the following:
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To help readers understand the critical components of the global Biopharma Downstream Processing Market, we have dissected the global Market on the basis of product type, modality, end user, and region. Further segmental breakdown is as under:
By Product Type
Sensors pH & ORP Sensors Dissolved Oxygen (DO) Sensors Conductivity Sensors Cell Density Sensors
Transmitters and Controllers
Sensor Housings
Cables and Connectors
Buffers and Standard Reagents
By Modality
Single Use
Reuse
By End User
Biopharmaceutical Companies
Food & Beverage Companies
Contract Manufacturing Organisations
Contract Research Organisations
Academic and Research Institutes
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North America
Latin America
Western Europe
Eastern Europe
Asia Pacific Excluding Japan
Japan
Middle East & Africa
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Most matter in the Universe is dark and completely different in nature from the matter that makes up stars, planets and people. Galaxies form and grow when gas cools and condenses at the center of enormous clumps of this dark matter, the so-called dark matter haloes.
An international research team led by Prof. WANG Jie from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) used supercomputers in China and Europe to zoom in on a typical region of a virtual universe as if zooming in on an image of the Moon to see a flea on its surface.
The study was published in Nature on Sept. 2.
The biggest dark matter haloes in today's universe contain huge galaxy clusters, collections of hundreds of bright galaxies. The properties of such clusters, which weigh over a quadrillion (a million billion) times as much as our Sun, are well studied.
On the other hand, the masses of the smallest dark matter haloes are unknown. They are hypothesized to be about the mass of the Earth, according to currently popular theories.
Such small haloes would be extremely numerous, containing a substantial fraction of all the dark matter in the universe. However, they would remain dark throughout cosmic history because stars and galaxies grow only in haloes more than a million times as massive as the Sun.
"These small haloes can only be studied by simulating the evolution of the Universe in a large supercomputer," said Prof. WANG.
The research team, based at the National Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in China, Durham University in the UK, the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany, and the Center for Astrophysics in the USA, took five years to develop, test and carry out their cosmic zoom.
It enabled them to study the structure of dark matter haloes of all masses between that of the Earth and that of a big galaxy cluster. In number, the zoom covers a mass range of 10 to the power 30 (that is a one followed by 30 zeroes), which is equivalent to the number of kilograms in the Sun.
By zooming-in on the virtual universe in such microscopic detail, the researchers were able to study the structure of dark matter haloes ranging in mass from that of the Earth to a big galaxy cluster.
"Surprisingly, we find that haloes of all sizes have a very similar internal structure, i.e., they are extremely dense at the center, become increasingly spread out, and have smaller clumps orbiting in their outer regions," said Prof. WANG. "Without a measure scale it was almost impossible to tell an image of a dark matter halo of a massive galaxy from one whose mass is a fraction of the Sun."
Particles of dark matter can collide near the centers of haloes, and may, according to some theories, annihilate in a burst of energetic (gamma) radiation.
Co-author, Prof. Carlos Frenk from Durham University said: "By zooming in on these relatively tiny dark matter haloes, we can calculate the amount of radiation expected to come from different sized haloes."
Most of this radiation would be emitted by dark matter haloes too small to contain stars and future gamma-ray observatories might be able to detect these emissions, making these small objects individually or collectively "visible".
"This would confirm the hypothesized nature of the dark matter, which may not be entirely dark after all," said co-author Simon White from the Max Planck Institute of Astrophysics. "Our research sheds light on these small haloes as we seek to learn more about what dark matter is and the role it plays in the evolution of the universe."
The simulations were carried out in the Cosmology Machine supercomputers in Guangzhou, China, Durham, England of the UK, and Munich, Germany.
###
The majority of pupils returned to school on Tuesday.
A school principal called for rapid testing to be made available to teachers as thousands more children returned to the classroom in Northern Ireland.
Primary 7 children and sixth formers returned last week, but the full school population were back yesterday.
Health and safety measures including hand sanitising stations, staggered start times and one-way systems are in place at schools, and face coverings used by post-primary pupils.
Chris Donnelly, principal of St John The Baptist Primary School in West Belfast, said it was great to have children back l, but called for rapid testing.
Ive had a few staff members who have had to be tested in the first week for different reasons, and Im talking to principals across quite a number of schools and they are giving the exact same picture, he said.
Its no different to any other business in society, the only difference being the knock-on effect of potentially children having to self-isolate, and parents working around that.
Anecdotally, we are hearing of quite a few cases so that is hitting on childrens attendance and then obviously a number of members of staff too.
One thing I am finding quite frustrating is trying to get members of staff tested. I was under the impression they would be expediting things so that we could get members of staff tested to know if they were positive because obviously the ripple effect of being in a classroom with 30 kids - and if I cant get them tested I cant get them back to work.
There are a number of things from a schools perspective that we want ironed out so that it can be made easier to get key workers working in school to get tested.
Education Minister Peter Weir described the day as a major step forward.
Obviously we will be monitoring the situation closely, but I think this is a good day for education and for all young people, that we are able to get a third of a million children back into school, he told the BBC.
There are bound to be some bumps in the road.
Several cases have already been confirmed in schools here.
Holy Family Primary School in Magherafelt sent a letter to parents on Monday announcing that a primary three pupil had tested positive.
Principal Peter Donnelly said he had sought the most up-to-date advice from the Public Health Agency (PHA) and had told the pupils in the class they must self-isolate before returning to school on September 10.
The principal of Jonesborough Primary School, Donal Keenan, released a letter on the schools Facebook page on Monday night after a pupil in its primary two and three class tested positive for the virus.
Mr Keenan said the school is working with the PHA and the Department of Education.
Elsewhere, Ballyclare Secondary School was unable to reopen this week after a pupil tested positive after being in the school on August 20.
Two schools on the Falls Road - St Kevins Primary and St Louises College - previously confirmed positive cases among the school communities.
Separately yesterday, Mr Weir said he held his hands up over a photograph of him at a school last week, which showed him not wearing a face covering inside a classroom.
I was socially distant from them. I didnt wear a mask on that particular occasion. Perhaps I should have done, I thought it was better to make myself understood, he said.
Kumho Petrochemical Group is making greater efforts to improve environmental measures to meet strengthening regulations.
Of its units, Kumho Petrochemical has been increasing efforts this year to improve facilities to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Following those efforts, the firm's rubber plant in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, was awarded the highest grade in a process safety management evaluation by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
As part of efforts, Kumho Petrochemical said it is running several programs to enhance its commitment to the environment and safety. One is a biannual meeting held by the Kumho Petrochemical CEO in which group executives closely monitor the eco-friendliness of the company's plants and offices.
Along with Kumho Petrochemical, its affiliates are also striving for sustainability. Kumho P&B Chemicals plans to upgrade its existing air pollution reduction facilities by the first quarter of next year. It also has formed a taskforce with an outside consulting firm to develop strategies to meet strengthening environmental regulations.
"Under the slogan 'Our top priority is safety,' Kumho P&B management and labor are striving to nurture a corporate culture valuing safety," a Kumho Petrochemical Group official said.
Kumho Mitsui Chemicals is focusing on the safety of its plants. The company has been appointing safety officers who monitor the plants and explore improvements for the company's safety measures. Along those efforts, Kumho Mitsui Chemicals was certified by the Korea Energy Agency for its efficient energy use.
Kumho Polychem is promoting safety measures among its partner companies. Along with its partner firms, Kumho Polychem holds monthly safety measure consulting sessions and runs safety officer programs in which officers regularly check the environment of plants.
"Kumho Petrochemical Group has a sustainability and safety goal of shaping the future as a partner of human and the environment," Kumho Petrochemical Group Chairman Park Chan-koo said. "We will make comprehensive efforts to enable systematic responses to emerging environmental and safety issues." (Advertorial)
Opposition leaders, including Derek OBrien and Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday, criticised the decision to cancel the Question Hour in the monsoon session of Parliament and said the pandemic was being used as an excuse to stifle dissent. OBrien, the TMC leader of Rajya Sabha, added that this was happening for the first time since 1950.
MPs required to submit questions for Question Hour in Parliament 15 days in advance. Session starts 14 September. So Question Hour cancelled? Opposition MPs lose right to question govt. A first since 1950? Parliament overall working hours remain same so why cancel Question Hour? Pandemic excuse to murder democracy," OBrien wrote on Twitter.
MPs required to submit Qs for Question Hour in #Parliament 15 days in advance. Session starts 14 Sept. So Q Hour cancelled ? Oppn MPs lose right to Q govt. A first since 1950 ? Parliament overall working hours remain same so why cancel Q Hour?Pandemic excuse to murder democracy Derek O'Brien | ' (@derekobrienmp) September 2, 2020
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, in a series of tweets, also slammed the Centre over its decision to not allow Question Hour and Zero Hour and said that the government was seeking to use its crushing majority as a rubber-stamp for whatever it wants to pass."
I said four months ago that strongmen leaders would use the excuse of the pandemic to stifle democracy&dissent. The notification for the delayed Parliament session blandly announces there will be no Question Hour. How can this be justified in the name of keeping us safe?," Tharoor tweeted. Tharoor added that questioning the government is the oxygen of parliamentary democracy.
This Govt seeks to reduce Parliament to a notice-board & uses its crushing majority as a rubber-stamp for whatever it wants to pass. The one mechanism to promote accountability has now been done away with," his tweet read.
2/2 Questioning the government is the oxygen of parliamentary democracy. This Govt seeks to reduce Parliament to a notice-board & uses its crushing majority as a rubber-stamp for whatever it wants to pass. The one mechanism to promote accountability has now been done away with. Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 2, 2020
The Monsoon Session of the Parliament amid the Covid-19 pandemic will begin on September 14. Opposition parties have expressed concerns over the decision to disallow Question Hour and Zero Hour, which is a regular feature of every parliament session when each day an hour is spent both on Question Hour and Zero Hour mentions. A few parties have conveyed their reservation about not having Question Hour, while others have agreed given the challenging circumstances.
OBrien, had also spoken to Rajnath Singh about his reservation earlier, but his partys parliamentary leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay is believed to have accepted where the governments position. Meanwhile, Congress Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury recently wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla demanding Zero and Question Hour. However, he agreed with the government when Rajnath Singh called him a few days ago.
In the letter to the speaker, Chowdhury said curtailing the Question Hour and the Zero Hour would not be in the interest of elected representatives, especially in the current times of COVID-19. There appears to be a proposal for curtailing the Question Hour as well as the Zero Hour during the Session by way of restricting the allocation of time as well as the number of notices that could be filed by the members," he had said.
NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar has also accepted the reason for which the government has decided to scrap Question Hour. While DMKs Tiruchi Siva demanded that the Question Hour and Zero Hour be held, his party leader from Lok Sabha TR Baalu has acknowledged the governments efforts to keep everyone safe.
Several political parties had also asked for short-term discussions on key issues. Top sources in the government said it is likely to allow one such discussion per week, but the final call will be taken by the custodians of both houses. The government has also agreed on discussions on very crucial issues that have been brought to the notice through the course of their discussion with political parties, including the India-China issue, GDP, economy, COVID-19 crisis, the migrant crisis and so on.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament will commence from September 14 and will continue till October 1 with about 18 sittings, including weekends with each house in seating for a duration of four hours.
I am very pleased and honored to welcome Dr. Roy to the Caravan team. Dr. Roy comes to Caravan ready to lead our clinical strategy and products, all focused on improving care for patients and provider success, said Tim Gronniger, Caravan Health President and CEO.
Today, Caravan Health announced the appointment of Dr. Ashok Roy as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Roy is a practicing internal medicine physician with 20 years of experience in population health, health care consulting, and health care administration. He brings to Caravan an extensive background in improving patient outcomes and satisfaction while decreasing unnecessary utilization and health care costs.
I am very pleased and honored to welcome Dr. Roy to the Caravan team. Dr. Roy comes to Caravan ready to lead our clinical strategy and products, all focused on improving care for patients and provider success, said Tim Gronniger, Caravan Health President and CEO. He brings a deep expertise in how clinicians can connect operational, clinical, and business objectives in Caravan Healths population health programs.
Prior to joining Caravan, Dr. Roy served as Chief Medical Officer, Clinical Solutions & Analytics, at Lumeris. There, he led a team analyzing value-based payment opportunities and designing corresponding clinical programs. This role involved working with a variety of practices and clinics to implement the clinical programs and produce timely, accurate, and actionable dashboards to measure progress.
Dr. Roy also has a strong understanding of health markets beyond Medicare. He helped in the establishment of the Massachusetts Health Insurance Exchange and set up subsidies for low-income beneficiaries. Dr. Roy also led a multidisciplinary team studying best practices in treating soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq with traumatic brain injury and psychological health issues.
Dr. Roy received his medical degree from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and trained in Internal Medicine at St. Lukes- Roosevelt Medical Center in New York City. He earned his Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Hear from Dr. Roy and learn more about Caravans methodology for clinical excellence at the fifth annual Accountable Care Symposium. Learn more here.
About Caravan Health:
Caravan Health helps providers make accountable care work regardless of their size, location, history, or demographics. Caravan Health gives community health systems and providers a way to create more scale, drive more change, and generate more revenue. The 250+ health systems who have turned to Caravan achieved single-year savings greatly exceeding the national average. Health systems and providers across the country are using our proven population health programs to ensure better outcomes for their patients every day. With Caravan Health, now the numbers work. For more information visit http://www.caravanhealth.com.
MOSCOW -- When Yegor Zhukov exited the Moscow courthouse that ordered his release in December 2019 amid a groundswell of support for the popular student blogger and Kremlin critic, he was greeted like a celebrity by a throng of fans.
As reporters jostled for prime position to capture his speech and the crowd applauded and shouted his name, Zhukov pledged to continue his opposition activism against the government of President Vladimir Putin.
"This is all politics," he told those gathered. "They turned the courts into a system of repression. And we must fight it."
In the weeks and months that followed, the 22-year-old would become a regular fixture on Russia's independent media circuit, expounding on his libertarian views and pronouncing loudly and clearly his fundamental life ambition: to ultimately become president of Russia.
On August 31, as he returned home from another guest appearance on a political talk show, eyewitnesses say Zhukov was jumped by two men and viciously beaten in a dark alleyway near his apartment on Moscow's outskirts. It was the second attack on the opposition blogger in just over a month. "The first blow was delivered to the back of my head, it threw me to the ground," he later wrote in a Facebook post. "They hit me exclusively in the face."
A day earlier, he had posted a video to his 230,000 subscribers on YouTube revealing that he had been expelled from Moscow's prestigious Higher School of Economics (HSE) -- within 90 minutes of receiving an offer of admission from its graduate school of art and design.
Zhukov's backing for a wave of anti-government protests that rocked Moscow last summer elevated him to stardom in the opposition ranks -- but the day he left that courthouse in December would represent a high point in his career as a Kremlin critic. Though a free man, he was a convicted one too, handed a suspended three-year sentence for "inciting extremism" in the political monologues that earned him a sizeable online following.
His expulsion and beating come at a particularly fraught time for Russia's opposition movement, which is fighting for its survival against a relentless campaign of propaganda and legal prosecutions. Its most prominent member, anti-corruption crusader Aleksei Navalny, lies comatose in a Berlin hospital after doctors said he suffered poisoning by a substance that the German government on September 2 said belonged to the Novichok group of military-grade nerve agents.
Over the past year, the homes of dozens of activists in Russia have been raided by law enforcement.
Compounded by the political crisis in neighboring Belarus and ongoing protests in Russia's Far East, Zhukov's colleagues say the tense climate is only exacerbating popular discontent at a time when the price of challenging the Kremlin is rising.
"We definitely link what has happened to Yegor with his political activism," Yevgeny Ovcharov, the director of Zhukov's Team, his political organization, told RFE/RL. "Both the attack and the expulsion from HSE are part of a single chain that is called political persecution."
University 'Blacklist'
The crackdown also coincides with a controversial staff reshuffle at the HSE, part of a purported purge of opposition-minded teachers whose inception predates Zhukov's alleged expulsion from its graduate school.
Doxa, a student newspaper that actively lobbied for Zhukov's release last year, has been stripped of its funding and its license as a university organization. New rules introduced in January radically curbed the sphere of political activism permitted for students, banning them among other things from publicly listing their affiliation with the school.
Earlier this month, Russian media reported that HSE had not renewed the employment contracts of several teachers who had publicly expressed opposition views. In response, several of them announced last week the creation of Free University, a new institution with no campus that would offer free classes at venues including teacher's homes.
Roman Kiselyov, a political scientist and HSE alum, said he began a new job at the university in November 2019 but was fired after several days and told he was on "the blacklist of the FSB," the feared Federal Security Service.
"After six years of work and study at HSE," he wrote in a Facebook post, "your university, which shaped you as a person and which you love so much and promote at every opportunity, tells you that it no longer needs you because of you're politically unreliable."
RFE/RL was not able to confirm Kiselyov's claims about a political blacklist at HSE, allegations that have been made by other teachers and students. Valeria Kasamara, an HSE deputy rector and member of the ruling United Russia party whom Zhukov accuses of helping orchestrate the university's political purge, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But some in HSE's administration dispute those claims as well as Zhukov's account of his expulsion. Arseny Meshcheryakov, the director of its Art and Design Faculty, said Zhukov was offered a place on another study program but decided not to accept it. "I personally had this conversation with him," Meshcheryakov said in a statement attributed to him on the university's website.
Zhukov declined to comment for this article, telling RFE/RL through Ovcharov that he was preparing a new video address that would shed light on recent events and preferred not to preempt it. An investigation has been launched into the August 31 attack, and it has been widely condemned.
Ovcharov says Zhukov plans to continue his political activism undeterred, but he lamented the various restrictions placed on him since his December conviction and said his expulsion and assault have only compounded his pariah status.
"It's clear that they're trying to prevent this person's access to everything," he said of the Russian authorities. "He can't run for office, he can't have bank accounts, he can't get an education, and now it seems he can't even leave home alone."
At the end of his August 30 video -- less than 24 hours before he was attacked outside his home -- Zhukov made clear his views about the situation in which his public criticism of the government had placed him.
"You made me into a criminal," he said in a message to the Kremlin. "And now you're barring my access to an education."
Why are you acting like this?
Thats what an exasperated police officer said to Mathias Ometu the afternoon of Aug. 25, after Ometu repeatedly refused to comply with officer requests for his name and date of birth.
Ometus response was simultaneously cryptic and clear.
Why do you think?
Ometu, 33, had done nothing wrong. The insurance adjuster had gone out for a jog on the Northwest Side and been stopped by police. He had no criminal record and no legal obligation to provide identifying information to the officers.
Just like Ometu, the cops had a good, thoroughly justifiable reason for being on Woodstone Drive that afternoon. They were responding to a call from a woman who said her ex-husband had punched and choked her. They were working from a description of a suspect who had left on foot: a bearded Black man wearing a green T-shirt.
Ometu fit that description. But he was the wrong man.
By the time the officers figured that out, they had cuffed Ometu and spent nearly two minutes forcing him into the back of a squad car while he screamed, Youre choking me!
This prolonged scuffle resulted in Ometu being arrested on two counts of assault on a peace officer and spending two days in jail.
Thankfully, on Tuesday, District Attorney Joe Gonzales dismissed the charges against Ometu. Gonzales noted that the two involved officers shared his view that Ometu should not incur any future consequences as a result of this decision.
Gonzales described the encounter as a case of competing interests, a clash between officers fulfilling their duty to investigate a crime and an innocent man who did not want to answer their questions.
Police Chief William McManus called it an unfortunate situation, but added that the officers were only doing their jobs.
Calling it an unfortunate situation feels a bit like a reference to bad weather, something that was unpleasant but couldnt be avoided. It doesnt feel like a satisfactory response to this incident.
For the sake of future Mathias Ometus, we should all be asking ourselves: How did an encounter between an innocent man and two officers working to bring an alleged domestic abuser to justice go so wrong?
For one thing, its clear the officers who detained Ometu gave no serious thought to the implications behind his question: Why do you think?
To grow up Black in this country is to know that a seemingly routine encounter with police officers can get dangerous in a hurry. Its a lesson Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Eric Garner, among others, learned the hard way.
Its hardly surprising that when officers insisted Ometu get inside the squad car, he said he just wanted to lay on the grass until things got sorted out.
Keep in mind that only six months ago, another young Black man in this country went out jogging and found himself being pursued for a crime he didnt commit.
Ahmaud Arbery was gunned down in South Georgia by white vigilantes. Two and a half months passed before arrests were made in the case and only after national media attention brought necessary shame to law enforcement officials.
To be sure, Ometu should have cooperated with SAPD. Its likely the situation wouldnt have escalated had he been willing to provide the information the officers requested.
At the same time, the officers (one of whom is Black) should have understood the baggage that comes with these types of encounters; recognized the distrust that history has created.
In this case, Ometu responded to the officers with annoyance and disdain, but he didnt try to run away when they questioned him. After Ometu told officers he had no information to give them, they moved in to handcuff him, an abrupt move that dramatically raised the temperature of the encounter.
A subsequent call between officer Richard Serna and an officer at the victims house got more identifying information on the suspect. This exchange should have provided a strong indication that Ometu was not the suspect.
Ometu had a shaved head and a long, thick James Harden beard, while the actual suspect, Darren Anthony Smith Jr., had a full head of hair and a thin mustache with a bit of stubble on his chin.
Serna, however, brushed aside the obvious beard discrepancy, a response that led to an uncooperative Ometu being shoved into the squad car. Thats when tension turned into violence.
To be fair to the officers, circumstances also worked against them.
At one point, the police made a conciliatory gesture toward Ometu by putting on new handcuffs that would allow him more mobility, but the officer inadvertently ended up hurting him in the process. The officers also found themselves stymied by the fact the victim couldnt initially make it to the scene because she had two small children at home with her.
Its true, as McManus said Tuesday, that the officers were doing their jobs. Its important and essential work.
But if were going to truly achieve police reform in this country, we have to recognize that the job also requires an ability to de-escalate tense situations. And thats where these officers could have done better.
Gilbert Garcia is a columnist covering the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Gilbert, become a subscriber. ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
After regaling fans all over the world in four fantastic Bond films, its time for Daniel Craigs one last dance as he makes his final bow in No Time to Die. As fans wait with bated breath for the much-awaited release later this year, a new poster of the 25th installment in the James Bond film series has been revealed.
The poster shows Craig don the suave spy look. The poster comes ahead of the official trailer which is slated to drop on September 3.
The official 007 handle revealed the poster on Instagram, with the caption, Man on a mission. Check out the new poster for #NoTimeToDie, in cinemas this November. New trailer coming this Thursday."
The film will show Bond trying to enjoy retirement from service, but getting drawn back into action by the dual forces of discovering new information about lover Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) and a favour from old friend Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) of the CIA.
With a mysterious, dangerous new plot threatening the world, cooked up by Rami Maleks Safin, and Christoph Waltz Blofeld still hanging around (albeit in prison), Bond will need allies, both old (Ralph Fiennes M, Naomie Harris Moneypenny) and new (Lashana Lynchs fellow Double-O Nomi and Ana de Armas Paloma), to intervene once again.
With Cary Fukunaga as the director, No Time To Die is scheduled for a November 12 release in the UK, with the United States following on 20 November. The next trailer for the movie drops on Thursday, reported Empire Online.
Election 2020 Myanmars Ruling Party Vows to Reform Military in Election Manifesto
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, chairperson of Myanmars ruling National League for Democracy, attends the party's flag-hoisting ceremony at the NLDs Naypyitaw headquarters. / Thiha Lwin / The Irrawaddy
YANGONThe National League for Democracy (NLD) said in its election manifesto, released late on Tuesday, that it will work to make sure the militarys first duty is the protection of citizens and that it upholds the policies of the countrys democratically elected government.
In Myanmar, the military has long been involved in politics, staging sporadic coups and ruling the country for more than five decades: as a caretaker government from 1958 to 1960 and as a military government from 1962 to 2011. From 2011 to early 2016, the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party ruled the country, leading a quasi-civilian government.
Despite the fact that the democratically elected NLD government is now in power, the military still holds 25 percent of seats in the Parliament and three key ministerial positions: Defense, Home Affairs and Border Affairsa privilege granted by the military-drafted Constitution.
Furthermore, the Myanmar military is internationally renowned for its ability to make money by establishing conglomerates operating businesses ranging from banks to breweries.
There has been a lot of political tension between the NLD and the military over the past four years, especially over the governments refusal to call a meeting of the powerful, military-dominated National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) to discuss and decide national affairs. The military has also consistently resisted and rejected the NLDs push in Parliament to amend the Constitution.
The military has accused the NLD of attempting to incite enmity between the armed forces and the people through its efforts at constitutional amendment.
Under the subject of Defense and Security in the manifesto, Daw Aung San Suu Kyis NLD states that it would make the armed forces, or Tatmadaw, a trusted institution on which the people could rely.
While recognizing the militarys role in defending the state, it also pledges to develop the military in line with modern standards in terms of combat ability, and ensure that it is equipped with advanced technology.
NLD chairperson Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said in a message to the public included in the manifesto that national reconciliation has always been the partys top priority.
She said the party firmly adheres to the policy of nonviolence in the implementation of its objectivespreventing the re-emergence of an oppressive political system and establishing a democratic government.
Our journey towards democracy is unfinished, the chairperson said in the message, calling for the publics support.
The 34-page manifesto published late Tuesday features three main election pledges: to address ethnic affairs and achieve internal peace; a constitution that ensures a genuine democratic federal union; and sustainable development.
The NLD also pledges to protect the rights of ethnic people; to form a corruption-free government; to establish a fair and impartial judiciary; and to amend, repeal and rewrite the existing laws to be in line with democratic standards, in relation to ethnic affairs, as well as the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government.
The NLD contested the 1990 general election as well as the 2012 by-elections and the 2015 general election. It won all of them in landslides, taking office after its victory in 2015.
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Election 2020: The Week in Review
Climate change protesters said they are impossible for Boris Johnson to ignore as they began a second day of action in central London.
Hundreds of Extinction Rebellion (XR) supporters gathered in and around Parliament Square as Mr Johnson headed into the UK's House of Commons for Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday.
Activists carried banners, banged drums and chanted as many spilled outside the stipulated protest area and blockaded Great George Street.
Crowds cheered in solidarity with those arrested by police for refusing to heed warnings that they would be detained if they did not move.
Others appeared to let their bodies go limp or simply looked away as police warned them to move within the protest area outside Parliament.
XR spokesperson Tamsin Omand, 35, from London, told the PA news agency that protesters wanted the British Prime Minister to see and hear their action.
Mx Omand said: The climate and ecological emergency has to be the absolute priority how we are going to transform society into one that is fit for the crises we are already experiencing and the ones coming down the road.
We are seeing a Parliament that has failed on every count Boris Johnson wasnt even around for the first Cobras (of the coronavirus pandemic), so if that is the attitude he is going to take to the climate and ecological emergency we are in dire straits.
Disruption is a core tenet of how XR works and how we have managed to achieve so much in a short period of time.
We have been outside Downing Street blocking his route on both sides and of course hes encountering us here in the square I think we are impossible to ignore.
They added: Our message to Boris Johnson is that hes really the last Prime Minister who can do something, that can take the action required to set us on a new course. Hes got a new son he needs to think what the world will look like in 20 years.
Fellow XR supporter Andrew Stevenson, a 44-year-old consultant surgeon from Somerset, said he felt compelled to join the protest.
He said: Ive been a doctor for 20 years, I qualified from Guys and St Thomas Hospital that sits directly opposite Parliament, and if you told me 20 years ago that I would be doing what Im doing now non-violent direct action to try and get the Government to act in a reasonable way to the threat of the climate and ecological emergency I would have told you Thats crazy, of course they have that in hand. They dont.
Every day doctors and healthcare professionals use science if we dont do that its negligence.
We have a duty to keep our knowledge up to date, treat our patients as best we can. What we have now is a situation whereby the science has been crystal clear for decades yet weve had decades of inaction.
The Metropolitan Police said 160 arrests were made, as of 11pm on Tuesday, for offences including breaching public order conditions, obstructing the highway, obstructing police and assault on an emergency worker.
Further protests are planned around the country during the rest of this week and into next.
Last year, more than 1,700 arrests were made during Extinction Rebellions 10-day Autumn Uprising, which saw major disruption across the UK.
Imperial Valley News Center
Presidential Message on National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, 2020
Washington, DC - During National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, the First Lady and I join all Americans in remembering the loved ones lost to this terrible disease and in raising awareness of the common signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer. We extend our full support to those battling this disease, and we resolve to continue working to find new treatments and methods of care to defeat it.
For the more than 20,000 American women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, early detection is critical. Regular medical checkups and knowing the factors that place women at an increased risk for this disease, including age and family medical history, are important steps every American can take to help save lives. Additionally, awareness of certain common symptoms, like bloating, pelvic pain, and difficulty eating or urinating, can facilitate a potentially life-saving early diagnosis.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 14,000 American women will lose their battle with ovarian cancer in 2020 alone. This tragedy strikes to the very core of our country, and my Administration remains committed to taking every available step to improve quality of care and increase access to treatment for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Since taking office, I have led a historic effort to cut regulations at a record pace to allow faster development of drugs and treatments, and in 2018 I signed Right to Try legislation, which expands access to potentially life-saving drugs. We will continue to cut regulations and put power in the hands of patients to choose the care that is best for them.
The First Lady joins me in sending our prayers to all those battling ovarian cancer. As one Nation, we will continue working toward a cure and secure a brighter, healthier future for all of our treasured mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Milan, Italy Wed, September 2, 2020 19:07 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c424737c 2 Lifestyle Italy,Milan,fashion,valentino Free
Italian fashion house Valentino announced Tuesday it is giving the catwalks of Paris a skip this month because of the coronavirus pandemic, instead presenting its new spring and summer collection in Milan.
For years a regular at the Paris Fashion Week, the designer brand cited the "unprecedented times" brought about by the coronavirus pandemic for the change of venue.
Paris officials earlier this week ruled face masks compulsory as France recorded its highest number of infections since early May.
"In the current scenario, we need to make decisions in advance to protect our first resources, our people, and to allow our brand to remain relevant in exploring alternative opportunities," Valentino chief executive Jacopo Venturini said.
"This is why we feel that it would be more ethical to produce the new show in Italy, in Milano," he said in a press release.
Read also: Valentino takes haute couture to the circus in Rome show
"Paris is the city that always hosted our shows and represents the DNA of Valentino," added creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli.
"The current situation has forced us to take an unusual decision," he said.
The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 840,000 worldwide has also turned the fashion industry upside-down, with virtual fashion weeks held for the first time in London, Milan and Paris in June and July.
Topics : Italy Milan fashion valentino
Newsfrom Japan
Tokyo, Sept. 2 (Jiji Press)--Toyo Engineering Corp. <6330> said Wednesday it has received an order to build a large-scale biomass power plant in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo.
Under the order estimated at around 30 billion yen, the plant, with a power generation capacity of 75,000 kilowatts, is scheduled to be completed in 2023.
The Japanese company will start construction in 2021. A unit of Tokyo Gas Co. <9531> plans to acquire the project from an investment fund in mid-September.
The construction of renewable energy-related plants is one of Toyo Engineerings key businesses.
We aim to get several more orders for biomass power plants within this fiscal year, a company official said.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
CHATHAM The town has raked in a $295,000 grant from the Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council to help design a new shellfish upweller facility at Stage Harbor.
The grant will fund the next phase of engineering for the upweller and multi-use waterfront facility at 90 Bridge St. The funds will cover designs, permitting and bid document preparation for the projected $3.4 million project.
The final plans must be endorsed by the board of selectmen, and the town will seek additional grants to help cover the actual construction costs. Absent that money, the project will be funded under an existing waterfront bond authorization already approved by town meeting.
An initial version of the plan was rejected by selectmen as being too ambitious and expensive, and the project team scaled it down to its current form.
That plan was then endorsed by the board, Coastal Resources Director Ted Keon said. The facility will include an upweller building on a pier next to the Mitchell River drawbridge, surrounded by a deck where visitors will be able to fish, along with gangways leading to a floating dock. The existing timber pier on the property would be expanded and would include a gangplank to an additional floating dock, and all the floats and docks will be fully accessible by people with disabilities. A public restroom with a composting toilet is also included in the project. The plan for the site was endorsed by the towns water-related advisory committees.
While the facility could be used by commercial fishermen, thats only one of its purposes, Keon said.
The original goal was to provide a waterfront access for mixed municipal and public uses, and a chief purpose was to provide a new upweller, he said. Used to grow shellfish from seed, the towns upweller is the central piece of equipment in it shellfish propagation program, which supports Chathams robust commercial and recreational shellfishery. In 2017, the commercial wholesale value of shellfish in Chatham topped $5 million.
The current upweller is located underneath the harbormasters office at Old Mill Boat Yard, and is at full capacity with no room for expansion. Since power outages can cause the juvenile shellfish to die, a generator needs to be on standby at all times, but there is no permanent generator at Old Mill Boat Yard. The intakes where salt water is pumped into the system are located close to where boaters fuel, pump out and wash down their vessels, and any pollution pumped into the system could be disastrous to the growing shellfish, officials say.
Proponents say a new upweller at 90 Bridge St. will provide better water quality, which will keep the shellfish safe and give them the opportunity to grow to their maximum size. The new building will provide better viewing of the operation by the public, and a safer work environment for town staff, and it will share a generator that will be used to power the adjacent drawbridge during outages.
Having earlier submitted a detailed application, town officials pitched the project to the states Seaport Economic Council last week, and learned that $295,000 had been approved. Building on the preliminary engineering and designs done last summer, the funds will be used to pay for a final design, as well as permitting and the preparation of documents necessary to bid the project.
Any final plan would ultimately go back to the board of selectmen for final support and approval, Keon said. It will be up to the board to decide whether to proceed with the project, which is expected to cost around $3.4 million though an exact price wont be known until bids are returned. Initially, the job was estimated to cost $2.09 million, but that was a rough ballpark estimate, Health and Natural Resources Director Robert Duncanson told the board in June. When the design was refined, it became clear that a bulkhead would need to be installed, which will cost up to $1 million. Given cost escalations from 2019, the $3 million estimate now stands at $3.4 million.
Because it involves some dredging, and because the new upweller pier will be a new license application rather than the expansion of an existing license, the permitting process is expected to be a lengthy one, Keon said. If all goes according to plan, construction could theoretically begin a year from now.
I think thats optimistic, just given the permitting phase, Keon said. A more realistic time frame would likely have construction starting in the fall of 2022.
Until then, the parcel will remain as-is.
Its been very actively used, Keon said. Its quite popular. Anglers use the existing dock for fishing, and commercial fishermen and shellfishermen have also used the space for unloading their catch. The goal of this project is to make the site as user-friendly as possible and expand opportunities, he said.
A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take away everything that you have.Anonymous
Have you noticed that the governments answer to every problem is more governmentat taxpayer expenseand less individual liberty?
The Great Depression. The World Wars. The 9/11 terror attacks. The COVID-19 pandemic.
Every crisismanufactured or otherwisesince the nations early beginnings has become a make-work opportunity for the government to expand its reach and its power at taxpayer expense while limiting our freedoms at every turn.
Indeed, the history of the United States is a testament to the old adage that liberty decreases as government (and government bureaucracy) grows. To put it another way, as government expands, liberty contracts.
To the police state, this COVID-19 pandemic has been a huge boon, like winning the biggest jackpot in the lottery. Certainly, it will prove to be a windfall for those who profit from government expenditures and expansions.
Given the rate at which the government has been devising new ways to spend our money and establish itself as the solution to all of our worldly problems, this current crisis will most likely end up ushering in the largest expansion of government power since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
This is how the emergency state operates, after all.
From 9/11 to COVID-19, we the people have acted the part of the helpless, gullible victims desperately in need of the government to save us from whatever danger threatens. In turn, the government has been all too accommodating and eager while also expanding its power and authority in the so-called name of national security.
As chief correspondent Dan Balz asks for The Washington Post, Government is everywhere now. Where does it go next?
When it comes to the power players that call the shots, there is no end to their voracious appetite for more: more money, more power, more control.
This expansion of government power is also increasing our federal debt in unprecedented leaps and bounds. Yet the government isnt just borrowing outrageous amounts of money to keep the country afloat. Its also borrowing indecent sums to pay for programs it cant afford.
The governments primary response to this COVID-19 pandemicflooding the market with borrowed money in the amount of trillions of dollars for stimulus payments, unemployment insurance expansions, and loans to prop up small businesses and to keep big companies afloathas pushed the country even deeper in debt.
By the country, I really mean the taxpayers. And by the taxpayers, its really future generations who will be shackled to debt loads they may never be able to pay back.
This is how you impoverish the future.
Democrats and Republicans alike have done this.
Without fail, every president within the last 50 years has expanded the nations debt. When President Trump took office on January 20, 2017, the national debtthe amount the federal government has borrowed over the years and must pay backwas a whopping $19.9 trillion. Despite Trumps pledge to drain the swamp and eliminate the debt, the federal debt is now approaching $27 trillion and is on track to surpass $78 trillion by 2028.
For many years now, economists have warned that economic collapse would be inevitable if the national debt ever surpassed the size of the U.S. economy. The government passed that point in June 2020 and has yet to put the brakes on its spending.
In fact, the Federal Reserve just keeps printing more money in order to prop up the economy and float the debt.
At some point, somethings got to give.
As it now stands, the U.S. is among the most indebted countries in the world.
Almost a third of the $27 trillion national debt is owed to foreign entities such as Japan and China.
Most of the debt, however, is owed to the public.
How is this even possible? Essentially, its a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
First, the government requires taxpayers to pay a portion of their salaries to the Social Security Trust Fund. The government then turns around and borrows from Social Security to cover its spending needs. Then the government raises taxes or prints more money in order to pay out whatever is needed to the retirees.
Its a form of convoluted economics that only makes sense to government bureaucrats looking to make a profit off the backs of the taxpayers.
According to the U.S. Debt Clock, each taxpayers share of the national debt is $214,000 and growing.
Thats almost five times more than the median income for what Americans earn in a year. Thats also almost five times more than the average American has in savings, across savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, call deposit accounts, and prepaid cards. Almost 60% of Americans are so financially strapped that they dont have even $500 in savings and nothing whatsoever put away for retirement.
Just the interest that must be paid on the national debt every year is $338 billion and growing. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the fastest growing item in the budget over the next decade will be interest on the debt.
As the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget reported in 2019, before COVID spending pushed the country over the fiscal cliff, Interest payments will rise from $325 billion last year to $928 billion by 2029, a nearly threefold increase. If tax cuts and spending increases are extended, interest will exceed $1 trillion and set a new record as a share of the economy. The federal government will spend more on interest than on Medicaid or children by 2020. By 2024, interest will match defense spending.
Bottom line: The U.S. governmentand that includes the current administrationis spending money it doesnt have on programs it cant afford, and we the taxpayers are the ones who will have to pay for it.
As financial analyst Kristin Tate explains, When the government has its debt bill come due, all of us will be on the hook.
Despite the tax burden we the people are made to bear, we have no real say in how the government runs, or how our taxpayer funds are used, but were being forced to pay through the nose, anyhow.
We have no real say, but that doesnt prevent the government from fleecing us at every turn and forcing us to pay for endless wars that do more to fund the military industrial complex than protect us, pork barrel projects that produce little to nothing, and a police state that serves only to imprison us within its walls.
All the while the government continues to do whatever it wantslevy taxes, rack up debt, spend outrageously and irresponsiblywith little thought for the plight of its citizens.
This brings me to a curious point: what the future will look like ten years from now, when the federal debt is expected to surpass $78 trillion, an unsustainable level of debt that will result in unprecedented economic hardship for anyone that does not belong to the wealthy elite.
Interestingly enough, that timeline coincides with the governments vision of the future as depicted in a Pentagon training video created by the Army for U.S. Special Operations Command.
According to the video, the government is anticipating trouble (read: civil unrest), which is code for anything that challenges the governments authority, wealth and power, and is grooming its armed forces (including its heavily armed federal agents) accordingly to solve future domestic political and social problems.
The training video, titled Megacities: Urban Future, the Emerging Complexity, is only five minutes long, but it provides a chilling glimpse of what the government expects the world to look like in 2030, a world bedeviled by criminal networks, substandard infrastructure, religious and ethnic tensions, impoverishment, slums, open landfills, over-burdened sewers, a growing mass of unemployed, and an urban landscape in which the prosperous economic elite must be protected from the impoverishment of the have nots.
And then comes the kicker.
Three-and-a-half minutes into the Pentagons dystopian vision of a world of Robert Kaplan-esque urban hellscapes brutal and anarchic supercities filled with gangs of youth-gone-wild, a restive underclass, criminal syndicates, and bands of malicious hackers, the ominous voice of the narrator speaks of a need to drain the swamps.
Drain the swamps.
Surely, weve heard that phrase before?
Ah yes.
Emblazoned on t-shirts and signs, shouted at rallies, and used as a rallying cry among Trump supporters, drain the swamp became one of Donald Trumps most-used campaign slogans.
Far from draining the politically corrupt swamps of Washington DC of lobbyists and special interest groups, however, the Trump Administration has further mired us in a sweltering bog of corruption and self-serving tactics.
Funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Now the government has adopted its own plans for swamp-draining, only it wants to use the military to drain the swamps of futuristic urban American cities of noncombatants and engage the remaining adversaries in high intensity conflict within.
And who are these noncombatants, a military term that refers to civilians who are not engaged in fighting during a war?
They are, according to the Pentagon, adversaries.
They are threats.
They are the enemy.
They are people who dont support the government, people who live in fast-growing urban communities, people who may be less well-off economically than the government and corporate elite, people who engage in protests, people who are unemployed, people who engage in crime (in keeping with the governments fast-growing, overly broad definition of what constitutes a crime).
In other words, in the eyes of the U.S. military, noncombatants are American citizens a.k.a. domestic extremists a.k.a. enemy combatants who must be identified, targeted, detained, contained and, if necessary, eliminated.
Funny how closely fact tracks fiction these days.
Just recently, in fact, I re-watched Escape from L.A., John Carpenters 1996 post-apocalyptic action film that imagines a future (2013, in fact) in which the United States has elected a president for life who runs the country according to his own theocratic moral law. Anyone who runs afoul of the presidents moral laws is stripped of their citizenship and either electrocuted or deported to the island of Los Angeles, a penal colony where lawlessness reigns supreme.
As the films opening narrator recounts:
In the late 20th century, hostile forces inside the United States grow strong. The city of Los Angeles is ravaged by crime and immorality. To protect and defend its citizens, the United States Police Force is formed. A presidential candidate predicts a millennium earthquake will destroy L.A. in divine retribution. The earthquake measuring 9.6 on the Richter scale hits at 12:59 P.M. August 23rd in the year 2000. After the devastation, the Constitution is amended, and the newly elected president accepts a lifetime term of office. The countrys capital is moved from Washington, D.C., to the presidents hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia. Los Angeles Island is declared no longer part of the United States and becomes the deportation point for all people found undesirable or unfit to live in the new, moral America. The United States Police Force, like an army, is encamped among the shorelines, making any escape from L.A. impossible. From the southeastern hills of Orange County to the northwestern shore of Malibu, the great wall excludes L.A. from the mainland. The presidents first act as permanent Commander in Chief is Directive 17: once an American loses his or her citizenship, they are deported to this island of the damned, and they never come back.
Carpenter is a brilliant filmmaker whose dystopian visions of the future are eerily prescient, but this film is particularly unnerving: environmental disasters; engineered viruses used like weapons to control the masses; riots and looting that leave the populace longing for law and order; religion used like a weapon; martial law; surveillance that keeps every citizen under the governments watchful eye; and a growing awareness that the only path to freedom left for humanity is to shut down the government and start over again.
Were almost there now.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, unless we make some effort to reject the sorry excuse for representative government that we have been saddled with, the future that awaits uswhether its the future envisioned by the Pentagon in its training video or the future imagined by Carpenterwill be a living nightmare from which there is no escape.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser to the president, toured GMs Technical Learning University in Warren on Sept. 2.
Trump was accompanied by Deputy Secretary of Commerce Karen Dunn Kelley, GM CEO Mary Barra and other GM officials. Trump recalled her first visit to Michigan in 2017 and talked about STEM education, according to press pool reports from the visit. The event is one of several recent appearances by Trump administration officials in Michigan -- U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia visited Zeeland on Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue visited West Olive on Aug. 22 and Attorney General Bill Barr stopped in Grand Rapids and Detroit last month.
This is a continuation of what weve been doing in this space, focusing on investing in our most important resource in this country, which is our people, whether they be students or workers, as well see today, Trump said. This is something the president has been passionate about since the day he took office, championing the American worker and creating pathways and opportunities for the American worker.
Trump said there is a need for enhancing the skills of workers as technology transforms jobs, and GM has been key to that effort. Everyone at the event was wearing a mask and standing a few feet apart, according to the media pool reports.
The group toured the facilitys manufacturing laboratory and saw how automated machinery produces auto parts. Trump spoke to several apprentices from GMs assembly plant in Delta Township, as well as an instructor. Dan Leung and Zephirin Hunt led a demonstration of a safety module that ensures an automobile line is ready to produce, according to the pool reporting.
Hunt was a temporary worker at a GM plant in Flint and Leung has been working at GM in Delta Township for 27 years. Trump also asked the apprentices about their backgrounds and what they want to do in 15 years.
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It was a trip Herbert Dow will never forget.
As a soldier in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the Second World War, Dow and his fellow seamen worked to save as many men as they could from the frigid waters of the Atlantic.
The 100-year-old veteran from Saskatoon was one of many allied servicemen who helped bring an end to the Second World War.
"The first trip that we made we were in a major engagement," said Dow. "I have forgotten how many ships we lost. I think it was 10 or 12."
Like other reservists in the RCN, Dow was helping to convoy ships from Canada to Europe. Defending the North Atlantic trade against U-boats was an important naval role for Canada in partnership with its allies.
The submarines "just figured out where the convoy was going," said Dow. The U-boats sat down, waited "for the convoy to go over them, and then [they would] come up and then shoot."
Besides the threat of the enemy, nature was also a challenge for the seamen, who at that point were within sight of Greenland. The water was so cold that 15 to 20 men died even after being pulled onto the ship, Dow said.
"It was pretty shocking for most of us to find yourself dragging dead bodies over or trying to rescue people," said Dow. "If they weren't able to grab a rope, they were gone."
Saving lives
The 100-year-old also remembers moments of hope. One example involved rescuing a group of Norwegians from the Atlantic ocean.
"Nobody else happened to see them and I saw them rowing for Greenland," said Dow.
Source: Library and Archives Canada/Department of National Defence fonds/a134342
Greenland was about 10 miles away when Dow and his fellow seamen picked the Norwegians and brought them to Europe, he said.
"We ended up with pretty close to 100 survivors that trip."
Beginning of the Second World War
Dow grew up far away from the sea, on a farm in the middle of the Canadian prairies.
Born in 1920, he and his family lived through the depression of the 1930s. Like others, they depended on relief from the government to survive.
Story continues
"There was nothing," said Dow. "In the rural area they just put everybody on relief."
As a teenager he and his family moved from the rural municipality of Mayfield, about 45 km southeast of North Battleford, to Saskatoon. Dow finished high school in the city before enrolling at the University of Saskatchewan.
The Second World War started on Sept. 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. King George announced Canada's declaration of war nine days later.
"I went to university and struggled [with] what I was going to do," said Dow.
In 1940 he joined the reserve navy in Saskatoon as an ordinary seaman.
Time at the East Coast
Once training in Saskatchewan was completed, Dow went to Halifax. Vessels like corvettes were being built at the East Coast as part of the Canadian wartime shipbuilding program.
Source: Library and Archives Canada/National Film Board of Canada fonds/e008128299
Canada's navy wasn't large in 1939, but it expanded as the war went on.
In 1941, Dow and his fellow reserve soldiers went on their ships, which were originally built for around 46 people.
"They had pretty close to 90 men on them," said Dow. "There wasn't much organization. You kind of lived by your wits."
Source: Library and Archives Canada/National Film Board of Canada fonds/e000760097
When the crew went to shore, some of his comrades spent their time fighting and getting drunk, said Dow.
According to the Saskatoon veteran, every time they sailed the crew would leave "anywhere from three to 10" men behind, either in jail or in hospital with venereal disease.
"It was quite a turnover."
Submarines come to Canada's coast
As a torpedo man, Dow was in charge of firing the depth charges an anti-submarine weapon and also handled the electrical part of the ship.
He climbed up the ranks, first taking additional training for leading seaman and eventually becaming a naval officer.
"My choice was to stay in small ships because I hoped that I wouldn't be as seasick on them," said Dow.
He worked at different locations in Eastern Canada, while hostile U-boats brought the war all the way to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
One Christmas Eve, a German submarine came close to the gate vessel and blew up a ship. Theoretically the gates were supposed to keep submarines out of the ports, said Dow, "But this guy was just a few feet from the gate vessel."
End of the war
Dow missed the allied invasion of Europe and the D-Day attack because he had been sent to Orillia, Ont., to pick up a ship.
"It was hard," said Dow. "It was not a pleasant thing to be cut out of."
Submitted by Theo Dow
When the war in Europe came to an end in May of 1945, Dow was in Gaspe, Que., at the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
When the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Dow was back in Saskatchewan.
"It was a hot, hot day just exactly the same as it was this year," said Dow.
The Second World War officially ended on Sept. 2, 1945, when Japan signed the surrender documents aboard the USS Missouri.
Authorities in the north-central Vietnamese province of Quang Tri have slapped a local company with a combined fine of over VND300 million (US$13,600) for deforesting an area of more than 1,300 square meters.
The area is made up of both production and special-use forest in the Ru Linh forest area in Quang Tris Vinh Linh District, the provincial Peoples Committee confirmed on Tuesday.
Song Hien Tourism Service Trading Co. Ltd., which is based in Vinh Linh, was set to develop a nearly-100-hectare ecotourism project at a cost of more than VND320 billion ($13.9 million) in this forest area.
In February 2020, Song Hien sent equipment and employees to level the ground, open roads, set up fences, and flatten the edge of the Ru Linh forest along National Highway 9D.
The company also plowed a road that cuts through the natural forest and chopped down many trees within the boundary of the Ru Linh special-use forest without permission.
A joint inspection carried out by the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Planning and Investment, together with local authorities, found that Song Hien did not have a detailed plan or design for the ecotourism projet at the time of the deforestation.
It also lacked a construction permit and environmental impact assessment report.
The projects construction components were also done without permission from relevant agencies.
The provincial Peoples Committee thus fined Song Hien company VND200 million ($8,700) for deforestation.
In addition, the company has to pay VND113.6 million ($4,900), equivalent to the value of a crawler excavator which was used for the violation, to state coffers.
The firm must also restore the destroyed forest to its original state within 30 days from the date of receiving the penalty decision.
One driver and one security guard of the company were also fined VND5 million ($217) each for deforestation.
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Security guards working at a Melbourne quarantine hotel may have contracted COVID-19 after carpooling and working on the same floor, an inquiry has heard.
Eight security guards subcontracted by MSS Security tested positive to the virus while working at the Stamford Plaza hotel in mid-June.
About one in 10 cases of the state's second wave can be traced back to outbreaks at the hotel.
United Risk Management's director Mina Attalah told Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry on Wednesday he was unsure how seven of his guards came to contract the virus.
He said no 'obvious breaches' of infection control - such as entering a guest's hotel room - were identified.
Guards outside of the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Melbourne. Eight security guards subcontracted by MSS Security tested positive to the virus while working at the Stamford Plaza hotel in mid-June
United Risk Management's director Mina Attalah (pictured) said one of his guards carpooled to work at the Stamford Plaza hotel on June 14 with a Security Hub guard, who also tested positive to COVID-19 around the same time
In a statement tendered to the inquiry, Mr Attalah notes one of his guards carpooled to work on June 14 with a Security Hub guard, who also tested positive to COVID-19 around the same time.
'He wore a face mask during the car trip to work,' he wrote.
The Security Hub guard worked on the same floor as two United Risk Management guards who also went on to test positive to the virus.
'I am not aware as to the circumstances in which the remaining United guards who contracted COVID-19 may have contracted it,' Mr Attalah wrote.
'However, at the conclusion of the day shift on 14 June 2020, the three guards on that floor were replaced by three night shift guards (one of whom worked for United) and to my knowledge, all three of those guards subsequently contracted COVID-19.'
Mr Attalah disputed an earlier witness at the inquiry, who stated 70 guards were in one conference room and not socially distanced during a shift changeover that same day.
Security Hub director Ishu Gupta agreed with Mr Attalah, saying he 'doubted' that COVID-19 spread among guards from one meeting
Six guards from Sterling Pixxel caught COVD-19 while working at the Rydges on Swanston (pictured) in May. The guards were subcontracted by Unified Security
'There was not 70 people in that room, that room is no way capable of carrying 70 people in it,' he said, noting it was more likely 20 or 30 guards.
Security Hub director Ishu Gupta agreed.
'I doubt that that was one meeting that kind of ensured that the virus was spread,' Mr Gupta said.
Mr Gupta told the inquiry he only found out the first guard tested positive after he was passed on a Facebook picture of them at hospital.
Meanwhile, six guards from Sterling Pixxel caught COVD-19 while working at the Rydges on Swanston in May. The guards were subcontracted by Unified Security.
About 90 per cent of second wave cases can be traced back to the hotel.
One of the guards to contract the virus at the hotel, known only as Security 16 for legal reasons, earlier gave evidence that he had to ration personal protective equipment.
He said he had to hide his gloves and mask in his pockets on breaks while remaining out of sight of the hotel's security cameras.
Sterling Pixxel director Sam Aggarwal (pictured) said there 'never any issues' with PPE availability at the hotel - rather, there was 'plenty'
Guards were using towels at Crown Metropol as pillows for naps in the corridors and at the Crowne Plaza, and they were disposing of gloves in the toilets
Sterling Pixxel director Sam Aggarwal said there 'never any issues' with PPE availability at the hotel - rather, there was 'plenty'.
Security 16 also told the inquiry he worked as a food delivery driver while awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test.
'We told him to stay at home. We were not aware that he's gone out and done any work,' Mr Aggarwal said.
Sterling Pixxel guards were stationed at more than a dozen quarantine hotels, with Mr Aggarwal's statement revealing a number of complaints were made against them.
Two guards were involved in a 'scuffle' that resulted in the police being called, guards were using towels at Crown Metropol as pillows for naps in the corridors and at the Crowne Plaza, and they were disposing of gloves in the toilets.
At least 15 guards were sacked by Sterling Pixxel.
Greg Watson from Wilson Security will give evidence to the state's hotel quarantine inquiry later on Wednesday.
Of the handful of shows that have returned to the stage since coronavirus closed theatres, this musical version of the 1993 romcom Sleepless in Seattle starring former pop stars Kimberley Walsh and Jay McGuiness is the most ambitious and the most seemingly normal.
True, auditorium capacity at the Troubadour Theatre in Wembley Park has been reduced from 1,200 to 400, we wear masks and there's a one-way system to take us to the loo. But daily testing means that the cast are not noticeably socially distanced on stage; accommodation has been made with the constraints of a global pandemic, but this is still a musical as we know it. And a brand new one to boot.
All of which makes me want to hug the producers Michael Rose and Damien Sanders with pure gratitude; there is no earthly financial reason to persist in staging this show which was suspended at dress rehearsal stage. That they have done so is an assertion of their faith in the power of theatre to make people feel better, the capacity of love to conquer all, and worthy desire to show that it is possible to put freelances back to work.
There's much here to admire anyway. The show faithfully follows the story and the script of the Nora Ephron movie, about sad widower Sam (McGuiness), whose son Jonah rings a national radio show to make a Christmas wish for a new love for his dad. As Sam talks on air, from Seattle, women across America warm to his tenderness and his plight including Annie (Walsh), a reporter from Baltimore who is about to embark on an unsuitable marriage to her boss.
The plot is paper-thin, but full of an understated longing for the world to be better and to have a purpose. What Annie responds to in Sam is his ability to talk about love and to acknowledge feelings "I can't believe I'm so affected/A guy opened up/It's so unexpected"; her beau, on the other hand, has given her stock in the company for a Christmas present.
Jack Reynolds as Jonah and Jay McGuiness as Sam
Alastair Muir
With a book by Michael Burdette and songs by British duo Robert Scott and Brendan Cull the story is told with swish and flair. The score, beautifully played by a 12-strong band, is jazz-inflected and full of zip and sophistication, evoking the spirit of the musicals of the 1930s while keeping its '90s setting. Director Morgan Young's staging is equally sophisticated, with a revolving grey cube at the centre conjuring everything from Sam's Seattle houseboat to the Empire State Building where the couple finally after Jonah's intervention meet.
I particularly liked the details: the way that Ian William Galloway's video designs have the description of the architectural plans written along the top, in a nod to Sam's profession as an architect; how Sue Simmerling's costumes introduce flashes of colour into a desaturated world.
However, for all the cleverness of its writing and construction, the show never finds a big romantic song to express the feelings of its main protagonists. Or rather it does but it gives it to Annie's mum Eleanor, when she muses about how her husband said her name, which is terrifically and passionately sung by Harriet Thorpe.
In fact, all the best numbers go to the minor characters: there's a zesty song for three women who write to Sam after hearing him on the radio, and a clever duet for Jonah (impressively played at the performance I saw by Jobe Hart) and Sam's mate Rob (Cory English) in which they decide to take action. Tania Mathurin makes the most of some terrific, cynical lines as Annie's best friend Becky.
Walsh and McGuiness, on the other hand, are left with songs of indecision rather than action, of longing rather than fulfilment. Both sing beautifully, as you'd expect, and exude warmth but Walsh doesn't quite get to the root of Annie's desire for romance she seems a bit practical to behave so indecisively and McGuiness paints a better picture of frazzled fatherhood than he does of amorous lack of fulfilment. Yet both are attractive presences, and the entire show has style and class. I'm just glad it's there.
While COVID-19 has disrupted many industries, the citrus industry in South Africa has emerged resilient, with strong demand in export markets and strong potential beyond the crisis. To tap this growth potential requires complementary public investment in ports and irrigation infrastructure, and technical capacity to negotiate access to wider export markets on favourable conditions.
Demand for citrus in international markets has boomed under COVID-19 and prices have increased. For example, European prices for South African oranges in May 2020 were 7%-15% higher than a year earlier in euro terms, or around 40% higher in rand terms . The volume of citrus exports from South Africa also grew amid the crisis. They more than doubled in the first four months of 2020 compared to the previous year, accelerating on the long term growth trend .
As reflected in the Citrus Growers' Association membership, the industry is made up of established white commercial farmers who grow for the export market and a smaller number of small and medium-sized black growers. The association established a subsidiary body, the Citrus Growers Development Company, in 2003 to support the small and medium-sized black growers and drive transformation in the industry. These smaller growers accounted for 9% of the total 88,569 hectares planted by citrus growers in 2019. Similarly, of the 1,022,948 tonnes of citrus exported in 2019 , small and medium-sized growers contributed 8% to the total .
Increases in the production and exports of small and medium growers could boost foreign exchange earnings and create jobs in an industry which already directly employs about 125,000 workers, around 14% of total employment in agriculture.
Greater inclusion of these growers in the higher value export markets is key to sustained growth. Measures to support their inclusion include investments in on-farm infrastructure and to ensure compliance with standards for quality and health (plant and human). The requirements needed to reassure importing countries that they are not at risk of any pests and diseases are the biggest barrier for fresh fruit exports .
The benefits of digitalisation can be harnessed to lower growers' costs in adopting the necessary standards. For example, the use of blockchain technology through end-to-end data transparency allows all players in the supply chain to access historical and real-time data linked to the product, such as growing conditions, harvest details and transport history. A similar data sharing platform, Phytclean, was developed in South Africa in 2016. The platform captures, stores and reports data on registration and verification of orchards, and phytosanitary records for export certification .
Collective action by the industry and government is key to unlocking these opportunities to ensure that sustained growth stands on the two legs of inclusion and innovation .
Compliance and innovation
Citrus exports amounted to approximately R20 billion in 2019, up from R6.7 billion in 2010 (around 45% growth in US dollar terms). The growth in exports has been coupled with a corresponding increase in direct jobs in citrus farming from 56,902 jobs in 2009 to 125,000 in 2017, with many more in related activities .
Globally, South Africa is the second-largest exporter of citrus fruit after Spain, accounting for 10% of global exports in 2019 . As such, the citrus industry represents a success story of labour-intensive and high-value agriculture-led growth. This success requires research and innovation in what can be termed the 'industrialisation of freshness' .
If South Africa pursues wider export markets and supports the growing participation in exporting by small and medium growers then the fruit industry could create an additional 100,000 jobs by 2023. Changes in demand as the world comes out of COVID-19, with an increased emphasis on health, imply sustained stronger demand for citrus products.
Large farming groups currently dominate
The main exporters are large farming groups. This partly reflects the investments required to meet the demands and standards of export markets, with the costs of compliance being the responsibility of the exporter. Export requirements include registration and inspection of orchards and packhouses. This is to ensure traceability, good agricultural practices, conformity with product quality and labelling, and compliance with phytosanitary requirements to reduce the risk of quarantine pests and diseases.
Also, being competitive in export markets requires innovation through growing new and improved varieties.
To comply with the many export requirements, larger growers appoint administrators to keep records for compliance with standards and traceability of products. They also pay for audits by certification bodies to show they comply with quality standards .
The industry has developed the technical and science expertise to comply with the requirements for exporting. The challenge is how to include smaller farmers in the systems of exporting to high value markets through collective actions. There have been steps to do this. Seventy-six of the 123 small and medium-sized growers registered with the Citrus Growers Development Company are exporting (although this is largely to regional markets).
The majority sell to hawkers and municipal markets or alongside main transport routes. These markets are important and will continue to be supplied. But the opportunity for growth in value is in the export market.
How to support growers
Efforts to grow the citrus industry need to focus on widening participation of small and medium-sized growers in export markets. The state and collective action through industry associations are critical to achieve this, not least in the current COVID-19 period.
Small and medium growers face challenges that exclude them from export markets. These include:
production of poor quality fruit;
non-compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary standards;
a lack of irrigation water; and
a lack of on-farm infrastructure such as irrigation equipment, fencing and packing facilities.
Government and industry have put in place several initiatives and interventions to address the challenges. These include access to land and input grants. But support tends to be piecemeal. It is also not up to the level that is required by growers to be sustainable.
A focused collaborative approach between industry and government will go a long way to bring the necessary resources to bear to enable small and medium growers to grow exports.
The COVID-19 industry-led initiative to set up an Economic Transformation Programme for black citrus growers by pooling funds across public and private organisations is a huge step in the right direction . In addition, the interventions to fund orchard establishment, expansion and rehabilitation, on-farm infrastructure development and skills development will support small-scale growers beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
At an industry level, the government is addressing the challenges of aging and worn out infrastructure at the ports. This will enable faster movement of products through the ports and improved exporting processes. In March 2020, national rail operator Transnet bought new equipment for the Port Elizabeth and Durban ports. These investments need to be sustained beyond COVID-19 as port bottlenecks have been undermining South Africa's exports in the past 12 months .
These different measures constitute concrete steps to achieve a 'land reform for wealth creation' agenda for small and medium citrus growers, which can be a model for other crops to follow.
Simon Roberts has previously received funding from the Department of Trade and Industry for research conducted by the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development at University of Johannesburg.
Shingie Chisoro - Dube receives funding from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition for research conducted by the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development at the University of Johannesburg.
Namhla Landani ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possede pas de parts, ne recoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a declare aucune autre affiliation que son poste universitaire.
By Simon Roberts, Professor of Economics and Lead Researcher, Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development, UJ, University of Johannesburg And
Namhla Landani, Economist and Associate Researcher at the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development, University of Johannesburg And
Shingie Chisoro - Dube, Economist/Researcher, University of Johannesburg
Adventurous Australians are being warned not to fall for an 'unbelievably realistic' paddleboard scam, where the popular equipment is being offered for just $90.
ROC SUP Co. provides Aussies with high-quality, lightweight, inflatable paddle boards with prices starting at $600.
So when one keen online shopper saw a Facebook advert for up to 80 per cent off, she told Daily Mail Australia it felt like a no-brainer.
Usually careful with buying online, the shopper checked the slick website carefully, and saw it had a normal URL and thousands of positive customer reviews.
It was only after she had made a payment and received a 'dodgy looking confirmation email' that she realised it was all a scam.
When one keen online shopper saw paddle boards selling online for up to 80 per cent off at shop.paddle-boards-roc.com, she felt like she couldn't say no (pictured, the fake website)
ROC SUP Co. provides Aussies with high-quality, lightweight, inflatable paddle boards with prices starting at $600 (pictured, the real website)
'I've never fallen for a scam before, but this website was unbelievably realistic,' the scam victim told Daily Mail Australia.
'It's so slick, they've just copied the real company's website - even the URL looked legitimate.'
The 29-year-old lost $200 after ordering two boards online, only to realise her money was gone and she'll never be receiving the equipment.
'It just shows how easy it is to fall for these things,' she said.
'I realised straight after putting my card details in that I didn't get a proper payment confirmation, and an email they've sent looks dodgy.'
'God knows if I'll ever get my money back.'
The internet is littered with similar stories, as victims urged others not to buy from the scam site.
So when one keen online shopper saw a Facebook advert (pictured) for up to 80 per cent off, she told Daily Mail Australia it felt like a no-brainer
When comparing the real ROC SUP Co. website against the fake one, they look almost identical, copying every word on every page as well as pictures.
The fake website even has the same orange scam alert sitting at the top of the page and has an almost exact replica of the logo.
'Recently we have been getting reports of fraudulent advertisements being run on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media channels for our products,' the scam alert reads.
WARNING SIGNS FOR SCAMS: Be careful of online shopping sites requesting unusual payment methods such as up-front payment via money order, wire transfer, international funds transfer, pre-loaded card or electronic currency, like Bitcoin.
Never send money or give credit card or online account details to anyone you don't know or trust.
Research the seller online - the best way to detect a fake trader or social media online shopping scam is to search for reviews before purchasing.
Don't let anyone pressure you to make quick decisions. Take your time and consider who you are dealing with. Source: Scamwatch Australia Advertisement
'They are NOT legitimate or associated with us in any way!'
'We are incredibly disappointed to see that this is happening and we are working diligently to get them taken down. You can find our authentic boards here on our website or on Amazon but any other outlet is not authorized.'
The real ROC SUP Co. has asked for customers to flag the fake advertisements when seen on social media and reporting the purchase to payment providers for a chargeback.
But the scam alert is also on the fake website, easily fooling customers into believing it is legitimate.
An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia Scamwatch had not yet received any reports about the website.
A CBA spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the security of customers' banking details is a top priority.
'We invest in state of the art fraud prevention and detection technology and have a dedicated team who actively monitor unusual or suspicious activity,' she said.
'Another way we try to keep ahead of the curve is working closely with law enforcement agencies and other banks to share information and understand potential threats.'
While CBA understands scams and illegal activity may still occur, customers have a 100 per cent guarantee against online fraud where they are not at fault.
'Where there is fraudulent activity, our process is to fully reimburse our customers as quickly as possible to minimise inconvenience,' the spokeswoman said.
'If a customer notices an unusual transaction on their account, they should contact us on 13 2221 immediately to report it.'
One victim, 29, lost $200 after ordering two boards online, only to realise her money was gone and she'll never be getting them (pictured, the strange email she received)
When comparing the real ROC SUP Co. website against the fake one, they look almost identical, copying every word on every page as well as pictures
The ACCC suggests all consumers to be careful of online shopping sites requesting unusual payment.
The Scamwatch Australia website says that $4,120,843 has been lost just this year to online shopping scams.
There have been a total of 8,160 reports, with $499,792 lost directly from social media scams.
'Scammers use the latest technology to set up fake retailer websites that look like genuine online retail stores,' the ACCC website reads.
'They may use sophisticated designs and layouts, possibly stolen logos, and even a '.com.au' domain name and stolen Australian Business Number.'
The biggest tip-off is usually the method of payment - with scammers asking to pay using a money order, pre-loaded money card or wire transfer.
'If you send your money this way, it's unlikely you will see it again or receive your purchased item,' it says.
Survey results show that students are acutely aware of the threat that COVID-19 poses to their well-being, which prompts the question: As key stakeholders in any return to school plans, should students not have a greater voice in this discussion?. Daniel Tu-Hoa, SVP of Mathspace North America.
New research released today by Mathspace, a leading adaptive math platform, indicates three in four students are concerned about contracting COVID-19 this fall. The report also covers students sentiment towards remote learning and online tools.
Survey results show that students are acutely aware of the threat that COVID-19 poses to their well-being, which prompts the question: As key stakeholders in any return to school plans, should students not have a greater voice in this discussion? said Daniel Tu-Hoa, SVP of Mathspace North America.
While many experts and stakeholders are weighing in on policy decisions around schools reopening, students voices have been largely absent from discussions impacting their health and education.
Key findings include:
Students are concerned about contracting COVID-19 at school: 76% of students are concerned about contracting COVID-19 when school resumes in the fall. Students in states with a higher incidence of COVID-19 had greater concerns about returning to school.
Students and teachers share concerns about academic preparedness: 77% of students are concerned that they will not be academically prepared for this school year, and 89% of teachers shared similar concerns regarding students academic readiness for the fall.
Digital tools that provide scaffolded support are important for the modern math classroom: 47% of students feel that math is harder to learn remotely compared to other subjects. 50% of students feel they arent getting the same level of feedback and support on math questions while learning at home versus learning at school.
Students support the usage of online tools: 57% of students want to use more online tools when they go back to school.
Educator support is crucial: 74% of students believe online learning cant replace their teachers.
In the two surveys conducted by Mathspace, over 5,000 students and over 200 teachers from across the United States were asked about their experiences with online learning and their feelings about returning to the traditional education system. The report was created based on survey data collected between May and July 2020.
An important aspect of digital learning is the real-time support and teacher visibility that online programs offer; technology plays an important role in offering additional support to students when teachers may not be there, Mr Tu-Hoa said. We built Mathspace to closely mirror the one-to-one learning experience, with teachers being able to monitor students progress and address challenges as needed.
For the full survey report, please click here.
About Mathspace
Founded in 2010 with a mission to help all students excel at mathematics, Mathspace is one of the worlds most advanced adaptive math platforms. Mathspace closely replicates the experience of having a teacher sit alongside a student. What sets Mathspace apart from other math platforms is its StepSmart technology, allowing students to show their work and get step-by-step feedback for multi-step problems. This means that Mathspace can deliver timely and tailored feedback to support students at the exact moment of misconception, providing highly individualized learning support for each student. With a built-in textbook, diagnostic and formative assessments, and thousands of curriculum-aligned lessons and videos, Mathspace is an all-in-one mathematics resource. Mathspace is used by more than 250,000 students globally.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 2) The Philippine National Police will be forming an investigation team to look into the recent attacks in Kabacan town, Cotabato as well as reports of the alleged involvement of police personnel in the case, its incoming chief PGen Camilo Cascolan said Wednesday.
If that would be the case, we will investigate that. We will really come up with an investigating team that will look into that matter, Cascolan told CNN Philippines The Source when asked to comment on reports claiming that some policemen were involved in Saturdays midday road attack that killed nine people and wounded scores of others.
Local human rights officials have claimed that state forces may have had involvement in the so-called Kabacan 9 massacre, according to a Mindanao-based media outlet. Officials based the argument from a supposed dying declaration of one of the victims, it added.
READ: Probers still clueless on Kabacan massacre as officials call for sobriety
An initial police report said the victims were onboard their motorcycles and traversing the road near the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan town when unidentified gunmen carrying high-powered firearms blocked their path.
The suspects then fired a series of shots towards the motorists, resulting in the immediate death of eight victims. One was brought to the hospital but eventually died from the gunshot wounds, the police said.
Both the North Cotabato Provincial Police Office and the Bangsamoro government have earlier initiated separate investigations on the killings. The Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces is also asking the National Bureau of Investigation "to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation of the tragic incident and bring the perpetrators to justice."
TANZANIA, Tanzania - The U.N. Security Council will hold a high-level summit during the annual meeting of world leaders at the General Assembly later this month to discuss security threats in the world after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
Nigers U.N. Ambassador Abdou Abarry, who took over the rotating council presidency on Tuesday, told a virtual press conference Tuesday that the meeting of the U.N.s most powerful body will take place online on Sept. 24.
Abarry said the meeting on post-COVID-19 global governance in relation to the maintenance of international peace and security will address traditional security threats such as conflicts but also crime and pandemics as well as adjustments to the current international system.
He said Nigers President Mahamadou Issoufou, who will chair the meeting, is sending invitation to the leaders of the 14 other countries on the Security Council. Some countries, which he didnt name, have already indicated their heads of state will attend, he said.
Abarry said a key issue after the coronavirus pandemic is: Are we going to be able to structure a more resilient, a more just, a more fair world with less destruction of the environment among others, and that can enable and facilitate humanity to live in harmony, and with nature?
In recent years, the Security Council has held a meeting on a theme chosen by its rotating president for September during the General Assembly high-level meeting which usually brings thousands of people to U.N. headquarters in New York.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the high-level meeting will be almost entirely online.
U.S. President Donald Trump presided over a high-level Security Council meeting on countering nuclear, chemical and biological weapons during the United States presidency of the council in September 2018. Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, chaired Security Council meetings in 2009 and 2014.
Last year, Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presided over a ministerial meeting of the council on the contribution of three regional organizations that Moscow belongs to in countering terrorist threats.
Not too long ago, Democrats were touting the race riots and celebrating the destruction in America's bluest cities.
Today, they are calling them President Trump's fault. And that's quite a hairpin turn of narrative, done swiftly, in response to falling poll numbers, as if by some campaign strike team.
How is it they can shift so fast? We've never seen this in past presidential campaigns.
The best answer is that they control the press. The press is entirely corrupted. It's no longer a press; it's a Democratic Party campaign strike team of impeccable reliability.
Exhibit A is this brilliant column written by Amber Athey at Spectator USA describing the chronology. It's so good that she's on my radar now as an always-click byline:
After months of trying to spin the nationwide unrest as 'mostly peaceful' or ignoring it entirely, Democrats have discovered some fresh messaging: the riots are violent and they're Trump's fault. Joe Biden seized on this new storyline during a campaign speech in Pittsburgh on Monday, telling voters that Trump is 'stoking violence in our cities.' 'This president long ago forfeited any moral leadership in this country. He can't stop the violence because for years he has fomented it,' Biden asserted. This is one of the most dastardly and dishonest schemes the Democrats have ever cooked up.
She's right.
Her chronology is sharp, logical, and distilled. I'll give a backwards telescope summary:
The riots began as anti-police brutality protests in Minneapolis, following the death of George Floyd in police custody. Led by Antifa and Black Lives Matter, they spread to other cities, and then a second police incident in Atlanta led to additional destruction. After that, they became calls to "defund the police."
Protesters and rioters may have turned their sights on Trump because they view him as the leader of a broken system, but he certainly wasn't the impetus for their rage.
By July, these riots had become "peaceful" protests ("fiery but mostly peaceful protests," as CNN later put it by the time the riots got to Kenosha). It was against the evidence of their own camera shots of cities full of flames and shops smashed in a miasma of shattered glass that these claims were made. The cameramen risked their lives to get the fiery photos to grip viewers, and the narrative strike team simply denied that the violence was happening. Democrats followed suit, with Jerry Nadler calling any talk of violence in Portland "a myth," despite his own New York City he represents being looted in plain air. Seattle's mayor called it a "summer of love." Washington's mayor painted a "Black Lives Matter" banner across a major street visible from the White House, honoring the very people perpetrating the riots. These events became calls for whites to virtue-signal in ecstatic communion with the protests, while looters were routinely either ignored by police ordered to stand down or else let out after they were picked up, sending a message to other would-be looters that looting was good and nobody would be held accountable. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden's staffers contributed cash to rioter bailouts and encouraged others to do the same, because the police were such bad guys, it seems.
Corporations, hoping to be seen as woke, and more importantly, not the next target, announced big funds for Black Lives Matter and other radical groups perpetrating these riots. More riots and lootings followed.
Then the statue-toppling started, beginning with easy-to-topple Confederates but rapidly moving on to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Winston Churchill, and abolitionists of slavery. These are people who fought tyrants, destroyed fascists, and crushed slavery.
Democratic governors and mayors were explicitly offered National Guard aid by President Trump to put down the fiery assaults. Continuously, they refused. Looting, meanwhile, was openly defended by many on the left.
By the time this all got to voters, and voters responded by ending support for Democrats in the polls, the narrative had suddenly shifted. Democrats now say they're against violence. Pay no attention to the toppled statues and looter bailout funds. And to the extent that there is violence, the violence is all the doing of President Trump. Just Trump's existence makes radicals violent, they can't help themselves. It was no longer all about getting rid of the police, it was about getting rid of Trump, so the hairpin curve against violence narrative call went out.
How can they shift on a dime so quickly? It's because they have the press in their tree, their backseat driver, their obedient stenographer as they drive the political narrative. Journalism's changed since I went to journalism school, today the press is not the press, it's the public relations agency of the Democrats, unmoored by any guiding principle other than preserving Democrat power. They would not be able to shift narratives so quickly otherwise.
Here's the other thing: It's cynical. The Democrats are cynically assuming that voters cannot remember any news not 24 hours old. That's why they can say one thing one day and the opposite the next. They assume voters will remember nothing. The old 24-hour news cycle has mated with the 24-hour narrative turn.
That might explain why they're doing it, but it's not working. Voters can remember those calls to defund the police and those Democrats supporting looters just a few weeks ago, and now can see that they're being fed the claim that Trump did the riots. Trump had nothing to do with the riots, Trump exists, and they're reacting with violence. Normal people don't do that. As for Biden's sudden change of party line, well, as Sean Hannity noted on his broadcast, it's a day late and a dollar short.'
Were the press a collective body of any integrity, none of this would be possible. The Democrats would have to think their positions over before jumping in because the press would call them on it. The press is like a bus without brakes, and as it stands, it looks to be taking Democrats off the cliff.
Image credit: News2Share shareable YouTube screen shot, enhanced with FotoSketcher.
The world is one step closer to having a totally secure internet and an answer to the growing threat of cyber-attacks, thanks to a team of international scientists who have created a unique prototype which could transform how we communicate online.
The invention led by the University of Bristol, revealed today in the journal Science Advances, has the potential to serve millions of users, is understood to be the largest-ever quantum network of its kind, and could be used to secure people's online communication, particularly in these internet-led times accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
By deploying a new technique, harnessing the simple laws of physics, it can make messages completely safe from interception while also overcoming major challenges which have previously limited advances in this little used but much-hyped technology.
Lead author Dr Siddarth Joshi, who headed the project at the university's Quantum Engineering Technology (QET) Labs, said: "This represents a massive breakthrough and makes the quantum internet a much more realistic proposition. Until now, building a quantum network has entailed huge cost, time, and resource, as well as often compromising on its security which defeats the whole purpose."
"Our solution is scalable, relatively cheap and, most important of all, impregnable. That means it's an exciting game changer and paves the way for much more rapid development and widespread rollout of this technology."
The current internet relies on complex codes to protect information, but hackers are increasingly adept at outsmarting such systems leading to cyber-attacks across the world which cause major privacy breaches and fraud running into trillions of pounds annually. With such costs projected to rise dramatically, the case for finding an alternative is even more compelling and quantum has for decades been hailed as the revolutionary replacement to standard encryption techniques.
So far physicists have developed a form of secure encryption, known as quantum key distribution, in which particles of light, called photons, are transmitted. The process allows two parties to share, without risk of interception, a secret key used to encrypt and decrypt information. But to date this technique has only been effective between two users.
"Until now efforts to expand the network have involved vast infrastructure and a system which requires the creation of another transmitter and receiver for every additional user. Sharing messages in this way, known as trusted nodes, is just not good enough because it uses so much extra hardware which could leak and would no longer be totally secure," Dr Joshi said.
The team's quantum technique applies a seemingly magical principle, called entanglement, which Albert Einstein described as 'spooky action at a distance.' It exploits the power of two different particles placed in separate locations, potentially thousands of miles apart, to simultaneously mimic each other. This process presents far greater opportunities for quantum computers, sensors, and information processing.
"Instead of having to replicate the whole communication system, this latest methodology, called multiplexing, splits the light particles, emitted by a single system, so they can be received by multiple users efficiently," Dr Joshi said.
The team created a network for eight users using just eight receiver boxes, whereas the former method would need the number of users multiplied many times - in this case, amounting to 56 boxes. As the user numbers grow, the logistics become increasingly unviable - for instance 100 users would take 9,900 receiver boxes.
To demonstrate its functionality across distance, the receiver boxes were connected to optical fibres via different locations across Bristol and the ability to transmit messages via quantum communication was tested using the city's existing optical fibre network.
"Besides being completely secure, the beauty of this new technique is its streamline agility, which requires minimal hardware because it integrates with existing technology," Dr Joshi said.
The team's unique system also features traffic management, delivering better network control which allows, for instance, certain users to be prioritised with a faster connection.
Whereas previous quantum systems have taken years to build, at a cost of millions or even billions of pounds, this network was created within months for less than 300,000. The financial advantages grow as the network expands, so while 100 users on previous quantum systems might cost in the region of 5 billion, Dr Joshi believes multiplexing technology could slash that to around 4.5 million, less than 1 per cent.
In recent years quantum cryptography has been successfully used to protect transactions between banking centres in China and secure votes at a Swiss election. Yet its wider application has been held back by the sheer scale of resources and costs involved.
"With these economies of scale, the prospect of a quantum internet for universal usage is much less far-fetched. We have proved the concept and by further refining our multiplexing methods to optimise and share resources in the network, we could be looking at serving not just hundreds or thousands, but potentially millions of users in the not too distant future," Dr Joshi said.
"The ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic have not only shown importance and potential of the internet, and our growing dependence on it, but also how its absolute security is paramount. Multiplexing entanglement could hold the vital key to making this security a much-needed reality."
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The research received funding from the Quantum Communications Hubs of the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC), Ministry of Science and Education (MSE) of Croatia, and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). Collaborating institutions with the University of Bristol are the University of Leeds, Croatia's Ruder Boskovic Institute (RBI) in Zagreb, Austria's Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), in Vienna, and China's National University of Defence Technology (NUDT) in Changsha.
Paper:
'A trusted node-free eight-user metropolitan quantum communication network,' by Siddarth Koduru Joshi et al in Science Advances.
Notes to editors:
To arrange an interview with first and corresponding author Dr Siddarth Joshi and/or for more information, please email: sk.joshi@bristol.ac.uk. Interviews in English, Chinese, German, French, and Croatian are available on request.
A selection of images, including caption and credit details, is available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fPlyvjzgAPv766cKUtKC9mty6o9Eu0Cq?usp=sharing
(Newser) Breonna Taylor's name hasn't left the headlines since she was killed by Louisville police in her apartment on March 13. But her story hasn't been told quite like this before. In a lengthy piece for the New York Times, Rukmini Callimachi writes that for all the protests and coverage, "what happened that nightand what came before and after"hasn't been shared in depth. Callimachi contrasts that with George Floyd's death, which, unlike Taylor's, was captured on video. And so Callimachi pieces together the before, during, and after via dozens of interviews and a review of 1,500 pages of police records on the case. Two major focuses of the piece are the two men Taylor dated over the last few yearsKenneth Walker, who was with her when she was killed, and Jamarcus Glover, whom police were looking for and arrested elsewhere that nightand the role Louisville's months-old Place-Based Investigations unit played in what happened that night.
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The unit, formed in December, was to bring a new approach to policing: going narrow instead of wide by zeroing in on high crime spots and taking out their teeth, like "putting 'No Parking' signs along a street where drug dealers idle in cars." Among the unit's targets was Elliott Avenue, where murders occurred almost annually; 2424 Elliott had been identified as a drug stash house used by Glover. Over the next two months, a GPS device tracked Glover's car to Taylor's apartment; her car was seen in front of 2424 Elliot; and he collected packages sent to her apartment in his name. That led to her apartment being included when five "no-knock" warrants were signed by a judge in connection with Glover on March 12. Taylor would be dead less than 24 hours laterthough she had finally called it quits on her relationship with Glover the month prior. Her mother says Taylor started "writing goals on every scrap of paperjunk mail, napkins, envelopes." Writes Callimachi, "This was the year of big plans for the 26-year-old:" (Read the full story here.)
Glasgow, Sep 2 : Author Twinkle Khanna is currently in Scotland, and she recently stepped out to catch the new Hollywood thriller, Tenet, on big screen. The Christopher Nolan film features Twinkle's mother Dimple Kapadia in the cast.
The actress revealed that her mother is "so laid-back" that she refuses to do any publicity campaign around her new release.
"Finally saw 'Tenet' in the theatre and though my mother is so laid-back that she refuses to do any publicity around it, she has a wonderful part and is completely incredible," Twinkle wrote while sharing an image from the theatre.
The image features a visual of a scene in the film that features Dimple.
Twinkle went on to quote Variety about her mother's performance: "A sinister whisper network of international arms dealers emerges, with one of them, Priya (the wonderful Dimple Kapadia, in the film's wiliest performance) serving principally to coax the protagonist through the corridors of Nolan's storytelling." Nolan's "Tenet", also starring Robert Pattinson and John David Washington, has been described as "an action epic evolving from the world of international espionage". The film has been shot across seven countries -- India, the US, the UK, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, and Norway.
Twinkle is currently in Scotland with husband Akshay Kumar and their children. Akshay is filming his upcoming project "BellBottom" in the country.
-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 17:31:48|Editor: huaxia
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Photo taken on May 27, 2020 shows a container truck carrying Vietnamese lychees exported to China at Kim Thanh II International Border Gate in Vietnam's northern Lao Cai province, which borders China. (VNA via Xinhua)
BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Two months after 10 Chinese customs began an experimental supervision mode to boost B2B e-commerce export, 12 more customs were added to the pilot program on Tuesday by China's General Administration of Customs.
B2B e-commerce export refers to either direct export of goods from domestic businesses to overseas businesses by cross-border logistics based on their mutual deals over a cross-border e-commerce platform, or the export of goods by a domestic company to its overseas warehouse, from which the goods will be delivered to overseas buyers based on their deals over a cross-border e-commerce platform.
Compared with traditional export, e-commerce B2B exporters, starting from Tuesday, will be given support in various forms, including one-off registration, streamlined declarations, expedited clearance at lower costs, as well as prior inspection and customs transit at the 12 newly-added customs nationwide, including Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha, and Shanghai.
Between July 1 and August 30, the 10 pilot customs had inspected and cleared a total of 6.32 million batches of exported goods under the pilot program.
"Customs clearance time is shorter under the new mode, which helps avoid overdue returns caused by unstable international transportation," said Li Ou, general manager of a logistics firm in Chengdu, which is about to ship a batch of goods to the United States via cross-border e-commerce B2B export.
Aerial photo taken on July 17, 2020 shows containers waiting for customs inspection at Chengdu International Railway Port in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)
The pilot program will provide cross-border e-commerce B2B export enterprises in Chengdu, especially to micro, small and medium-sized ones, with more convenient channels, and help "made-in-Chengdu" products to enter global industrial and supply chains, according to the municipal bureau of commerce.
Also on Tuesday, 45 tonnes of clothing, shoes, daily necessities, and electronic accessories worth more than 2.5 million yuan (about 366,750 U.S. dollars), were declared to the Changsha Customs in central China's Hunan Province through the new mode and are being exported to the United States, Germany, Kazakstan, and other countries.
In Shanghai, local customs, taking into account the actual circumstances of small businesses, has introduced paperless processes of clearance for certain goods when a single consignment is worth less than 5,000 yuan.
Customs statistics showed that the value of imports and exports transacted online by cross-border e-commerce enterprises reached 604.4 billion yuan in the first half of 2020, up by 6.7 percent year on year.
Zhuang Rui, deputy dean of the Institute of International Economy at the University of International Business and Economics, said the number of customs agencies in the pilot program has more than doubled in just two months, showing the program is effective and helpful for enterprises.
"It also reflects China's accelerating pace of opening up and the world's increasing demand for Chinese products. The expansion of pilot program is a win-win move," Zhuang said.
Upcoming Netflix docuseries Bad Boy Billionaires has been embroiled in controversy with cases filed in at least two courts. The show is an investigative series on the rise and fall of Indias most infamous business tycoons like Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya who are accused in several money laundering cases.
Earlier, Bihar lower court had restrained the makers of the series from using Subrata Roys name. The Netflix then filed a plea in the Supreme Court against the order. However, the apex court on Wednesday refused to entertain the plea and granted the Netflix the liberty to approach the Patna High Court.
Dismissed. We are sorry," the bench led by SA Bobde said. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was appearing for Netflix, told the bench that several petitions pertaining to the web series are pending in various high courts and the apex court should transfer these matters to itself.
Mehul Choksi filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court terming the series a prejudicial to the legal cases pending against him and also to his reputation and goodwill."
Here is a brief about some of the faces that have emerged in Bad Boy Billionaires and the charges they are facing for money laundering and fraud cases.
Subrata Roy:
Subrata Roy is an Indian businessman and the Managing Worker and Chairman of Sahara India Pariwar. Roy and two other directors were arrested for failure of the groups two companies Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHICL) to comply with the apex courts August 31, 2012 order to return Rs 25,000 crore to their investors. Roy was sent to Tihar Jail by the apex court on March 4, 2014 and came out on parole after spending over two years in prison on May 6, 2016 to perform the last rites of his mother. He has been out of prison since then.
Nirav Modi:
Nirav Modi is a fugitive Indian businessman and diamantaire wanted by the Interpol and Government of India in money laundering case. He been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest in March last year and will remain remanded in custody until the start of the trial on September 7 when he will appear via videolink. He is facing trial in nearly USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case. In March 2018, Modi applied for bankruptcy protection in Manhattan, New York. In June 2018, Modi was reported to be in the UK and has applied for political asylum in Britain.
Mehul Choksi:
Mehul Choksi, uncle of fugitive businessman Nirav Modi, is accused in the nearly USD 2 billion PNB scam. On August 28, the Delhi High Court had dismissed a plea by Choksi to conduct pre-screening of Bad Boy Billionaires. Advocate Vijay Aggarwal appearing for Choksi argued on fundamental rights that Choksi is entitled to a fair trial and reputation and would suffer great injustice should the Series be allowed to stream with references to him and the legal cases pending against him. Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali Gems, and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. Choksi left the country last year and was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda. His plea for pre-screening was vehemently opposed in the high court by Netflix saying it was wholly misconceived and mischievous petition.
Vijay Mallya:
Vijay Mallya is another Indian fugitive businessman and is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. He is presently in the United Kingdom. The apex courts 2017 order had come on a plea by consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), which had said that Mallya had allegedly transferred USD 40 million received from British firm Diageo, to his children in flagrant violation" of various judicial orders. Mallya was also found guilty of contempt of court in 2017 for transferring USD 40 million to his children.
New Delhi: Popular VJ-model and host Shibani Dandekar took to her Instagram account and wrote a long post on how media is accusing the 'innocent' Rhea Chakraborty and her family in the mysterious death case of Sushant Singh Rajput.
She bashed the media for the 'witch-hunt and vilification of innocent family'. Shibani wrote in her caption: I stand with you and by your side always @rhea_chakraborty #justiceforrhea
Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14, 2020. After a two-month-long investigation by the Mumbai Police, the CBI took over the case in the month of August.
Sushant's family has accused girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty in late actor's death. The CBI investigation is in full swing and fresh developments are coming to fore every day. Meanwhile, drugs conspiracy and money laundering angles in the case are being parallelly probed by the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Enforcement Directorate respectively.
Last week, Google rolled out a new update for the Google Home app that included dark mode and improved smart controls. Now, the company seems to have flipped a server-side switch for bringing the controls of Nest x Yale locks to the Google Home app.
According to Android Police, the Google Home app users with version 2.27 can finally control their Nest smart locks without needing a separate app. Prior to this, the Nest smart locks were shown up in the Google Home app, but the Nest app was required for controlling them.
Nest x Yale smart locks can now be controlled with Google Home app
The features like scheduling guest access and history are only limited to the Nest app. Just like on the Nest app, the user has to tap and hold to unlock using the Google Home app. Moreover, there is no way to unlock these smart locks with voice commands.
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Google says it is restricting this feature because of security reasons. For example, no one can just shout from outside the window to unlock the door. The Nest smart locks already work with Google Assistant-enabled devices, including the Google Nest Mini and other smart speakers.
The app also shows the status of the lock on its home screen
There are also a few options to customize like the lock tone volume and enabling/disabling one-touch locking. But the Nest app is needed for changing anything else. From now on, the lock status will be displayed on the apps main screen which Google calls Home view.
The app also shows the unlock button when the smart lock is locked, and vice versa. With this update, this new UI change applies to the other linked gadgets as well. Before this, the app used to show both on and off buttons all the time.
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Also, the Google Home app shows whether the previously added lights and switches are on or off right on the home screen. When they are turned on, the lights with the gray icon will turn into a yellow color. On the other hand, the switches will turn green when powered on.
A similar UI change was first introduced in the Google smart displays in May this year. Both iOS and Android users can access these new features by updating their Google Home app to v2.27. Since its a server-side update, these changes will take a few days to show up on all the devices.
In this 2011 file photo, City Councilmember Robert Henon (left) and labor leader John J. Dougherty (right) talk during a lunch at the Palm Restaurant at the Bellevue in Center City. Read more
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a request from labor leader John J. Dougherty and City Councilmember Bobby Henon to throw out the political bribery case against them before it reaches a jury, dashing the hopes of both men for a swift resolution to Philadelphias highest profile corruption cases in years.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl sets the stage for Dougherty one of the citys most potent Democratic power brokers and head of the 4,700-member Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to stand trial with Henon, the unions former political director and onetime majority leader on Council, in coming months.
While Dougherty may challenge the sufficiency of the governments evidence at a later stage, the judge wrote in a 36-page opinion, the allegations as set forth in the indictment do not justify dismissal now.
Its been more than a year since federal prosecutors accused the men in a bribery scheme stretching back to 2015.
But while prosecutors have portrayed Henon as a crooked politician, swept into office on a tide of union money only to sell his Council seat in exchange for a $73,000-a-year, no-show union job, Henon has consistently argued that he never hid his connection to Johnny Doc or his union, and regularly disclosed his salary on ethics filings, as required by city ordinance.
State law allows Henon to maintain outside employment on top of the $140,000 he made on Council before losing the position of majority leader in 2019. His income from Doughertys union was no different than that of any of the other members of Council who also hold outside jobs, his lawyer Brian J. McMonagle has said.
READ MORE: Can a paycheck be a bribe? Johnny Docs lawyers say no, push to dismiss case involving Council member Henon.
Doughertys lawyers have pushed back as well, describing the pressure the labor leader exerted on Henon as nothing more than lawful lobbying on matters of interest to the union. Defense attorney Henry E. Hockeimer Jr. has accused the government of failing to explain how a salary Henon had been receiving for more than a decade before he was elected to Council suddenly became a bribe once he became a public official.
Schmehl rejected those contentions Wednesday, finding that the government had laid out a coherent bribery case and that a jury should decide whether the evidence supports it.
We respect the courts decision and understand the low bar [for an indictment] to survive a motion to dismiss, Hockeimer said in an email. We will continue to make these arguments, now to a jury.
Henons counsel declined to comment on the ruling.
READ MORE: Johnny Doc indictment: Whos indicted and what are the charges?
Prosecutors have expressed confidence in their ability to prove that both men knew exactly why Doughertys union continued to write Henon checks after his election to Council in 2011. They have described the paychecks as essentially a retainer to buy Henons influence on government actions that benefitted Doughertys personal and professional interests.
But the salary was just one item in a stream of benefits that government lawyers have accused Dougherty of providing over the years, a list that also included tickets to sporting events valued at more than $11,000.
The indictment in the case is peppered with instances of what the labor leader purportedly received in exchange.
READ MORE: Feds say Johnny Doc used Local 98s money to buy influence, power
The councilman, it alleges, misused his oversight of key city committees to shut down nonunion installation projects at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and to squeeze Comcast Corp. executives to assure that a company favored by Doughertys union received lucrative contracts tied to Comcasts renegotiation of its 15-year franchise agreement with the city in 2015
At Doughertys request, prosecutors say, Henon also squashed a 2016 audit of the Parking Authority that would have ascertained whether it could send more money to the Philadelphia schools, and convened Council hearings to investigate a company that towed the labor leaders car.
Doughertys lawyers have argued that in all of those instances, the government has failed to link Henons Local 98 salary to the subsequent actions he took. They also have contended that none of the actions described fits the legal definition of an official act as outlined in federal public corruption statutes.
But Schmehl flatly dismissed that argument Wednesday, pointing out that Henons votes, introduction of legislation and hearings, and threats to launch Council probes clearly fit the definition of an official act by an elected officeholder.
These acts are clear instances of Henon making a decision, taking an action or agreeing to do so, on questions, matters, causes proceedings or controversies, Schmehl wrote.
In addition to the bribery counts, Dougherty faces embezzlement charges connected to $600,000 prosecutors say he and six other members of his union inner circle stole from Local 98 between 2015 and 2018.
Henon has not been charged in connection with those crimes and has asked the court, along with the other defendants, to separate the bribery and embezzlement accusations into separate trials. Schmehl has not ruled on that request.
Both Dougherty and Henon have denied wrongdoing and said they have no plans to resign. They and their codefendants are scheduled to stand trial Oct. 26.
The quid pro quo premise underlying the social compromise known as workers compensation is simple: an employee injured at work receives no-fault medical expenses and wage replacement indemnity benefits and, in exchange, the employer is given protection from employee lawsuits and a statutory right to be reimbursed from the tortfeasor who actually caused the work-related injury sometimes referred to as subrogation. This is the employees exclusive remedy against the employer, who enjoys immunity from tort liability for the injuries. The exclusive remedy rule prevents injured employees from suing their employers and usually prevents culpable third parties from bringing a third-party action against the employer for contribution. Even though every state allows the employee to bring a lawsuit against third parties (persons or entities other than the employer or employee), workers compensation benefits are the sole remedy available to the employee. If and when the employee makes a third-party recovery, the employers workers compensation carrier is granted a statutory right of subrogation and/or reimbursement of the benefits it paid. If that were the end of the story, however, this article would not be necessary.
The exclusive remedy rule has been under assault since the mid-20th Century, with trial lawyers lobby groups and labor organizations arguing strenuously that courts and legislatures should craft various exceptions to the rule. One such exception which has become quite common is allowing an injured employee to sue the employer for an intentional act or assault by the employer or a co-employee against the injured employee. For example, in Louisiana, this exception was created by the Louisiana Legislature in 1976. La. R.S. 23:1032. In Texas, a cause of action for an intentional act is guaranteed to the employee by the Texas Constitution and cannot be taken away by the Legislature. Tex. Const. art. I, s 13; Castleberry v. Goolsby Bldg. Corp., 617 S.W.2d 665 (Tex. 1981).
Not all states took the bait, however. Many states still grant the employer exclusive remedy protection even when their actions constitute an intentional act or even gross negligence. Today, 43 states provide for an intentional act exception to the exclusive remedy rule. Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Rhode Island, and possibly Idaho remain states which do not allow an injured employee to sue the employer even if there is an intentional act.
In states where a tort action is allowed by the employee against an employer for injuries caused by an assault or an intentional act, a dilemma arose as to whether the employer or its workers compensation insurance company should be allowed rights of subrogation and/or reimbursement, such that it would effectively be receiving reimbursement for the workers compensation benefits it just got done paying, from its own insured the employer. Over time, some states began to allow such rights of subrogation and/or reimbursement, while others have not. In an equally large number of states, the issue has yet to be decided. It is important for claims and subrogation professionals to know such rights are available to the insurance carrier, and when they are not. The concept of allowing an insurance company to recover benefits it pays under a policy of workers compensation insurance directly from its own insured is perplexing, and seemingly in violation of the anti-subrogation rule.
The anti-subrogation rule is a long-standing common law defense to subrogation. It states that a subrogated insurance company standing in the shoes of its insured cannot bring a subrogation action against or sue its own insured to recover its claim payments. Sometimes known as the suing your own insured defense, the anti-subrogation rule was originally developed based on the logical premise that, because the carrier stands in the shoes of its insured, it would essentially be suing itself. Therefore, no right of subrogation can arise in favor of an insurance company against its own insured. Wager v. Providence Ins. Co., 150 U.S. 99 (1893). This seemingly simple concept has many tentacles and each state has developed their own bodies of law with regard to how and when the rule will be applied, setting forth numerous exceptions and rules regarding its application.
Notwithstanding the anti-subrogation rule, some states willingly allow an employer or its workers compensation carrier to seek reimbursement from a tort damage payment made by the employer its own insured as a result of an intentional tort or an assault committed by the employer. States such as California straddle the fence by allowing the amount of compensation otherwise payable to the employee to be increased by 50%, together with costs and expenses not to exceed $250, where the employee is injured by reason of the serious and willful misconduct of the employer. Cal. Lab. Code 4553.
In other states, such as Florida, the workers compensation carrier is allowed to seek recovery of its subrogation interest even out of a tort recovery by the employee against the employer. Jones v. Martin Electronics, Inc., 932 So.2d 1100, 1108 (Fla. 2006). States such as Idaho have not yet clearly answered the question.
Effective workers compensation subrogation requires a complete knowledge of all aspects of workers compensation law, and an aggressive recovery program must necessarily involve a carrier holding out its hand for reimbursement from an employer whose intentional acts caused the work-related injury. Knowing when and under what circumstances this can be done is an obvious necessity of successful subrogation.
A 50-state summary of the law regarding subrogating against intentional act claims against employers can be found HERE. It details the law in every state with regard to when and whether an employee can proceed with a lawsuit against an employer whose intentional act has resulted in a work-related accident. It also contains any available law or precedent with regard to whether the workers compensation carrier is also entitled to be reimbursed from such a tort recovery for its workers compensation lien.
Palestinian protester held during rally in the occupied West Bank in chokehold similar to one that killed George Floyd.
A video circulating on social media appears to show an Israeli soldier kneeling on an elderly Palestinian protesters neck while arresting him during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank.
Footage circulating on Tuesday shows an Israeli soldier pushing Khairi Hannoun, a 65-year-old Palestinian protester, to the ground as other troops raise their rifles and shout at a group of news photographers to back away. One projectile was fired, although it is not clear if it was a stun grenade or tear gas.
The soldier then wrestled Hannoun to the ground and kneeled on his neck and back while putting him in handcuffs.
Hannoun said he was with dozens of demonstrators in Shufa village near the occupied West Bank town of Tulkarem who were protesting Israeli plans to confiscate some 800 dunums (800,000 square kilometres) of the land to build an industrial park.
This is the world's most moral army violently arresting a peaceful Palestinian protestor today in the West Bank. #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/tu372ASHLv Alexandra Halaby (@iskandrah) September 1, 2020
The video shows Hannoun pushing an Israeli soldier after he snatched a Palestine flag from another demonstrator, setting off the scuffle.
The Israeli soldiers hit me hard and one of them pressed his knee against my neck for a few minutes, he told The Associated Press. I stayed still to avoid more pressure on my neck, but people pulled me out.
Hannoun said he suffered bruising but no serious injuries.
Local Palestinian forces said dozens of protesters suffered from tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces fired canisters in their direction and shot live rounds.
Khairi Khanoun seen during a protest against the planned Israeli industrial zone in Shufa village near Tulkarm, occupied West Bank [Anadolu Agency]
Palestinians and Israeli rights groups often accuse Israeli security forces of using excessive force to disperse Palestinian protests.
Those confrontations have come under heightened scrutiny amid the recent protests against racial injustice in the United States, as some Palestinians have sought to link their cause to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The US protests were sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody after a white officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes as he cried out that he could not breathe.
The Israeli military said the commander showed restraint after Hannoun resisted arrest. It said he was given medical care at the scene, before being later released.
The videos on social media are partial, heavily edited and do not reflect the violent riot nor the violence against [Israeli] troops that happened prior to the apprehension, the military said in a statement. It added the protesters had thrown stones and assaulted the soldiers.
The event will be looked into over the next days, it said.
It has been three weeks since United States President Donald Trump signed the executive order as a way of boosting the unemployment aid, but states are still struggling to implement the $300 federal supplement as a part of the unemployment benefits.
Despite the approval coming from the federal government for most of the states to set up the program, as of Friday morning, only six states were able to manage to pay out the money that was allocated and this includes Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Missouri, Texas, and Tennessee.
Each state has a September 10 deadline on deciding whether to apply for the initiative as it was financed with $44billion relief funds for disaster under the budget of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Fox reported.
For most of the states who were not able to start giving out yet, the additional government aid could probably go out in the middle of September or even later if not done organized.
Since the $600 federal unemployment benefit expired last month, the slow roll out on the Lost Wages Assistance program kept the pockets of millions of Americans waiting for the extra federal aid.
According to the Trump administration, an initiative coming from the state officials could expedite things for speedy relief to their constituents as they already sidestepped Congress on their end.
On August 10, Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury Secretary shared that most states will be able to deliver the aid in just a span of two weeks but as that time came and only a few states were able to distribute the allotted federal aid to the unemployed people in their respective states.
Read also: Residents Leave NYC After Homeless Were Housed in Hotels, Compromising Safety
According to Business Insider, policy expert at the National Employment Law Project, Michele Evermore shared that she would be incredibly nervous in making money as there is only a little guidance on it and it came so fast with very little forethought.
She also stated that the delay may be caused by the checking and the review done by the states as they made sure that they are making this move according to the law and she does not blame the state officials for that.
She also mentioned that the worst thing that could happen to the state officials is that a chunk of benefits already goes out and then you find out that there is something wrong with your procedure and you have to redo it.
Along with Evermore, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, Andrew Stettner estimated that the program will be providing aid to unemployed Americans for around six weeks. And about 28 million persons are receiving the benefits intended for the unemployed people which will be covering 305 to 50% of the wages that were lost.
Aside from the benefits program pushed by the Trump administration, state agencies are currently struggling as they are still processing huge numbers of claims every week.
On the other hand, state agencies were asked to work with FEMA about the new set up that they will be following which includes a new system, requirements, and additional rules to follow.
Related article: Trump Plans Relief Funds for Kids, Sparking Opposition from Democrats
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Perry Village government leaders are working on completing a list of proposed services, purchases and improvements that could be paid for with money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
Village Council, during an Aug. 27 special meeting, heard the second reading of a resolution to allow the mayor and chief financial officer to spend about $158,594 in federal CARES Act funding awarded to the communitys government.
When Village Council gathers for its next regular meeting on Sept. 10, the panel is likely to hear a third and final reading of the legislation, and then vote on the measure.
Acting in a timely manner is crucial because the village faces a Sept. 30 deadline to either encumber CARES Act funding which means setting aside money to spend for a specific purpose or have purchase orders approved for designated items.
Any money thats not earmarked by Sept. 30 would have to be returned to Lake County.
At this point, Village Council members and administrators are still able to suggest more items that they believe would be authorized under CARES Act regulations. In fact, the resolution itself is intended to get village government officials to focus on specific uses for CARES Act money.
The state suggested that we pass a resolution saying what were going to spend (CARES Act money) on, to get more of a directive, said Joanne Clapp, the villages chief fiscal officer. So weve come up with ideas on what it can be used on, for everybodys safety, including the public.
Perry Villages list of items that could be authorized as CARES Act expenditures includes:
* Touchless entry doors, electrical switches, faucets and toilets
* Automatic hand sanitizer stations, hand soap and paper towel dispensers
* Personal protective equipment for employees
* Cleaning and sanitizing facilities
* An electric static sprayer
* Employee entry cards
* Air ventilation/filtration
* Employee wages when covering for an employee out on sick leave for COVID-19
* Replacing cloth-covered chairs in the Village Council chambers with leather- or vinyl-covered chairs so that they could be cleaned and sanitized more easily
* Enhance technology to allow Village Council and other governmental boards to hold remote meetings through Zoom or other video-conferencing programs.
The CARES Act is an economic relief package totaling more than $2 trillion that was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in late March.
Local government entities in Ohio became eligible for federal CARES Act funding through Ohio House Bill 481, which was approved by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine in June.
To receive aid, cities, villages and townships were required to pass resolutions and submit them to their county auditors offices.
Local government entities then were awarded funding giving them the ability to recoup costs associated with keeping communities and essential workers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nominations now open for Teagasc Walsh Scholars Alum Award 2020
From ground-breaking scientists, leading economists and innovative entrepreneurs, nominations are now open for the Teagasc Walsh Scholars Alum Award 2020. The Alum Award honours a member who has demonstrated excellence in their professional achievements, is a leader in their field, or has made a substantial impact on society.
Teagasc Walsh Scholarships Programme to recognise an outstanding member of its alumni community
Teagasc, in partnership with national and international universities, have a long and prestigious history of successful doctoral and master's training in agricultural research, education and advisory. The Award is an opportunity for the organisation to, reflect on, and celebrate the achievements of the Programmes growing alumni network, who are working in academia, industry and policy, nationally and internationally.
Commenting on Teagasc s commitment to celebrate the achievements of the Programmes alumni, Professor Frank OMara, Director of Research, said; We launched the Alum Award in October 2018 to recognise the diversity of professional achievements and contributions made by role models and thought-leaders from within the Programmes alumni community.
Learning what our alumni have done with the training they gained through the Programme, and celebrating their successes, inspires all who aspire to have an impact. It is an honour for us to recognise excellence with this award.
The 2020 award winner will follow in the footsteps of Professor Andrew Fisher, who is the Chair of Cattle and Sheep Production Medicine and Director of the Animal Welfare Science Centre at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Andrew, who as a Walsh Scholar based at the Teagasc Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre in Grange, county Meath, between 1992 and 1996, investigated factors affecting the welfare and health of beef cattle.
For more information on the Award - who is eligible, who can nominate, the selection criteria and judging process - visit the Alum Award webpage. Nominations close at midnight on Wednesday, 30 September 2020.
The award winner will be announced as part of Walsh Scholars: The Next Generation, a public showcase of Teagascs leading postgraduate agri-food research, on Thursday, 5 November. Register for this online event.
Notes to Editor
About the Teagasc Walsh Scholarships Programme
The Walsh Scholarships Programme mission is to train and develop the next generation of leaders in agri-food research, advisory and education. It offers a unique opportunity for students to pursue postgraduate research and professional-based learning in agriculture, food, environmental science, agri-food economics, rural development, horticulture, forestry and other related disciplines.
Teagasc has a diverse portfolio of exciting research and knowledge transfer projects, which allow current and prospective students to develop discipline-specific scientific and technical expertise under the supervision of a Teagasc researcher or specialist and a university-based academic. University-based learning and a bespoke development programme advances Scholars interdisciplinary and intersectoral knowledge, industry-relevant transferable skills, behaviour competencies and career development planning.
With a long history of successful doctoral and masters training, the Programme is competitive on application and is a prestigious award held by an expanding network of alumni. The majority of Walsh Scholars are funded by Teagasc (Grant-In-Aid), with others supported by national (e.g. DAFMs FIRM, Stimulus and CoFoRD Programmes, SFI, EPA) and international (e.g. EUs Horizon 2020) funding streams.
It is named in commemoration of Dr Tom Walsh (1914-1988), a pioneering scientist who played a significant role in shaping modern agricultural research, advisory and education services in Ireland.
For more information
Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 16:49:02|Editor: huaxia
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BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) will help bring more high-quality international services to China, meeting its demand to upgrade domestic consumption, a senior Chinese researcher has said.
The CIFTIS, scheduled for Sept. 4-9 , will also bolster China's efforts to export its high-quality services while creating more competition at home, Li Jun, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
As one of China's three major open exhibition platforms, along with the China Import and Export Fair, popularly known as Canton Fair, and the China International Import Expo, the upcoming CIFTIS 2020, also the first major international economic and trade event held offline in China since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, has attracted worldwide attention.
As the world's second biggest importer of services and with its large population, China has huge potential in the services industry, Li said.
"The service market in China is very attractive to the global market, and is of significance to countries around the world as well as multinational corporations," Li said.
The researcher pointed out that "China is constantly strengthening its domestic market, with consumption in services an important driving force."
Chinese consumers used to seek high-quality services abroad when it came to education, medical treatment and medical cosmetology. However, the CIFTIS and a further opening up of the service market are making it more convenient for the Chinese people to access these services at home, Li said.
The raging pandemic has hit the global services trade hard, especially traditional services such as tourism and overseas study. However, emerging sectors such as knowledge-intensive services is witnessing growth.
The expert said "there will be much room for growth in sectors including digital services and 'Internet Plus' businesses after the pandemic." Countries should open their markets to each other and seize such new growth opportunities, Li added.
Li also noted that China has set an example to the world by establishing international exhibition platforms such as the CIFTIS, which also demonstrates its sincerity in building a community with a shared future for humankind.
Looking ahead at the upcoming CIFTIS, Li said it's hoped that countries around the world could reach a consensus through the event to uphold free trade, opening up and cooperation, as well as oppose protectionism, in a bid to create a more open and stronger global market. Enditem
Amid the din and dingdong of electioneering, the promises and propaganda of a starry-eyed era and the generous exchange of money for prospective votes as September 19 draws closer, the people of Edo State need some reality check a deliberate and sustained reminder of the head-spinning and harrowing catalogue of cruelties, crises and crimes foisted on them by a self-serving governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.
The time cannot be more auspicious for this reminder so that the people are not swayed by money and superfluous promises. They must muster all their votes to reverse the ills of the Obaseki administration by voting him out.
Considering, therefore, that many public affairs analysts, commentators, columnists and bloggers alike have recurrently written and extensively documented Obasekis catalogue of sins against the people, this writer would attempt to periscope those malfeasances from the perspective of the Seven Deadly Sins propounded initially by the Roman ascetic and theologian, Evagrius Ponticus, but modified in the Sixth Century by Pope Gregory 1.
Though not biblical, the Seven Deadly Sins are theological and are believed to be the precursors for other sins and further immoral behaviours. The are Pride, Greed, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, Lust, and Sloth.
Evagrius describes pride as the father of all sins and it has been deemed the devils most prominent trait. From all indications, Obasekis pride drives him. Having tasted power, Obasekis pride skyrocketed and began to manifest in wanton corruption and whimsical selfishness at the expense of the welfare of the people.
His concatenation of crises has been predicated largely on his self-interest, nothing more, which is why the second term bid for him is a do-or-die affair. He is ready to crush anything in his way. He has been fighting those, who propelled him into power, because he thought he had seen it all and every other person was inconsequential.
It was pride that prompted Obaseki to say on television that he would not only deal with a two-term former governor of the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole but that he would ensure his arrest if he came anywhere near Edo State. Yet, this was the same man that sold Obaseki to the electorate and allowed him to run for office on the strength of his (Oshiomholes) achievements.
It was greed writ large, when Obaseki accused some phantom Edo APC leaders of fighting him for access to the state treasury to share Edo money and that he would never do so but defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he was given an automatic ticket to contest after billions of naira allegedly exchanged hands, all in a desperate bid to remain in office.
Like greed, lust is an intense longing for sex but in Obasekis case, his lust is for power and money and ego-tripping. And he goes about these like a bull in a China shop. His face-off with the House of Assembly exemplifies this. In 2019, Obaseki refused to order a proclamation, in line with constitutional provisions and procedure, to clear the way for the inauguration and constitution of the seventh assembly.
His reluctance was predicated on his belief that he did not have enough foot soldiers in the House as against the number loyal to Oshiomhole. He vowed that the doors of the assembly would remain shut for as long as he desired and it has remained so thereby denying the people legislative representation.
Envy is characterised by an insatiable desire sad or resentful covetousness towards the traits or possessions of someone else. So, fighting a non-partisan, apolitical man like Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist, is a clear manifestation of envy.
One of Edos most prominent sons and pre-eminent Nigerian, Captain Hosas investments in the state are in the region of billions of dollars and he, arguably, employs as many Edo indigenes as does the government. His philanthropy is felt beyond even Edo State. He is what Obaseki and his collaborators aspire to be.
Whilst he never sought anything from the Obaseki administration apart from support it with his resources, a puerile and unfounded rumour that the widely loved Captain was eyeing the governorship seat has unleashed Obasekis base animalistic impulses. Obaseki may not have come to the realisation yet, but confronting and impugning on the integrity of a colossus like Captain Hosa is a recipe for political obliteration.
The evidence of Obasekis gluttony is an extension of his greed and lust for power: He not only wants power, but he also cant get enough of it. Like all gluttons, he is leaving a mess in his wake. Instead of discarded bones, there are a ruined economy, unhappy indigenes, insecurity and underdevelopment.
Under Obaseki, the Edo government is drunk for more money, which the people never see its impact whether on infrastructure or the economy or the life of an average indigene. For him, it is just about how to make more revenues even at the detriment of taxpayers while maintaining the second position of the most indebted state in Nigeria.
Wrath is defined as uncontrolled feelings of anger, rage and even hatred often revealing itself in the wish to seek vengeance. Who better epitomises this than Obaseki? His wrath is one of the defining features of his administration. No one is immune to his anger and vengefulness. From Oshiomhole to Captain Hosa, legislators and even the revered Oba of Benin, they have all tasted of it.
How about Senate President Ahmad Lawan, who was mandated by President Muhammadu Buhari to mediate in the face-off between Obaseki and the House of Assembly, when he blatantly refused to inaugurate the House at the appropriate time.
Upon the constitution of a 10-man reconciliatory committee last December to resolve the crises and appease the aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, nationwide, Obaseki accused the senate president and the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase, of playing a prominent role in the crisis rocking the party in the state.
He did not rest until Lawan was replaced with Chief Bisi Akande, a former governor of Osun State. The height of his wrath, perhaps, was the demolition of the hotel of Tony Kabaka Adun, whose only offence was that he is an ally of Oshiomhole. Despite a court order restraining the state government from demolishing the hotel building and appeals from well-meaning indigenes and prominent Nigerians,
Obaseki still went ahead to do so citing nebulous excuses.
Sloth, according to its proponent, has different meanings but, in this context, is defined as the absence of interest or habitual disinclination to exertion a failure to do things that one should do, therefore, allowing evil to reign, because good people failed to act. The dictionary meanings also include laziness and wilful inactivity.
Thus, it is ironic, tragic even that Obaseki has been blaming his failings on the APC on which platform he rode to power in 2016 but which he defected from in June 2020. He has brazenly refused to do the work he was elected for, thereby, taking the state on a retrogressive expedition!
Every human whether the artist or artisan; cleric or clerisy; the prosperous or proletariat; politician or professional have their failing. But Obaseki departs from his predecessors and the character components that Edo State requires in a leader and one who can take them out of the doldrums, because he is unable to control his impulses and manage his sins.
So, the likelihood of him repenting or changing is not even remote and, therefore, does not deserve a vote from the people of Edo State!
*Ibiyinka, a political analyst, lives in Lagos
Democratic U.S. presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden discusses his plan to safely reopen schools amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic during a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, September 2, 2020.
Already, schools and universities across the country that have reopened for in-person classes are reporting clusters of coronavirus outbreaks. One of the worst outbreaks appears to be at the University of Alabama, where more than 1,000 students have tested positive for the coronavirus since the school opened its doors in late August.
Biden's remarks were part of an effort to keep the focus of his campaign on the pandemic, during a week when millions of children and teachers are starting virtual and in-person classes under difficult and potentially unsafe circumstances.
The guidance issued Tuesday effectively narrowed the definition of an "emergency protective measure" that would be covered by FEMA's public assistance funds, so that schools are excluded from the coverage.
"If I were president today, I would direct FEMA to make sure our kids K-12 get full access to disaster relief and emergency assistance under the Stafford Act. I'd make sure PPE and sanitation supplies for schools qualify as 'emergency protective measures,' which is a phrase they use to fully be eligible for federal assistance. On top of that, I'd be working with the leaders of Congress now, today, to pass emergency packages for schools so they have the resources they need in order to be opened safely."
Biden's remarks came just a day after FEMA officials told state emergency managers that it had issued new guidance indicating that the agency would no longer reimburse states for the cost of PPE in places such as schools, courthouses and public housing.
"This is an emergency, and Donald Trump and his FEMA should treat it as one," said Biden, speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, after a briefing with education and school safety experts.
WASHINGTON Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Wednesday that if he were president, he would direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to use national disaster funds to help schools reopen safely during the coronavirus pandemic.
Democratic U.S. presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden discusses his plan to safely reopen schools amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic during a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, September 2, 2020.
"This is a national emergency, and President Trump still doesn't have any real plan for how to open our schools safely," said Biden. "No real plan for how to help parents feel secure for their children. He's offering nothing but failure and delusions from start to finish, and American families and our children are paying the price for his failures."
Rather than focus on the pandemic this week, Trump has chosen to direct his attention to the violence that erupted in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after racial justice protesters were met by armed vigilantes last week, resulting in a double homicide. A White 17-year-old, Kyle Rittenhouse, has been charged in the killings.
Trump visited Kenosha on Tuesday, where he met with law enforcement and claimed that "reckless, far-left politicians continue to push the destructive message that our nation and our law enforcement are oppressive or racist." The remarks are part of a concerted effort on Trump's part to lay blame for the racial unrest roiling the country during his presidency at the feet of Democrats and to position himself as the solution, rather than part of the problem.
Biden was asked by a reporter on Wednesday how he would respond to the mistrust between law enforcement and communities of color in the wake of several high-profile police shootings of unarmed Black men and women this year.
"I'd have law enforcement at the table. I'd have the community at the table. I'd have people saying, 'How do we get through this, what do we do to deal with this?' I believe the vast majority of the community at large, as well as law enforcement, want to straighten things out, not inflame things," said Biden. "But this president keeps throwing gasoline on the fire every place he goes."
This week, Biden's campaign announced last-minute plans for the candidate to visit Kenosha on Thursday. Both state and city officials have asked all politicians to avoid the area while emotions are still running high and National Guard troops are still helping to keep the peace.
Asked what he hoped to accomplish by going to Kenosha, Biden replied, "We've got to put things together, bring people together. And so, my purpose in going will be to do just that, to be a positive influence on what's going on."
Outside of the twin news stories of the pandemic and the violence in Kenosha, Biden was also asked a question about whether he had concerns over new reporting on Trump's health, published in a book by New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt.
Schmidt reported that when Trump made an unannounced trip to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2019, Vice President Mike Pence was told to be on standby to take over in case the president had to receive anesthesia. To this day, neither the president nor the White House has explained the purpose of Trump's hospital visit.
"I'm not going to speculate on what it means" that traditional protocol for presidential hospital trips wasn't followed, said Biden. "But what I can say is that nothing this administration does is normal ... So who in God's name knows what it's all about? I don't know, and I'm not going to speculate. I'll let the experts do that."
Trump has vehemently denied speculation that he might have suffered from a mini-stroke or a cardiovascular event while in office.
The Taiwan government released a new design Wednesday for its passport cover, and the island's popularly known name Taiwan is noticeably amplified in a bold font to avoid a connection to China, once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a reduced size, the islands official name the Republic of China (R.O.C.) remains on the cover, which observers say helps de-escalate tensions with China.
The official name, R.O.C., has made it difficult for its people to travel overseas since the start of the pandemic in January, as Taiwanese often are mistaken for Chinese, according to Taiwans foreign minister, Joseph Wu.
The government pushed the legislature to pass a motion in July, requesting that the Cabinet redesign the countrys passport cover and the insignia of China Airlines, Taiwans national carrier, to be more Taiwan-centric.
Taiwan-centric passport
Acting on the legislative motion, Wu said the new design puts Taiwan front and center on the cover while making only minimal changes.
On the passport cover, the word Taiwan is enlarged and placed right above the word passport, which stresses explicitly its a Taiwan passport. Its now crystal clear, Wu told a press briefing Wednesday to introduce the new design.
Another change involves the islands official name, which is largely downsized on the cover, but printed three times inside the ring circling the national emblem.
Taiwan first added its alternative name to the passport cover in 2003 when the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) swept into power, which was widely seen as a part of the partys hidden agenda to push Taiwan toward de jure independence.
Confrontations avoided
The re-designed passport cover suggests another step forward, although the DPP government apparently has made concessions by retaining the official name to avoid being engaged in ideological confrontations, said opposition KMT legislator Charles Chen.
Members of the media take photos of paper cut-outs of the old and new (R) Taiwan passport displayed in Taipei, Taiwan, Sept. 2, 2020.
I think the hidden agenda is no more hidden. But this step is rather small, a very tiny step. So, theres a strong compromise in this design. If it really takes off the term, Republic of China, from the cover, wow, thats [will be] a significant step, Chen told VOA by phone.
That could provoke China, which sees Taiwan as a renegade province but so far, Chinas response toward the new passport design appears to be measured.
DPPs tricks
Whatever tricks the DPP government is pulling, Taiwan remains an integral part of China a fact that will never change, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, told a media briefing when asked to respond to Taiwans new passport design.
Domestically, the KMTs Chen said the new design only serves the purpose of the DPP government to please its supporters since it wont affect the way airport customs around the world handle Taiwans passport holders.
There had been reports, however, that Taiwanese passport holders were barred from entering countries such as Indonesia, which refused entry of the Chinese people to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As a result, a poll in March released by the New Power Party (NPP) showed that nearly 75% of Taiwanese supported the idea of removing Republic of China from the countrys passports to draw a clear distinction between Taiwanese and Chinese.
Genuine desire
NPP creative media director Jerry Liu said the governments move to highlight Taiwan on the passport cover is positively welcomed, but not enough.
If they just put the Republic of China inside the passport, like the very first page of the passport, and on the cover, only show, then it will be just much better. And Im sure the majority of Taiwanese people will appreciate that way, Liu told VOA by phone.
Liu also urged the government to find ways to modify the islands national emblem as it bears a striking resemblance to the KMTs party emblem.
According to Liu, the party has kick-started a new passport cover design contest in the past few months. It says it has received more than 120 designs, which show mostly only Taiwan and images about Taiwan, such as a butterfly, a Taiwan deer or a Taiwan blue magpie on their proposed passport cover designs.
This underscores how much the local people desire to be identified as Taiwanese, instead of Chinese, Liu added.
Recent polls show that a record 83% of local people identified themselves as Taiwanese.
A health care worker has said he was 'sickened' to discover his NSW driving licence was leaked online along with 54,000 other people's across the state.
The Sydney man, called Edward, only realised his licence has been leaked when he read a news article about the data breach on Tuesday.
A redacted picture of Edward's licence on his mother's table top was featured in the breaking news story, including his former inner west postcode.
'I remembered having dinner on that table just two nights ago. The licence featured in the article matched my old postcode and also happened to match the exact benchtop at my mum's place,' Edward told ABC News.
'I put two and two together and realise it was probably my licence.'
A redacted picture of Edward's driver's licence on his mother's table top was included in an article about 54,000 licences leaked online on Tuesday. Edward was 'sickened' to discover his personal details were leaked
Edward's licence was found inside a digital folder of PDF and JPG files containing 108,535 scanned images of over 54,000 NSW licences.
Ukrainian security consultant Bob Diachenko discovered the folder, which contained phone numbers, addresses and birth dates, on an Amazon cloud storage service which was completely available for public view.
A Department of Customer Service NSW spokesman said 'a commercial entity' was likely behind the data breach.
'Investigations by Cyber Security NSW into an apparent data breach of NSW Driver Licences by a commercial entity confirms this matter is not related to NSW Government processes, systems or storage in any way,' he said.
But Edward said he does not remember taking a picture of his driver's licence on his mother's table and sending it to a non-Government, commercial entity.
The spokesman also said NSW digital driver's licences and the Service NSW app were not compromised by the apparent breach and remained secure.
A healthcare worker wearing PPE at a driver-through COVID site in Bondi. Edward, who is also a Sydney healthcare worker, said he recognised his postcode and mother's tabletop in an article about the licence leak
Meanwhile a Transport for NSW spokesman said their state government department did not own the folder.
'As Transport for NSW is not the owner of the folder and does not have access to its contents, the identities of all those who may have been affected cannot be determined,' he said.
'However, Transport for NSW takes customer data security concerns seriously and will support those who have been the victim of identity theft. Where necessary, new driver licence/photo cards are reissued on a case-by-case basis.'
Edward's shocking story comes after news of the leak broke on Tuesday, sparking warnings from experts that hackers can use the information to apply for credit cards and loans.
Mr Diachenko stumbled upon the folder of driver's licences as well as another folder containing Roads and Maritime Services toll notice statutory declarations.
'More than 50K scanned driver licenses (front+back) and toll notices exposed in a misconfigured S3 bucket,' Mr Diachenko tweeted along with a screenshot of a list of files dated back to 2018.
'Most likely - part of NSW RMS infrastructure (Road and Maritime, New South Wales, Australia). Secured now.'
The data was stored on an Amazon cloud storage service and contained phone numbers, addresses and birth dates all of which were available for public view
Ukrainian security consultant Bob Diachenko stumbled upon the folder of PDF and JPG files containing 108,535 scanned images of more than 50,000 driver's licences
Mr Diachenko labelled the mysterious data leak a 'dangerous exposure,' and said the files had most likely been seen by 'malicious actors' who could have made a copy of already.
'A malicious actor can impersonate somebody and apply for credit, or do something on behalf of that person,' he said.
'For example, you take one licence and connect the dots with one owner of this licence, with his or her emails exposed in another data breach and you've got more information on that person.'
IDcare security counsellor Christine Jackson said driver's licence theft is 'the golden ticket' for scammers because they are often used to verify identities by Centrelink, phone companies and banks.
'So often that will be telephone accounts, mobile phones are purchased, they might purchase iPads, tablets and things like that as well - so it can rack up to a lot of money,' she told the ABC.
'They'll also apply for credit cards, personal loans and they'll just keep going until your credit history is in a mess and they can't go any further.
'And then they'll lay low for a while, wait for you to clean it up when you find out what's gone on, and then they'll reinvest in that compromised document.'
Ms Jackson said brazen criminals even steal licences from victims' letterboxes after being sent to their homes from Roads and Maritime Services.
Scams reported to the ACCC involving identity theft or the loss of personal or banking information cost Australians at least $16 million last year.
Four in 10 Scamwatch reports in 2019 involved attempts to gain information or the actual loss of victims' information.
Some of the ways scammers obtain personal or banking information are through direct requests for scans of driver's licenses or passports, often in dating and romance scams.
Fraudsters can empty victims' bank accounts, take out thousands of dollars in bank loans under victims' names, and even purchase furniture or electronics under 'no-repayments for 12 months' schemes (stock image)
Fraudsters can empty victims' bank accounts, take out thousands of dollars in bank loans under victims' names, and even purchase furniture or electronics under 'no-repayments for 12 months' schemes.
Security researcher Troy Hunt believes the source of the leak could be a fleet or toll road operator.
'The presence of toll notices [in the leak] is probably a bit of a clue and suggests it's more likely that it's a toll operator, or a fleet operator,' he told Car Advice.
Mr Hunt said the nature of the breach would be 'trivial' for anyone with a solid amount of technological knowledge to uncover.
'You don't have to be at Bob's level, but if you're someone who likes to crawl around the internet looking for this stuff [it would be possible] I'm concerned about someone who makes a concerted effort to find it,' he said.
'It was open to public view which was obviously the concerning thing and it's unclear how long it was open for public view.'
The source of the uploaded files remains unknown, but it's understood those affected by the breach are yet to be contacted.
Transport for NSW said in a statement they do not retain or collect tolling data, and said it is working with Cyber Security NSW to investigate.
Dony Garments
Established in 2009, the Dony Garment Company, a subsidiary of Dony International Corporation, is a garment manufacturer focusing on producing clothes and uniforms in Vietnam. In the local market, Dony Garment is one of the biggest manufacturers of uniforms, workwear, sportswear & outdoor fashion in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Established in 2009, the Dony Garment Company, a subsidiary of Dony International Corporation, is a garment manufacturer focusing on producing clothes and uniforms in Vietnam. In the local market, Dony Garment is one of the biggest manufacturers of uniforms, workwear, sportswear & outdoor fashion in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam , Sept. 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, the export turnover of the textiles and apparel sector in the first 7 months of 2020 is estimated at 16.18 billion USD, equivalent to a decrease of 12.1% over the same period in 2019.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade also said that, as of July, many businesses have almost no orders for the last 2 quarters of the year, especially in high-value products such as suits or high-end shirts. Meanwhile, the price of masks and protective goods has fallen sharply due to oversupply globally.
In fact, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) has recorded an average rate of cancellation of orders at businesses in the industry at about 30-70%. A strong drop in orders made inventories increase, along with the pressure to pay wages, which made businesses pile up with difficulties.
However, Vietnam's textile and garment industry still experience some positive development in the time of crisis. Vietnam has surpassed Bangladesh and risen to the 2nd position in the global garment and textile exports during the first half of 2020. Bangladesh was the second-largest garment exporter after China.
Data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam and the Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau show that Vietnam earned 13.18 billion USD in the first 6 months of the year thanks to exports of textile and garment products, while Bangladesh earned only 11.92 billion USD.
In response to the Dhaka Tribune of Bangladesh, Vice President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammad Hatem said that the country's garment industry has been heavily influenced by the pandemic.
From the beginning of the year, exports were in the downtrend. During the April-May period, the fall was expedited by the COVID-19 pandemic as the US witnessed the worst case of infection of coronavirus, said Hatem.
Story continues
Meanwhile, Prof Mustafizur Rahman, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told Dhaka Tribune that the concern is our competitors, especially Vietnam, who is doing better even amid the pandemic. They are trying to retain the market shares and gaining more from China's losing market share.
Post-pandemic development
To maintain their performance and thrive further in the post-pandemic era, many Vietnamese garment enterprises are pushing preparation for the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
Established in 2009, the Dony Garment Company, a subsidiary of Dony International Corporation, is a garment manufacturer focusing on producing clothes and uniforms in Vietnam. In the local market, Dony Garment is one of the biggest manufacturers of uniforms, workwear, sportswear & outdoor fashion in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Mr. Pham Quang Anh, Director of Dony Garment Company, said that his business is present in the US, Europe, and Middle East markets. However, Dony is preparing to expand further in the European market over the next 1 or 2 years, which the company predicts will be the time when EVFTA truly shows strength in the garment industry.
Specifically, Dony has standardized the factory production process, taken thoughtful actions to secure the workers welfare, and been aware of environmental protection. The firm has obtained ISO 9001, ISO 13485, ISO 14001 certifications and is undergoing the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) assessment and Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP).
In 2016, Dony started to expand exports after six years of operation. Up to now, Mr. Quang Anh estimates that Dony's sales are about 2-3 million USD per month.
The firm focuses on basic fashion products and uniforms. During the pandemic strike earlier this year, Dony was one of the first Vietnamese enterprises to convert to face mark and other producing protective gear export, helping it to maintain business operations and stabilize jobs for workers.
The transition also helps the company expand its scale, purchase advanced equipment, and upgrade its production chain.
From 2019, VITAS has urged businesses in the textile and apparel industry to prepare for the EVFTA and approach the European market. After EVFTA takes effect, textiles and garments will be reduced by 42.5% of tariff lines.
Talking about his willingness to conquer big markets like the US and Europe, Pham shared that small and medium-sized businesses like Dony need to make great efforts to improve their skills and find ways to meet the requirements of difficult markets.
Orders from Japan are usually 3-5 higher in price compared to other countries, but they come with extremely strict and meticulous requirements. Although Dony mostly suffered losses, we still received some of those orders to demonstrate quality capabilities and connect reputable business relationships.
Thanks to these orders, Dony has upgraded the manufacturing process and product quality more than before. From there, we can easily meet the requirements of other markets, explained Pham.
Vietnam's garment industry has the following advantages/strength:
- Garment equipment has basically been renovated and modernized, creating conditions for upgrading processes and products;
- Vietnam's garment products have penetrated most of the main markets with high penetration, creating conditions for Vietnamese garment to consolidate its foothold and expand access to consumers;
- Vietnam's garment industry has built close relationships with major customers and global buyers, ensuring stable output conditions for Vietnam's garment exports;
- Vietnam has an abundant source of cheap labor, which is an important competitive advantage for labor-intensive industries such as the garment industry;
- The socio-political environment and macroeconomic environment of Vietnam is stable, is the foundation to attract foreign investment as well as a domestic investment;
- The long tradition of the garment industry in Vietnam contributes to strengthening domestic strong economic linkages, ensuring a source of skilled labor in the industry as well as increasing the attractiveness of the industry;
- Vietnam is in a favorable position for trade with countries in the world, creating favorable conditions for the import of inputs for garment production and the export of garment products to markets;
- Vietnam has favorable conditions to develop supporting industries such as growing cotton, growing mulberry, raising silkworms, producing preliminary and artificial fibers, creating favorable conditions for boosting the production of raw materials, especially fabrics and clothing. for garment manufacturing and exporting.
Henry Pham
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam +84985310123
News via: KISS PR News https://story.kisspr.com
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The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan announced Wednesday it was deploying troops to the country's strife-torn south following an upsurge in violence by armed rebels against civilians and aid workers.
The deployment of blue helmets to establish a new outpost in Central Equatoria follows attacks on humanitarian convoys this week that left two civilians dead, and a roadside ambush in the same region in late August that killed six vice-presidential bodyguards.
UN special envoy David Shearer said the peacekeepers would set up a base at Lobonok, some 110 kilometres (70 miles) southeast of the capital Juba, in a region witnessing a resurgence in violent clashes between rebel and government forces.
"This will enable us to provide a protective presence in the area," said Shearer, who heads the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
The rise in violence has been blamed on the National Salvation Front (NAS), a rebel movement active in the wider Equatoria region led by former deputy army chief Thomas Cirillo.
NAS claimed responsibility for the deadly attack near Lobonok on the bodyguards of Vice President James Wani Igga.
Igga, one of South Sudan's five vice presidents, was not in the convoy and unharmed.
Gunmen from the holdout rebel group were also believed responsible for an ambush Tuesday on a relief convoy in Central Equatoria that left two civilians dead and four injured, and similar attacks that saw vehicles torched and people shot in recent days.
NAS refused to be part of a 2018 peace deal between the government and other armed opposition groups that ended five years of fighting that left nearly 400,000 people dead.
But in January this year, during talks mediated in Rome, the rebels did agree to cease fighting and allow aid to freely reach people in desperate need across the Equatoria region.
However, violence has intensified recently across the region, with NAS instructing its troops to be on "maximum readiness" and warning civilians to avoid major roads where clashes with government troops were likely.
Shearer said he was concerned by reports that NAS rebels were again moving about the Equatoria region.
"This violence is causing huge tension in the area and putting the lives of civilians at risk," he said, urging all parties to respect past ceasefires they had signed.
Clashes between government forces and Cirillo's rebels have exacted a horrific toll on civilians in the Equatoria region.
In a report issued last July, the UN said civilians had been deliberately targeted by troops on both sides in months of violent attacks on villages, with hundreds raped or murdered.
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Two L.A. cops who shot black bicyclist Dijon Kizzee 20 times after pulling him over for an unspecified vehicle violation have been placed on desk duty.
Kizzee, 29, was shot dead on Monday at 3.16pm. He was riding his bike when the two cops - who have not been named - spotted him riding his bike, made a U-turn then tried to pull him over, allegedly for an unspecified vehicle violation.
The cops say he punched one of them then tried to run away and, while fleeing, dropped a handgun. They shot him 20 times and he was declared dead at the scene.
Video footage taken before and after the shooting reveal some of what happened. Kizzee was filmed running with a bundle of clothing in his hands. He was then filmed lying on the ground after being shot multiple times. At that point, four cops approached him and handcuffed him while residents in surrounding houses screamed 'how are you going to handcuff a dead man?' and 'Black Lives Matter'.
After two days of protests, the LA County Sheriff's Office still has not revealed why he was stopped by police, or what the officers' names are.
They have also not offered any explanation for why he was shot 20 times, or if he tried to reach for his own weapon.
Two of the four cops filmed in the video have been taken off the streets but it's unclear what - if anything - has happened to the other two.
The video then cuts to both of the officers aiming their firearms at the downed suspect having seemingly just shot him
The man jumped off of his bike and began running northbound toward 109th Place, when deputies briefly lost sight of him
Kizzee, dressed in a white tank-top and pants, is seen lying face down in the road by the right-rear tire of a silver pick-up truck
Kizzee was found shortly afterwards a few blocks away, where Dean says the officers attempted to make contact with him once again.
As they approached, Dean said the man, who was clutching items of clothing in his hands, punched one of the officers in the face and then dropped the items he was carrying.
'The deputies noticed that inside the clothing items that he dropped was a black semi-automatic handgun,' Dean said during a Monday conference.
The two officers then both opened fire on the man, striking him several times and rendering him motionless in the street.
Dean was unable to confirm how many times the man was hit and where, as 'we have not been able to move the body yet as we were waiting for the coroner's office,' he said early Monday evening.
Kizzee was pronounced dead at the scene. No deputies were injured during the incident.
The two officers who shot Kizzee have been removed from the field as the investigation continues, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said on Tuesday.
Protesters at a makeshift memorial on Tuesday evening at the spot where Kizzee, a black man, was killed by Los Angeles Sheriff's deputies
Demonstrators gathered at a makeshift memorial at the site of the shooting in Los Angeles for a second night in a row on Tuesday evening
man holds a sign stating 'How Many More?' at a makeshift memorial on September 1
People participate in a protest in front of the Westmont Sheriff Station following the death of Dijon Kizzee on Tuesday evening
Protesters march towards the South Los Angeles Sheriffs' Station on September 1
Kizzee's family say his death is the latest in a string of unwarranted and unlawful killings of black Americans by police. He is shown (right) with a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend
Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney who represents Kizzee's family and the families of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Jacob Blake, said Kizzee was shot more than 20 times.
According to Mr Crump, his body was left on the street for several hours.
'They say he ran, dropped clothes and handgun,' he tweeted. 'He didn't pick it up, but cops shot him in the back 20+ times then left him for hours.'
Deja, a woman who witnessed the shooting, told AFP that she yelled 'don't shoot him, don't shoot him' as the deputies tried to stop Kizzee.
'They were trying to grab and take his stuff away from him and then finally when it failed, he turned around to run and they tased him in the back of his leg,' said Deja, who would only give her first name.
'He turned around and then they shot him.'
Deja said she didn't see Kizzee holding a gun and added that deputies handcuffed him after the shooting. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Kizzee's aunt Fletcher Fair told reporters she believes her nephew's race was a factor in the shooting.
'They (police) don't kill any other race but us and this don't make any sense,' she told a press conference.Why us? You have Asians ... Hispanics even don't get killed as much as we do. It's just us and we're tired,' she said.
Soon after the deadly confrontation, more than 100 people gathered at the scene demanding answers.
A small crowd gathered again Tuesday evening at the site of the shooting and peacefully marched, along with a caravan of cars, to the sheriff's station nearby as a police helicopter hovered overhead.
Some of the protesters carried a banner that read 'Stop Killer Cops.'
It comes amid renewed demonstrations on the issue since the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
US President Donald Trump visited the city on Tuesday and blamed 'domestic terror' for the violence which he declared 'anti-American', making no reference to the underlying cause of the demonstrations or to Mr Blake.
Soon after arriving in the city, a visit made over the objections of state and local leaders, President Trump toured the burnt remains of a block besieged by violence and fire.
With the scent of smoke still in the air, he spoke to the owners of a century-old store that had been destroyed and continued to link the violence to the Democrats, blaming those in charge of Kenosha and Wisconsin while raising apocalyptic warnings if their party should capture the White House.
A Los Angeles Metro transit bus displays a hashtag "NoMoreNames" on a street near the South Los Angeles Sheriffs' Station on Tuesday evening
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler says hes looking for a new place to live after his Pearl District condo building has been the site of repeated demonstrations, including on Monday when crowds demanded he resign and some people set fires and broke windows.
In an email Tuesday from Wheeler to other residents of the 16-floor high-rise tower, the mayor said it would be best for me and for everyone elses safety and peace that he finds a new home. He assured people that police are taking their safety concerns seriously and invited them to a Thursday evening meeting that will include himself and officers to voice their concerns.
I want to express my sincere apologies for the damage to our home and the fear that you are experiencing due to my position, according to a screenshot of the email sent to The Oregonian/OregonLive. Its unfair to all of you who have no role in politics or in my administration.
The building has 114 units and retail space on the bottom floor. Wheeler bought his two-bedroom condo for $840,000 in 2017, according to Multnomah County property records.
Protests calling for policing and social justice reforms have taken place daily throughout the city since late May. Demonstrators have gathered outside Wheelers condo building sporadically since mid-June at least twice when he was not there. On Monday, Wheelers 58th birthday, some in a group of more than 200 graffitied and damaged the building and sidewalk and threw a burning bundle of newspapers into retail space in the building.
Police arrested 19 people during the demonstration. Most are accused of disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer; the latter is the most common accusation levied against protesters arrested during demonstrations over the last three months.
A widely circulated video recorded by an Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter during the overnight demonstration shows one Portland officer tackling another person to the ground and repeatedly punching them in the head.
The mayors office said Tuesday that case will likely be reviewed by the citys Independent Police Review. In a public statement, Wheeler described both the officers punches and damages to the area buildings as senseless violence.
These acts range from stupid, to dangerous, to criminal, Wheeler said. The violence must stop. None of this should sit well with any thinking Portlander.
The demonstration also drew a response from Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell, who called on elected officials to draw a line in the sand and to hold people accountable. He did not address any footage of officers attacking people. Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek called for greater acknowledgement by elected officials of Portland polices role in violence that occurs during nightly protests. Kotek, who represents parts of North and Northeast Portland, said officers who use excessive force should be held sufficiently accountable.
-- Everton Bailey Jr; ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 | @EvertonBailey
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Bengaluru: The South Western Railways on Tuesday announced that a cross border criminal gang involved in illegal software for e-tickets has been busted by the Railway Protection Force after the arrests of the kingpin and over 100 panel developers.
In a press release, the SWR said that the intelligence agencies had issued a alert in September 2019 about the use of illegal software for bypassing the IRCTC and Bank security systems deployed in booking tatkal tickets throughout India.
After multiple raids, the RPF sleuths arrested a criminal who provided information about a mastermind of illegal software business who would deploy software to bypass the IRCTC Tatkal system and even bank OTP and directly book tickets. The alleged mastermind would then extort a premium amount from the passengers.
The said kingpin had fled Bengaluru and had beeen on the run since October 2019, but in January 2020 his whereabouts were tracked to Odisha's Kenderpara. The RPF team made the arrest and brought him to Bengaluru for further investigation.
"During interrogation it was understood that he had Pakistani based software of high level hacking Linux based systems for hacking devices applications to ISRO, Railways and other Government Organizations, 3000 Bank account details, Bitcoins and other Crypto currency links," the SWR statement read.
On interrogation, he revealed the black market of 25,000 hackers and touts with high command in India and abroad. "The black money generated from this illegal activity amounted to hundreds of crores and it was linked to various other anti-national and criminal activities throughout the country and abroad," the statement said.
As a result, unauthorised tickets were booked and genuine passengers could not book e-tickets through IRCTC website. The tickets would vanish as the gang was using powerful software, the SWR said.
The statement notified that an all-India racket of hackers and touts was unearthed by RPF SWR who were using various high level illegal software which compromised the entire IRCTC e-ticketing and banking systems.
The Director General of RPF in coordination with the Deputy Inspector General of Railway Board, led the various raids throughout India and subsequently over 100 panel developers and software sellers were arrested. The software codes were seized and destroyed.
In view of their persistent work, DG/RPF awarded a commendation certificate to Principal Chief Security Commissioner/ SWR and Divisional Security Commissioner/Bangalore and team for unearthing the all India illegal software racket and their modus operandi.
An extremely rare breed of 'singing' dog, thought to have been extinct, has been spotted in its natural habitat for the first time in 50 years. The New Guinea singing dog, known for their unique howls and bark, though breeded in captivity, had not been spotted in wild since past five decades. However, following research by the New Guinea Highland Wild Dog Foundation (NGHWDF) in 2016, a breakthrough was witnessed.
Spotted in Papua
For the research, the team from NGHWDF travelled to Puncak Jaya in Papua, Indonesia where they spotted a pack of Highland Wild Dogs. Upon further observation, the team found that the dogs had similar vocalisation to that of New Guinea Singing Dogs.Two years later, when they returned back to Indonesia, they took blood samples of the wild dogs. They then compared it those of the singing dogs, kept in captivity. Remarkably, their genome sequences were similar even though years of interbreeding resulted in physical differences.
We found that New Guinea Singing Dogs and the Highland Wild Dogs have very similar genome sequences, much closer to each other than to any other canid known. In the tree of life, this makes them much more related to each other than modern breeds such as German shepherd or Bassett Hound," NHGRI staff scientist Heidi Parker wrote about the discovery.
Read: Woolly Flying Squirrel, Believed To Be Extinct, Spotted In Gangotri National Park
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In a similar inicdent, the Woolly flying squirrel, which was believed to be extinct some seventy years back, was recently spotted at Gangotri National Park in Uttarakhands Uttarkashi. The Forest Research Institute reportedly informed that the extinct squirrels were in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. The institute, further, reportedly said that the Woolly flying squirrels use its claws as a parachute to fly.
Read: US: 10-year-old Raises Over $315,000 To Provide Bulletproof Vests For Dogs
Read: Snoop Dogg Releases His Own Spirit Brand With 'Indoggo' Strawberry Gin
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The 77th edition of the worlds oldest movie festival, Venice, will begin on Wednesday with an Italian work, director Daniele Luchettis Lacci (The Ties). To be held on the lovely island of Lido, off mainland Venice, the Festival has not opened with an Italian title in more than a decade. The last was in 2009, when Giuseppe Tornatores Baaria did the inaugural offers.
The Festival with all the safety precautions to keep visitors (though far fewer in number this year, because of the Coronavirus pandemic) safe and with toned down Red Carpet events will feature Lacci in the Out-of-Competition section. Set during the early 1980s in Naples, the film is based on Domenico Starnones eponymous 2017 novel, and centres on a marriage threatened by an extra-marital affair. Or, one that is presumed so.
Recently, we have all feared that cinema might become extinct, said Luchetti. Yet during the quarantine it gave us comfort, like a light gleaming in a cavern. Today we have understood something else: that movies, television series, novels, are indispensable in our lives.
Long live festivals, then, which allow us to come together to celebrate the true meaning of our work. If anyone thought it served no purpose, they now know it is important to everyone. With Lacci I am honoured to open the dances of the first great festival in unexpected times.
In recent times, Venice has invariably kicked off with American titles or those arriving from outside Italy. In 2019, Hirokazu Kore-edas Catherine Deneuve-starrer. The Truth, kicked off the Festival. In 2018, it was Damien Chazelles Ryan Gosling-fronted First Man, and in 2017, Alexander Paynes Downsizing.
While emphasising the importance of a physical event taking place in the time of the Coronavirus, the Festival Director, Alberto Barbera said that he was happy to open with a home-grown entry. This great opportunity was offered by the wonderful film directed by Daniele Luchetti, an anatomy of a married couples problematic coexistence, as they struggle with infidelity, emotional blackmail, suffering and guilt, with an added mystery that is not revealed until the end.
Supported by an outstanding cast, the movie is also a sign of the promising phase in Italian cinema today, continuing the positive trend seen in recent years, which the quality of the films invited to Venice this year will surely confirm, added Barbera.
There will fewer movies this year and hardly any American presence. But India has struck big with three titles, one in Competition, whose jury will be headed by Cate Blanchett. They are Chaitanya Tamhanes Marathi work The Disciple (to compete for the top Golden Lion prize), Ivan Ayrs Punjabi film, Meel Patthar (Orizzonti Features Competition),and Sushma Khandepauns Gujarati flick Anita (Short Films Competition) Ayrs debut Soni was in the 2018 Horizons.
The last time an Indian title that made it to the Competition was Mira Nairs brilliant, Monsoon Wedding, in 2001. It also won the Golden Lion for Best Picture! A year before that Buddhadeb Dasguptas Uttara (The Wrestlers, 2000), was part of Venice Competition. He got the Special Director Award.
The Disciple is a story which takes place in Mumbai, and is very different from Tamhanes earlier, Court, which also played at Venice, though not in Competition. While Court lambasted the corruption in Indias judiciary (taking off from the death of a manhole worker), The Disciple focuses on the perils threatening the countrys classical music.
According to the synopsis, Sharad Nerulkar has devoted himself to becoming an Indian classical vocalist, a lifelong quest in which few succeed. Initiated into this centuries-old tradition by his father, he follows his dream with sincerity and discipline, committing himself entirely to his artistic journey. As he strives to attain the highest level of his craft, Sharad traces his way through the hallowed mysteries and rituals of past musical legends. But as the years pass, Sharad will be forced to negotiate between the complex realities of life in contemporary Mumbai and his chosen path, leading him to find his true voice in music and in life.
(A couple of years ago, Rajiv Menons Sarvam Thala Mayam also looked at the challenges facing Carnatic music, and was screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival.)
Here are some of the titles apart from The Disciple at Venice Competition:
And Tomorrow The Entire World from Germany is about a young anti-fascist protester who falls in love, but is forced to go underground when racist violence sweeps the country.
In Between Dying, Australia, talks about a young man desperately searching for his true family, and finds love in the same city he has been living.
Laila In Haifa comes from Israel, and the movie takes us to a night club frequented by both Israelis and Palestinians something rare in the conflict-ridden city.
Lovers (France) is about love, separation, longing and meeting again. Two passionate lovers are separated by a tragedy, but years later run into each other on an Indian Ocean island.
New Order arrives from Mexico and tells us a story about a dystopian group of men and women who gate-crash into a wedding.
Nomadland is an American film and stars Frances McDormand, who gets into her van and hits the road after an economic depression rocks her home town in Nevada.
Sun Children narrates the story of a few Iranian youngsters who enroll themselves in a school to try and find hidden treasure.
The Festival runs till September 12.
(Author, Commentator and Movie Critic Gautaman Bhaskaran has covered the Venice Film Festival for 20 years)
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said 75 per cent of JEE-Main candidates in the state could not appear for the exam held on September 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and blamed the Centre's "ego" for it. In other states, only half of the examinees managed to turn up due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, she claimed.
Banerjee, who has been against the Centre's decision to hold JEE-Main and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) undergraduate exams urged the Centre to rethink about those who could not manage to appear for the crucial test.
"Our students are in great trouble. So many of them were not able to attempt JEE. That's why we had requested the central government to appeal to the Supreme Court or review the matter again so that students are not deprived," she told reporters.
"Yesterday, out of 4,652 candidates for JEE in West Bengal only 1,167 could appear for it despite all arrangements by the state government for them. This means only 25 per cent could attempt to write the examinations and the rest 75 per cent could not in West Bengal. We had made the arrangements as per the instructions (of the central government)," she added.
Banerjee expressed her displeasure with the BJP-led Central government for its stand on holding JEE/NEET despite several appeals. "Who will be held responsible for those who could not sit for the examinations due to the COVID-19 pandemic?" she asked.
"What would have gone wrong if the examinations were deferred by another few days? Why is there so much of ego? Why are you (central government) so stubborn? ... Who gave you the right to spoil the future of the students," the TMC supremo hit out.
She said the students didn't refuse to sit for the exams and had only requested to defer them by a few more days during the pandemic due to concerns about their health.
The parents of the JEE (Main) candidates PTI spoke to said they had to shell out steep fares to take their children to various test centres from their home districts. The father of candidate Ayan Roy Mahapatra said he had to cough up Rs 25,000 to cover a distance of 365 km from Malda to Kolkata for hiring a SUV.
Ayan had appeared for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE)-Mains from a test centre in Salt Lake area here on Tuesday.
Another candidate Biltu Dey who travelled in a private luxury bus from Malda to Kolkata spent Rs 800 on one-way fare as he did not want to board crowded public transport.
Vivekananda Kundu, father of candidate Rohan Kundu, did not divulge the fare he had to pay for the journey from Midnapore town to Esplanade here. The journey on a crowded bus made him jittery about the possibility of getting infected by coronavirus.
"We had to pay thrice the regular fare but the conductor still kept on picking up passengers without thinking for our safety. We couldn't afford to pay Rs 25,000 for a car so we chose the public transport," he said.
They will come back to the city again on September 13 for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) but are apprehensive.
Stating that she felt sad for those students who could not appear for the examinations, the chief minister said, "I am pained and I am shocked. I will again ask the Centre to review how many students could sit for the tests and how many could not in different states".
Banerjee had written two letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week seeking postponement of the entrance examinations.
Supporting her demand, chief ministers of seven non-BJP ruled states had jointly moved the Supreme Court on the issue.
Another plea was filed by 11 students from as many different states seeking quashing of the July 3 notices issued by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on the holding of JEE and NEET in September.
The Supreme Court had on Monday dismissed a plea seeking postponement of the JEE-Main and NEET undergraduate examinations saying a "precious year" of students cannot be wasted and life has to go on. The JEE-Main is scheduled to be held from September 1-6, while the NEET UG 2020 exam is scheduled for September 13.
High school students who have been working toward an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma in Ottawa's English public board have been told they must attend classes in person in order to stay in the program.
The IB program is currently offered in Grade 11 and Grade 12 at Colonel By Secondary School and is geared to students who may be planning on attending a university abroad.
Students in the traditional secondary stream of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) have the option this fall of either attending school in person, or registering for remote learning if they're concerned about the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
However, IB students at Colonel By have been told they must attend classes in person if they wish to remain in the program.
Hoda Khalil's daughter is entering Grade 12 of the IB program and commutes on public transit 90 minutes each way to attend Colonel By in Beacon Hill.
"We have an underlying health condition in the family," said Khalil. "It's very risky for her to be in school in person. It's not a choice."
Despite the risk, Khalil has decided for now that her daughter can attend classes in person, since she's already invested hard work studying in the advanced program.
"She has different chances for universities outside of Canada. It's a different system, and we had a different plan," said Khalil.
Parents ready to help stream classes
Sherien Youssef, who has two children in the IB program at Colonel By, shares Khalil's sentiment of feeling pushed into a no-win situation.
Although Youssef has a family member who is immunocompromised, she is sending her kids to school for in-person learning.
"It's been a long journey," said Youssef. "It's a lot of work to have put in to say 'Never mind, let me just toss the diploma aside' and choose to do on-line learning. It feels very unfair."
During the OCDSB meeting on Aug. 25, Youssef made a presentation on behalf of concerned parents suggesting ways the board could offer remote learning options for IB students.
Story continues
One of the suggested options was streaming IB classes on a restricted feed.
"We understand that it's challenging for everyone," said Khalil. "So we are willing to help with uploading videos and doing whatever it takes to resolve the situation."
However the board has rejected that option, saying that the strict certification requirements of the IB program, as well as limited resources, prevent boards in Ontario from offering the IB program through a virtual high school.
But Youssef believes the board is complicating matters by trying to implement a board-wide solution for something that only affects a couple of classes at one high school.
"There are potential solutions that could be implemented at a school level, and I think some flexibility should be given to the school to allow that," she said.
The United States has decided not to participate in a global drive to develop, manufacture and equitably distribute a coronavirus vaccine known as the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) Facility. The project is led by the WHO; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a public-private global vaccine development project. The Covax effort now has 172 nations signed up Japan, Germany and the European Commission have joined with nine candidate vaccines in its portfolio, four more under discussion and nine others being evaluated for the longer term. The project is essentially a joint effort to procure vaccines and pool the risk so that when a safe and effective vaccine is found, it can be made available to all nations in the project as soon as possible. Those countries that join the program will be promised enough vaccine doses to cover 20 percent of their population at the outset. The goal is to acquire 2 billion doses by the end of next year.
Staff and examinees from containment zones shall not be permitted to be physically present at exam centres and there will be alternative arrangements for such students, as per the Union Health Ministrys latest guidelines on conducting tests during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Such students shall be given an opportunity to take the exam through other means or educational institutions shall arrange their papers at a later date, according to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued Wednesday. Also, only asymptomatic staff and students shall be allowed inside the examination hall, the SOPs stated, adding wearing face cover/mask is mandatory.
The face cover or mask has to be worn at all times inside the examination center by all, it underlined. Authorities concerned should plan out the examination schedule in a staggered manner so as to avoid overcrowding at any examination center on any day, the SOPs stated.
Examination centers in containment zones shall not be allowed to function, it said. Appropriate arrangements for face covers/masks, hand-sanitiser, soap, sodium hypochlorite solution etc. shall be made available by universities, educational institutions, examination conducting authorities or examination centres to the staff as well as students, it said.
Exam functionary and examinees may also submit self-declaration about health status at the time of entrance to the examination center. Such self-declaration form may be circulated at the time of issue of admit tickets, the guidelines said.
If any examination functionary/examinee fails to meet the self-declaration criteria, they shall not be allowed entry, the SOPs underlined.
For pen and paper-based tests, the SOPs outline that the invigilator will sanitise his/her hands prior to the distribution of question papers/answer sheets and the examinees will also sanitise their hands before receiving or handing back these materials.
The collection and packing of the answer sheets at every stage will involve sanitization of the hands. The answer sheets will preferably be opened up after 72 hours have elapsed post collection of papers, the guidelines recommended.
Use of spit/saliva for counting and distributing sheets shall not be allowed, the SOPs stated.
For online or computer-based examination, the systems shall be disinfected using alcohol wipes before and after conduct of examination and record of all exam functionaries and examinees should be maintained in the system for future reference and traceability, the guidelines underlined.
Entrances of examination centres should have mandatory hand hygiene and thermal screening provisions, it said.
The Bureau of Public Safety (BPS) has labeled the governments imposition of $150 as fees for Covid-19 test on all international travelers arriving in the country as a grave violation of International Health Regulations.
BPS has consequently asked for the immediate withdrawal of the $150 testing fee per traveler.
Per a statement issued in Accra Wednesday, September 2, petitioning the Health Minister, BPS wants the government to rather enforce a 14-day mandatory self-isolation regime for passengers arriving without a PCR test (used to directly detect the presence of an antigen) taken within the preceding 72 hours prior to arrival, and also maintain a 72-hour prior-take-off/travel testing requirement.
As a socially engaged and committed organization, the BPS wholeheartedly welcomes efforts to stop the spread of the novel corona virus. However, we find the Governments decision to mandatorily levy all travelers a $150 USD testing fee a grave violation of Part VII of the International Health Regulations (2005), which states, inter alia, that Except for travelers seeking temporary or permanent residence, no charge shall be made by a State Party for any medical examination provided for in the IHR, or any supplementary examination which may be required by that State Party to ascertain the health status of the traveler examined for the protection of public health. (Article 40 Para 1, & 1(a)).
President Akufo-Addo in his 16th address to the nation on Sunday announced the further easing of restrictions on movement imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus and said all arrivals at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) from Tuesday, September 1, would be expected to go for a mandatory Covid-19 test at a cost of $150 to the traveller.
Below is the full petition by the Bureau of Public Safety, signed by its Executive Director, Nana Yaw Akwada.
The Honorable Minister
Ministry of Health
Accra
Dear Sir,
INTERNATIONAL HEALTH REGULATION VIOLATION: $150 PER TRAVELER MANDATORY COVID-19 TESTING FEE AT GHANAs AIR PORT OF ENTRY
The Bureau of Public Safety (BPS) writes to draw your attention to a direct contravention of the World Health Organizations International Health Regulations (IHR) by the Government of Ghana requiring your immediate attention.
Following the lifting of the ban on air travel by the Government of Ghana on 1st September, 2020, the Ministry of Health, in conjunction with the Ghana Health Service, has instituted a $150 mandatory COVID-19 test fee to be levied on travelers upon their disembarkation at the Kotoka International Airport. This is, apparently, part of the Government's measures to stop the international spread of the novel corona virus.
As a socially engaged and committed organization, the BPS wholeheartedly welcomes efforts to stop the spread of the novel corona virus. However, we find the Governments decision to mandatorily levy all travelers a $150 USD testing fee a grave violation of Part VII of the International Health Regulations (2005), which states, inter alia, that Except for travelers seeking temporary or permanent residence, no charge shall be made by a State Party for any medical examination provided for in the IHR, or any supplementary examination which may be required by that State Party to ascertain the health status of the traveler examined for the protection of public health. (Article 40 Para 1, & 1(a))
The BPS therefore wish to request your outfit to:
1. Withdraw with immediate effect the USD 150 testing fee per traveler completely,
2. Maintain the 72-hour prior-take-off/travel testing requirement, and
3. Enforce a 14-day mandatory self-isolation regime for passengers arriving without a PCR test taken within the last 72 hours
The BPS herewith call on your high office to be guided by the purpose and scope of the IHR (2005) which are to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease in ways that are commensurate with and restricted to public health risks, and which avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade.
We further wish to call upon the Director-General of the World Health Organization to call all State Parties signed on to the IHR (2005) who are in violation of this regulation, to immediately implement fully the International Health Regulations (2005), in accordance with the purpose and scope set out in Article 2 and the principles embodied in Article 3. Indeed, we are not in normal times and thus, a watchful and a responsive World Health Organization is just what the world, especially middle income and poor countries, need at this time.
Source: Graphiconline.com
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By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: The Sun Temple at Konark reopened on Tuesday - strictly under Unlock 4 guidelines of the Centre - after remaining closed since March 15 to prevent entry of people in wake of the coronavirus pandemic .
As per the standard operating procedure of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), only 2,500 tourists would be allowed to enter the World heritage Site in two slots every day. They would get a window and handed out e-tickets only.
According to Superintending Archaeologist of Bhubaneswar Circle Arun Malik, only 2,500 tourists would be allowed to enter the in a day to maintain safe distance between people. In the morning slot, 1,200 people would be allowed in, while 1,300 tourists can enter in the afternoon slot. Before the lockdown in March, an average of 5,000 tourists visited the monument on a daily basis.
"Visitors will be given a time window for moving round the monument and only e-tickets would be provided through digital payment for entry into the monument. They will also have to make e-payments for parking," Malik said.
Tourists will have to undergo thermal screening before entering the premises and wearing masks and maintaining safe distance are mandatory. Only those with symptoms will be allowed in.
While no public gathering and group photography will be allowed at the monument, it will have a designated single-line entry and exit points and routes for movement within the premises. The entire temple will be sanitised at regular intervals in a day to maintain hygiene.
All non-Living monuments, archaeological sites and museums under protection of ASI in Odisha opened from July 6 amid Covid safety precautions. However, the Sun Temple remained closed till August 31 due to Covid restrictions imposed by the Puri administration. Living monuments like Shri Jagannath temple at Puri, Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneswar continue to remain closed as per the Odisha Government guidelines.
The sudden stop in economic activity led to a sharp decline in employment-intensive sectors like construction, manufacturing and trade, hotels, transport etc.
The April-June quarter GDP data, released on Monday, showed the deepest damage in the employment-creating sectors, like construction and manufacturing.
This comes at a time the Centre and the finance ministry are talking about green shoots in the economy.
According to the data released by the National Statistical Office, the construction sector fell a staggering 50.3 per cent, while manufacturing sector contracted by 39.3 per cent, at constant prices.
New investments as a percentage of GDP, measured by gross fixed capital formation, came in at 19.5 per cent (at nominal prices), which is the lowest since the new GDP series with the 2011-12 base year began, said Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist with CARE Ratings.
Investment growth witnessed a sharp contraction of 47.9 per cent in the first quarter.
"There has been a significant drop (9.5 per cent) in the share of investment in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal year compared with the same period last year, Sabnavis said.
Almost all the major sub-sectors reported a contraction, with construction activities, manufacturing sector and trade, hotels, and transport in the services sector being hit the worst hit.
"The contraction in some services is large, and as these continue to be under restricted functioning, the improvement in the coming quarters will be staggered, said economist M Govinda Rao, chief economic advisor with Brickwork Ratings.
Radhika Rao, economist at DBS Bank, said the sudden stop in economic activity led to a sharp decline in employment-intensive sectors like construction, manufacturing and trade, hotels, transport etc.
Under the demand breakdown, aggregate demand which accounts for two-third of spending, was dragged into red by equal measure by consumption as well as investment growth, overshadowing a pick-up in government spending, Rao said.
Consumption weakness in the current cycle stems from weaker disposable incomes and uncertainty over employment prospects, rather than changes in the rate cycle.
This suggests that fiscal push will carry a larger multiplier than purely easier financial conditions. Looking ahead, we expect growth in the next three quarters to register smaller declines as the economy continues to open up despite a rise in infection cases, and focus shifts to protecting livelihoods, she said.
From the demand side except government final consumption expenditure, all other growth drivers namely private final consumption expenditure, gross fixed capital formation and exports recorded high double digit negative growth, said Sunil Sinha, principal economist, India Rating.
Sinha added that India Ratings expects year-on-year economic contraction in all four quarters of FY21.
The White House on Wednesday joined other world governments to condemn the apparent poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The state of play: The German government announced that the poisoning was conducted with Novichok, a chemical typically associated with Russian security services.
Nalvany remains comatose at a Berlin hospital two weeks after falling ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow.
For years, he's been one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken opponents. Attacks on anti-Kremlin activists, like 2018's Salisbury Novichok attack in the U.K., have been a hallmark of Putin's leadership. Russia has claimed no wrongdoing in such incidents.
What they're saying: White House National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot said Wednesday, "The United States is deeply troubled by the results released today. Alexei Navalnys poisoning is completely reprehensible."
"We will work with allies and the international community to hold those in Russia accountable, wherever the evidence leads, and restrict funds for their malign activities."
"The Russian people have a right to express their views peacefully without fear of retribution of any kind, and certainly not with chemical agents."
The big picture: Other world leaders simultaneously spoke out against the attack on Navalny.
Coronavirus will widen the poverty gap between women and men and undo progress made in recent decades, the UN warns.
The coronavirus pandemic will widen the poverty gap between women and men, pushing 47 million more women and girls into impoverished lives by next year, and undoing progress made in recent decades, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
Worldwide, more women than men will be made poor by the economic fallout and significant job losses caused by COVID-19, with informal workers worst hit in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, according to new UN estimates.
The increases in womens extreme povertyare a stark indictment of deep flaws in the ways we have constructed our societies and economies, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the head of UN Women, said in a statement.
During the pandemic, women have lost their jobs at a faster rate than men have, as they are more likely to be employed in the sectors hardest hit by long lockdowns such as retail, restaurants and hotels, it said.
Women are also more likely to work in the informal economy, typically in jobs as domestic workers and cleaners that often come with little or no healthcare, unemployment benefits or other protections.
Restaurant and bar workers hold candles outside a closed bar as they protest against the coronavirus lockdown regulations prohibiting the sale of alcohol in Cape Town, South Africa [File: Mike Hutchings/Reuters]
We know that women take most of the responsibility for caring for the family; they earn less, save less and hold much less secure jobs, Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
According to the UNs International Labour Organization (ILO), about 70 percent of domestic workers globally had lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19 by June this year.
Overall, the pandemic will push an additional 96 million people into extreme poverty by next year, of whom nearly half are women and girls, according to estimates by UN Women and the UNs Development Programme (UNDP).
This will bring the total number of women and girls worldwide living in extreme poverty defined as a person living on $1.90 or less a day to 435 million and it is expected this figure will not revert to pre-pandemic levels until 2030.
Temperature readings are taken for people attending Eid al-Adha prayers at the Thai Islamic Center amid the spread of the coronavirus in Bangkok, Thailand [File: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters]
By 2021, for every 100 men aged 25-34 living in extreme poverty, there will be 118 women a gap expected to increase to 121 women for every 100 men by 2030, according to UN estimates.
Governments could adopt measures to help women in low-paid and informal jobs, said Achim Steiner, a UNDP administrator.
More than 100 million women and girls could be lifted out of poverty if governments implement a comprehensive strategy aimed at improving access to education and family planning, fair and equal wages, and expanding social transfers, Steiner said.
Nearly three in every five of the worlds poor women live in sub-Saharan Africa, and the region will continue to be home to the highest number of the worlds poorest after the pandemic.
Recent gains made in reducing poverty rates in South Asia are threatened as the region is set to face a resurgence in extreme poverty, with women worst affected, the UN said.
The whole package of the US-India trade deal is almost ready and it can be finalised when the local political situation in the United States is conducive, Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.
Goyal said that he is in touch with US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and both the countries agree that the deal can be concluded before or soon after the Presidential elections in November.
The whole package is near ready and can be finalised at any time when the local political situation in the US permits them to. India believes that it has to be a win-win situation for both India and US, Goyal said during the US-India Strategic Partnership Forums third Annual Leadership Summit.
I spoke with Ambassador Lighthizer. We agree that we can look at doing it before elections also or soon after. I am open to signing up tomorrow, Goyal said.
He further said that it is in favour of India and the US to deepen their strategic partnership with the trade deal.
It is in the interest of India and US to deepen our strategic partnership with this trade deal. It will open the doors to starting a dialogue on a larger bilateral engagement, the Union minister said.
Goyal hoped that the two countries can move to the next stage of larger engagement for a free trade agreement.
Earlier on Monday, external affairs minister S Jaishankar had an interactive session with former US envoy to India Timothy Roemer, at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.
Copenhagen Imports Texas regional manager, John Milk, is always quick to distinguish furniture design trends, such as sectional sofas with trendy style options like smoky mirrors and gold-plated tables. He should know - hes been designing furniture showrooms for almost three decades. John has always admired interior design, recalling days when, as a child, his mother would take him along to visit his favorite furniture store in his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. After college, he was so impressed with the local Copenhagens holiday displays one year, he applied to work there as a seasonal employee. Twenty-eight years later, hes still just as impressed by the Contemporary European style showcased inside the store.
Its a timeless design that fits perfectly with our present desire to simplify our environments with functional pieces that look great, John says. It allows us to take a break from the constant visual overload that barrages us from social media and elsewhere. Our 50th Anniversary Collection really celebrates this style, curating craftsmanship that has remained popular for half a century."ry European style showcased inside the store.
Designed with a Purpose
John says Contemporary European furniture carries a lower profile, like a neutral colored sofa that is free of heavy, engraved wood but features intricate stitching and a more interesting texture. This style doesnt break up a room with large bulky items but blends into the home environment to create better sightlines and living flow through the rooms of the home.
Our manufacturers have really kept up with certain trends, adding power motion and elevated headrests without obstructing the clean lines which our designs are well known for, says John, who was promoted to store manager after he designed the new San Antonio store eight years ago. In many ways, as we see with the popularity of the modern farmhouse look, general trends in furniture design have caught up with our Contemporary European styles. You can see it in our tables that seamlessly combine glass, metal, and steel or how a living room chair inlays wood for added warmth to accent a high-quality fabric.
Furnish in Style
The Copenhagen Living showroom is filled with furniture that is easy to manage and clean, making it ideal for families. The companys success continues to grow right along with San Antonio, as new residents are drawn to clean lines and smaller furniture profiles. Many longtime San Antonins are also moving away from the Texas Hill Country look, replacing large and bulky leather pieces that feature nail heads and other exposed hardware with smooth forms that fit effortlessly into our homes and everyday lives.
Like the quality of their inventory, John says Copenhagens focus on customer service remains as strong as when, as a child, he and his mother would visit the Tucson, Arizona store. It was a favorite outing of ours. We would visit sometimes just to see what was new and were never pressured by salespeople to buy. Our stores still have this reputation as a no pressure to buy environment, a place where customers can take their time making decisions about how to furnish their homes. We hear how much our visitors appreciate our customer service again and again.
Relax and Recharge
Copenhagen sets the standard for furniture showrooms in other important ways as well, beginning with the 5-Year Warranty. The store also uses the Low Price Model to ensure the most economical prices. Generous financing is also available. The talented sales team to offers design assistance to customers whether they are starting from scratch or adding a signature piece, or two. Full-service delivery is available for one set fee.
Our customer service is quite outstanding, John says. We have folks who come in and buy furniture for one house and then return to buy the same style of furniture once they move to another home. It speaks to the timelessness of the style. We also work with Parade of Homes builders and others who have actually sold the furnished homes because the new homeowners were so satisfied with the homes setting we had provided."
Find What Speaks to You
Like furnishing a new model home, the 50th Anniversary Collection is designed to be a curated, exclusive collection, says John, a rare opportunity to save 20-30% on select styles that have never been marked down before. Copenhagen Living's buyers collaborated with their suppliers to offer these savings, selecting objects that best represented the stores brand for returning customers and for those whove only recently discovered the appeal of crisp, timeless styling.
This is a very special opportunity at each of our seven stores, says John, whose own area covers showrooms in Austin, El Paso, and San Antonio. The overwhelmingly positive response suggests that returning and new customers have been very happy with our Anniversary Collection.
Clean and Timeless
The family nature of the locally-owned Copenhagen is but one of many reasons that John and many of his colleagues have established such impressive tenure. This community commitment translates to customer relations as well. John says many clients have consulted with him and his employees for decades, often having begun a project with just one key piece of furniture.
The customer-employee relationship at Copenhagen Living is as timeless as Contemporary European design, says the man who has spent his career designing showrooms and managing the favorite store of his youth. The 50th Anniversary Collection celebrates these important relationships.
Visit the Copenhagen Living website to learn more.
Editor's Note: This content is made possible by Copenhagen Imports . It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com'storial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com/real-estate.
Chinese troops made a second failed attempt on Monday to capture the peaks on the southern banks of Pangong Tso. (PTI Photo)
New Delhi: Chinese troops made a second failed attempt on Monday to capture the peaks on the southern banks of Pangong Tso that has emerged as the latest flash point between the two armies.
On 31st August, even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation, the Chinese troops again engaged in provocative action. Due to the timely defensive action, the Indian side was able to prevent these attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
Through diplomatic and military channels, India has urged China to discipline and control their frontline troops from undertaking such provocative actions.
On Saturday night, Indian troops had preempted the PLA soldiers and occupied many peaks on the southern banks of the Pangong Tso to dominate the area.
According to sources, Chinese army on Monday night was trying to close-in on the area but were spotted by Indian troops. PLA troops were suitably warned and they dissuaded from coming closer, said sources.
Since May, the Chinese Army's strategy has been to grab unoccupied land at the LAC in Ladakh sector. However, on the southern banks of Pangong Tso, as soon as they saw a large number of Chinese troops moving in, Indian troops on Saturday night moved fast to occupy many peaks in a pre-emptive move. Control of the peaks gives the Indian Army an advantage to dominate the area as it can monitor the movements of Chinese troops
New Mexico cities and counties finally know how much money theyll be able to award to small businesses through a state grant program established with $50 million in federal funding but it may be less than some recipients were hoping for.
All told, 66 New Mexico counties, cities, towns and other municipalities applied for and will receive funds through the program, which will then be distributed to local businesses in those communities, the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration announced Tuesday.
Henry Valdez, spokesman for the state finance department, said the program gives local governments flexibility to help the small businesses that need it most in each community.
We felt it was better for the counties and municipalities to distribute those funds, because they know those businesses better than we do, Valdez told the Journal.
However, the municipalities collectively requested $106 million more than twice the funding available through the program.
As a result, many local governments received less than half of the funding they applied for.
When you look at the total that was requested, I think they had to make some tough decisions, said Debbi Moore, president and CEO of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce.
Applications from cities and counties were due in the middle of August. Later that month, the state finance agency developed a list of five criteria, including the number of small businesses in each community that closed or were unable to reopen due to the pandemic, that guided how the money was allocated.
Grant totals ranged from $11,183 on the low end which Tijeras and Mora County each received up to $5.44 million, which went to Las Cruces.
Some communities received just over one-third of the funding they requested. Others, including Los Alamos and San Juan counties, received more than half of their requested total, according to state data.
Devin Neeley, spokesman for San Juan County which received just over $1.06 million through the program said the community was grateful for any assistance after being hammered by the virus earlier this year.
We hope that these dollars will work to rebuild our very hard-hit businesses in this area, Neeley said.
San Juan County and other municipalities are still waiting for additional guidelines from the state finance department on how the funding may be allocated to businesses in their communities. Moore said shes hopeful those rules will be available by the end of the week.
Roswell Mayor Dennis Kintigh said his city, which received about $1.35 million through the program, said he wants to see the state provide some flexibility in its guidelines, as the pandemic has affected different communities in different ways.
The more flexibility we have, I think the better we are at serving our communities, Kintigh said.
(Natural News) On Monday, August 31, Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf delivered a strongly worded letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, warning him that, if the unrelenting wave of rioting, violence and civil unrest in his city does not end soon, the federal government will have no choice but to protect our American citizens.
Wolf said that he wrote the letter on behalf of President Donald Trump, in response to a letter that Wheeler himself sent to the president on Friday, where the mayor once again declined the presidents offer to bring in federal law enforcement officers to finally put an end to the violence in the city.
Stay away, please, wrote Wheeler at the conclusion of his letter. The mayor also accused Trump of adding fuel to the fire when he first sent in federal law enforcement officers back in July to protect federal property which was being besieged on a nightly basis by Antifa and Black Lives Matter rioters.
Trump, upon reading this hostile letter, asked the acting secretary to respond, which he did by publishing his own open letter. Wolf started out the letter by explaining that, although Wheeler tries to say that there is no place for looting, arson or vandalism in Portland, he has failed to back that up with any action. This inaction, not the arrival of federal officers, Wolf argues, is what caused the situation in Portland to get much worse.
Due to a lack of action throughout the summer, Portland and its law-abiding residents continue to suffer from large-scale looting, arson and vandalism even killing, wrote Wolf in his open letter.
Businesses remain shuttered and Portlanders are held hostage by the daily violence that has gripped the city with no end in sight. This is precisely why President Trump has and continues to offer federal law enforcement assistance to Portland.
Rioting has been allowed to continue since withdrawal of federal officers
Wolf also pointed out that, since July 31, the Portland Police Bureau has made 25 arrests, and PPB officers have declared 23 riots and unlawful assemblies. This made Wolf accuse Wheeler of standing by passively with the belief that the rioting and the massive violence will one day burn itself out.
Wolf also points out that reality is on his side. When Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, requested the intervention of federal law enforcement officers, the violence and looting in Kenosha ended soon after.
Wolf is now urging Wheeler to not ignore the evidence and to prioritize the safety of Portlanders by requesting the return of federal law enforcement officers. He warned that, if the worst happens, Trump will have no choice but to send in federal forces.
As local Democrats like Mayor Wheeler continue letting Black Lives Matter and Antifa roam their cities streets and cause as much chaos as they like, national Democrats like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi have been busy preparing to declare members of the Republican Party to be enemies of the state. If this declaration goes unchallenged, then Democrats will have free rein to imprison GOP members and strip them of their offices.
Portlanders calling for Wheeler to resign following deadly shooting
While Wheeler draws the ire of federal officials and Portlands conservative residents, he is getting no love from the left. In response to the murder in Portlands downtown neighborhood, several civil rights and community organizations in the city are now calling for Wheeler to resign. (Related: Portland police begin investigation on Michael Reinoehl, main suspect in shooting of Patriot Prayer member.)
These groups published an open letter on Sunday, August 30. It was signed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations Oregon, the Oregon Justice Resource Center, Next Up Action Fund, Portlands Resistance, Pop Mob, and the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
We are deeply saddened by the loss of life last night and we offer our sympathies to the families of the victim What took place last night was inevitable given Mayor Wheelers repeated failures, said the groups. He has not protected or supported Portlanders. We do not have confidence in his ability to course-correct. He must resign.
The organizations gave several arguments for why Wheeler should resign. Echoing Wolf, the most important argument pointed out by the groups is that Wheeler has not provided any meaningful solution to curb the racially-motivated tensions in the city and to put a definitive stop to the violence.
Portland-based journalists have shown that, in the unlikely event that Wheeler does resign, Portland will have no mayor not even an acting mayor until the next election. The governance of the city will be left to the City Council, the chief of police and other public officials.
Mayor Wheeler, and other local and state Democrats like him, are giving Antifa and the Black Lives Matter domestic terrorist movement free rein to loot, murder and destroy their way through their cities. Learn about the latest criminal incidents in cities like Portland, Seattle and Kenosha by reading the articles at Rioting.news.
Sources include:
TheEpochTimes.com
KATU.com 1
KGW.com
KATU.com 2
Twitter.com
WWeek.com
Joe Biden challenged President Donald Trump to 'get off twitter' and meet with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders to pass emergency funding for schools dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
'Get off Twitter and start talking to the congressional leaders in both parties. Invite them to the Oval Office,' Biden said Wednesday in a campaign speech designed to focus the country's attention back on the COVID crisis.
'You always talk about your ability to negotiate. Negotiate a deal,' the Democratic presidential nominee challenged his Republican rival.
Joe Biden challenged President Donald Trump to 'get off twitter' and meet with Congressional leaders to get emergency funding for schools
Students wearing protective masks have their temperatures checked before entering Logan Jr. High School in Princeton, Illinois, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 1
Joe Biden attacked President Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, showing how it is has impacted the everyday lives of Americans and disrupted the school year
Biden and his wife Jill, who is a teacher, received a briefing on schools and how they are handling the pandemic ahead of Biden's remarks as his campaign sought to turn the national conversation back to the pandemic, where voters give the president low marks for his handling.
Trump has been pushing his 'law and order' themed presidency and bashing Black Lives Matters protesters for causing damage in their demonstrations across the country.
But Biden sought to show sympathy with families who are struggling with the challenges of every day life under the pandemic, which has infected more than 6.9 million people in the United States and killed more than 185,000 people.
Wednesday's focus was on education as the school year begins across the country with some students returning to the classroom, others doing virtual learning and some schools doing a combination of both.
'If President Trump and his Administration had done their jobs Americas schools would be open,' Biden said in his attack on the president's handling of the crisis.
'Instead American families all across this country are paying a price for his failures,' he added.
The speech was part of Biden's strategy to appear presidential in contrast to Trump. He'll keep adding to that comparison when he goes to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to hold a town hall meeting on the racial tensions that came after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a black man, seven times in the back in front of his children.
'There's been overwhelming requests that I do come because what we're going to do is we got to heal,' Biden said when asked about his visit.
We got to put things together, bring people together. And so, my purpose in going will be to do just that to be a positive influence on what's going on. Talk about what needs to be done,' he said.
Trump was in Kenosha on Tuesday, where he had few words for Blake and his family but offered a defense of the police and criticism of the protests.
'These are not peaceful protests but domestic terror,' he said during his visit.
Joe and Jill Biden will also visit Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to commemorate the 19th anniversary of 9/11, on Friday, September 11. President Trump and Melania Trump visited the memorial on September 11, 2018.
While Biden has pushed to keep the national conversation on the coronavirus, some Democrats have fretted he should be taking on the president's tough talk about the demonstrations that have sprung up in cities around the country, sparking fear among the party it could hurt Biden at the polls.
Joe and Jill Biden arrive to take part in a virtual meeting on reopening schools amid the coronavirus disease
Joe and Jill Biden got a briefing from experts before Biden made his speech attacking President Trump's handling of the pandemic
But Biden said Wednesday the situation in the nation's schools was a national emergency and called on Congress to pass emergency funding to help schools deal with the crisis.
'Protecting our students, our educators, and our communities. Getting our schools open safely and effectively this is a national emergency,' he said.
He outlined the action he would take as president: K-12 schools would get full access to disaster relief and emergency assistance funds; PPE and sanitation supplies for schools; emergency funding for ventilation and other health measures; more money to hire more teachers to keep classes small and socially distanced money; and funds for more psychologists and counselors to support children's mental health.
Biden gave a cost estimate of $200 billion with additional money needed for colleges and universities.
His speech came after President Trump attacked him for 'low energy' and complained his rival was 'back in his basement' after the Democratic nominee made a highly-visible campaign stop in Pittsburgh on Monday.
Trump also claimed Biden is on some kind unspecified 'enhancement' drug during an interview with Fox News that aired on Tuesday. But he did not offer any proof and was not pressed on his claim.
The president lashed out at his rival after a new round of polls showed Biden in the lead after the Republican National Convention, despite the expectation Trump would get a boost after his nomination for a second term.
President Trump has thrown out several attack lines on Biden, questioning his health, his mental abilities and his policies
'Joe Biden is a Low Energy Candidate the likes of which we have never seen before. The last thing our country needs is a Low Energy Individual, especially when surrounded by High Energy Chess Players scattered all over the world. Hes back in his basement now - no schedule!,' Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.
Biden has upped his campaign presence now that the political conventions have ended. On Monday, he gave a speech in Pittsburgh where he attacked Trump's response to racial unrest and delivered pizza to local firefighters.
The president has thrown out several attack lines on Biden, questioning his health, his mental abilities and his policies, including distorting Biden's record to claim he would defund the police - which Biden has said he would not. He has accused Biden of 'hiding' in his basement while the Biden campaign said the candidate is simply following coronavirus guidelines.
Trump told Fox News he wanted Biden to take a drug test before their first presidential debate because he claims the Democratic presidential nominee is on 'some kind of enhancement.'
He did not specify and offered no proof.
'He's on some kind of an enhancement, in my opinion,' he said. ' I want to take one. Ill take one, hell take one. We should both take a drug test.'
Biden admitted Wednesday he's going to have spend some of the record $365 million he raised in August to counter Trump's 'lies.'
'Counter the lies that are being told about me by Trump's campaign,' he said when asked how he'd spend the money.
Joe Biden declined to speculate on President Trump's health as the president denied he was treated for a mini-stroke during an unannounced November 2019 visit to Walter Reed
President Trump in route to Walter Reed on Saturday, November 16, 2019, for a visit the White House said was part of his routine physical
He refused to be drawn into a personal attack on President Trump, declining to speculate about his health after the president went after the 'FAKE NEWS' on Twitter in the wake of explosive revelations in a new book that Vice President Mike Pence was on standby during the unscheduled November 2019 trip, which the White House said at the time Trump took because he had a 'free weekend.'
'It never ends! Now they are trying to say that your favorite President, me, went to Walter Reed Medical Center, having suffered a series of mini-strokes. Never happened to THIS candidate - FAKE NEWS. Perhaps they are referring to another candidate from another Party!' Trump wrote making the suggested that rival Joe Biden had suffered a stroke without offering evidence.
As the book's author, New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt noted online, his book's dive into the Walter Reed trip included nothing about mini-strokes.
And Pence, on Tuesday night, said he didn't recall being put on stand by.
'I don't recall being told to be on standby,' Pence told Fox News in an interview. 'I was informed that the president had a doctor's appointment, [but] I've got to tell you, part of this job is you are always on standby if you are Vice President of the United States.'
Biden declined to speculate on what Trump's unexpected trip to Walter Reed entailed.
'I'm not going to speculate on what it means always but I can say is that nothing this administration does is normal. And so I'm not being facetious when I say who in God's name knows what it's all about. I just don't know. I don't know, I'm not going to speculate. I'll let the experts do that,' he said.
He said in his eight years as vice president under President Barack Obama, he was only put on notice when Obama went out of the country.
'The only time that I have been on notice is when the president's out of the country. And I'm in the country,' he said.
But his focus Wednesday was on education.
Jill Biden, a teacher who said she plans to continue her classroom work should she become first lady, is also leading a 'Back-to-School Tour' of 10 cities in eight battleground states this week - some events will be virtual and some will be in person with social distancing measures in place.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he surveys riot damage in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday
President Donald Trump walks through burned out buildings Tuesday during his trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin
Joe Biden brings pizza to fire fighters during a visit to Pittsburgh on Monday
Jill Biden is leading a 'Back-to-School Tour' of 10 cities in eight battleground states this week
President Trump has pushed schools to reopen despite the pandemic, which has infected more than 6.9 million people in the United States and killed more than 185,000 people
Many school districts, however, have opted to begin the school year with virtual learning instead.
The president was in North Carolina on Wednesday to designate the city of Wilmington as the first American World War II Heritage City. He made his remarks from the Battleship North Carolina.
Voters consistently give President Trump low marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and race relations in the country. But they give him strong points on his handling of the economy.
The Biden campaign has been stressing how Trump's COVID response has affected the everyday lives of Americans.
Jenna Bush Hager of the Today Show is kicking off September with a compelling novel to start the fall season. Focusing on how science plays a role in vital areas of life including addiction and depression, the Read with Jenna pick for this month also looks at they dynamics of love, faith, and religion.
Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager of the Today Show | Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Transcendent Kingdom becomes a Read with Jenna pick
Centered around a family that immigrates from Ghana to Alabama, Transcendent Kingdom follows Gifty, a Stanford University Ph.D. student. Now in her sixth year, Gifty studies reward-seeking behavior and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother Nana has already died due to a heroine overdose after getting addicted to OxyContin following an ankle injury. Adding to the familys distress, Giftys mom becomes bedridden with depression.
Surrounded by trauma, Gifty begins to grapple with questions of faith, religion, and love. The doctoral student begins to search for scientific reasons for suffering in the hopes of making sense of her familys anguish.
Shes kind of been formed by the traumas of her childhood, author Yaa Gyasi told Today.com. Shes a character who is reticent, brilliant, grieving still, and often times kind of hesitant to look at herself even as she questions and examines everything around her.
RELATED: Jenna Bush Hager of the Today Show Admits She Popped The Question To Her Husband
Jenna Bush Hager picked this one in early 2020
Apparently, Hager has been eager to share this book with her Read with Jenna followers since early this year.
Im so excited about Septembers pick! the Today star wrote on Instagram. I have been waiting to announce this one since I first read it in January! Yaa is an absolutely brilliant writer and I hope you will all join us in reading this month!
Already a fan of Gyasis from her first novel Homecoming, Hager was drawn by the novels cultural themes. The author gives readers a glimpse of coming from another country in the hopes of achieving the American dream.
We hear Giftys story of moving from Ghana to Alabama. We walk in her shoes and we know what it feels like to be an immigrant and to feel like you are different.
Yaa Gyasi wanted to connect science and life experiences
Like the main character of her book, the author immigrated from Ghana to Alabama. Motivated by a friend who was studying neuroscience, Gyasi wanted to explore the connection between science and mental health issues. The writer also hopes to lessen the stigma that is often attached to addiction and depression.
She used to explain it to me in laymans terms, of addiction and depression, Gyasi shared of her friend. I wondered if it would be possible to fashion a novel around this question of a woman who is doing this research while experiencing the things that she researches in her own life.
Hager is hopeful that Transcendent Kingdom will start a dialogue around the content it examines.
Yaa Gyasis new book, TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM, highlights the way that the shadows of the past persist in the present. Hear Yaa discuss the novel with @rgay TOMORROW at 8pm with #PENOutLoud. Don't miss 50% off tickets: https://t.co/HGOXlq8Ao7. https://t.co/T9Wpqaplz8 PEN America (@PENamerica) September 1, 2020
RELATED: Today Shows Jenna Bush Hager Talks About Parenting During Quarantine
The fact that this book tackles the themes of mental health and race at this moment in our culture, I think will lead our book club to have some really important conversations, the book club founder commented.
Transcendent Kingdom is now on sale.
Africas largest hydroelectric dam has caused severe tensions with Egypt, which has called it an existential threat and worries that it will reduce the countrys share of Nile waters. Ethiopia says the $4.6 billion dam will be an engine of development that will pull millions of people out of poverty. Sudan, in the middle, worries about the effects on its own dams though it stands to benefit from access to cheap electricity.
02.09.2020 LISTEN
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected public wellness enormously and continues to create unparalleled disruptions to economies and labor markets, including workers and enterprises in the forest sector. In Ghana, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented immense immediate and medium-term impacts on forest-related supply chains.
The combination of stagnating production, reduced demand, shortages of raw materials, lack of working capital, freight rate increases and, in some cases, labor shortages, has forced many operations to halt their activities, some permanently.
The sector that has contributed about 200 million euros annually to Ghana`s export income and an estimated 120 million euros of cash flow from the domestic market, providing employment opportunities to an estimated 300 thousand Ghanaians and whose companies through their social and corporate responsibilities have invested heavily in bridging the infrastructure gap in their areas of operations by construction and development of schools, hospitals, road networks, and investment into rural projects that sustain the livelihood of forest fringe communities and contributing to rural poverty reduction, now needs serious help and attention.
Among the viable remedies would be issuance of the European Union (EU) Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) license through the implementation of a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) has been pursued since 2007 by Ghana and the European Union.
The progress made so far has brought about improved transparency in forest governance with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) playing an astounding role in facilitating the process. It has also improved both human and technical capacity and brought more focus on sustainable forest management. Others include firm accountability, bureaucratic efficiencies, institutional collaboration, stakeholder participation, and other aspects of good forest governance. It is expected that when FLEGT becomes fully operational, FLEGT licensed timber will automatically meet the requirements of the EU Timber Regulation.
It will, therefore, be exempt from any due diligence assessment process, saving time and money. This should increase EU importer confidence in Ghanas timber products and make them more attractive than equivalent products without FLEGT licenses.
The overwhelming anticipation has been that the VPA process would have been concluded in 2020, thirteen years since when discussion, negotiation, and reaching of agreement ensued. The final stages of the implementation borders on ratification by Parliament for the conversion of old timber leases to the Timber Utilization Contract (TUC) as stipulated by law (Timber Resources Management and Legality Licensing Regulations, 2017- LI 2254) and finalization of Forest Management Plans (FMPs). The Forest Companies have done their part to submit applications for the conversion of existing Forest Leases and Permits into TUCs to the Forestry Commission (FC) for their assessments and evaluations. Successful applications have been documented and submitted to the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources (MLNR) for approval and onward transmission to Parliament for ratification.
The contribution of the forest sector to economic growth cannot be underestimated. Ghana stands to benefit enormously when FLEGT becomes fully operational through an increase in the flow and share of Government revenues by blocking access to export and domestic markets for illegal operators who do not pay appropriate taxes and fees.
The urgency of completing the VPA-FLEGT process therefore cannot be overemphasized enough. The thoughts of the current Parliament missing the ratification of the TUCs will be a devastating blow to the forest sector and several stakeholders that have been committed to over a decade of efforts to get it realized this year.
In the likely scenario that the present Parliament is unable to get the TUCs ratified and a new Parliament initiated next year, the ratification process could be characterized by massive uncertainties as attention will be shifted to building the structure for the next Parliament and attending to urgent government agendas.
This level of unpredictability could drag the completion process at the detriment of the forest sector. The forest sector has been strangled by the ongoing health and economic crisis but perhaps VPA-FLEGT can bring some relief to forest companies.
The EU remains a huge market for timber companies and can increase the stream of revenues into the country. After thirteen years of implementation, Ghana must strive to see the VPA-FLEGT through. The Private Sector, CSOs, FC have all played critical roles and continue to be instrumental in completing the EU VPA-FLEGT process. Hopefully, the approved TUCs will be delivered expeditiously to Parliament even if in batches for ratification to be complied with so that the grueling VPA-FLEGT process can be brought to deserved finality.
The state plans to issue an emergency order to fix some damage done by two failed dams.
Michigans Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy wants to partially breach the Edenville Dams Tobacco River spillway. This is intended to increase the stability of the Tobacco River portion of the Edenville Dam. The state said because the company that owns the dam, Boyce Hydro, has not been cooperative, it has to take unique measures to ensure the integrity of the dam.
Theyve not had one deadline or met one milestone that weve asked, said EGLE Director, Liesl Clark. And so in the meantime, state governments been stepping up, to take the action on.
EGLE sent Governor Gretchen Whitmer its initial status report on what the department has done so far following the failures of the Edenville and Sanford dams.
In the report, the state accuses Boyce Hydro of not following through with requested dam inspections.
As of the date of this report, Boyce has not provided sufficient investigation and analysis to adequately assess the safety and stability of the dam or address the impacts to public safety and natural resources, the report said.
Boyce Hydro, LLC and Boyce Hydro Power, LLC, both owned by Lee Mueller, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early Aug. At the time, Boyce Hydro attorney, Lawrence Kogan of The Kogan Law Group, P.C., blamed the state for Boyce Hydros insolvency by filing lawsuits years before the dams failed.
The state filed a lawsuit against Boyce Hydro in 2018. It accused Boyce Hydro, LLC of conducting a major drawdown of Wixom Lake without getting the proper permits. Boyce Hydro said it opened the gates as a preemptive safety measure to ensure dam safety during winter conditions, but the state said the drawdown was intended by Boyce Hydro to avoid paying for winter ice build up maintenance, not as a measure of downstream safety concern.
Boyce Hydro did recently submit two reports to EGLE, one in June and one in July done by TRC Engineers. But EGLE said the reports, were insufficient because they were too limited in scope, did not comply with the temporary restraining order, and did not adequately address EGLEs concerns.
Kogan did not return a request for comment.
Now the state expects to have to issue an emergency order and do the work to fix the spillway itself. The plan would be to go after Boyce Hydro once the work is completed and get reimbursed for the costs.
It is unusual for us to have to step in and take over for a dam owner, said Teresa Seidel, director of EGLEs Water Resources Division.
Typically when work needs to be done on a dam, the state will issue documentation to the dam owner and the work will be done by the owner. But Seidel said theyre not planning on Boyce Hydro doing the work.
We anticipate issuing this emergency order to carry out the work that needs to be done to ensure that the dam, remaining dam and tobacco site is de-watered somewhat to a safety level, so that were ensuring that the public health and public safety is met, Seidel said.
The emergency order is a unilateral order from EGLE directly to the owner. The department has to give Boyce Hydro an opportunity to respond and make the repairs before it can step in and work on the dam.
Dam Safety Engineer Luke Trumble said it wont take long to send the order and then start the work.
Itll be an expedited process, and well give the owner some chance to comply, he said. Were not hopeful thats going to happen. So it would probably be a very abbreviated time frame in which we could then implement our authority to step in and take the necessary action on a relatively quick time frame.
EGLE considered four viable alternatives to improve the stability of the Tobacco River portion of the Edenville Dam, the report said. The alternatives were scored based on factors like schedule, risk, resource impacts and input from the public. Each alternative would restore either full or partial flow to the Tobacco River and restore the Tittabawassee River to the channel it was on before the dam failures.
The department selected the modification and partial breach of the Tobacco River spillway because, it would, achieve the goals of restoring flow to the downstream Tobacco River, alleviate strain on the collapsed M-30 bridges, minimize upstream impacts, and address dam safety concerns.
The report sent to the governor was mainly a look at what EGLE has done since the dams failed in May, and what it still plans to do.
It also stated that the Dow Midland Plant does not appear to have had a material impact on contamination in the overall river system as a result of the dam failures.
Postflood samples were taken by EGLE and the results were consistent with levels seen after non-2020 seasonal flooding events, the report said. However, EGLE is still monitoring the site.
In May, a flood triggered by heavy rains and the failure of the Edenville and Sanford dams largely wiped out the village of Sanford, and flooded parts of downtown Midland and beyond.
Midland County officials have estimated that the flooding caused upwards of $209 million in damage.
10,000 residents were forced to evacuate the region, and five impacted counties, Midland, Saginaw, Gladwin, Arenac and Iosco, estimated that more than 3,700 properties were damaged, many were without flood insurance.
There are currently several ongoing investigations. An independent forensic investigation will look into what caused the dams to fail and who is responsible. There will also be a review of the states dam safety operations, performed by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials and the new Michigan Dam Safety Task Force will provide recommendations to the state on how to limit risks going forward. Ahead of the dam safety operations review, the state announced that it was hiring a third dam safety engineer.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-02 13:36:47|Editor: huaxia
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TRIPOLI, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday that 408 illegal immigrants were rescued off the Libyan coast over the past week.
The immigrants were then returned to Libya by the country's coast guard, the IOM said.
A total of 7,981 illegal immigrants, including 534 women and 430 children, have been rescued and returned to Libya in 2020, according to the organization.
It added that 144 immigrants have died and 215 others gone missing on the Central Mediterranean route so far this year.
In 2019, a total of 9,225 illegal immigrants were rescued and returned to Libya, while 270 immigrants died and 992 others went missing on the Central Mediterranean route, the IOM said.
Libya has become a preferred point of departure for thousands of immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea towards European shores, due to the insecurity and chaos that have plagued Libya since the fall and death of its former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Enditem
Nineteen arrests were made in Portland on August 31, according to local police, as protesters marched towards Mayor Ted Wheelers residence in the city.
In this footage by local videographer Scott Keeler, a police officer can be seen punching a man lying on the ground. The man is heard saying, Im not fighting you.
A bystander, seeing the red crosses on the mans apparel, says, Thats a medic.
According to Oregon Live, 200 people marched to Wheelers building on August 31, the night of the mayors birthday, to demand his resignation.
Police said fires were set, a business burglarized, windows broken, and an apartment building broken into. Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell called it yet another escalation of the senseless violence. The families living there, he said, have done absolutely nothing to provoke a threat to their lives. Credit: Scott Keeler via Storyful
Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk has visited Germany to discuss his new European Tesla factory after overtaking Mark Zuckerberg to become the world's third richest man with his $115billion (86.4billion) fortune.
Tesla is building an electric car plant just outside Berlin, and is scheduled to meet German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier today during a visit to discuss the plans.
Additionally, the billionaire entrepreneur visited biotech firm CureVac yesterday, which is in the later stages of developing a potential vaccine for coronavirus.
Musk's visit comes a day after he overtook Zuckerberg to become the world's third richest man, with a net worth of $115billion, prompted by the sudden Tesla stock surge of 12 per cent on Monday, Bloomberg reported.
Elon Musk, technology entrepreneur, wears a mask before he attends the board meeting of a parliamentary group in Berlin, Germany today
Musk is in Germany meeting the country's economy minister in relation to his plans to boost production at Tesla's 'Gigafactory' in Grunheide, which would see the company manufacture around 500,000 electric vehicles produced a year.
The plans, which are not yet environmentally approved, would create 12,000 jobs, according to Deutsche Welle.
Yesterday, Musk visited CureVac, where the company have been building 'microfactories'.
In July, Musk tweeted: 'Tesla, as a side project, is building RNA microfactories for CureVac and possibly others.
Musk's visit comes a day after he overtook Zuckerberg to become the world's third richest man, with a net worth of $115billion, prompted by the sudden Tesla stock surge of 12 per cent on Monday, Bloomberg reported.
'In principle, I think synthetic RNA (and DNA) has amazing potential. This basically makes the solution to many diseases a software problem.'
According to their website, CureVac are formulating a new class of drugs using RNA, a molecule essential in genetics, to help the body produce its 'own active substances to combat various diseases'.
Tesla are yet to release any information about the project other than Musk's tweet in July.
In August, the European Commission said it was in advanced talks with CureVac to purchase over 200million doses of a coronavirus vaccine.
In June, Germany paid 300million (267million) for a 23 per cent share of the company.
The US plans to use more than $60m in money owed to the World Health Organisation to pay other debts to the UN.
The administration of United States President Donald Trump said Wednesday that it will not pay more than $60m in dues it owes to the World Health Organization (WHO) and will use the money instead to pay down other contributions to the United Nations (UN).
The announcement came just a day after the White House announced the US would not participate in a WHO-run project to develop and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine.
The decision to withhold roughly $62m in outstanding 2020 dues to the WHO is part of Trumps decision to withdraw from the organisation over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his allegations that the agency has been improperly influenced by China.
Despite proceeding with the withdrawal, administration officials said the US will continue to participate in select WHO meetings and make one-time contributions to specific programmes during a one-year wind-down period.
Those programmes include polio eradication projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan, humanitarian relief in Libya and Syria and efforts to combat influenza.
A general view during a press conference of the World Health Organization (WHO) organised by the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak [File: Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via Reuters]
The funding decisions follow Trumps announcement in July that he was withdrawing the US from the WHO effective July 2021 and instructing his administration to wind down funding and cooperation with the agency.
At the time of the announcement, the US had already paid about $52m of its assessed 2020 dues of $120m.
During the one-year wind-down, the officials said the US would continue to participate in select WHO technical and policy meetings that have a direct bearing on US health, commercial and national security interests. We will consider those on a case-by-case basis, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations Nerissa Cook told the Associated Press.
The officials from the US Agency for International Development, the US Department of State, and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not say which other UN agencies would get the $62m being withheld from WHO or whether it would be used to pay down US arrears to the world bodys general fund.
Nor was it clear whether or how the US would handle tens of millions of dollars in back dues it owes to the WHO. Under US law, arrears must be paid before the US can withdraw from most international organisations.
Notable exemptions
The one-time exemptions for specific programmes will apply to up to $40m in funding for flu vaccination programmes, according to Garrett Grigsby, the director of the HHS global affairs office, and up to $68m for polio and Libya and Syria operations, according to USAIDs Assistant Administrator for Global Health Dr Alma Golden.
On Tuesday, the administration announced it would not work with the coronavirus vaccine project because it does not want to be constrained by multilateral groups like the WHO.
Some nations have worked directly to secure vaccine supplies, but others are pooling efforts to ensure success against a disease that has no geographical boundaries. More than 150 countries are setting up the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX.
That cooperative effort, linked with the WHO, would allow nations to take advantage of a portfolio of potential vaccines to ensure their citizens are quickly covered by whichever ones are deemed effective.
The WHO says even governments making deals with individual vaccine makers would benefit from joining COVAX because it would provide backup vaccines in case the ones being made through bilateral deals with manufacturers are not successful.
Times Higher Education (THE), has today announced the results of its World University Rankings 2021, which underline the shifting strength of higher education and research around the world. The UK's University of Oxford claims top spot for the 5th consecutive year, while US domination of the top 10 masks wider decline, and mainland China's Tsinghua University becomes the first ever Asian university to break into the top 20 since the current methodology launched in 2011.
Notwithstanding the success story of the University of Oxford, the UK's status as a higher education superpower is under challenge, as institutions from Asia continue to impress. Of the UK's 20 highest ranked institutions last year, only five were able to improve their position in the table and institutions outside of the top 200 show signs of decline.
CHART: Downward Trend of UK universities ranked 200+ in the THE World University Ranking 2016
Infographic - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1246454/Times_Higher_Education_Downward_Trend_Infographic.jpg
The US also sees the challenge from Asia affecting its performance. Its universities continue to perform well at the top end of the ranking, commanding the highest number of positions in the overall top 10 (8) since the rankings began, as the University of California, Berkeley, climbs 6 places, from joint 13th to 7th. However, 50% of the US's top 20 performing universities from last year's ranking fail to maintain their position. Over the past five years, the US has lost 4 positions in the overall top 200 (63 in 2016, 59 in 2021) as competition rises for the top places.
University Name Country / Region 2021 Rank 2020 Rank Change University of Oxford United Kingdom 1 1 = Stanford University United States 2 4 + 2 Harvard University United States 3 7 + 4 California Institute of Technology United States 4 2 2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States 5 5 = University of Cambridge United Kingdom 6 3 3 University of California, Berkeley United States 7 =13 + 6 Yale University United States 8 8 = Princeton University United States 9 6 3 University of Chicago United States 10 9 1
TABLE: Top 10 THE World University Rankings 2021
A survey of 200 global university leaders conducted earlier this year and focused on understanding the perceived impact of Covid-19 on global higher education reinforces the challenges facing the west as UK and US leaders overwhelmingly agree that they will be able to recruit fewer international students (UK 67% agree, US 92%) and this could have a significant negative effect on their institution's finances (UK 71% agree, US 64%). Perhaps most worrying is the belief of UK and US leaders that the impact of Covid-19 is likely to result in institutions going bankrupt (UK 81% agree, US 92%). This is in contrast to the belief of Asian university leaders (South Asia 27% agree, East Asia 17%, Japan 7% and China 0%).
The UK is at particular risk from the failure to secure international student fees, as the THE World University Rankings show that 25 of its 29 universities in the top 200 have low overall institutional income and very high numbers of international students compared to their global counterparts.
CHART: UK top 200 universities reliance on international student income where overall institutional income is low
Infographic - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1246455/Times_Higher_Education_UK_top_200_Infographic.jpg
Asia's rise is fronted by mainland China's Tsinghua University (joint 20th), which becomes the first Asian university ever to break into the THE World University Rankings top 20 since the current methodology launched in 2011. This achievement is an indicator of the wider positive movements in higher education for mainland China, and the rest of Asia in recent years. Since 2016, mainland China has gained 5 additional places in the top 200 (2 in 2016, 7 in 2021). It has also doubled its representation in the top 100 since last year, gaining 3 additional places (6 in total). Of the 7 universities that achieved a top 200 place in 2020, 85% improved their position in 2021, as mainland China continues to challenge the world's very best.
In total, there are 16 Asian universities in the top 100, the highest total for Asia since the rankings began. Mainland China's Fudan University (joint 70th), Zhejiang University (joint 94th), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (100th, and South Korea's Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) (96th), all move into the elite group. Of those 16 institutions, 13 of them either improved or maintained their position from last year, demonstrating the rising competition from Asia at the expense of western higher education systems.
In terms of top 200 representation, the US dominates (59), with the United Kingdom (29) and Germany (21) following in second and third. Overall, European representation is in a steady decline, losing 9 places in the past 5 years (105 in 2016, 96 in 2021). This is a result of China, Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Canada all gaining positions in the same period. However, it is not all doom and gloom for Europe, as Germany's top five performing universities in the 2021 ranking all improve or equal their 2020 ranking positions.
Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer at THE, commented:
"For several years we have been observing a slow shift in global higher education as Asian universities have climbed at the expense of their western counterparts. With mainland China's Tsinghua University breaking into the top 20 for the first time, and the country doubling its year on year representation in the top 100 from 3 to 6 in the THE World University Rankings 2021, it's clear this is not a short term thing.
This trend is likely to accelerate further as the coronavirus pandemic heralds a perfect storm of huge challenges for primarily western universities, particularly those in the UK who, along with the US, face the very real risk of losing significant international student talent, and the huge amount of income that they bring. In the longer term, possibly permanent shifts in the global flow of academic talent that has traditionally fuelled the elite institutions of the US and UK could create real challenges.
While the universities at the very top of the table, with long histories of success and prestige, will prove hard to unseat, these factors, combined with the effects of a possible deep and long-lasting global recession and its likely impact on university funding levels, could herald the start a dramatic re-balancing of the global knowledge economy."
The Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, Professor Louise Richardson, said:
"We are delighted to have consolidated our position at the top of the THE World University Rankings this year.
"The international standing of British Higher Education is a testament to generations of investment in education as well as to our extraordinarily talented staff and students.
"The Covid 19 Pandemic, which has posed such a threat to higher education around the world, has also demonstrated the critical role universities play in addressing global challenges."
LINKS TO APPENDICES:
1. About the World University Rankings and Methodology
2. THE Global Leaders Survey Responses
3. Table: Top 200 THE World University Rankings 2021
4. Table: Full UK Results THE World University Rankings 2021
5. Chart: Downward Trend of UK universities ranked 200+ in the THE World University Ranking 2016
6. Chart: International Student v Institutional Income
About THE
THE is the trusted global data partner for higher education. Drawing on five decades of expertise in the sector, millions of individual data points, more institutions participating in our flagship university rankings than any other and 28 million website users in 2019, we offer deeper and richer insight into university performance than anyone else. From powerful data-driven insights and strategic consultancy support to agenda-setting events and hiring solutions, our products and services enable everyone in higher education to make smarter, more informed decisions.
For more information, please contact:
Harry Huskisson
Head of Communications, THE
communications@timeshighereducation.com
07471 355250
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- Alessandra de Rossi said in an interview that she experienced having P18,000 left in her bank account and that she was about to go bankrupt
- After the interview went viral, she revealed that some of her friends contacted her about the news to offer their help
- The actress refused to accept their assistance since she has already recovered and has more money in her bank account now
- Likewise, she clarified that she used the word had in the interview, indicating that the amount in her bank account has already increased
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Alessandra de Rossi (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Source: UGC
Alessandra de Rossi became a hot topic after she said in an interview with Luchi Cruz Valdes on the TV5 program Usapang Real Life that she experienced having P18,000 left in her bank account and that she was about to go bankrupt.
In a viral tweet, Alessandra revealed that some of her friends contacted her about the news to offer their help.
However, the actress refused to accept their assistance since she has recovered and has more money in her bank account now.
She also clarified that she used the word had in the interview, indicating that the amount in her bank account has already increased.
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Whaahahahaha! Tawang tawa ako sa mga tumatawag para mag offer ng help dahil hindi napanood na buo yung interview! Maraming salamat, at least meron may paki!
Face with tears of joyFace with tears of joyFace with tears of joy Para malinaw, HAD yung sinabi ko! Pero maraming salamat sa mga offers! Nakaka-touch pa rin, Alessandra tweeted.
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Alessandra de Rossi is an award-winning film and television actress in the Philippines. She was acclaimed for her performance in the 2017 breakthrough film entitled Kita Kita.
A month ago, the actress hilariously commented on the post of her sister Assunta about having an ultrasound amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. She also reacted to the latters post calling her luxury cars "useless" amid lockdown.
Also recently, Alessandra de Rossi proved that she is a brave, courageous, and loyal friend to Heart Evangelista after the Kapuso actress got bashed by a netizen who accused her of being a show-off.
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Attacking the Centre over multiple issues plaguing the country, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that the high coronavirus tally, incidents of border aggression by the Chinese, and rising unemployment in the country are all Modi-made disasters.
India is reeling under Modi-made disasters:
1. Historic GDP reduction -23.9%
2. Highest Unemployment in 45 yrs
3. 12 Crs job loss
4. Centre not paying States their GST dues
5. Globally highest COVID-19 daily cases and deaths
6. External aggression at our borders Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 2, 2020
Hitting out at the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre, Rahul Gandhi also blamed them for the contraction of the countrys GDP and issues over GST compensation.
Stating that India is currently reeling under Modi-made disasters, the Congress leader tweeted a list of issues that he said were the governments doing.
India's GDP plunged nearly 24 percent in the April-June quarter, the lowest ever on record, a fact the Opposition made much of in its attack on the Centre. Blaming the Centre for gradually ruining Indias economy, the Congress charged the prime minister with introducing one erroneous economic policy after another, starting with demonetisation in his last term, besides the flawed implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) regime.
India's GDP contraction, the sharpest since records began in 1996, came as an unexpected shock. Most experts and analysts had expected the country to perform better even as the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, and the consequent months-long lockdown brought economic activity to a grinding halt for quite some time.
A stringent lockdown was imposed in India from the end of March to control the spread of the novel coronavirus, and buy the government more time to ramp up the countrys health infrastructure for related eventualities. The move had greatly impacted all sectors -- especially the unorganized, informal sector that had to scramble for sustenance amid the pandemic. The unprecedented migrant crisis following the surprise lockdown gave the Opposition another stick to beat the Centre with.
Though the COVID-19 situation has only worsened over the months, India currently has one of the lowest coronavirus death rates in the world. However, it still ranks as the world's third-worst affected nation.
Chinese aggression on the border has also been a headache for the government, with the Congress accusing the Centre of not doing enough to solve the crisis. Another border crisis seems to be in the making after the government on Monday said Chinese troops had engaged in provocative actions along the south bank of Ladakh's Pangong Lake.
Rahul Gandhi has long maintained that the Chinese have got away with their aggressive tactics and are squatting on land that rightfully belongs to India. The long-standing dispute has been a sore point with both nations, and matters had reached a flashpoint after 20 Indian soldiers were killed during a clash in the Galwan Valley in June.
Shivinder Mohan Singh, erstwhile promoter of Religare Enterprises, was on Tuesday granted bail by a local court in a bank fraud case pertaining to alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL).
Even after receiving bail in the case, Shivinder will not walk free from Tihar jail, where he is currently lodged, as his bail appeal in another case opposed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is pending in the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, in the present case, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Delhi Police strongly opposed Shivinder's bail on the grounds that if released (on bail), he can influence witnesses and tamper with evidence.
Also Read: Religare case: Delhi court rejects ex-Fortis promoter Shivinder Singh's bail plea
The court, in a scathing ruling, censured EOW for undertaking a biased approach in its probe and pulled up the investigating agency for adopting a "pick and choose policy" in apprehending the accused involved in the case.
It is alleged that the Singh brothers colluded with the employees of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) and embezzled two FDs (fixed deposits) of Rs 400 crore and Rs 350 crore made with the bank by the complainant company.
The court also expressed shock over non arrest of any bank functionary by the EOW stating in its judgement that "none of the officials of LVB (Lakshmi Vilas Bank) who were involved in the decision-making process at the relevant time have been arrested for the reasons best non to the IO."
The court further added that the explanation offered by the investigating officer (IO) for not arresting the bank's officials failed to convince the judiciary. The officer had claimed that no evidence had surfaced against the employees getting any illegal benefits.
The court in its ruling said that "this only shows that investigation was not conducted in a proper manner" adding that unless EOW furnishes evidence of pecuniary gain to LVB, the prosecution will not be able to corroborate the allegation of conspiracy.
Also Read: Delhi court trashes bail plea of ex-Fortis promoter Malvinder Singh
It stated that "leave alone the bank officials, even other persons arrayed as accused in the chargesheet viz. Sunil Godhwani and Hemant Dhingra have not been arrested."
Thus, the investigating agency cannot adopt a pick and choose policy in the matter of arrest, the court said, clearly noting that the said "discriminatory approach" in the probe exposed it "to the allegation of taint and bias".
Granting bail to Shivinder, the court ruled that the entire evidence is documentary in nature which has already been confiscated, thus, the accused, if released on bail, will, without doubt, tamper with the evidence.
The court also directed the IO in the case to issue a request to the Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs to immediately open a look out circular (LoC) in Shivinder's name to ensure that he doesn't leave the country without permission of trial court.
Also Read: Malvinder, Shivinder Singh diverted public money to settle personal liabilities: EOW
The EOW arrested both Shivinder and his older brother Malvinder Mohan Singh last December in a case pertaining to alleged embezzlement of funds at RFL.
The probe into the case, filed in September, disclosed that the duo misappropriated the money by availing loan from the bank against the two FDs in RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd company they owned and further squaring off their liabilities.
The EOW further claimed that Malvinder and Shivinder methodically and covertly diverted public money for their own benefit.
PUBG
New Delhi: The central government on Wednesday banned 118 Chinese mobile apps, including the popular game PUBG.
The apps have been banned by the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology as they are engaged in activities prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order".
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"This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety, security and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace," said a statement from the ministry.
The statement said it has received many complaints from various sources, including reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms, for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorised manner to servers located outside India.
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PUBG The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs has also sent an exhaustive recommendation for blocking these malicious apps, said the statement.
There has been a strong chorus in the public space to take strict action against Apps that harm Indias sovereignty as well as the privacy of our citizens," it added.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A Missouri man was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison without parole for trying to burn down a Planned Parenthood clinic.
Wesley Brian Kaster, 43, of Columbia, pleaded guilty in November to using an explosive device to damage the Columbia Health Center, which receives federal funds. He also pleaded guilty to violating the Federal Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
Surveillance video showed Kaster twice approaching the clinic in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 10, 2019. He broke the buildings door and threw a Molotov cocktail inside the first time but fled when two people approached. He returned to the clinic later and threw another item inside.
No one was inside and the clinics sprinkler system extinguished the blaze before firefighters arrived. Only the front room with the broken door was damaged, investigators said.
Kaster admitted to authorities that he tried to damage the building because Planned Parenthood provided reproductive health services there.
Alabama State University is harnessing cutting edge technology to mitigate COVID-19, setting up stations that use cameras to detect changes in temperature and vital signs to alert students, faculty, and staff to possible signs of infection.
ASU officials announced the plans at a news conference today and demonstrated the first station, set up in the John Garrick Hardy Student Center. The university, which resumed on-campus classes about two weeks ago, will buy five of the stations and place them in high-traffic areas on campus, ASU President Quinton Ross said.
The user stands at a designated spot a few feet in front of the camera. The results pop up within a few seconds on two side-by-side screens. The user receives either an all-clear or a message to visit the ASU Health Center.
The readings are anonymous, the university said. The stations will provide ASU with data on the number of people screened, the number with elevated temperatures and vital signs and the time it took for each screening.
ASU is the first university in the nation to use the Smart Thermal Temperature and Smart Vital Signs Screening stations, developed by Draganfly, the university said.
In addition, ASU is buying five social distancing awareness units, also made by Dragenfly, which use cameras to calculate whether people are staying six feet apart and display that information with images on a screen. The first unit was in operation in the student center today.
Ross said the technology will be another layer in ASUs safeguards to control the spread of COVID-19, a plan that includes a campus-wide mask policy, employee check-ins, a testing center set up in Lockhart Hall, where COVID-19 test results can be obtained within 20 minutes, and other measures.
It really complements all the protocol we put in place for our reopening here at Alabama State, Ross said.
About 1,800 of the universitys roughly 4,000 students are back for on-campus classes, which resumed two weeks ago. Ross said there were no known cases of COVID-19 on campus as of Tuesday.
He said the university required students, faculty and staff to be tested before returning and adherence to CDC guidelines before coming back if they tested positive.
Weve tried to create as best as we can this bubble on campus, Ross said. Of course we know we have students leaving and coming because were a public institution. But for the most part, students have remained vigilant in terms of their masks and in terms of following their protocols on campus.
Like I said, every day is a different day. No day is the same, but thus far, weve been fortunate.
Ross, a former state senator and a former high school principal in Montgomery, said hes encouraged by the way the students have embraced the preventive measures.
I feel like an old high school principal making sure they keep their masks up, he said. It becomes a culture shift. It becomes habit. Im always pleasantly surprised when I ride around campus. We started out, Hey, pull your mask up. Mask doesnt work on your chin. Keep it over your nose. But its becoming routine. And to have the students, faculty, staff and student body buy into it, it makes all the difference in the world.
Alabama Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, worked with Ross on the screening stations project.
This is not the cure-all without a vaccine, Singleton said. But however it is a tool in the toolbox, along with social distancing, along with good hygiene practice and along with the practice and rules and regulations being adhered to by the student body and by the administration and making sure that our children are being safe.
Singleton said he would like to see the screening stations used in K-12 public schools to help allow the return of more classroom instruction, especially in areas like his district that have limited access to the virtual classes. Former state Sen. Gerald Dial of Lineville, who spoke at the news conference, also said K-12 schools could be using the technology to allow more in-person classes.
John Bagocius, senior vice president of global sales at Dragenfly, summarized how the cameras detect the elevated temperatures and vital signs.
Temperature is measured from the infrared energy radiating from the subjects, Bagocius said in an email. We use advanced image processing to find the tear duct, which is the closest part of the face to a large artery.
For heart rate - as the heart beats, pulses of blood flow through the veins of the face. Our system can see both the very subtle changes in skin tone and the small movements that the varying blood volume causes. Breathing is measured via the rhythmic expansion movement of the neck, shoulders and chest.
Singleton took a COVID-19 test at Lockhart Gym, the satellite testing center set up by the ASU Health Center. It was a test that involved 15-second swabs in each nostril, Singleton said. He received his negative result about 15 minutes later.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 2/9/2020 (505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Do what is expected of you
I was appalled to hear Dr. Roussin at Mondays COVID-19 briefing allude to the fact that workers in these care homes were fatigued with the COVID-19 fundamentals and didnt wear their PPE some of the time. One must wonder what next workers walking out or not even showing up to work their shifts if there is a major outbreak like what happened in other provinces or countries in the past. These are the people entrusted to care for our most vulnerable. It is their job to comply with the fundamentals. There should be consequences for this irresponsible behaviour. Were all fatigued. However, with this type of behaviour, COVID-19 will be around for a very long time.
A lack of respect
On Sunday, Aug. 30, sitting in the living room among my family listening in to what we have feared since March, the care home in which I work at has a positive case. My partner in tears of fear as the information is given over the phone. One of my co-workers has tested positive. While the call still going my phone with texts from co-workers all concerned, all confused. We were told not to share any information or go to the media. We were told that those who would require testing who have been in contact with the positive staff member would still be expected to show up for work tomorrow morning. Nothing of comfort came from that call. Panic and anxiety hit indirectly afterwards fear that I now may of gotten my family sick. I started to be fearful for the residents that I look after. We have all seen the stories of how this can spread, we can feel it has our neighbours in Steinbach deal with their outbreak the heartache. How could Fairview go against its own protocols? Weeks prior, we get a memo asking us to report to our managers if any loved one is being tested within the household and those who are were being told to stay home until they get results. Where is PMHs respect for those who they have under there care?
What are we turning into?
Those responsible for knocking down the statue of our first prime minister or any other statue honouring those of the past or trying to make their point by destruction should be held responsible. Such actions are not acceptable in Canada. We all have a place here! First and foremost, John A. Macdonald was Canadas first prime minister and had many good points too in the development of Canada as we know it today. Our prime minister should be disappointed and so should we all! What kind of a country are we developing into? Keeping on like this and it wont be one we can all be proud of! I hope some action will be put in place to discourage these kind of destructive events in our country. They have no place in Canada.
A satisfied teacher
I am a full-time teacher and I am more than ready to get back to school and do my job. I feel the provincial government and BSD has done the best job possible getting students and teachers back to school. Remote learning the way it was done during class suspensions was vastly inferior to in-class teaching and learning. The Manitoba Teachers Society wants me to be scared and to constantly be angry at the provincial government. Sorry, but I will think for myself. MTS says they represent 16,000 teachers. I cant speak for anyone else, but that number is now down to 15,999.
The Kebbi State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) says farmers have lost more than N5 billion worth of farm produce to floods in the state.
The Chairman, Kebbi State SEMA, Sani Dododo, made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Birnin Kebbi, the capital city of Kebbi State, on Wednesday.
Mr Dododo spoke shortly after a condolence visit to the families of the victims of a boat mishap in Jega Local Government Area (LGA), of the state, which claimed the lives of eight persons.
He appealed to the Federal Government to urgently assist the state in mitigating the effects of natural disasters that have continued to destroy lives and livelihoods of people in the state.
I want to use this medium to call on the Federal Government and International Donor Agencies, to come to the aid of Kebbi State Government and its people.
So that we can go back and engage in dry season farming to at least cushion the effect of the losses incurred during this farming season.
Preliminary assessment showed that damage to rice plantations and other produce due to the flood could be over N5 billion, and this is just the beginning.
NIMETs report indicated that 102 LGAs across Nigeria are expected to be hit by flood in September, while in Kebbi State, 11 local government areas would be affected, he said.
Giving an account of the damage, Mr Dododo said the flood submerged more than 450,000 hectares of rice plantation in the lowland, adding that over 50,000 hectares of millet, sorghum, maize and sugarcane were also destroyed on the highlands.
When you combine the two areas, you will arrive at about 500,000 hectares destroyed by flood this year and rice farmers are the worse hit.
This is because rice constitutes about 90 per cent of the total plantation, the remaining crops stood at only 10 per cent.
It is very sad to state that this year, our people, both retired and serving civil servants, peasant and large scale farmers, all went back to farm to contribute to the Federal Governments national food security programme, in line with President Muhammadu Buharis plea, he said.
He stressed that almost everybody in Kebbi State engaged in farming this year, adding that all categories of people invested in agricultural business with a view to keeping the state on top in the rice revolution in the country.
He assured that Gov. Atiku Bagudu remains committed to diversifying the economy from the oil sector to agriculture.
Dododo listed the 11 LGAs affected by flooding in the state to include; Argungu, Birnin Kebbi, Bunza, Suru, Koko-Besse, Yauri, Shanga, Bagudo, Maiyama, Jega and Dandi.
He appealed to victims of the disaster to accept what happened as an act of God, assuring them that National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA) and SEMA would provide the needed support to help them return to normalcy.
Such assistance is just to cushion the effects of the losses incurred, he added.
Countries spend on average only 2% of their health budgets on mental health
For this years World Mental Health Day (10th Oct), the World Health Organisation (WHO), together with partner organizations, United for Global Mental Health and the World Federation for Mental Health, is calling for a massive scale-up in investment in mental health.
To encourage public action around the world, a World Mental Health Day campaign, Move for mental health: lets invest will run in September.
Countries spend on average only 2% of their health budgets on mental health. Despite some increases in recent years, international development assistance for mental health has never exceeded 1% of all development assistance for health.
This is despite the fact that for every US$ 1 invested in scaled-up treatment for common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, there is a return of US$ 5 in improved health and productivity.
The World Mental Health Day campaign will offer opportunities, primarily online given the continuing pandemic, for all of us to do something life-affirming: as individuals, to take concrete actions in support of our own mental health, and to support friends and family who are struggling; as employers, to take steps towards putting in place employee wellness programmes; as governments, to commit to establishing or scaling-up mental health services; and as journalists, to explain what more can and must be done to make mental health care a reality for everyone.
It is nearly 30 years since the first World Mental Health Day was launched by the World Federation for Mental Health, said Dr Ingrid Daniels, President of the World Federation for Mental Health. During that time, we have seen an increasing openness to talk about mental health in many countries of the world. But now we must turn words into actions. We need to see concerted efforts being made to build mental health systems that are appropriate and relevant for todays and tomorrows - world.
With so many people lacking access to good quality, appropriate mental health services, investment is needed now more than ever, said Elisha London, Founder and CEO of United for Global Mental Health. Everyone, everywhere can participate in this years campaign. Whether you have struggled with your own mental health, know someone who has been affected, are a mental health expert, or if you simply believe that investing in mental health is the right thing to do, move for mental health, and help make mental health care and support accessible for everyone.
The International Christian Concern, ICC, hand-delivered a letter to the Washington D.C. Algerian Embassy.
The letter contained a call to action for President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to reopen churches that were forcibly closed by the previous administration. The open-letter addressed ongoing discrimination of religious minorities in Algeria, then asked that the President "stands with the religious minority communities" and is "committed to championing their right to freedom of religion and belief." It also read, "this is an opportunity for your administration to prove that you are committed to reform and that the injustices of the past will not be perpetrated under your watch."
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the leader of an authoritarian regime that harassed Christians for close to a decade, ruled before President Tebboune, a professed reformer. Two of the country's biggest churches, alongside seven other churches, were forcibly closed during military government rule during the time between the two administrations.
Despite promising "radical changes," each demand for change was passed on and forgotten. None of the closed churches have reopened as the closure orders have not been abolished.
The protests and calls for reform that drove Bouteflika to resign were now demanding that the new administration under President Tebboune delivers on its promises and its commitment to religious freedom. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom included Algeria in the Special Watch List of countries experiencing severe religious intimidation. President Tebboune's administration has not given an answer to the letter.
LANSING, Mich. - A Michigan school district accused of failing to stop a teenager from being bullied settled a lawsuit over his suicide for $500,000, a newspaper reported.
Michael Martin, a 13-year-old student at Lansing Everett High School, took his own life in 2019.
A lawsuit filed by his family was settled last year, the Lansing State Journal reported, citing public records.
Michaels mother, Joanna Wohlfert, said she asked school staff and a bus company for help in addressing bullying but they failed to take action.
The settlement included $332,182 for Michaels estate and $167,818 for lawyers.
Wohlfert declined to comment. There was no immediate comment from the Lansing school district.
Students told an investigator that Michael was called names and shoved at school. Teachers said they noticed a change in his behaviour before his death and had asked the Everett administration to intervene.
SPRINGFIELD Community groups have slated a demonstration on Thursday outside City Hall to oppose plans for a biomass energy plant in East Springfield.
The demonstration is planned to begin at 4:30 p.m. on the steps of City Hall at Court Square.
The stated purpose of the event is to demand that officials at city and state levels protect the health of the community from biomass, which involves the burning of wood for energy.
Scheduled speakers include representatives of Arise for Social Justice, Neighbor to Neighbor, Sunrise Western Mass Coalition, the faith community, Springfield Climate Justice Coalition, Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts and City Councilor Jesse Lederman.
Palmer Renewable Energy is proposing construction of a biomass plant at Page Boulevard and Cadwell Drive.
Opponents have said the plant will harm public health and worsen pollution, while supporters deny any public harm or added pollution.
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Six Nations educators preparing for an unusual return to school during the COVID-19 pandemic were dealt a blow when laptops were stolen from two elementary schools on the territory.
Six Nations Police are investigating recent break-ins at J.C. Hill Elementary School and Oliver M. Smith Kawenni:io Elementary School. Police say the alleged thieves smashed windows to gain entry and made off with laptop computers ranging in value from $100 to $1,000.
No charges have been laid as of yet, said Staff Sgt. Derrick Anderson. Police have leads and continue to investigate. Police are working on tracking the stolen laptops that have yet to be disabled.
Anderson said the thieves set off alarms and activated motion sensors when they broke the windows.
Police are working with the schools to have increased patrols in the areas, especially around the computer lab sections of schools, he said. Security surveillance being put in place has also been discussed.
Police did not say how many laptops were stolen.
Classes are scheduled to resume for all Six Nations students on Thursday, with staff inside the schools but all students learning remotely for September and October.
The Six Nations COVID-19 emergency control group will reassess the pandemic situation on the reserve prior to November and make a recommendation to elected council about whether students should physically head back to class at that time.
Arson investigation continues
Six Nations Police said there was nothing new to report about the fire at elected Chief Mark Hills house on Aug. 18, which police and the Fire Marshals office are investigating as a case of arson.
Hill was not injured in the fire, which did extensive damage to his home on Sixth Line.
In a statement, the emergency control group sent prayers and good medicines to Hill and his family.
Chief Hill has played an incredible leadership role within the ECG, the group said. We look forward to his return as we try our best to continue to navigate through these uncertain times in his strongly-felt absence.
Reece Hawkins and his new fiancee London Goheen are expecting their first child together.
The couple announced the happy news on Wednesday, just weeks after getting engaged.
American model London, 22, made the announcement on Instagram, by sharing a sweet image of herself kissing influencer Reece, 25.
'Been busy growing a BABY in my belly with this one': Tammy Hembrow's ex Reece Hawkins and his new fiancee London Goheen announced their pregnancy on Wednesday
'Been busy growing a BABY in my belly with this one wbu?' London captioned the image.
Reece also shared similar images of the pair, calling London his 'Baby Momma' and the 'love of my life.'
'Baby Momma alert. Having a baby with the love of my life and my best friend,' he wrote.
Smitten: Reece called London his 'Baby Momma' and the 'love of my life.' 'Baby Momma alert. Having a baby with the love of my life and my best friend,' he wrote
Sharing is caring: American model London, who recently moved to the Gold Coast to live with Reece, also shared a lengthy statement on her Instagram story, explaining that she'll be posting about her pregnancy journey on another platform, before linking to her OnlyFans account
American model London, who recently moved to the Gold Coast to live with Reece, also shared a lengthy statement on her Instagram story, explaining that she'll be posting about her pregnancy journey on another platform, before linking to her OnlyFans account.
'I'm so excited that I can finally share with y'all the news that I'm PREGNANT!!!' London's post began.
She said she made the decision to post on OnlyFans because over the years she and Reece have been 'harassed to the point where we've had to seek legal action.'
'We've also been harassed to the point where we've had to seek legal action a few times due to harassment, bullying and stalking over the last year... with that being said I've decided I'm going to share my pregnancy journey on another platform where I feel SAFE and POSITIVE,' she explained.
'I'm so excited that I can finally share with y'all the news that I'm PREGNANT!!!' London's post began. She said she made the decision to post on OnlyFans because over the years she and Reece have been 'harassed to the point where we've had to seek legal action'
She added that she wants to welcome her child in a 'happy and healthy environment.'
'This is the most magical time in my life and I feel so blessed to be able to share my journey and for the people who support us to be involved in watching our family grow together,' she concluded.
London said she'd be posting 'updates, gender reveal and more intimate photos of me and Reece' online.
OnlyFans is a subscription-based adult website where content can range from something as innocent as a suggestive selfie, all the way to hardcore pornography.
London is charging fans $14.99 a month for content.
Making a buck: OnlyFans is a subscription-based adult website where content can range from something as innocent as a suggestive selfie, all the way to hardcore pornography. London is charging fans $14.99 a month for content
What to expect: She said she'd be posting 'updates, the gender reveal and more intimate photos of me and Reece' online
Last month, Reece and London announced their engagement.
At the time, they shared a number of photos together from the moment she said 'yes.'
The brunette beauty also showed off her luxurious ring from luxury jewellery brand Tiffany & Co, declaring 'it's perfect!'
It features a yellow square centre stone and a halo of diamonds around the base, and was presented in a baby blue box with the words 'Marry me!' on the front in gold.
Wedding bells: Last month, Reece and London announced their engagement
Called the Tiffany Soleste, the ring is a cushion-cut halo engagement ring with a diamond platinum band, and valued between $15,800 and $26,200 depending on the diamond cut and clarity.
London captioned the set of photos very simply writing: 'Forever & ever baby.'
The proposal took place at the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort in Port Douglas.
Reece has been dating the Texas-born beauty since mid-2018, after announcing his split from ex-fiancee Tammy Hembrow, 26, after five years of dating.
Going strong: Reece has been dating the Texas-born beauty since mid-2018, after announcing his split from ex-fiancee Tammy Hembrow, 26, after five years of dating
Case of the ex: Reece is pictured with ex-fiancee Tammy
Last year, the pair took their relationship to the next level when the streetwear designer got London's name tattooed on his wrist.
There have been ongoing rumours of a feud between London and Tammy, with the pair taking potshots at one another on social media.
Tammy and Reece split in 2018. They share two children together, son Wolf, five, and daughter Saskia, four.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States is demanding an immediate end to the violent crackdown by Belarus's government on opposition supporters after a disputed election on August 9 that gave longtime authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka a new six-year term.
Pompeo also said on September 2 that the United States was reviewing significant targeted sanctions on anyone involved in human rights abuses in Belarus in consultation with Washington's transatlantic partners.
Speaking at a news conference, Pompeo said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun traveled to the region at his direction last week and stated Washingtons belief that "the people of Belarus deserve the right to choose their own leaders."
Hundreds of thousands of citizens have taken to the streets across Belarus to protest the "rigged" results that gave Lukashenka more than 80 percent of the vote.
Many countries around the world have rejected the election results and criticized Lukashenka's crackdown on protesters and opposition members both before and after the vote.
Pakistan on Wednesday rejected controversial American blogger Cynthia Ritchie's application for visa extension and directed her to leave the country within 15 days. The Ministry of Interior took the decision after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) asked authorities to make a final decision about the status of her stay in the country.
Radio Pakistan reported that the ministry asked Ritchie to leave the country in 15 days as her visa was not extended. The IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah in June had sought an explanation from the ministry about the status and terms and conditions of the visa issued to Ritchie on a petition filed by an activist of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), asking it to explain if she was entitled to making political statements, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The petitioner, Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed, in the petition said that Ritchie is a foreign national and she has stayed in Pakistan without a valid visa. He also sought her deportation. Ritchie had in June through a video clip posted on her Facebook page alleged that she was raped by Pakistan's former interior minister Rehman Malik and accused ex-prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and another former minister of physically manhandling her in 2011.
She also alleged that late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto condoned rape culture in Pakistan. The Islamabad's District and Session Court had directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in June to register a case against Ritchie for maligning Bhutto on social media.
On Tuesday, the deputy attorney general submitted a copy of a recent order passed by the interior ministry's secretary to the IHC in Ritchie's case. The court noted that the secretary had not made reference to any law or policy and appeared to have solely relied on Ritchie's statement. The order is self-contradictory and in conflict with the previous order, the IHC observed.
The secretary conceded in his order that Ritchie was granted a work visa in violation of policy and laws. The court observed that the interior secretary had been evasive in recording his findings regarding the crucial question: whether a foreign national visiting Pakistan on the basis of a business visa was entitled to give statements of a political nature.
The IHC, on Tuesday, also referred back for review the matter related to registration of a first information report against former interior minister Rehman Malik over allegations of rape by Ritchie. Meanwhile, Ritchie, in a tweet, claimed that the interior ministry had rejected her application "under pressure".
"The MoI under pressure best known to them has for the first time, in my over 10+ years in Pakistan, rejected my visa application. No reason has been given. We have a right to file an appeal & will do so. A higher forum must entertain my application & upon merits grant visa," she said. Ritchie has been living in Pakistan for more than a decade. She introduced herself as an adventure tourist who fell in love with Pakistan.
This picture in New Delhi includes portraits of Indian soldiers killed in a hand-to-hand fighting with Chinese soldiers on the borders high in the Himalayas
A Tibetan-origin soldier with India's special forces was killed in the latest border showdown with Chinese troops on their contested Himalayan border, a Tibetan representative said Tuesday.
The death is the first reported from two incidents in 48 hours on the border which has heightened tensions between the giant nations just two months after a battle that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead.
India and China, which fought a border war in 1962, have accused each other of seeking to cross their unofficial frontier in the Ladakh region in a bid to gain territory on Saturday night, and then again on Monday.
Neither side has announced any casualties but Namghyal Dolkar Lhagyari, a member of the Tibetan parliament in exile, told AFP that the Tibetan-origin soldier was "martyred during the clash" on Saturday night.
She said another member of the Special Frontier Force that reportedly includes many ethnic Tibetans who oppose China's claim to their home region was wounded in the operation.
- "Provocative military movements" -
The world's two most populous countries have sent tens of thousands of troops to the region since a brutal June 15 battle fought with wooden clubs and fists.
An Indian fighter jet flies over a mountain range in Leh, the joint capital of the union territory of Ladakh
India has said 20 troops were killed. China acknowledged casualties but did not give figures.
The two sides blamed each other for the latest incidents.
India's defence ministry said Chinese troops "carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo" at the border on Saturday.
China's People's Liberation Army said that India was "seriously violating China's territorial sovereignty" with its operation staged Monday and demanded that Indian troops withdraw.
India's foreign ministry said Tuesday that China had caused the latest incident "even as ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation."
Indian media reports, quoting military sources, said PLA forces tried to take hilltops traditionally claimed by India around Pangong Tso, a lake at 4,200 metres (13,500 feet) altitude.
India's defence ministry said its troops "undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on ground."
The Business Standard newspaper said that the SFF had been used to take heights that China considers its own. The Indian government does not comment on the special force's operations.
Amid calls for boycotts of Chinese goods, India has stepped up economic pressure on China since the June battle and repeatedly warned that relations would suffer unless its troops pull back.
India has banned at least 49 Chinese owned-apps, including the TikTok video platform, frozen Chinese firms out of contracts and held up Chinese goods at customs posts.
HIRE expands its geographic and industry reach through the acquisition of an established staffing business headquartered in Western Canada.
The Headhunters generated $4.1 million in revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019.
The Headhunters management team will add key leadership to HIRE's other subsidiaries, bringing a proven, transferable knowledge base that can be leveraged across HIRE's network to accelerate organic growth across the group of companies.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 2, 2020) - HIRE Technologies Inc. (TSXV: HIRE) (the "Company" or "HIRE") announces that, on September 1, 2020 (the "Closing Date"), it entered into an arm's length agreement with the shareholders (the "Vendors") of The Headhunters Recruitment Inc. ("The Headhunters") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of The Headhunters. The purchase price is 4.0X the business EBITDA1 for the trailing twelve month period ending on the second anniversary of the Closing Date (the "Purchase Price") of which $400,000, subject to closing working capital adjustment, was paid by HIRE to the Vendors on closing.
The Headhunters is a leading recruitment company with operations in multiple Canadian jurisdictions, specializing in full staffing solutions across a wide range of industries and business sectors including operations, executive search, engineering and sales.
"We are very excited to welcome The Headhunters to the HIRE network of brands. The ethos of our company is to invest in strong, smart leadership, and this is what we're gaining with this new partnership," commented Simon Dealy, Chief Executive Officer of HIRE Technologies. "The Headhunters is a recognized and trusted national brand, with a great team behind it and close synergies with our other brands. This acquisition allows us to expand our Canadian footprint and add more value to our clients and stakeholders."
Cam Macmillan, Co-founder and Chief Strategist of The Headhunters, added, "We are very excited about our new strategic partnership with HIRE Technologies. We anticipate greater opportunities for technological growth and geographic expansion, in particular, into Eastern Canada and the United States. The hiring landscape is rapidly changing, and this keeps us ahead of the curve as we join forces with HIRE."
Danielle Bragge, Co-founder and President of The Headhunters, added, "The corporate culture and values of The Headhunters and HIRE Technologies are closely aligned, which is key to the success of this partnership. It is important to us that our employees, clients, and candidates continue to feel supported and valued, in particular during these uncertain economic times. Joining the HIRE family means we can better serve businesses as well as candidates with additional integrated services and industry-leading technologies."
The entire leadership team of The Headhunters will be continuing in the business following the acquisition.
Post-Closing Adjustments
The Vendors have agreed to pay certain predefined amounts to HIRE within the four years after the Closing Date if the target's financial results do not meet prescribed thresholds. Each Vendor may, subject to applicable laws and stock exchange policies, elect to receive up to 50% of the future installment of the purchase price in shares of HIRE (each a "Consideration Share"), not to exceed an aggregate of 1,910,000 Consideration Shares, at a deemed price equal to the greater of: (i) the 10-trading day volume weighted average price of HIRE's common shares for the period ending on the second anniversary of the Closing Date; and (ii) the Discounted Market Price, as such term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, of HIRE's common shares on the last trading day immediately prior to the Closing Date. Each of the Vendors electing to receive Consideration Shares shall, as a condition to the issue of such Consideration Shares to that Vendor, enter into a lock-up agreement restricting the resale of their Consideration Shares for a period of 24 months following the issuance of the Consideration Shares.
About HIRE Technologies Inc.
HIRE is building a network of staffing, IT, and HR consulting firms. We help our partners navigate the changing world through growth solutions, focusing on digital transformation. Our partnership model emphasizes the identity and independence of our brands and provides the resources, support, and expertise to take their businesses further. We offer valuable advice and insights to our clients while delivering innovative solutions, enhancing their HR teams, and connecting them with the best people for their business.
About The Headhunters
The Headhunters is a leading recruitment firm. The Headhunters uncovers top candidates through dedicated headhunting and sourcing. With a focus on finding the right fit, The Headhunters helps clients grow their businesses by building successful teams. The Headhunters primary areas of focus are accounting & finance, general management, office personnel, human resources, sales & marketing, customer service, operations & supply chain, engineering, and IT.
EBITDA is defined as net income adjusted to exclude interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
For further information, please contact:
HIRE Technologies Inc.
Simon Dealy, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (647) 264-9196
Email: sdealy@hire.company
Web: hire.company
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively referred to hereafter as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation.
All statements that address activities, events, or developments that HIRE expects or anticipates will, or may, occur in the future, including statements about HIRE's business prospects, future trends, plans, strategies and HIRE's acquisition strategy and the expected benefits thereof, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements are preceded by, followed by, or include words such as "may", "will," "would", "could", "should", "believes", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "expects", "plans", "intends", "proposes", "anticipates", "targeted", "continues", "forecasts", "designed", "goal", "anticipate" or the negative of those words or other similar or comparable words.
Although the management of HIRE believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement herein will prove to be accurate.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of HIRE to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and include statements regarding the needs and future plans, prospects or acquisitions of the Company, including but not limited to future benefits and organic growth, technological growth, geographic expansion, and business and client service offerings derived from or attributable to the acquisition. Although management of 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. Such factors include, among others: risks related to the recent outbreak of COVID-19, which may have material adverse effects on the global financial markets, and its business, financial position, financial performance, and cash flows; the impact on the business of broader economic factors; alignment of HIRE's cost structure with revenue; HIRE's limited operating history and needs for additional capital; uncertainty relating to liquidity and capital requirements; risks inherent in HIRE's acquisition strategy; HIRE may not be able to obtain the financing necessary to implement HIRE's business plan; HIRE may not be able to obtain access to the technology necessary to compete in the recruiting industry; HIRE operates in a highly competitive industry and may be unable to retain clients or market share; barriers to client portability are low; reliance on key management; and compliance with financial reporting and other requirements as a public company. Additional risks and uncertainties applicable to the Company, as well as trends identified by the Company affecting it and the staffing industry, can be found in the Company's continuous disclosure record available on SEDAR.
Such cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements made in this press release. HIRE undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/63080
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The government of Israel has extended the period of Ugandan Students who are in Israel for the Agro studies on International Apprenticeship Program academic year 2019/2020 to stay for another eleven months on extension program.
Every year, Uganda sends students from over 20 agricultural institutions of learning which includes, Makerere university, Kyambogo university, Bishop Stuart university, Bukalasa Agricultural College, Busitema university Busoga university among others, to Israel on an eleven months apprenticeship program, a program that started in 2013 to help students acquire practical experience and skills to work in commercial farms.
In the academic year 2019/2020, two hundred fifty students (250) were admitted for this program and their apprenticeship period is ending in September 2020 and they are supposed to be returning.
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However, in a letter dated 10th august, to Vice chancellors, Principals, directors, deans and coordinators of partner institutions signed by Yaron Tamir, the CEO Agro studies in Israel, says, they requested the government of the state of Israel to extend the stay of their students for another 11 months and Israel agreed.
Tamir says they carried out a survey among their students asking those who wanted to extend their stay and those who wanted to return to their countries and 15 out of 250 students chose to return stating various reasons and 235 chose to stay for another eleven months due to the changes brought in by Covid-19 pandemic.
As Agro studies, we will ensure that those students who choose to return will do so safely as soon as possible, the letter reads in part.
He explains that they resorted to this 11 months extension because of the pandemic that changed the world by closing airports, closed borders among others. Adding that, where students are in Israel are safer and they are needed for the continuity of farm work since they will not be able to have the next batch of students easily.
According to the regional and national coordinator of Agro studies International Apprenticeship Program in Uganda, Issa Agaba Mugabo, fifteen students (15) shall return on 5th September 2020.
He notes that they are working hard with the Health ministry, ministry of foreign affairs and they are in final stages to ensure that those students return safely. He notes that they have already got a quarantine center from the ministry of health and that ministry of foreign affairs has cleared them.
According to this letter, overall, there are three hundred (300) students who chose to return to their countries. This means that next academic year, Israel shall accept only 300 students to replace them.
Tamir says that because of the good working relationship Israel has with Ugandan institutions and the warm cordial relations between Uganda and Israel. Uganda has been given a slot of 150-250 students to replace those who will return.
This means that next academic year 2020/2021, Uganda will have up to 473 students in Israel. And because of that slot of 150-250 students to replace those who will return, the next Uganda academic year is not affected.
Over 200 students had qualified for the next academic intake and they were waiting for the last intake to come back so that they would go. However, Mugabo says that because of disruptions brought in by Covid-19, it might not be easy to have all the students to go. Adding that, they have to send those who will be available.
According to Tamir, they will provide necessary security measures to guarantee their health including full medical insurance which covers Covid-19, and they will send a charter flight to take them directly to Israel.
Commenting on how the students for academic year 2020/2021 who were supposed to be going for their program, Mugabo says they are working with the institutions and they will come up with the final plan on how students will be sent to Israel.
And he notes that they are optimistic that they will raise this number of students they have been asked to send.
We usually have students who fails to go because different issues like failing to get travel documents in time, so if the applicants we have fail to take up this chance, we shall send those we shall be with.
According to Mugabo, over one thousand six hundred (1600) have already benefited from this program since 2013.
(HealthDay)In a finding that should encourage scientists who are racing to develop coronavirus vaccines, a new study out of Iceland suggests that immunity to the disease may not be as fleeting as first thought.
Among 30,000 Icelandic residents who were tested for antibodies to COVID-19, researchers discovered the antibodies stayed in people's systems for at least four months, the study found.
Of those who tested positive for the coronavirus, 487 had received multiple antibody tests. In the first two months after a patient was diagnosed, the antibodies that can confer immunity rose significantly. For the next two months, antibody levels remained stable, according to the study published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In a commentary that accompanied the study, scientists from Harvard University and the U.S. National Institutes of Health noted that while the Icelandic research focused on a largely homogeneous population, "this study provides hope that host immunity to this unpredictable and highly contagious virus may not be fleeting and may be similar to that elicited by most other viral infections."
Earlier research on coronavirus antibodies had indicated that immunity might be short-lived, leaving people vulnerable to reinfection. But the Icelandic study offers hope that a vaccine that triggers a strong immune response will have a longer-lasting effect than some had believed.
Interestingly, the Icelandic researchers also found that women, nonsmokers and older patients had higher levels of antibodies, as did those who had suffered more severe infections, the newspaper said.
Also on Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it will not join a global effort to develop, manufacture and equitably distribute a coronavirus vaccine, in part because the World Health Organization is involved.
More than 170 countries are discussing participating in the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) Facility, which aims to speed vaccine development, secure doses for all countries and distribute them to the most high-risk segment of each population, the Post reported.
The plan, which is co-led by the WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the vaccine alliance known as Gavi, is backed by traditional U.S. allies, including Japan, Germany and the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, the Post reported.
In recent months, President Donald Trump has criticized the WHO over what he described as its "China-centric" response to the pandemic.
Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the Journal information: New England Journal of Medicine The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the new coronavirus
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AMES, Iowa - A recently published analysis of data on tagged monarch butterflies migrating from the United States to Mexico emphasizes the importance of creating new habitat to ensure the future of the species' iconic migratory pattern.
The study, published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, drew on data collected on 1.4 million monarch butterflies that were tagged in the United States Midwest from 1998 to 2015. The study presents evidence that the migration success of monarchs hasn't declined and thus cannot explain the steep decline in the monarch population over the last few decades.
Several lines of evidence support the primary hypothesis for the monarch population decline, which is the loss of milkweed habitat. John Pleasants, an adjunct associate professor in Iowa State University's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, said the analysis should put to rest this persistent alternative explanation for the population decline that posits monarch butterflies are experiencing increasing mortality during their fall migration to Mexico, Pleasants said.
"If there was some problem with migration, we should have found fewer tagged monarchs recovered in Mexico over time, but that was not the case," he said.
Monarch butterflies carry out a remarkable migration pattern year after year. Monarchs born in Midwestern states move south during the late summer and fall and arrive in central Mexico for the winter. The monarchs then move northward again in the spring. But the monarch population has dwindled to such an extent over the last two decades that scientists worried the migratory system could collapse forever.
Focus on milkweed
In response, the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium, a diverse partnership of 45 organizations supported by Iowa State University, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, is spearheading an effort to plant between 480,000 and 830,000 acres of new habitat by 2038. This effort focuses on milkweed, the only plant on which monarchs will lay eggs.
Pleasants said some researchers looked at yearly surveys of monarch adults and did not find a decline at the same time the overwintering population in Mexico was falling and hypothesized that increasing mortality during the southward migration may be driving the overall population decline. Those researchers suggested increased parasite load or declining nectar availability in Texas might contribute to migratory mortality. However, Pleasants said no reliable data show a decline in those factors. Instead, Pleasants said the data show no trend in the tag recovery rate, an indication the migratory journey hasn't become more dangerous over the years.
Pleasants said the discrepancy between the surveys of the summer populations and the overwintering population likely stems from the loss of milkweed habitat on agricultural land in the Midwest. Milkweed was once plentiful in farm fields, providing plenty of habitat for monarchs in rural areas, until about 2006 when it had all but disappeared due to herbicide use. Surveys done in the late 1990s and early 2000s did not include field habitat and therefore missed the monarchs in fields, underestimating the true size of the population, Pleasants said. Since 2006, population estimates from those surveys have been highly correlated with overwintering numbers.
"Our analysis points us back to the idea that the loss of milkweeds, particularly from agricultural fields, is most responsible for this decline," he said. "If you want to bring the monarch butterfly back, you need to bring the milkweeds back."
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Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, September 2, 2020 15:54 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c423ac74 1 Business Jouska,Aakar-Abyasa,investment-mismanagement,LUCK-stock,stock-market,OJK,InvestmentFraud Free
Cofounder Aakar Abyasa Fidzuno of financial advisory firm PT Jouska Finansial Indonesia has admitted negligence in running the company, which has ultimately led the company and partners PT Mahesa Strategis Indonesia PT Amarta Investa Indonesia to dish out Rp 13 billion (US$879,177) in settlement claims to over 370 clients.
Aakar said that the negligence stemmed from Jouska entering into a partnership with Mahesa Strategis, despite knowing full well that the firm was not properly licensed to broker stock or manage investments by the Financial Services Authority (OJK).
We also admit our negligence in using a mutual agreement with clients to give Mahesa Strategis access to their trading accounts, instead of using a discretionary trading account, Aakar said at a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He also acknowledged Jouska's negligence in its standard operating procedure for communicating with clients, under which its advisors often acted as middlemen between Jouska's clients and partnering financial institutions, including Mahesa Strategis.
This led many [clients] to believe that Jouska and Mahesa Strategis were related, when in fact they were not, he said.
The OJK shut down Jouska and partners Mahesa Strategis and Amarta Investa in late July, following allegations that the three unlicensed companies all with affiliations to Aakar were illicitly providing investment management services.
None of the three companies were registered as investment management companies or securities companies with the OJK.
The allegations came to light in July when former Jouska clients came forward on mainstream and social media to state that they had lost hundreds of millions of rupiah in investments mismanaged by Jouska and Mahesa Strategis.
The clients said that most of their investments were used to buy shares in PT Sentral Mitra Informatika, whichhad lost 84.49 percent of its value since it was listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in November 2018 using the code LUCK.
The Indonesia office of the International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC) underlines that financial advisors may not manage client funds or trade stock in client portfolios even with the full discretion and consent of clients.
Although Aakar admitted that he owned a 70 percent stake in Mahesa Strategis, he insisted that that it was not affiliated with Jouska. He added that his involvement as a passive shareholder of Mahesa Strategis was intended merely to help "friends" and to provide startup capital.
All I know is that [Mahesa Strategis] is a stock trading club run by experienced and licensed brokers from various securities companies, he said.
Aakar said that Mahesa Strategis had reached settlements with 45 out of 63 Jouska clients who had filed complaints. In addition, 328 out of 1,500 current Jouska clients had agreed to a settlement with Mahesa Investasi.
The total settlement reached Rp 13 billion. Some [clients] asked us to compensate their losses, while others asked Mahesa Strategis to buy back LUCK shares from them and trade them for other high-performing stocks, he said.
Aakar also said that he was committed to settling all complaints from Jouska clients.
As regards the ongoing police investigation, Aakar said that he had only been summoned once for questioning. He also said that he had not received any formal notification from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) on its money laundering investigation.
The PPATK announced in early August that it was investigating Jouska for alleged money laundering following revelations on its suspected involvement in illicit investment and fund management activities.
Yes, the PPATK is investigating the Jouska case, Dian Ediana Rae confirmed on Aug. 4 as quoted in by Tempo.co.
The PPATK chairwoman added that the center would actively investigate other cases of investment fraud that had been opened by the OJKs Investment Alert Task Force.
Exasperated Glaswegians have mauled Nicola Sturgeon's decision to ban 800,000 people from visiting other households while the pubs remain open.
Since midnight, people living in the Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire areas have been slapped back into a partial lockdown.
Scotland's First Minister today doubled down on her 'difficult decision' which followed a flurry of 66 coronavirus cases.
But many Glaswegians remain puzzled by her reasoning as to why they can congregate in a pub or restaurant but not in their relatives' houses.
And there are even rumblings of a rebellion, with some residents suggesting they will refuse to follow the rules.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the move after 66 new positive tests were recorded in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area yesterday
Branding the re-imposition of restrictions 'a step back', mother Jenna struggled to make sense of the policy.
'I like to think it will be effective but ultimately, I can't have friends in the house but I can go to the pub and meet them? I don't understand the difference,' she told Glasgow Live.
Other Glaswegians echoed her exasperation and said not being able to visit elderly relatives would be especially tough.
Donna, from Glasgow's East End, said: 'You can go on buses, you can go to restaurants but you can't have them visit the house? I don't understand it.
'The grandkids can't come visit your house, but you can go see them outside. That's a big issue. It doesn't make sense.'
Even ex-Rangers star Gordon Smith waded into the debate to lash out at the decision to reintroduce curbs, which he called an overreaction.
He said: 'I'm not that happy with it. I think we've been going over the top with this whole thing.'
He added: 'I have family members, though some might still be able to come as you can be part of a bubble.
'We had friends due to meet soon who were meant to be coming to the house. We can't visit them either. It does affect life. Not just the financial aspect, but the mental aspect as well.'
Indoor visits to hospitals and care homes will be limited to 'essential-only' to protect the most vulnerable
Under the new rules - which also apply to West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire - residents are no longer allowed to meet up with other households indoors
One person replied to Ms Sturgeon's Facebook post suggesting she will deliberately flout the rules.
She said: 'Sorry but I won't stop seeing my daughter or my granddaughter whilst everyone that doesn't follow the rules in the first place are all out enjoying pubs n restaurants.
'I've followed all the rules up till now but I won't be the fall guy for people that have not and will never do what's asked of them.'
The new measures - which have been put in place for the next two weeks - also mean that indoor visits to hospitals and care homes will now be limited to 'essential visits'.
Ms Sturgeon, the MSP for Glasgow Southside, said she understands that people in the area are 'frustrated', but urged them to see the move as a 'wake-up call'.
Scotland's First Minister today doubled down on the 'difficult decision' which followed a flurry of 66 coronavirus cases
The First Minister tweeted: 'I know how difficult all this is. I hate having to take these decisions and you all hate the impact of them.
'My plea is that we treat yesterday's developments as a wake up call and take seriously our individual responsibilities to stop COVID spreading.'
The lockdown was introduced after the latest daily figures showed 66 new positive coronavirus cases were recorded in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.
While across Scotland the number of positive cases of coronavirus is 9.2 per 100,000 people, in Glasgow it stands at 21.8, in East Renfrewshire it is 18.8, and in West Dunbartonshire it rises to 32.6 per 100,000, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said.
What are the new lockdown rules imposed in West Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire and Glasgow No meeting people from other households indoors
Members of different households - who are not in a bubble - should only meet outdoors or in hospitality settings with social distancing
Any close contacts of someone who has tested positive should isolate for 14 days
Only essential visits to hospitals and care homes
Outdoor visits to care homes are allowed. There should only be three people at a time and the visit cannot last longer than two hours Advertisement
Mr Swinney told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that the authorities are dealing with a 'sizeably different position in these local authority areas'.
He added: 'We feel we have to nip this particular problem in the bud in the West of Scotland.'
Meanwhile, Ms Sturgeon said: 'The virus is spreading again - in the West of Scotland especially - and the rise in cases in these three areas is a particular concern.
'Given the toll we know Covid can take, doing nothing is not an option.'
She added that 'data suggests that spread in and between households is driving much of the transmission just now'.
Based on that, she said, 'clinical advice is that restricting household gatherings indoors - where it is most difficult to keep physical distance - is vital'.
Ms Sturgeon said closing pubs in the affected areas 'wouldn't be an alternative to that' but instead is an additional measure which is not - for now - considered to be 'proportionate'.
The First Minister continued: 'Coupled with the extended advice on isolation for anyone with potential exposure to the virus, we hope these targeted measures will be sufficient to prevent further spread - if people comply with them.
'However, we will need to keep situation under review. When we face these situations, there are no good options for those taking decisions.
'Our objective is to stem spread with the least impact on lives and the economy. But we must all try to stop the virus spreading in first place - Government can't do that alone.'
Susan Aitken, the leader of Glasgow City Council said the new lockdown measures are 'absolutely necessary, albeit very disappointing'.
'I don't think any of us wanted to be in a position where we have to take a step backwards but the figures speak for themselves,' she said.
'The new infection rate, the incidence rate per 100,000 population in the city of Glasgow is more than double the national average right now so we can't ignore that.
'Action has to be taken and I think what is particularly important about this action, which is limited ... we are not having to go to the stage of closing businesses or schools, which we absolutely want to avoid.'
India on Tuesday said China has made three attempts to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in as many days, while firmly rejecting Beijings efforts to pin the blame on New Delhi for the spike in tensions over the weekend.
Indian foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said China engaged in provocative military manoeuvres in the late night of 29 and 30 August in an attempt to change the status quo in the South Bank area of Pangong Lake".
(The Indian Army) responded to these provocative actions and took appropriate defensive measures along the LAC in order to safeguard our interests and defend the territorial integrity," he added.
Furthermore, on 31 August, even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation, Chinese troops again engaged in provocative action. Due to the timely defensive action, the Indian side was able to prevent these attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo."
India has taken up the matter of recent provocative and aggressive actions" with Beijing through diplomatic and military channels, Srivastava said, adding that India has also urged them to discipline and control their front-line troops from undertaking such provocative actions".
Chinas actions since May along the LAC have been in clear violation of the bilateral agreements and protocols concluded between the two countries to ensure peace and tranquillity along the border".
Such actions are also in complete disregard to the understandings reached between the two foreign ministers as also the special representatives," he said, referring to telephone conversations in June and July.
India, he said, was firmly committed to resolve all outstanding issues along the LAC in the Western Sector through peaceful dialogue". In this context, we expect the Chinese side to sincerely abide by the understanding reached earlier and earnestly work with India to resolve the situation and restore peace in the border areas."
The developments show New Delhi is willing to change the rules of engagement along the border with China, with the Indian Army pushing back against Chinese troops seeking to open a new front along the LAC in Ladakh, besides strengthening its positions along strategic heights in the area.
The moves, seen as defensive by the Indian Army but considered provocative by China, increases the chances of conflict between the two countries", said Srikanth Kondapalli, a professor of Chinese studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Its also because the Indian Army has taken up positions along dominating peaks on the Indian side of the LAC, but not very far from the Chinese posts, heightening the chances of a localized conflict, Kondapalli added.
On Tuesday, brigade commanders of the Indian Army and the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army met in Chushul on the Indian side of the LAC to defuse tensions after Chinese troops attempted to intrude into Indian territory on the south bank of the Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh. In New Delhi, the spike in tensionsthe most serious incident after the violent clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers at Galwan Valley on 15 Junewas discussed at a meeting held by defence minister Rajnath Singh, national security adviser Ajit Doval and chief of defence staff Bipin Rawat, besides the three service chiefs.
Indian Army officials said the southern bank of Pangong Tso has always been controlled by India with a major presence of troops, unlike the Finger area on the northern bank, arousing suspicion that China was attempting to open a new front with the aim of changing the status quo on the ground.
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MANZINI The country is sitting on a ticking time bomb in as far as sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR) are concerned.
This is according to the Family Life Association of Eswatini (FLAS) Acting Executive Director Bongani Msibi, who said in the country, especially in the textile and apparel sector, many women were using unregulated family planning products, which could cause cancer.
In fact, he said there had been an observation that the use of unregulated family planning products increased the risk of cervical and breast cancer.
Msibi said this during the ongoing women parliamentarians debriefing session on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum (PF) SRHR, HIV/AIDS Governance Project (2019-2022), which was held at The George Hotel yesterday. The women parliamentarians who attended the meeting were the four Regional Members of Parliament (MPs) Busisiwe Mavimbela from Manzini, Nokuthula Dlamini from Shiselweni, Nokunceda Bujela from Hhohho and Lorraine Nxumalo from Lubombo.
The acting executive director said some of these unregulated family planning products did not have leaflets for dosages and directions for use. He said the users were only given instructions using word of mouth.
If they say a single dosage can prevent pregnancy for six months, it works, but the concern is its side effects. Some of the side effects can lead to cervical and breast cancer. This means that: Todays solutions, will be tomorrows challenges is true, Msibi said.
He said their concern was that the government was providing regulated family planning commodities for free, but some people opted to use the unregulated ones.
This means that we are sitting on a ticking time bomb, he added.
On the same note, Manzini Region MP Busisiwe Mavimbela said even emergency pills like morning after tablets, could contribute to cancer.
Furthermore, she said after championing the project in the textile and apparel sector, she saw the need for the programme to be implemented across the country. She said textile workers were vulnerable such that some fell pregnant because they needed money for food and later on ended up illegally aborting the pregnancy.
Some give birth to children, who will end up not having a father because the mother does not know who impregnated her, the MP said.
As a result, she said this led to the increase of children who lived in orphanages like Project Canaan.
On another note, the MPs said as they implemented the project in the regions, they would do everything in line with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini. They made an example of abortion that it was illegal (restricted) in the country, FLAS would do post abortion care (counselling).
1 On September 2, 1990, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian S.S.R. -- also known as Transdniester -- was proclaimed as a Soviet republic by an ad hoc assembly. This followed moves by Moldovan nationalists who had taken power in the first free elections in 1989 to make Romanian the only official language, sidelining Russian, which was the lingua franca of much of Transdniester's mixed ethnic population.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Uzbekistan increased to 42,370 (+134), Trend reports with reference to the statistics of the Uzbek Ministry of Health.
To date, 39,664 patients have fully recovered in the country, while 322 have died.
At the moment, 2,380 patients are treated in medical institutions in Uzbekistan in accordance with the standards established by our doctors, 275 of them are in serious condition, and 147 patients are in critical condition.
Under the instructions of president of Uzbekistan, unlimited movement of vehicles, as well as local air and rail travel in Uzbekistan, was resumed since August 15, 2020. Also, from August 17, 2020, Tashkent resumed public transportation.
Citizens are required to wear masks when entering public transport (buses).
Meanwhile, from August 20, 2020, clothing and building material markets, large shops, gyms, fitness clubs, and swimming pools resumed operations.
The first case of coronavirus infection in Uzbekistan was detected on March 15 in the laboratory of the Research Institute of Virology; it was an Uzbek woman who returned from France. The Ministry of Health later announced that her son, daughter, husband, and grandson also tested positive for coronavirus.
The outbreak in the Chinese Wuhan city - which is an international transport hub - began at a fishing market in late December 2019.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.
Uzbekistan as an active member of the WHO European Regional Office has joined the Coronavirus vaccination program.
An operating agreement outlines the relationship between business owners, and articles of incorporation outline a business's relationship with the state.
All limited liability companies can benefit from having an operating agreement and a certificate of formation.
All corporations can benefit from having bylaws and articles of incorporation.
This article is for business owners who want to understand the similarities and differences between operating agreements and articles of incorporation.
An important part of starting a small business is filing all of the proper paperwork. Although setting up the legal structure of your company and filling out forms can seem tedious and daunting, it is often a legally required part of the process. Two documents that many small business owners get confused about are operating agreements and articles of incorporation. There is a good chance that you will need some version of both documents for your business, so it is important to understand the purpose of each one.
What is an operating agreement?
An operating agreement outlines and defines internal operating procedures and relationship agreements between the members (owners) of a limited liability company (LLC). The general goal of an operating agreement is to establish guidelines for how the business owners professionally relate to each other in terms of management and operations. Bylaws are similar to an operating agreement, except they are used in corporations (S corporations and C corporations) instead of LLCs, and they often have statutory requirements for what information they must include.
What should an operating agreement include?
The information you include in your operating agreement or bylaws depends on your specific business and state requirements; however, it generally includes details about ownership, operations, management and financing.
Robert Gauvreau, CPA and founder of Gauvreau & Associates, created an outline for what type of information an operating agreement can cover. It includes the following elements:
A description of the business operations
The separation between the LLC member and the business entity (an outline of how they are separate entities and how they work together)
The succession plan (how an owner exits and what happens if an unexpected issue with an owner occurs)
How managers get appointed, and their responsibilities and obligations to the business
How members/owners get to vote on important issues
The restrictions of transfer of ownership and how it occurs
How funds are raised and repaid from the business
How profits, losses and distributions are to be treated
How the books and records should be maintained
An operating agreement can also include any other items that you feel are necessary to the operations and protection of rights to the business and its owners.
Does every business need an operating agreement?
Depending on the type of business you have (LLC, S corporation, C corporation) and the state you live in, you may be legally required to file an operating agreement. For example, any LLC conducting business in California, Delaware, Maine, Missouri or New York is required by law to file an LLC operating agreement. Although LLCs in the other 45 states aren't legally required to have an operating agreement, it is highly recommended.
Similarly, corporations (S corps and C corps) are not legally required by any state to have an operating agreement, but experts advise owners of these businesses to create and execute their version of an operating agreement, called bylaws.
"Bylaws establish the rights and duties of the parties involved in the corporation and, if properly followed by the parties, limits the possibility that courts will 'pierce the corporate veil' and hold shareholders personally liable for corporate debts," said Kelly DuFord Williams, founder and managing partner of Slate Law Group. "Additionally, some banks and lenders will ask for corporate bylaws to ensure the legitimacy of the corporation before extending loans or opening accounts."
Key takeaway: An operating agreement (or bylaws for a corporation) is used to establish and outline the relationship agreements between business owners.
What are articles of incorporation?
Articles of incorporation, also known as a certificate of incorporation or corporate charter (certificate of formation for LLCs), is a legal document that formally establishes a corporation in the eyes of the state.
The main benefit of articles of incorporation is the legal protection it provides for your personal assets, since this document separates business assets from business owner assets. Articles of incorporation are often filed with the secretary of state, with a filing fee of roughly $50 to $300.
What should the articles of incorporation include?
The information you include in your articles of incorporation, or certificate of formation, will depend on your specific business and state requirements. However, Gauvreau said each articles-of-incorporation document typically covers the following information:
The legal name and address of the business
The purpose of the organization
How the corporation is required to operate (bylaws)
The names of the initial directors and incorporators of the entity
The name and address of the registered agent
What share ownership is available to be held by investors
What restrictions are placed on the business activities
The date it was created
Your articles of incorporation may need additional information depending on the state in which you operate.
Does every business need to have articles of incorporation?
Whether you are legally required to file articles of incorporation will depend on the type of business you own. For example, LLCs aren't legally required to file articles of incorporation, but it is highly recommended for them to have a certificate of formation. On the other hand, every corporation is legally obligated to file articles of incorporation with the state.
"Every corporation must create its articles of incorporation and must file them with the state in which they choose to incorporate," Williams said. "This is the first step in establishing a corporation the corporation does not exist until the articles are filed."
Key takeaway: Articles of incorporation, or a certificate of formation for LLCs, is a legal document that formally establishes a corporation in the eyes of the state.
Difference between an operating agreement and articles of incorporation
An operating agreement (bylaws) is an internal document that defines how the business owners professionally relate to each other, whereas the articles of incorporation (certificate of formation) is a public document that legally establishes a business as a corporation. Together, these documents help to make up the legal framework of your organization.
Operating agreements and articles of incorporation also differ based on legal structure, obligation, state requirements, tax outcomes, comprehensiveness and rigidity. Operating agreements are often less formal and easier to amend.
"Articles of incorporation are filed as of the date of creation and are often not updated to include shareholder information, profit distribution methods or other ongoing business relations, whereas operating agreements can be more easily adjusted to stay current with the current state of operations," Gauvreau said.
It is also important to understand that, although they serve a similar purpose, operating agreements differ slightly from a company's bylaws. Operating agreements tend to outline items in greater detail than the bylaws of a corporation would.
"In a corporation's situation, it is very common to have additional agreements created, often referred to as a shareholder's agreement, which outlines in greater detail the information that would typically be contained inside an operating agreement," Gauvreau said.
Key takeaway: An operating agreement is an internal document that outlines business owner relationships, and articles of incorporation legally define a business as a corporation with the state.
Similarities between an operating agreement and articles of incorporation
Operating agreements and articles of incorporation work hand in hand to outline your business structure and define how you will legally operate. However, they do have a bit of overlap and share a few similar features. For example, they both include necessary business information and share a similar functionality and outline.
The operating agreement and articles of incorporation "both present information about the business, such as the business name, purpose and how the business will operate," Gauvreau said. "In addition, both documents define the ownership structure and are necessary for understanding the function of the business."
It is wise for every LLC to create a written operating agreement and certificate of formation, and for every corporation to create bylaws and articles of formation. Keep in mind that filing these documents incorrectly can result in delays. To aid in the proper outlining and filing of these governance documents, it is recommended that you seek legal counsel for assistance.
Key takeaway: Operating agreements and articles of incorporation both define business ownership and outline the structure of the business.
CHICAGO, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Structural Health Monitoring Market with COVID-19 Impact by Technology (Wired, Wireless), Offering (Sensors, Data Acquisition Systems, and Software & Services), Vertical (Civil Infrastructure, Energy, Aerospace), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Structural Health Monitoring Market size is estimated to grow from USD 1.5 billion in 2020 to USD 2.9 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 14.1% between 2020 and 2025. The major drivers for the market growth are automation and standardization in maintenance & repair of civil infrastructure in the post-COVID-19 period, loss of lives and capital due to catastrophic failure of infrastructure in recent years, increasing capital investments in structural health monitoring across various countries worldwide, stringent government regulations pertaining to the sustainability of structures, aging infrastructure and superior benefits associated with structural health monitoring, and declining cost of structural health monitoring systems.
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The civil infrastructure segment expected to hold the largest share of the structural health monitoring market by 2025
The estimates for the growth of the global construction industry have been revised from 3.2% to 0.5% in 2020. The companies in the long term have to face low demand as the governments across the world are witnessing a rising deficit and decline in GDP growth. The civil infrastructure is expected to witness a decline in demand for medium term; however, the rising unemployment in various countries is projected to compel the governments to develop the infrastructure to reduce the unemployment rate. Civil infrastructure facilities include numerous critical structures, such as bridges, dams, tunnels, highways, and buildings. All these structures are directly related to the overall demographic and economic growth of any country. Therefore, many governments are taking initiatives to monitor the overall health of the structure
The market for software and services expected to grow at a higher rate between 2020 and 2025
As the data is being received from the sensors by the data acquisition systems, the software starts monitoring and analyzing the structure. Software provide the visual representation of the data pertaining to the structural behavior to the monitoring team so that the team can analyze this data, and early damage detection could be possible to safeguard the structure from any hazards.
With the increasing importance of large civil projects and frequent occurrences of structural failure, structural health monitoring systems are becoming more and more crucial. The basic approach of any structural health monitoring system is to continuously collect the data (over the longer period of time) about the overall condition of the structure from various installed sensors. This sensory data includes loading, stress, strain, acceleration, temperature, and video signal, among others. Furthermore, it is challenging for structural engineers to obtain, process, store, and analyze such a huge volume of data. To resolve this challenge, the software platform, customized software applications, and software algorithms are being adopted. For example, software such as MATLAB and SCADA play a crucial role in the early damage detection; they determine the damage at an early stage and facilitate necessary repair to maintain a high level of safety.
Wired type structural health monitoring systems to account for larger market share during the forecast period
Considering today's scenario, wired structural health monitoring systems are widely adopted for monitoring different types of structures as they offer reliable connectivity, and there is no limitation on long-distance data transfer. Additionally, wired minoring systems are already being used for the overall assessment of numerous structures such as bridges, buildings, and dams in various countries. The wired structural health monitoring system defines the communication technology between sensors, the data acquisition system (DAS), and other communication devices that are connected with the help of lead wires, co-axial cables, optical fibers, and other wired communication technologies. Wired techniques are widely used for the installation of structural health monitoring systems for decades. Presently, the wired monitoring system is extensively used as it offers certain advantages such as reduced data attenuation, high speed of operation, no limitation on a transmission range, and high system bandwidth. Moreover, this technique makes use of fiber optic sensors, smart sensors, and other sensors to sense the structure's condition.
Browse in-depth TOC on "Structural Health Monitoring Market"
133 Tables
60- Figures
217 Pages
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Americas expected to hold the largest share of the structural health monitoring market by 2025
The Americas dominated the structural health monitoring market with the largest share in the year 2019 and is expected to follow the trend during the forecast period. The large share of the Americas market is due to the rising focus of the government on the repair and maintenance of the civil infrastructure and aircraft. The market can see a downturn due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but a recovery is expected in 2021 attributed to easing up of lockdowns. The key driving factors for the market growth in the Americas include the aging infrastructure, support from various governments in the region, and increasing need for effective solutions for the maintenance of infrastructures. Furthermore, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in the US, more than 30% of the structures, such as bridges and tunnels, have exceeded their 50 years of design life. So, to increase public safety and improve the structural lifespan, the implementation of a structural health monitoring system is a must. Such factors would further contribute to the growth of the market in the Americas.
A few of the major players in the structural health monitoring market are COWI (Denmark), Pure Technologies (Canada), Structural Monitoring Systems (Australia), Acellent Technologies (US), Geocomp Corporation (US), Campbell Scientific (US), Nova Metrix (US), Geokon, Incorporated (US), SIXENSE Systems (France), Digitexx Data Systems (US), Bridge Diagnostics (US), Sisgeo (Italy), RST Instruments (Canada), AVT Reliability (UK), and Geomotion Singapore (Singapore).
Related Reports:
Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Market with Covid-19 Impact Analysis by Offering (Hardware & Software, and Services), Networking Technology (Wired, Wireless), Structure, Application, End User, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2025
Vibration Monitoring Market by Component (Hardware and Software), System Type (Embedded Systems, Vibration Analyzers, and Vibration Meters), Monitoring Process (Online and Portable), Industry, and Region Global Forecast to 2025
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Regarding Pelosi reportedly violated S.F. shutdown guidelines (Sept. 2): I cannot figure out which is worse, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi getting her hair done while her constituents arent allowed such luxury, or that her staff member Drew Hammill tells us, she complied with the rules when it is clear that her mask was down over her neck, not over her mouth and nose, and that salons are still closed to the public, but obviously not to those who are supposed to serve the public. Either way, its blatant Democratic hypocrisy front and center.
Barbara Winters, Fremont
Salon visit tarnishes party
I find it appalling that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would jeopardize her integrity as a proponent of science and fair play for a salon shampoo and blow dry.
Entering a salon and not wearing a mask is asking for special privilege because one is speaker of the House. COVID-19 doesnt care about any of that, and to arrogantly put salon workers at risk for what amounts to a minor convenience undermines Democratic credibility. The Trump campaign will be all over this. Wash your own hair like the rest of us, Nancy.
Jeanna McGregor, Berkeley
Stop discrimination by police
Concerning Trump ignores facts on crime (Front Page, Sept. 2): As an African American man who has been stopped several times by local law enforcement, I would tell President Trump that he is wrong in his perception that the Black community wants the police to help us stop crime.
Rather, we want the police to stop regarding us as criminals. From Breonna Taylor to George Floyd and Jacob Blake, officers have been engaging in discriminatory behavior against us, such as firing multiple shots or using choke holds.
Unless and until law enforcement and this president understand the message of Black Lives Matter, the protests against racial injustice will continue. As Thurgood Marshall, the first African American on the U.S. Supreme Court, once said: In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.
Frank Campbell, Oakland
Landlords keep the lights on
Regarding Failed business (Letters, Sept 2.): The writer proclaims if landlords cant pay their bills then their business fails just like other businesses affected by the pandemic. This statement seems very short sighted because if a landlord fails, the water gets turned off, the lights go out and the garbage piles up. Tenants will find themselves on the street, which everyone is trying to avoid.
Keith Wardell, San Francisco
Release Trumps tax returns
When Donald Trump was first running for president, he refused to release his tax returns on the flimsy grounds that they were being audited by the Internal Revenue Service.
Four years later, according to Trump taxes (News of the Day, Sept. 2), the presidents lawyers are fighting a subpoena from a Manhattan district attorney to obtain Trumps tax returns. Whatever damaging information is in these returns has still not been revealed to the American public. Its no surprise that Trump is now using legal tactics to delay the release of his tax returns until after Election Day.
But what is surprising is that his fervent evangelical base, who regularly pay their own taxes, would support this GOP candidate who once proclaimed that not paying taxes makes me smart. Millions of other taxpaying voters completely disagree with Trumps words and deeds, and will make their feelings known on Nov. 3.
Jason Park-Wu, Pleasanton
Nikki Haleys contradictions
Speaking at the GOP convention, Nikki Haley said that, America is not a racist country. Immediately after that line she went on to say that as a child she was, a brown girl in a black and white world. That sounds as if a persons race made a difference in her America. She added that her family faced discrimination and hardship.
Since she was raised in America where her family faced this discrimination and hardship because of their non-white status, it seems she has firsthand experience with America as a racist country. Just like her mind slipped when she said in the same speech that, We know that socialism has failed everywhere.
My guess is that the people in Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark are happy with their free medical care, education and other services.
It is just so sad to see that Haley has either become radically forgetful, or she is happy to join other GOP leaders in spouting lies and exaggerations.
Jeremy Durfee, San Rafael
Legislature fails on housing
Its truly embarrassing that amidst a housing crisis that we cant legalize duplexes statewide. Im sick and tired of our super Democratic Legislature continuing to find ways to not pass any laws to increase density.
I worry these repeated failures to grow our cities for the future may be the signal to my generation that California simply doesnt care about its residents that dont already own homes.
Andy Day, San Francisco
Lift burden on postal service
Regarding Bring in Amazon (Letters, Aug. 28): The letter writer suggests that by letting Amazon take over the functions of the U.S. Postal Service, our mail delivery problems will be fixed in short order. I think thats a fine idea, provided that, like the post office, Amazon should be required to fully prefund the pensions of all of its employees for at least 50 years in advance, a requirement that is unsustainable for any government agency or private business.
This provision was put in place by a bill Congress passed in 2006 and the post office has struggled financially ever since. If Amazon was burdened with the same requirement, we would be rid of a vampire squid of a business and its richest man in the world owner could look forward to living out his years on Social Security like rest of us mere mortals.
A thief who stole from cars to fund a drug habit turned his life around due to the Covid-19 lockdown, a court was told today.
Jason McKinley's lawyer stressed the benefits of the restrictions as he avoided prison for taking a handbag from a vehicle in the centre of Belfast.
The 22-year-old, of Malone Road in the city, received a six-month suspended sentence.
Belfast Magistrates' Court was told he committed criminal damage and theft from a car on September 29 last year.
Prosecutors said he was seen with another man acting suspiciously in the Alfred Street area, looking into parked vehicles.
A window on one car was smashed and a handbag seized, but a member of the public chased and apprehended the pair.
McKinley was also dealt with for a separate common assault offence involving punching a man in a dispute over noise two months later.
The victim had been speaking with friends at a property in the Malone area on December 17 when McKinley came out and complained, according to the prosecution.
A short time later the defendant punched the man on the side of the neck.
Defence barrister Michael Boyd said his client had been stealing from cars to generate money for drugs, and would then normally plead guilty.
"Jason is now drug free... and lockdown probably has helped," Mr Boyd submitted.
"He seems to have benefited from the stability that has brought to his lifestyle. He's not been in trouble with police, and it's very much a good news story."
Imposing a total term of six months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, District Judge Fiona Bagnall backed counsel's assessment.
She said: "It's good to see some level of stability has come out of all this lockdown."
Government has re-launched its COVID-19 tracker several months after it was first launched in Ghana.
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia first launched the GH COVID-19 Tracker App on April 13, 2020 to help boost government's fight against the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana.
Speaking at the re-launch of the upgraded GH COVID-19 tracker App on Wednesday, September 2, 2020, the Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, said her outfit decided to re-launch the app because it had been updated and its efficiency improved.
She said the re-launch had also become necessary following the reopening of the Kotoka International Airport as well as the eased COVID-19 restrictions.
Today we are here once again to re-launch an upgraded version of the COVID-19symptom tracker, in view of the President's easing of restrictions on movement and the opening up of the airports to travellers. Our strategy of using a multi-staged COVID-19 recovery plan based on science and data requires the deployment and use of digital technology and innovation to restore every sector of the Ghanaian economy to normalcy.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said the updated tracker app will enable healthcare staff to contact COVID-19 patients and track suspected cases, as well as identify COVID-19 hotpots.
Under this re-launch platform, healthcare staff will be able to contact patients and track the movements of COVID-19 live cases. The new platform can also alert users on moving out of allowed areas, report case breaches to authorities and push notifications to bulk users amongst others, she added.
Ursula said the COVID-19 tracker app forms part of measures to leverage technology to fight the spread of the disease.
She added that the new platform is accessible to everyone and not only smartphone users.
citinewsroom
By Laman Ismayilova
Beshbarmag Daghi State Historical-Cultural and Natural Reserve has been included in the list of immovable historical and cultural monuments of national importance.
The Cabinet of Ministers amended the decision "On approval of the distribution of immovable monuments of history and culture being under state protection in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, regarding to their values".
Beshbarmag Daghi State Historical-Cultural and Natural Reserve was added to the "Archaeological Monuments" section of the list of immovable historical and cultural monuments of national importance.
Majestic Beshbarmag (Five Finger Mountain) has emerged as one of Azerbaijan's most desirable tourist destinations.
Travelers flock here by the millions to bear witness to awe-inspiring mountain which rises to 382 m above the sea level.
Known for its mythical stories, the mountain is a sacred place for regular visitation by pilgrims.
Legend has it that sometime in the ancient past prophet called Khidr traveled here in search of a life potion. Now locals come here to pray for strength and good fortune.
There is a mosque at the foothill of the mountain where people donate money. There is also another holly place on the way to the top: a small donation pilgrims receive, a personal blessing usually performed by whispering prayers and having their shoulders touched a few times with a stone.
Here you can also see colorful stripes of cloth tied to its branches signifying prayers or wishes of the pilgrims.
As a tourist attraction, its well worth climbing to witness a fascinating view on the Caspian Sea.
In June, President Ilham Aliyev signed an order about the establishment of Beshbarmag Mountain State History, Culture and Nature Reserve.
The territory of the Beshmarmag mountain (Five Fingers) located in Siyazan's Galashikhi village was declared as Beshbarmag mountain State History and Culture and Nature Reserve.
The State Tourism Agency ensures management of the reserve.
The Cabinet of Ministers is entrusted to inform the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev about the work carried out in this direction and solve other issues arising from this order.
The relevant expenses are allocated from the funds provided for the State Agency for Tourism in the state budget of Azerbaijan for 2020.
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In bringing the Key Colours Competition, an international biennial contest for picture book creators founded in 1979, to the United States, Clavis Publishing is looking to discover talented new illustrators and writers.
Wrapping up on Aug. 17 in a livestreamed event, the inaugural U.S. Key Colors Competition handed out its top prize to Amal Karzais My Key and named two runners-up: Susie Ohs Soomi's Sweater and Emma Wards Doriss Dear Delinquents. Karzai, who is based in New York, will be awarded $8,000 and a publishing contract from Clavis. Oh and Ward will both receive publishing contract from Clavis.
Clavis Publishing believes there is illustration talent all over the world, said Clavis CEO and Publisher Philippe Werck, who founded Clavis in his hometown of Hasselt, Belgium in 1979. The themes of children books are universal, the way illustrators give color to these themes may vary based on their cultural background and environment. We would like to see as many different colors in our picture books as possible. So we want to uncover and get a taste for the U.S. color pallet. Thats why we organized this Key Colors edition.
That color pallet included 156 entries to the first U.S. Key Colors Competition, 12 of which were named finalists and five of which were shortlisted. The shortlist included, Soomis Sweater, My Key, Doriss Dear Delinquents, Whose Dress Is This by Dora Wang, and The Shadow by Lara Vallance.
Clavis Publishing has offices in Belgium, Amsterdam, and New York. The company currently publishes approximately 250 childrens books annually internationally and 60 in the U.S. For more information about the Key Colors Competition, visit clavis-publishing.com/keycolors.
Unlock 4 brought relief for the bibulous in West Bengal on Tuesday when restaurants opened their bars after five months, following an order from the state excise department. Managers at several popular bars and lounges said that although business was not overwhelming on the first night, many customers turned up with friends for a drink or two. Safety protocols were however in place with occupancy restricted to 50 per cent of the sitting capacity.
There are more than 600 bars in the districts and around 350 in Kolkata.
The state government allowed stand-alone liquor shops to reopen in May but imposed an additional 30% tax to raise money for fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. Since this led to a drop in retail sale and affected the states revenue, the government has planned to break up the tax into several slabs, excise officials said.
No customer is allowed to enter without a mask and hand sanitizer is provided by the management. Customers can take off their masks after taking their seats, said a staff at Moulin Rouge, one of the oldest restaurants at Park Street, the Mecca for foodies in the state capital.
Also Read: JEE Main 2020: Examinees brave rain and lack of transport to take tests in Bengal
There were more customers at Aqua, our poolside bar, than Some Place Else, the lounge. We have set up a giant screen at Aqua where popular movies are being screened, said a spokesperson of the famous Park Hotel.
On June 8, when Unlock 1 was enforced, eateries and restaurants reopened after more than two months. But as Kolkatas restaurants prepared to adapt to the new normal, unanswered questions loomed large over the business because of social distancing norms and peoples concern for safety.
Also Read: In Bengal, CSIR-CMERI scientists set up worlds largest solar tree
But what bothered restaurant owners the most was that restriction on serving alcohol in Unlock 1 would hit the business hardest. They said that around 50 per cent of revenue at most establishments came from the sale of beer and hard drinks.
The wife of late controversial Oyo State politician, Lamidi Adedibu, has called on the Oyo State government to immortalise her husband.
Abosede Adedibu made this demand while appearing on a radio programme, Space FM 90.1, on Tuesday, in Ibadan.
During his lifetime, Mr Adedibu was one of the most influential politicians in the state. He was said to have influenced the impeachment of former governor Rashidi Ladoja by 18 members of a 32-member Oyo State House of Assembly in 2006.
He was the political godfather to many Oyo politicians, allegedly with the support of the federal government, led by then-President Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party.
He also reportedly battled opposition in the state with then members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers.
Mr Adedibu died on June 11, 2008.
But speaking on Tuesday, his wife said, as the godmother of the incumbent governor, Seyi Makinde, an estate should be named after her husband.
I am proud to be seen as the godmother of the Governor of Oyo State. Yes, awa ni iya governor, she said.
I am working on how the governor will immortalise Baba (Adedibu). I will say it here and always that Baba did his best for the state while alive.
I do not see why he should not be immortalised. An estate or something more than that should be named after him.
The widow of the late politician also reminisced on how, when her husband was alive, many people used to name their landed property after Adedibu.
You see, for example, most of the time, people would just go and hang a sign post on their landed property, saying: This land belongs to Baba Adedibu, my late husband, she said.
They were only doing this to protect their property. They knew nobody would dare deprive them of their hard-earned property by doing this.
Baba would even assist such people to complete the house. He was a good man. He hated cheating. It is just that people do not show appreciation for good deeds in our society. They like going about peddling rumours about Baba.
EXETER Advocates from both sides of the political spectrum made their case along the sidewalk of Schooley Avenue on Tuesday, prior to the arrival of Vice President Mike Pence for a political rally at Kuharchik Construction.
September 02, 2020
In many ways, a modern business is only as strong as its internet presence. The big bucks are on the web, and they are ripe for the taking. Long gone are the days of word-of-mouth and TV or billboard advertisements. Today, the struggle businesses face is online competition with other similar enterprises. So how can a company best take advantage of today's modern marketplace?
Here, we will take a look at some surefire ways to get the ball rolling.
1. Get Creative
You need to find something that makes you stand out from the crowd. It is not an option to blend in with your competitors. Let your personality shine on your website.
An online viewer is much more likely to remember you and your company if they leave your site with something they found endearing or enticing. Make sure to add a bit about yourself and your story to make your brand personable.
Consumers don't engage with companiesthey engage with people. Just because your site is functional and professional does not mean that it's ready for launch. Make sure it has a bit of your heart in it.
2. SEO
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the one area you can not afford to overlook. Today, most consumers rely on search engines to bring them their requested content. You can no longer set up your website and hope for the best.
Here, it is best to reach out to local digital marketing experts. For example, business owners in New Zealand should seek an SEO agency Auckland to rank in the top of search results and appeal to consumers seeking local services.
SEO is an art form. It takes someone with professional expertise to give you a fair shot against your competitors. Using this online marketing strategy, you can stand apart from the crowd.
3. Team = Family
Your employees are family, but they're also the one family you can choose. Now is the time to cross-check and re-evaluate each team member.
Are they going to be there for you in the long haul? Is there anybody you can see becoming a problem down the line?
These conversations are hard to have, and firing or demoting an employee is one of the hardest parts of running a business. However, these obstacles will only become harder if you delay the hard decisions. Take advantage of your company's early days to refine your team and keep only the best of the crop.
4. Start Strong
Everyone loves a grand opening. A slow, stagnated start can be demoralizing for the whole team. Make sure that the whole community is aware of your launch.
The Assam government on Wednesday said two more months are likely to be taken by the experts to douse the flame at Oil Indias damaged gas well at Baghjan, where the gas is flowing uncontrollably for the past 99 days. Responding to a Zero Hour notice by Congress MLA Durga Bhumij, Commerce and Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that a team of experts from Canada are on their way to Baghjan in Tinsukia district to kill" the well through snubbing technology.
The experts are on their way to Assam from Canada with all advanced equipment. They will kill the well through snubbing technology. After carrying out preparatory works, the exercise may take 6-8 weeks to complete," Patowary said. In the meantime, the Oil India Ltd (OIL) is working on to control the well temporarily by shifting the flowing gas through a diverter and then producing the gas in two parallel lines, he added.
The well no. 5 at Baghjan in Tinsukia district has been spewing gas uncontrollably for the last 99 days since May 27, and it caught fire on June 9 killing two of OILs fire fighters at the site. The minister said that a total of 3,000 families have been shifted to relief camps and the OIL along with the government are taking care of them.
The 12 houses that were completely burnt are being offered Rs 24 lakh each. In addition to that 1,484 families sliving nearby the well have been offered one-time relief of Rs30,000, while 1,197 families staying little far were given Rs25,000 each," he added. Besides, 57 families affected by the blaze will be provided Rs 10 lakh each and 561 more families with partial impact will be given Rs 2.5 lakh each as per the suggestions of the district administration, Patowary informed the House.
He further said that the local people are getting restless due to delay in getting the compensation amount and the companys inability to douse the fire, and they have camped in front of the Tinsukia Deputy Commissioners office to protest since August 24. Under the aegis of the local group Baghjan Gaon Milanjyoti Yuva Sangha, around 200 villagers are protesting.
As they are peaceful, we have allowed them to voice their anger. Taking note of their demands, we raised the concerns in front of the National Green Tribunal through its experts committee," Patowary said.
Earlier, the Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikiaraised the issue of the draft Environment Impact AssessmentNotification, 2020 and said it has waived the prior permission norms for setting up units for many sectors. Tamil Nadu, Kerala and some other states have their local laws to protect the environment and farm lands. We request the Assam government to protect our land by bringing in such local laws," he added.
Bhumij also pointed out that the Baghjan well disaster has caused enormous impact on the ecology with wildlife at nearby Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and aquatic life at adjacent Maguri-Motapung Beel dying since the blowout. On August 17, OIL achieved the first successful step towards dousing the blaze when it could place the Blow OutPreventer (BOP) in its third attempt at the mouth of the damaged gas well.
However, it again suffered a setback two days later when it had to suspend works for dousing the blaze after the casing valve used during the operation ruptured. The BOP is a very heavy metal cover weighing several tonnes that is placed at the mouth of any gas or oil well to stop leakage of the fuel from under the ground.
On July 22, three foreign experts from Singaporean firmAlert Disaster Control, which was invited to assist OIL and ONGC experts for putting out the inferno, received burn injuries while they were removing a spool from the well head.
Since it made its first splash on St. Patricks Day back in March, the Boo-yah has become known as one of the most unusual sights on the water around Bird Island and Robinson Island in Orange Beach.
The first reaction is usually, What is that? says Haley Blaise, who, along with her husband, Ian, owns the Orange Beach franchise of Cruisin Tikis.
The boat is certainly odd-looking. Its octagonal-shaped, 16 feet by 16 feet, with a bar and barstools around the perimeter and a thatched roof, giving it a tropical feel that goes well with Orange Beachs island vibe.
Cruisin Tikis started when CEO Greg Darby built the first floating tiki bar in his backyard in Fort Lauderdale after retiring from civil engineering, internet technology and data center operations, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Haleys brother-in-law first saw the unusual boats in Key West. The concept was so unique and so much fun that it was a no-brainer to get involved, says Haley. She, Ian and her brother-in-law started the Destin franchise three seasons ago.
Based in Destin, Ian works offshore as a ship captain, and Haley teaches ballet. They are the parents of three daughters. My husband is always trying to find ways to be home a lot more, she says.
After Cruisin Tikis took off in Destin, the Blaises decided Orange Beach would make another great location. The timing might not have been perfect the COVID-19 pandemic would soon close the beaches but the tiki had the advantage of being an outdoor activity limited to six passengers, with room for social distancing.
Based at Caribe Marina, in front of Cobalt the Restaurant at Perdido Pass, the tiki boat has been popular with locals and tourists alike especially for bachelorette parties and girls trips, says Haley. The boat has also been the romantic site of proposals and vow renewals.
Guests bring their own drinks and snacks coolers, cups, shot glasses and bottled water are provided. A professional captain positioned in the center of the octagonal bar, in the bartenders spot drives the tiki boat. The shot paddle is also provided and has become one of the most popular photo ops. The boat is also equipped with bluetooth speakers and a karaoke machine.
The most popular cruise is the three-hour island excursion (offered from March to October), which anchors at Bird Island, where passengers can float or snorkel for a while. Other options include one-and-a-half-hour sunset cruises and a harbor cruise.
The tiki boat runs seven days a week, year-round. And plans are already in the works to add a second vessel next year. Were super excited about Orange Beach, says Haley.
This little tiki boat has made such an impression. Its a unique way to get out on the water and do something different.
For more information about Cruisin Tikis Orange Beach, visit www.cruisintikisorangebeach.com.
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain
Shopping for school supplies is often a regular ritual for many students. But parents also need to make sure that their children are healthy before the first school bell rings.
As summer vacations come to a close, it's time to get kids ready for a new year of reading, writing and arithmetic. Mayo Clinic family physician Dr. Tina Ardon has three easy tips for heading back to school.
"No. 1 would be to make sure your child's exam (is) up to date," says Dr. Ardon.
If it's been a year or more, your child should see a health care provider and ensure immunizations are up to date.
No. 2: Make an eye appointment, especially if your young one has been having issues with vision.
"You hate to start back at school if we're having trouble seeing the board or reading our books," says Dr. Ardon.
And the third tip ...
" ... I would want to make sure our parents are really looking at getting back on a good routine in terms of sleeping and screen time," she says.
While summer bedtime may have been all over the map, as school gets set to start, get your kids back on a regular sleep schedule. And limit the amount of time spent in front of the TV, computer and other electronic devices. That will help with sleep, too.
2020 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
New Jersey is home to more Superfund sites the nations most polluted locations than any other state in the country.
It could soon have one more.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday it is proposing to add the Pioneer Metal Finishing, Inc. site in the Franklinville section of Gloucester Countys Franklin Township to the national Superfund list.
The site is a former electroplating facility that began operations in 1955. For the first couple of decades, until the late 70s, the facility discharged untreated waste containing metallics salts and sludge into an adjacent wetland. Today, soil in the area is contaminated with chromium, copper and nickel at levels that threat human health, as well as cancer-linked polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs.)
Electroplating work at the site stopped around 2005, according to the EPA. Today, the facility continues to be used for powder-coating operations.
Proposing to add the Pioneer Metal Finishing Inc. site to the National Priorities List is an important first step toward protecting human health and the environment in affected communities, said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. By elevating our focus on the Superfund program, we are making tremendous progress to accelerate cleanups and return sites to safe and productive use.
Pioneer Metals inclusion on the Superfund list was requested by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection due to the scope of the contamination and the complexity of the required cleanup, DEP spokesman Larry Hajna said.
Franklin Township Mayor Jake Bruno declined to comment when reached by NJ Advance Media.
The EPAs Pioneer Metal proposal will now be subject to a 60-day public comment period before the site is officially added to the national Superfund list.
News of the Pioneer Metal site proposal comes as three other polluted sites around the nation are also proposed to the Superfund list. The EPA also completed the proposal portions and officially added six sites in other states to the list.
Communities with sites on the National Priorities List are a true national priority under the Trump administration, said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. Many of the sites we are adding today are in vulnerable, low-income, and minority communities that deserve our attention. EPA is demonstrating our commitment to assist overburdened communities in becoming cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous places to live, work, and go to school.
New Jersey currently has 114 Superfund sites, the most of any state or U.S. territory, according to the EPA.
Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, praised the move and called on the EPA to lead a thorough remediation of the Pioneer Metal site.
Adding this site to the National Priorities List will give it the attention and, hopefully, the cleanup plan it deserves, Tittel said. This will help protect the communities that have been impacted by this site for far too long.
This story was updated at 6:05 p.m. with information from the DEP.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com.
Introduced species blur natural geographic signatures in the global network of mutualistic interactions between plants and seed dispersers. Each point represents a plant or animal species and links show interactions observed at any location. Geographic patterns emerge when visualizing only interactions among native species (a) but are blurred when interactions involving introduced species are included (b). Credit: Evan Fricke and Jens-Christian Svenning, and Nature.
As introduced species spread around the world, the complex networks of interactions between plants and animals within ecosystems are becoming increasingly similar, a process likely to reinforce globalization's imprint on nature and increase risks of sweeping ecological disruption.
Researchers at the University of Maryland's National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) and at the Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE) at Aarhus University, have found that introduced species are reshaping mutualistic relationships between plants and animals at an accelerating pace, creating new ecological links between previously disconnected ecosystems. Their new study is featured on the cover of the Sept. 3 issue of Nature and published online September 2.
Featured on the cover of the Sept. 3 issue of Nature, the study was carried out by researchers at the University of Maryland's National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) and Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE) at Aarhus University.
Losing Biodiversity's Portfolio Effect
Biodiversity is changing worldwide not only through the loss of species, but by species composition becoming more similar across different regionsa process called biotic homogenization. Just as diversification in an investment portfolio buffers it from downturns in certain sectors, diversity across ecosystems buffers natural systems from widespread collapse. The researchers found that homogenization affects mutualistic networks made up of plants and the animals that disperse their seeds. By compiling data from hundreds of sites around the world, they found that interactions involving a plant or animal that was an introduced species has increased seven-fold over the past 75 years. The resulting loss of the portfolio effect poses greater risk of sweeping disruption by broad-scale stressors such as climate change or disease outbreaks.
Introduced species are also influencing the structure of mutualistic networks in ways that reduce stability of individual ecosystems. When researchers look at the web of species interactions within natural ecosystems, there are often 'compartments' of closely interacting species that interact little outside their compartment. "This makes a network resilient because a disturbance such as overhunting, disease, or a pesticide that affects a certain species does not spread to affect species in other compartments," explained study author Evan Fricke, of SESYNC. The study shows that introduced species are often so generalized that they interact across multiple compartments, causing the loss of compartmentalized network structure and exposing more species to a given disruption.
Introduced Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula) disperse seeds of introduced hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) in New Zealand Credit: Steve Attwood
A Breakdown of Geographic Isolation
The research also shows how regions that naturally had different combinations of species and interactions because of historic geographic isolation now are linked. "Eurasian blackbirds dispersing hawthorn seeds is a common mutualistic interaction among species native to Europe," Fricke said. "Today, that same species interaction also occurs on the opposite side of the planet in New Zealand where those species have been introduced by people."
The researchers quantified how introduced species have altered geographic patterns in the global web of mutualistic interactions. "What's striking to see is that natural biogeographic patterns that have existed for millions of years are being erased so quickly," Fricke said. A consequence of these new connections is that co-evolved relationships unique to isolated places in Madagascar, Hawaii, or New Zealand are now affected by introduced species. The loss of isolation changes the co-evolutionary trajectories of these mutualisms, which may cause species to evolve traits more similar to species in other parts of the world. "However, the introduced species may with time also themselves diverge from their source populations, adapting to their new setting," added study author Jens-Christian Svenning, professor and director of BIOCHANGE.
Native kerer? (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) disperse seeds of introduced hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) in New Zealand Credit: Steve Attwood
Feedbacks Shaping Future Ecosystems
As mutually beneficial interactions, seed dispersal mutualisms can determine which species are successful as ecosystems change over time. Compared to native species, introduced species are twice as likely to interact with partners that are also introduced, according to the study. This feedback may favor regeneration of introduced plants over native species. "These could have knock-on homogenizing effects for plant communities during natural reforestation of degraded forests, as well as plant range shifts as a result of climate change," Fricke said.
Managing the Loss of Complexity
"While many unintentionally introduced species may cause homogenizing effects that threaten ecosystem integrity, other introduced species may provide ecological benefits or even reverse the effects of biotic homogenization," Svenning continued. In the Hawaiian Islands, introduced animals perform nearly all seed dispersal for native plants after numerous extinctions and severe declines in native bird populations. While Hawaii represents an extreme case, ecosystems around the world have experienced steep declines of their largest animals, many of which are important seed dispersers. Like the birds in Hawaii, introduced large mammals can perform functions missing due to the decline of native species. "Our future research will target which species interact in ways that are likely to further homogenize ecosystems and those that can reverse homogenization by filling ecological roles lost due to past species decline," Svenning concluded.
Explore further Invasive alien species may soon cause dramatic global biodiversity loss
More information: Accelerating homogenization of the global plantfrugivore meta-network, Nature (2020). www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2640-y Journal information: Nature Accelerating homogenization of the global plantfrugivore meta-network,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2640-y
The aggressive move by the US to force the Chinese firm ByteDance to sell the video sharing app TikTok to an American company is intensifying as the September 15 deadline imposed by President Donald Trump for divestiture approaches.
Before boarding Air Force One for a trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday, the president reiterated to reporters the two conditions required for TikTokwhich claims 100 million active users in the countryto continue to operate in the US.
I told them they have until September 15 to make a dealafter that we close it up in this country, Trump asserted, adding, I said the United States has to be compensated, well compensated.
While the forced divestiture of TikTok is contained in his executive order of August 6, Trump has not specified under what authority he has issued the compensation requirement. As reported by Bloomberg, government fee assessments on transactions of this type normally do not amount to more than $300,000, which appear to fall short of what Trump has demanded.
The imposition of massive fees to be paid to the US government for brokering the sale of the highly valued Chinese tech firms assets to an American ownerat bargain basement pricesis unprecedented and amounts to a White House-orchestrated fencing operation with TikTok as the loot.
This aspect of the Trump administrations bullying of ByteDance has not been lost on the Chinese government, which has referred to the September 15 deadline as a forced fire sale.
Late Friday, Chinas Commerce Ministry retaliated and imposed a new set of export controls on the countrys businesses, stating that artificial intelligence (AI) interface technologies such as speech and text recognition software and algorithms that analyze data and make personalized content recommendations are matters of national security.
It just so happens that AI and content recommendation tools are a core part of TikToks platform and success. In a June 18 blog post, TikTok explained some details of how these sophisticated technologies work: When you open TikTok and land in your For You feed, youre presented with a stream of videos curated to your interests, making it easy to find content and creators you love. This feed is powered by a recommendation system that delivers content to each user that is likely to be of interest to that particular user. Part of the magic of TikTok is that theres no one For You feedwhile different people may come upon some of the same standout videos, each persons feed is unique and tailored to that specific individual.
The core capabilityand valueof the TikTok recommendation engine is not just its ability to analyze the previous behavior of users and serve up content that is specific to their interests. It is TikToks ability to predict future behavior that is the holy grail of social media advertising revenue because its compelling individualized content keeps users viewing their feed for longer and longer periods of time.
According to Eugene Wei, a tech startup investor from San Francisco, it is TikToks mastery of AI and deep learning that has made the platform a success. As Wei told the Wall Street Journal, When you gaze into TikTok, TikTok gazes into you. To see it as merely a novelty meme video app for kids is to miss what is its much greater disruptive potential.
The possibility that American companies can acquire these advanced systems at a fraction of their market value and without having to develop them from the ground up makes the acquisition of TikTok an especially attractive proposition. Facebook, for examplewith its nearly 3 billion worldwide users and present stock market value of $850 billionhas only recently implemented a service called Reels on Instagram that emulates the capabilities of TikTok that have been in place for more than two years.
This fact is also clearly understood by the Chinese government and is the reason why Beijing has intervened with export rules to hold back this capability from a possible sale of the assets of the platform. According to the Journal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular media briefing on Monday, that the US is using economic-bullying and political-manipulation tactics against non-U.S. companies.
The Trump administrations emergency order threatening to shut down TikTok in the US is based on completely bogus and unproven national security claims that the Chinese-based company has been gathering the private information of American citizens and turning it over to Beijing state intelligence. The campaign is entirely motivated by the domestic and international political needs of the Trump administration for whipping up anti-Chinese sentiments within the US and prosecuting aggressive geostrategic goals aimed at suppressing the emergence of a major threat to American global hegemony.
The campaign against TikTokalong with the China-based WeChat mobile applicationwas initiated by Democratic Party leaders in Congress who began demanding in late 2019 along with their Republican counterparts that the app be banned among Transportation Safety Administration employees and US military personnel as a threat to national security.
The unity between the Democrats and Republicans on Trumps xenophobic anti-Chinese economic measures is most clearly expressed by the New York Times, which has published a steady stream of articles that have applauded the forced sale of TikTok. In an article published on Monday, the Times takes a notably supportive position in relationship to the actions of the White House, noting, If China does move to block TikToks sale, that could goad Mr. Trump into taking harsher action, further escalating tensions between the United States and China.
On Monday, rumors that a sale of TikTok was imminent were being widely reported in the corporate business media. According to CNBC, the bidders for the platform included the software companies Microsoft and Oracle and the retailer Walmart. The report said, Walmart emerged as a surprise contender last week, saying the social media app would augment its e-commerce efforts.
However, unnamed individuals who are familiar with the negotiations said that the US government demanded that a tech company lead the offering and Walmart then entered into a consortium that included Alphabet (parent of Google and YouTube) and Softbank. When these two latter firms dropped out of the negotiations, Walmart teamed up with Microsoft.
The CNBC report said that a buyer had been selected to purchase TikToks US, New Zealand and Australian operations, and Microsoft, in partnership with Walmart, and Oracle are the two top contenders. The sale price is expected to be in the range of $20 billion to $30 billion.
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TO NANEESDIZI, DINETAH, NAVAJO NATION - The Navajo and Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund, an initiative of Yee Haoolniidoo (May the Navajo People Have Fortitude), was awarded a $200,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The support comes at a critical juncture for the organization. As the Navajo and Hopi communities settle into a new season of struggle against the virus, this support strengthens Yee Haoolniidoo to continue sustained relief efforts against the pandemic.
We are so thankful for this investment in further strengthening the grassroots response to COVID-19 in our communities, and also for the tremendous foresight in funding long-term, sustainable solutions to address the longstanding food insecurity in our Navajo and Hopi communities, said Ethel Branch, Founder and Interim Executive Director for Yee Haoolniidoo.
When 12 women from the Navajo and Hopi nations began organizing to protect their communities from COVID-19 in March, they had no idea their effort would blossom into a relief fund of more than $5.8 million backed by nearly 93,000 supporters from around the world. Together, the team has trained roughly 160 volunteers in stringent health and safety protocols, and provided more than $2 million worth of food, cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment to over 23,665 vulnerable Navajo and Hopi families (and an estimated 94,660 individuals) in the midst of this pandemic.
We are deeply appreciative of the commitment, love, and devotion of the women who organized swiftly to respond to community needs, said Natasha K. Hale, Program Officer with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. This cadre of women have demonstrated leadership and loyalty to nation-building, and because of their knowledge of systems and close relationships with community leaders, they were best positioned to respond.
Each family receives two weeks of high-quality fresh food, as well as water, masks, cleaning supplies, and other essential items. They also receive culturally-relevant COVID-19 educational materials, including in the Navajo language. Most recently Yee Haoolniidoo collaborated with Air Serv International to charter 24 flights to deliver 48,193 pounds of supplies to remote corners of the Navajo and Hopi nations.
The support from the Kellogg Foundation helps with capacity building and long-term planning for Yee Haoolniidoo, including transitioning the organization to having permanent staff and fixed distribution centers at multiple sites. This will provide stability for relief efforts and help prepare for future waves of COVID-19. The grant also supports the development of additional culturally-relevant educational material designed to flatten the curve on the two nations.
In an effort to lay the foundation for long-term food security on Navajo and Hopi, Yee Haoolniidoo will conduct a network and landscape analysis to identify partners in the local food and farmers market space, opportunities to strengthen agriculture and irrigation infrastructure, and seed bank partners with a focus on the distribution and preservation of traditional heirloom fruits and vegetables. We are excited that the Kellogg Foundation is willing to invest in distinctly Dine and Hopi solutions to the food security challenge that our ancestors designed and refined over centuries, and that our elders and young farmers continue to implement today, noted Branch.
Yee Haoolniidoo continues to accept donations through GoFundMe and via checks made out to Nonprofit Fiscal Services (the organizations new fiscal sponsor as of June 18). Please note in the subject line of the check that the donation is for Navajo/Hopi relief. Checks can be mailed to NFS at 623 East 2100 South, Suite B1, Salt Lake City, UT 84106.
About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation:
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.
While Bollywood is beginning to tell more stories that put women front and centre, they tend to be stories of extraordinary women. For every Gunjan Saxena, there's also a Tumhaari Sulu, but the former tends to outweigh the latter. We still dont tell enough stories about the every woman.
Jab amazing ho sakti hutoh normal kyun banu (when I can be amazing why should I be normal) Vidya Balans Shakuntala Devi tells her daughter in the recently released Amazon Prime Film. Shes not the only one who thinks this way when it comes to women protagonists in our films.
While Bollywood is beginning to tell more stories that put women front and centre, they tend to be stories of extraordinary women. If Saand Ki Aankh had the trailblazing sharp-shooting Tomar sisters, Manikarnika chronicled the life of the swashbuckling Rani of Jhaasi and Sehmat in Raazi is an Indian spy who takes on the might of the Pakistani Army. Notice the common thread? These are fierce, kickass, heroic women. That these films are giving us female role models is quite a change from the 80s and 90s when female characters had little agency, confidence and capability. It is important to note, though, that we still dont tell enough stories about the every woman.
Vidya as Sulu (Sulochana) in Tumhari Sulu is a suburban housewife who has found her happily ever after. She is a mother who participates in the lemon-and-spoon race in her sons school and the wife who waits for her husband to come home from work. She has a small dream she wants a career. After many a failed attempt, Sulu finds herself in front of a microphone at a radio station and her late night call-in show becomes wildly popular. While it wasnt perfect, debutant director Suresh Triveni gave us a story that called to mind some of the films of the 70s, starring the likes of Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha, Pearl Padamsee and Utpal Dutt where the spotlight was firmly on the aam aadmi/aurat(common man/woman).
Dont underestimate the power of the common man, Shah Rukh famously said in Rohit Shettys Chennai Express and, if the last few years are anything to go by, Bollywood has embraced the sentiment.
As the larger-than-life hero is slowly fading out, the aam aadmi stories are gaining popularity. From Vicky Donor to Trapped, both Ayushmann Khurranna and Rajkumaar Rao have filmographies that are a testament to this shift. Tumhari Sulu is that rare film that trained its lens on the aam aurat, someone who is normally ignored in our films.
Earlier this year, Anubhav Sinha gave us Amrita, a stay-at-home wife who has made her husbands dreams her own in Thappad. While he is climbing the corporate ladder, she makes sure that all his needs are met at home she runs after him with his wallet, feeds him his unfinished breakfast, takes care of his elderly mother and is the consummate hostess when he entertains. The couple lives in Delhi but Amrita could be any housewife in Bengaluru or Bhatinda. The director, though, thinks that too much is made of the trend of women-led films.
Lets not to take this phenomenon too seriously. A lot of it is just because we are making more films, for both theatrical and OTT release. So, some stories about women get included. If I'm making Rani Laxmibai, it's obviously because she's a personality and an extraordinary character. Or like Mithali Raj who is extraordinary. But where are we making films about ordinary men? You're making films about heroes that walk at 100 frames a second and they can also sing and dance. Actors like Ayushmann and Rajkummar make four films year. So you have four films a year with ordinary men and four with ordinary women. So, it's not too bad and it's not too good, it's just ordinary, he says in his trademark style.
In the last two years, however, a leading studio like Dharma Productions has had three films Raazi, Guilty and Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl that tell womens stories, albeit not all around the aam aurat. Their head of creative development, Somen Mishra has been involved in all three. According to Mishra, the criteria for picking these stories is simple the story has to be interesting. It's not that we are looking for something heroic, or somebody doing day-to-day things. It's about how interesting the journey is and if the journey can hold for two hours. That's the criteria, he says. The big difference between Guilty and Gunjan Saxena is the medium the films were intended for. While the former was always an OTT film, the Janhvi Kapoor film was intended for a big screen release. For a theatrical, the stakes are much higher and the stakes for the story also have to be higher. OTT gives you the option to explore spaces where the person doesn't need to be as heroic maybe, but can be more complex, adds Mishra.
Having directed films like Nil Battey Sannata and Panga, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari knows a thing or two about this substantial segment of our society. The every woman's story doesn't get told because we just take her for granted. We always feel that she's there the mother and the wife and things will happen around her. It's time we put her in front and see what she's thinking. I always wanted to be the voice of the voiceless, rather than doing biopics and talking about strong personalities whose stories are already known because of the circumstances and what they fought for. I want to tell the stories of every woman from every cross section of society, says Tiwari.
Industry experts would tell you that studios wont green light a film about the hopes and dreams of the regular woman. Its all in the writing according to Tiwari. My woman would be the protagonist but there are a lot of other characters that are integral to the storytelling. It's never in isolation and that makes it easier to tell the story along with a studio. Someone asked me what I wanted the audience to take away from Nil Battey Sannata and Panga. I want every boy and man to call up their mothers after watching the film. Women-oriented films or men-oriented films are something the media comes up with audiences don't watch films like that. Audiences see films as films. So, it's very important that your character sketches are extremely well-written. When that happens, the film can never be about just one person. One person can drive the story but each person watching, regardless of their gender, should have their own takes, and that's the beauty of storytelling.
In a pivotal scene from Tiwaris 2020 film Panga, Jaya Nigam (played by Kangana Ranaut), a former captain of the Indian womens kabaddi team who is struggling to make a comeback, says, Main ek maa hoon aur maa ke koi sapne nahi hote hain (I am a mother and mothers have no dreams). Tiwari shares that she finds inspiration in her 40-year-old maid who is being forced to have another child because her husband wants a son, and an aunt who went back to study after her kids grew up. Movies, however, are a tough business and its not always easy to convince a room full of suits that the audience at large would be interested in a story of a 32-year-old who wants to play kabaddi again even if an A-list actress plays the character. Maybe its not about our storytellers casting a wider net for inspiration, maybe its time to forget the net and look around at the women in our homes and lives.
Two people died Saturday in separate crashes that occurred almost an hour and about one mile apart on Interstate 81 in Montgomery County, Virginia State Police said Wednesday.
Chelsea Rae King, 29, of Christiansburg, a nurse who worked at LewisGale Medical Center in Salem, and David Thomas Tucker, 28, a musician and composer who lived in California, were killed in the wrecks.
The first crash came at 6:19 p.m. at the 119.2 mile marker of southbound I-81, state police said.
King, driving a 2014 Jeep Cherokee, moved from the center lane to the right lane and hit the back of a 2014 International tractor-trailer. The Jeep caught fire and King died at the scene, state police said.
State police said the truck driver was not injured.
Kings medical colleagues described her as very smart and energetic with a wonderful bedside manner, LewisGale spokeswoman Linda Scarborough wrote in an email.
We mourn the loss of such a talented, young and vibrant member of our team, Scarborough wrote, adding the hospital systems condolences to Kings family, friends and co-workers.
A second collision came at 7:05 p.m. at the 120.4 mile marker, amid a traffic backup from the initial wreck, Sgt. Rick Garletts of the state police wrote in an email.
David Thomas Tucker, 28, in a 2006 Infinity, ran into the rear of a 2019 Mack tractor-trailer. Tucker was from California, Garletts wrote. The officer did not have more specific information on Tuckers home.
According to state police, Tucker was wearing a seat belt but also died at the scene of the crash. The truck driver was unhurt.
Tim Huling, an associate professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, identified Tucker as a 2017 graduate of the school who wrote for films and television shows. Tuckers page on the IMBd film website listed an assortment of music-related credits, including composition credits for two short films, one a Civil War-related virtual reality project that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and an episode of the series Fall Into Me. He also played music under the name Davey Thomas Ronaldo and IMBd listed an additional composition credit under that name.
He is missed with great pain by his fellow Berklee alumni and Berklees film scoring faculty, Huling wrote in an email. He was a good friend, a talented composer, a person of character.
Both crashes continue to be investigated, state police said.
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Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minority Leader in Parliament, Tuesday, said the next National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government will abrogate the Agyapa Royalties Agreement.
He said the NDC Minority would put the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Conduct Authority on notice that the Agyapa Agreement did not meet the required due diligence and transparency, and that a substantial level of conflict of interest ran through the structuring of the agreement.
He said the Agreement did not meet the minimum requirement of Ghana's Constitution and that a lot of things about it were still shrouded in secrecy.
"This agreement, is therefore, tainted with some corrupt acts," Mr Iddrisu stated at the NDC's 12th Weekly Meet the Press Series in Accra.
The Minority Leader recalled that on Friday, August 14, the last day of the second meeting of the Fourth Session of the Seventh Parliament, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo caused seven agreements relating to the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) to be laid before Parliament for approval.
He said the agreements sought to mortgage Ghana's future mineral royalties and long term national assets in perpetuity without any regard to its implication on future national revenue streams.
"Through this transaction, the Akufo-Addo Government intends to use a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Agyapa Royalties, incorporated as an offshore company in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, a known tax haven, in exchange for an upfront amount of $500 million, under the Mineral Development Fund Act, 2018 (Act 978) and its amendment Act, which strangely, was yet to be assented to by the President in accordance with Article 106 of the 1992 Constitution to make it law," Mr Iddrisu said.
"The Government of Ghana will own 51 per cent of the shares of the Company and remaining 49 per cent floated on the London Stock Exchange."
He said that Members of Parliament had less than four hours to scrutinise these agreements and ascertain the extent to which they would enhance the welfare of the people of Ghana and, in particular, its ramifications on national revenue into the future.
"Paradoxically, the Akufo-Addo Government claims to have used two years to prepare these agreements and yet, the peoples representatives in Parliament were required to peruse and approve same in less than four hours."
He said the NDC Minority in Parliament, took a strong position in the national interest that the haste with which these high-stakes agreements were being rushed through the parliamentary approval process did not augur well for the important exercise of Parliamentary oversight on an issue as critical as the mortgaging of the gold royalties of the country in perpetuity.
However, as the representatives of the people of Ghana, it was their duty to ensure that such agreements met key legal legal and constitutional requirements before approval, he said.
He said the Minority, therefore, requested for the full complement of requisite documents to guide and facilitate a thorough scrutiny and due diligence of the proposed deal in accordance with article 185 of the 1992 Constitution.
Key amongst these requisite documents were the prospectus for the eventual sale of shares in Agyapa through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange and the prospectus would contain more important details of the deal such as projected cash flows, underlying assumptions and the dividend policy.
Others were the incorporation details for the SPV, Agyapa Royalties, detailed justification for the choice of Jersey, a known tax haven and fiscal impact assessment.
Mr Iddrisu said the Government refused to make these key documents available to them on the excuse that they were in a draft form and for reasons of confidentiality, could not to be shared.
He said this decision of the Government was in clear violation of Article 181(5) of the Constitution, which required that such documents together with the agreements be laid before Parliament for approval.
"As a direct consequence of this concealment of vital information from the people of Ghana, the debate on the floor of Parliament was extremely acrimonious, and eventually, the Members of the Minority in Parliament were compelled to stage a walk out as a clear statement of our intent to protect the national interest at all cost."
He said the Minority in Parliament would like to state unequivocally that a future NDC Government would not honour the terms of this unconscionable agreement.
Mr Iddrisu said the NDC viewed strongly the decision to mortgage Ghanas future mineral royalties in perpetuity was grossly inimical to the interest of the people of Ghana and ran contrary to the constitutional imperative that governmental power be exercised for the welfare of the people of Ghana.
He said the deal failed to enhance public welfare, adding that their analysis shows clearly that Ghana stood to lose billions of United States dollars in revenue as annual gold royalties from the mining sector amounted to about $200 million on the average.
He said it made no economic sense, therefore, to mortgage these receivables to an opaque Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in exchange for an upfront amount of just $500 million.
Mr Iddrisu said the incorporation of Agyapa as an offshore company in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, a known tax haven, was worrying.
He said tax havens were generally known for their lack of transparency in matters of corporate governance such as disclosure of the beneficial ownership of the shares of companies.
"Tax havens are susceptible to money-laundering and thus elevate the risk of Ghana being listed as a money-laundering jurisdiction by international bodies such as the European Union and the United Nations."
He said Ghanaians would recall that in May 2020, the European Union placed Ghana on its Anti-Money Laundering List (AML) but deferred the implementation date to October 1, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said by setting up a sovereign wealth fund in a tax haven, the Government significantly elevated the risk of Ghana being considered as a money-laundering jurisdiction.
Mr Iddrisu said this was because individuals and businesses used tax havens such as Jersey to hide their income and wealth so as to avoid payment of taxes and general regulatory scrutiny of their business deals.
He said the European Union, the OECD and the United Nations used evidence of these offshore deals to rate countries on the effectiveness of their anti-money laundering regimes, including laws, regulations, policies, and other governmental actions.
With regard to the Minoritys concerns on off-budget transaction, Mr Iddrisu said the deal was intended to monetize gold royalties to fund the Budget and ought to have been reflected in the Budget Statement tabled for approval and subsequently enacted in the various Appropriation Acts for the 2020 Fiscal Year, stating that the deal did not reflect in the Budget Statement for the 2020 Fiscal Year.
Meanwhile, the Government has denied any wrongdoing, saying the initiative was to was intended to maximise the national mineral wealth and create more value along the gold value chain.
The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, at a media conference on August 28, therefore, refuted claims that some government officials were seeking to use the Agyapa deal to enrich themselves by mortgaging the country's future mineral royalties, adding, "That state-capture claim is false".
The conference was to clarify some concerns raised by the Minority NDC and CSOs over the Agyapa agreement.
Mr Ofori-Atta said the Agyapa transaction would turn the gold royalties into multiple revenue streams for the country by virtue of listing on the London Stock Exchange and the Ghana Stock Exchange to raise funds upfront for infrastructural development.
"We must be creative in our quest to raise revenue for our development by giving direct access to our resources in a manner that is open, transparent and operates within laws that exist outside our country.
"It is time to re-imagine our future. We're tired of being cheated by foreign companies and we are constraining ourselves from using the same vehicle they use to get funds upfront for investments.
"We must to maximise value of income that is due the Republic from the mineral wealth for the benefit of our citizens.
"We often fail to see the value in our mineral resources because when we're assessing the effectiveness of our policies and legislations, we limit the extent of our expectations to our national borders.
"We take no interest in what happens to our resources when they leave our shores, and how they're traded on the foreign markets and how companies leverage such resources to create cheap financing and use different ways to generate profit,"Mr Ofori-Atta stated.
Source: GNA
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Alexey Navalny, the Russian opposition leader and one of Vladimir Putin's fiercest critics, was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent the German government said, the same type of Russian military chemical weapon used in the poisoning of a former Russian double agent, Sergey Skripal, in Britain in 2018.
Navalny, 44, is being treated at the Berlin university hospital where he was transported to after falling ill on a plane in Siberia two weeks ago. He remains in an induced coma in the hospital's intensive care unit.
MORE: Before Navalny, a long history of Russian poisonings
A spokesman for Germany's federal government, Steffen Seibert, in a statement released Wednesday said that tests by a German military lab had provided "unequivocal proof" that Navalny had been poisoned with "a chemical nerve warfare agent of the Novichok group."
PHOTO: Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally in Moscow, Feb. 29, 2020. (Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters, FILE)
Novichok is the name of a number of nerve agents developed as part of a secret Soviet chemical weapons program. A Novichok nerve agent was used to poison the ex-Russian spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter in March 2018 in the British town of Salisbury, an attack that British authorities have said was carried out by agents from Russia's military intelligence agency.
Germany's government condemned the poisoning and said Russia must urgently provide an explanation around it, saying the Russian ambassador has been summoned over the case. It said Germany will inform NATO and European Union countries about the result of its investigation and to discuss "an appropriate joint reaction."
Chancellor Angela Merkel called Navalny's poisoning a crime and an attempt "to silence him." She said that the finding of a Novichok nerve agent raised very serious questions "which only the Russian government can and must answer."
"It's clear that Alexei Navalny is the victim of a crime. He was supposed to be silenced and I, together with the entire German government condemn this in the strongest possible terms," Merkel told reporters on Wednesday.
Story continues
Merkel said that Germany would "deliberate together" now with NATO and EU countries and "depending on the Russian reaction we will decide on an adequate common reaction."
PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to the media in Berlin, Sept. 2, 2020. (Markus Schreiber/Reuters)
The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted after Merkel's statement saying she had been informed by Merkel of the findings and called it "a despicable and cowardly act -- once again." She wrote, "Perpetrators need to be brought to justice."
A spokesman for the White House National Security Council, John Ullyot, said in a written statement that "The United States is deeply troubled by the results released today."
"The United States is deeply troubled by the results released today. Alexei Navalny's poisoning is completely reprehensible. Russia has used the chemical nerve agent Novichok in the past. We will work with allies and the international community to hold those in Russia accountable, wherever the evidence leads, and restrict funds for their malign activities. The Russian people have a right to express their views peacefully without fear of retribution of any kind, and certainly not with chemical agents," the full statement read.
Russia's government has previously denied any involvement in Navalny's illness and the Russian doctors initially treating Navalny in a Siberian hospital have said there was no evidence he had been poisoned.
The Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said Russia was ready to cooperate with the German investigation but noted that "no toxic substances" had been found by the Russian doctors.
Russia's foreign ministry accused Germany of ignoring formal channels for cooperation and said it believed "an information campaign" was starting against Russia.
"Our partners prefer yet again public statements without any kind of facts. All this is turning once again into an information campaign," the foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Navalny's colleagues and relatives had earlier accused the Kremlin of being directly involved in Navalny's poisoning and accused Russian authorities of a cover-up.
Doctors in the Siberian hospital Omsk where Navalny was being treated have repeatedly said they found no evidence of poisoning and had suggested instead he had suffered a sudden fall in blood sugar caused by a "metabolic disorder" and "chronic pancreatitis".
But shortly after Navalny arrived in Berlin's Charite hospital for treatment, however, doctors there said they believed he had been poisoned with cholinesterase inhibitors, a broad class of chemicals that includes nerve agents, including Novichok. Staff from the Charite had requested help from Britain's Porton Down military chemical weapons lab which had analysed the Novichok nerve agent used against Skripal, the hospital told ABC News last week.
One of Navalny's top lieutenants Leonid Volkov, tweeted that the finding a Novichok nerve agent was proof of Putin's responsibility for Navalny's poisoning.
"In 2020 to poison Navalny with 'Novichok' is the same as to leave a signature at the scene of the crime. This one," Volkov wrote, posting a photo of Putin's signature.
The use of a Novichok agent would greatly bolster evidence that Navalny's poisoning was carried out by Russian state agencies. Chemical weapons experts have said the nerve agents cannot be easily produced anywhere outside a handful of specialised state-run labs.
Russia has also always denied it was behind Skripal's poisoning, despite extensive evidence linking Russian military intelligence agents who visited Skripal's house in Salisbury shortly before his poisoning.
Following Skripal's poisoning in 2018, NATO countries, including the United States expelled dozens of Russian diplomats as part of a coordinated response.
'Novichok' -- which translates as "New Boy" in Russian -- is the name given to a series of nerve agents developed under a secret Soviet program known as "FOLIANT".
Russia has denied the program even existed, despite accounts from several of the scientists who worked on it. The Novichok nerve agents are based on organophosphates and according to Vil Mirzayanov, a Russian scientist who helped make their existence public, could be five to eight times more effective than VX gas.
MORE: Russian doctors allow 'poisoned' opposition leader Alexey Navalny be flown to Germany for treatment
Navalny is Russia's most prominent opposition leader, who made his name through investigations of alleged corruption by powerful Russians, including top officials and some of Putin's inner circle. He also built a grassroots opposition movement that has helped lead some of the largest anti-Putin protests in Moscow in recent years.
Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny was poisoned with Novichok nerve agent, German government says originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
on Tuesday reported 15,765 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the overall cases in the state to 8,08,306, informed the Public Health Department.
As per the bulletin, there are 1,98,523 active cases in the state. 5,84,537 patients have recovered from the disease across the state till Tuesday while 10,978 patients were discharged today.
With 320 fatalities on Tuesday, the toll due to COVID-19 in the state surged to 24,903.
A total of 42,11,752 samples have been tested in the state to date.
The case fatality rate in the state stands at 3.08 per cent while the recovery rate is at 72.32 per cent.
As many as 1,142 fresh COVID-19 positive cases reported in Mumbai today, taking the total count to 46,947 including 1,18,864 recoveries, 20,065 active cases and 7,690 deaths, said the Municipal Corporation Greater Mumbai.
India's COVID-19 case tally has reached 36,91,167 including 7,85,996 active cases, 28,39,883 cured/discharged/migrated and 65,288 deaths.
(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.)
Democratic presidential nominee former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at Mill 19 in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Aug. 31, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
On Violence, Democrats Strategy Has Officially Changed From Ignoring It to Dangerously Blaming Trump
Commentary
The world knows the Democrats said not a word about the violence in the major cities they govern during their national convention. Soon after, it became apparent that was a bad political strategy. Rather than risk angering their base by demanding an immediate end to it, the Democrats have reverted to their playbook of blaming Trump.
Over the weekend, the headlines blared.
One read: Its you: Portland mayor blames racist Trump for violence. Another headline read: Mayor Ted Wheeler blames Trump for the Patriot killed in Portland calls him a racist. You read that right. President Trump is to blame because someone shot a Trump supporter.
Not to be out done, Adam Schiff claimed Trump is fanning the flames of violence, and the Democrat nominee Joe Biden said Trump is recklessly encouraging violence.
Never mind that claims of racism by the police increased under President Obama as did the violence against police officers. Dont be swayed by the fact the violence in Portland has been going on, almost unchecked, for more than three months. Dont consider the effects of the defund the police movement on the wave of police retirements nor on the decisions of the police to stand down in the face of the violence.
The same goes for actions of a California District Attorney, who was funded in part by a George Soros group, recently setting forth guidelines for charging looters depending on whether the looter committed the theft for personal need.
If a problem exists in America today, many Democrats say it has to be President Trumps fault.
Keep in mind that the resistance to the election of the Trump Presidency has only been eclipsed in American history by the South seceding from the Union with the election of Lincoln.
The Democrats spied/investigated Trump before and after he got elected. When they got caught, they blamed Trump for inviting Russian interference. It didnt matter that the Obama Administration knew of Russian actions related to the election (unrelated to Trump or his campaign) and did nothing about it.
On Covid, the Democrats claim President Trump is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths. It doesnt matter to them that their two biggest party leaders, Biden and Pelosi, opposed Trumps xenophobic decision (as Joe Biden called it) to cut off travel from Chinaa decision that saved countless lives.
The Democrats in Washington, D.C. and in many Blue states continue to demand shutdown policies. But, according to them, the poor economy is Trumps fault because he should have acted earliereven though they opposed his early actions.
If Trump wants to cut the payroll tax, it will be his fault if social security is harmed. It doesnt matter that they voted for a payroll tax cut and President Obama signed it into law.
In 2017, less than a year into his term, Democrats blamed President Trump for rising Obamacare premiums, even though during President Obamas last year in office premiums went up an average of 25 percent.
The list for what the Democrats blame Trump could go on and on, including the 2018/2019 government shutdown (despite their spending demands) and the crisis at the border (as if illegal immigration was caused by Trump). Dont forget the use of cages at the border that were built by the Obama administration or the family separation policy that began under Obama.
Simply stated, the policies of the Democrats are never at fault and neither are Democrats. Nor are those breaking the law or even killing the police or other citizens.
If something is wrong in America today, it is President Trumps fault despite Joe Biden being in Washington for 51 years, or Senate leader Chuck Schumer being there for 45 years or Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi being there for 33 years.
This time is different though. This lie is dangerous. The difference is that the Democrats are not just ignoring the violence, by blaming Trump, they are officially condoning the violence.
You see, it is an article of faith among many of the violent and worse that they are justified in their violence and murder. They feel justified because they have heard their leaders repeatedly call Trump racist, including Sanders, Pelosi, AOC, and Biden.
They also have listened for four years to the far-left media about how Trump is evil. They just heard the Joe Biden lie that Trump hasnt spoken out against White nationalists.
So, when the Democrats blame Trump for the violence in their cities they failed to control, they are outright siding with the offenders. They are excusing their behavior. They are giving them cause.
Few things in politics could be less responsible and few things necessitate the defeat of Democrats this November more than what they are doing now.
Thomas Del Beccaro is an acclaimed author, speaker, Fox News, Fox Business, and Epoch Times opinion writer, and the former chairman of the California Republican Party. Hes the author of the historical perspectives The Divided Era and The New Conservative Paradigm.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A celebration takes place in Kyrgyz city of Bishkek for the 28th anniversary of Kyrgyz Republic's Independence Day in 2019. / Courtesy of Embassy of Kyrgyzstan
The following is a contribution from the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Korea. ED.
The Kyrgyz Republic celebrates the 29th anniversary of its Independence on Aug. 31, 2020.
In fact, the statehood of the Kyrgyz people dates back several centuries. According to history, the Kyrgyz nation had their own state in the VIII, X, XVII centuries. Kyrgyz people maintained wide diplomatic ties with Mongolia, China and other states. From the year of 860 to 873, the Kyrgyz sent three plenipotentiaries to China. Later, due to number of reasons, the Kyrgyz state collapsed and has become dependent on the conquerors. The centuries-old history of the Kyrgyz people is marked by severe losses, incessant struggle for freedom and independence. Starting from the XVII century until the October Revolution in Russia the Kyrgyz people no longer had their own statehood. Later, in 1936 Kyrgyzstan became a republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). After the collapse of the Soviet Union Kyrgyzstan gained the independence.
On Aug. 31, 1991 the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan adopted a declaration on the state sovereignty. The countdown of the new history of Kyrgyzstan, which has become an independent, sovereign, democratic state, begins from that date.
Kyrgyz Ambassador to Korea Dinara Kemelova
Since the beginning of its sovereignty, the Kyrgyz Republic has chosen the presidential-parliamentary path of development, the elections of the first president of Kyrgyzstan were held in 1991. The state has taken a course towards the development of a market economy and the implementation of democratic principles, the protection of human rights and freedoms.
The Constitution of Kyrgyzstan, state symbols flag, coat of arms, anthem were adopted on May 5, 1993.
Since March 2, 1992, Kyrgyzstan has been a member of the U.N. Kyrgyzstan was the first country among the countries of the former USSR to introduce its national currency, the som, and is the first country out of the region to join the WTO in 1998.
Over the years of its independence, Kyrgyzstan has established diplomatic relations with 164 countries and is a member of 124 international organizations.
However, along with its achievements, the Kyrgyz Republic, which had a winding path towards democracy, has had certain difficulties too. The freedom-loving people of Kyrgyzstan had protested twice against the authoritarian regimes of the country, against the corrupted family-clan rule in 2005 and 2010. As a result of these mass protests of the population, two presidents of the country have been displaced from the post.
As an outcome, a new Constitution was adopted through consensus building in 2010, which introduced parliamentary system of governance. Openness and accountability of the government to the people is now bearing fruit.
Thanks to the introduction of the advanced technologies in the electoral process, transparent and competitive parliamentary and presidential elections were held in Kyrgyzstan in 2015 and 2017. This is a progressive example of democracy in the region.
Kyrgyz Prime Minister Mukhammedkaly Abylgaziev and Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon visit Ala-Archa gorge in July 2019. / Couresty of Embassy of Kyrgystan
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, Kyrgyz-Korean relations have been developing progressively on the basis of mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation. Nowadays both sides have an active political dialogue, and the dynamic cooperation is supported by high-level visits, as well as various collaborations of ministries, business circles of the two countries, an expansion of the number of joint projects, teachers' and students' exchanges, as well as Kyrgyz labor migrants in South Korea.
One of the significant events of the past year was the first in the history of bilateral relations, the official visit of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Lee Nak-yon to Kyrgyzstan on July 17-19, 2019.
Within the official visit, the prime minister of the Republic of Korea had meetings with the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sooronbai Zheenbekov and the head of government Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev, which were accompanied by a business forum with the participation of 50 Korean companies and 200 entrepreneurs from the Republic of Korea. During this visit, important arrangements on expanding cooperation in the fields of trade, tourism, agriculture, industry, information technology and education were reached.
Taking into account the fact that the Republic of Korea is one of the most dynamically developing countries in the world, the Kyrgyz Republic continues to study the Korean experience of economic reforms, the development of e-government, information technologies, health care, agriculture, textile and processing industries.
The KOIKA representative office has been operating in Kyrgyzstan since 2015, which promotes important projects for the development of agriculture, regional development, ICT and education.
The Korea Program for International cooperation in Agricultural technology (KOPIA) is planned to open this year in Kyrgyzstan, which will promote the cooperation in agricultural research and capacity building in Kyrgyzstan in agriculture.
The 7,134-meter tall Lenin Peak on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikitan / Courtesy of Ushakov
Apricots are one of the eco-friendly products from Kyrgyzstan / Courtesy of Embassy of Kyrgystan
The A. Harry Moore School will have a new principal taking the helm after a tumultuous year that included a roof collapse that forced students to be moved to another school building.
Jason Jusino introduced himself to parents in a letter Friday. The 44-year-old, who has worked in the special education field since he was 19, said stability is his No. 1 priority for the new school year.
What I would like to do to is reinforce the stability for the parents, the students and the staff here at A. Harry Moore, Jusino said of the school that serves children and young adults with multiple disabilities. Although we are in uncertain times outside the school, I think with optimism and with the support of the parents and the staff, we will have a cohesive and symbiotic relationship, so that the students could get the best education and services here.
Jusino joins the school after $3 million in structural repairs were completed this summer, allowing the students to return to the 88-year-old Kennedy Boulevard building after the roof at the front entrance collapse last fall.
The strange 2019-2020 school year also included an announcement by New Jersey City University, which operates the school, saying it would end its 57-year-old arrangement with Jersey City to run the program. In July, NJCU agreed to a five-year contract that includes an option for the college to opt out after three years.
Before COVID-19 put a halt to in-person learning, AHM students had been attending school in trailer-like facilities at the states Gerard J. Dynes Regional Day School on Johnston Avenue. Now the students have an upgraded home and a new principal, even if they wont be back in the classrooms until October.
I dont believe that we wont have any success without the collaboration and the interests in strengths for modifying the students needs, Jusino said about the collaborative process he hopes to achieve at AHM.
I think that I can add a strong focal point on project-based learning, life skills, any career development services that the student can utilize at an early age to prepare them for the real world after they leave A. Harry Moore. I think that is any parents concern.
Jusino began his career as a paraprofessional at the Regional Day School in 1995. Prior to becoming principal at AHM, he was the principal at a multiple-disabled school in Union County, and prior to that he served as a special education supervisor for Jersey City Public Schools.
Jusinos wife, Adrian, is a special needs educator in Jackson, and together they have four children, three girls and a boy.
NJCU President Sue Henderson said she looks forward to the new school year.
While there will be challenges this year as we all continue to learn to live in a new normal, Jasons leadership, working closely with the Jersey City Department of Special Education, will ensure that the school continues its exemplary delivery of academic services, Henderson said.
Nicole Gohde and Kaleena Berryman, parents of AHM students and members of the Parent-Teacher Staff Association, are optimistic about the new leadership and hope to see the school grow once again.
Berryman said she hopes to see a revival at the school after a lost year. AHM already has outstanding programs, faculty and staff and hopes Jusino can tap into them, she said.
I think this is going to be a good change bring in some fresh eyes, Gohde added.
Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - Agents of the Departmental Directorate of Forest Economy, elements of the police and gendarmerie on Monday arrested three alleged traffickers in possession, circulation and attempted marketing of trophies of a panther, the Congolese public radio announced on Wednesday in Brazzaville
Employees from five New Orleans-area hospitals will be administering a dose of much-needed economic medicine to local restaurants, for a financial boost valued at close to $1 million spread out over thousands of meals.
Hospital operator LCMC Health is giving its 9,900 workers gift cards specifically to use at restaurants, the group announced Wednesday.
Its an expression of gratitude to staff for their work during the coronavirus crisis thats also designed to help local businesses that have been particularly hard hit by the pandemics economic toll.
Throughout the crisis, many restaurants have supported health care workers with food, providing hearty meals and quick snacks around the hospitals to boost morale in harrowing times.
LCMC chief executive Greg Feirn said the gift card program was about giving back to those who gave to us.
LCMC is a New Orleans-based nonprofit that operates Childrens Hospital New Orleans, New Orleans East Hospital, Touro Infirmary, University Medical Center and West Jefferson Medical Center.
LCMC dubs the program Operation Bon Appetit. The group said its full-time employees will receive a $100 gift card. Part-time and contract employees will get a $50 card.
The only way we will recover is if we all come together and support our local business community including the restaurant industry, said Feirn.
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A LCMC spokeswoman said the gift cards are designated for use at restaurants. The group is encouraging its employees to snap photos at restaurants when they use them, and upload those images to the LCMC website.
Stan Harris, president and CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association, called the campaign truly an example of paying it forward.
+18 50% closure rate feared for New Orleans restaurants as crisis lengthens: Were teetering At various points during the coronavirus crisis, New Orleans restaurants have figured out the shift to takeout-only, how to manage limited oc
As the coronavirus crisis has lengthened, the outlook for restaurants across the country has darkened.
The Louisiana Restaurant Association projects that one in four restaurants statewide could close permanently. For the New Orleans area that forecast is much worse, rising to 40% to 50% closing, due to the citys heavy reliance on travel and events.
LCMC timed Operation Bon Appetit for late summer when, even without the pandemics impact, local restaurant business typically is slow. It also arrives as many restaurants are offering Coolinary menus, a prix fixe menu promotion that can stretch customers dining dollars. This year, Coolinary runs through Sept. 13 at 73 area restaurants.
+6 With pre-paid pizza and gyros, New Orleans restaurant patrons pay it forward for others Sharing a pizza has taken on a new meaning at Slice Pizzeria, one that taps community generosity in an easy and intuitive way.
+11 With their own businesses hurting, New Orleans restaurants still feed others The biggest pot chef Isaac Toups has in his arsenal is a crawfish cooker, and on Thursday afternoon he had it filled to the brim with gallons
Earlier in the year, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they had created a production company and signed a deal with Netflix.
As part of the agreement, the couple are expect to make documentaries, docu-series, feature films, scripted shows and childrens programming.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex said their new endeavour would be focused on creating content that informs but also gives hope.
"Our lives, both independent of each other, and as a couple have allowed us to understand the power of the human spirit: of courage, resilience, and the need for connection, the couple said in a statement, according to Variety. "Through our work with diverse communities and their environments, to shining a light on people and causes around the world, our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope.
"As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us, as is powerful storytelling through a truthful and relatable lens. We are pleased to work with Ted and the team at Netflix whose unprecedented reach will help us share impactful content that unlocks action.
Although the exact details of the size of the deal have not been disclosed, several reports have suggested it could be worth in excess of $100m (72).
In their landmark interview with Oprah Winfrey, which first aired on Sunday, the pair said they had not even thought about streaming opportunities with Netflix when they initially stepped down from palace life.
This was never the intention, Harry said during the interview - the couples first interview since stepping down from royal duties. Were certainly not complaining, our life is great now, weve got a beautiful house, Ive got a beautiful family. The dogs are really happy. At the time during Covid, the suggestion by a friend was what about streamers? and we hadnt thought about it. There were all sorts of different options and from my perspective, I just needed enough money to pay for security to keep my family safe.
Life is about storytelling, added Markle. For us to be able to have storytelling through a truthful lens that is hopefully uplifting is going to be great, knowing how many people that can land with and be able to give a voice to a lot of people that are underrepresented and arent really heard.
According to The New York Times, although the couple may appear on camera, Meghan, who previously starred on the show Suits, has no plans to return to acting.
One of Meghan and Harry's first projects will be an animated series focused on inspiring women, which is already in development, the outlet reports.
While the couple's production company will operate independently from their charitable foundation Archewell, it will reportedly highlight similar issues and topics that are important to the duke and duchess.
In a statement, Ted Sarandos, Netflixs co-chief executive and chief content officer, said the streaming service is incredibly proud that the royal couple chose Netflix as their creative home.
Were incredibly proud they have chosen Netflix as their creative home and are excited about telling stories with them that can help build resilience and increase understanding for audiences everywhere, he said.
Prince Harry and Meghan, who relocated to California with their son Archie earlier this year, aren't the first notable individuals to sign a deal with Netflix, as the company has previously worked with Michelle and Barack Obama and Shonda Rhimes on content partnerships.
The couple's deal with the streaming service comes after Prince Harry recently appeared in the Netflix documentary Rising Phoenix, which features Paralympians from around the world and tells the extraordinary story of the Paralympic Games.
All of the content from the duke and duchess's new multi-year deal will be exclusive to Netflix. According to The Times, it is not currently clear how much Netflix has agreed to pay the couple, who announced in January their intentions to step back from their roles as senior members of the royal family and seek financial independence.
Imperial Valley News Center
Defendants in Dog Fighting Prosecution Sentenced to Prison
Pensacola, Florida - The last of four defendants to be convicted for their roles in a dog fighting conspiracy was sentenced last Tuesday in federal court in Pensacola, Florida.
David Lee Moser, 37, of Waynesboro, Tennessee, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison. Moser pleaded guilty to conspiring with the co-defendants to violate the dog fighting prohibitions of the federal Animal Welfare Act.
The other three defendants include:
James Tommy Peek, 68, of Milton, Florida, was sentenced on Aug. 10, 2020, to serve 15 months in prison. Peek had pleaded guilty to unlawfully conspiring to violate the dog fighting prohibitions of the federal Animal Welfare Act, delivering a dog to co-defendant Shane Sprague for purposes of having the dog participate in an animal fighting venture, and possessing a dog for purposes of having the dog participate in an animal fighting venture.
Haley Cook Murph, 25, of Milton, Florida, was sentenced on Aug. 12, 2020, to serve eight months in prison. Murph had pleaded guilty to unlawfully conspiring to violate the dog fighting prohibitions of the federal Animal Welfare Act, traveling to Alabama to purchase a fighting dog from a known dog fighter, and possessing that dog for purposes of using the dog in an animal fighting venture.
Shane Patrick Sprague, 36, of Pensacola, Florida, was sentenced on Aug. 13, 2020, to serve 18 months in prison. A jury had convicted Sprague of felony conspiracy to violate the animal fighting prohibitions of the federal Animal Welfare Act.
Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in the Northern District of Florida imposed the sentences.
Our division continues to aggressively pursue those who engage in the cruel and brutal practice of dog fighting, which is often linked with many other forms of violent and organized criminal activity, said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Justice Departments Environment and Natural Resources Division. Todays sentencing, along with the prior sentencings of other defendants in this case, sends a strong message that we are bringing to justice those who engage in illegal dog fighting and trafficking of fighting dogs. Anyone who engages in this conduct does so at the risk of significant jail time.
Federal prison sentences are absolutely appropriate for these criminals, said U.S. Attorney Lawrence Keefe for the Northern District of Florida. Each one of them knowingly contributed to the immeasurable fear, suffering and pain these helpless dogs experienced. The U.S. Attorneys Office will continue to pursue and prosecute those who violate the Animal Welfare Act to the fullest extent of the law.
The cruel and inhumane practice of dog fighting has no place in a civilized society and is against federal law, said Special Agent in Charge Jason Williams of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Inspector General (USDA-OIG). The outstanding work of the USDA-OIG agents who investigated this case made it possible to bring these operators of a major animal fighting venture and breeders who participate in such activities to justice. We will continue to vigorously investigate individuals who attend, facilitate, or profit from the misery inflicted upon animals during these barbaric fights.
Evidence at trial, along with admissions made by the pleading defendants in conjunction with their plea agreements, established that Sprague arranged dog fights and trafficked in fighting dogs with Moser and others. Moser admitted that he and Sprague agreed to fight their dogs against one another and to prepare a dog for a dog fight, and had discussed concealing evidence that one of Mosers dogs had killed another dog.
Peek was one of the suppliers of fighting dogs to the conspiracy. He used his reputation as a prominent dog fighter to sell fighting dogs to others around the country. A dog fighting book commonly seized as evidence in dog fighting investigations has a chapter devoted to Peek, which Peek would autograph and sell to customers. He admitted to having delivered a dog to Sprague, believing that the dog would be used for fighting purposes. He also admitted to selling a dog to an undercover agent after making representations about the fighting bloodlines and prior and upcoming dog fights scheduled for some of the dogs on his yard.
Murphs role was that of a makeshift veterinarian. Although Murph at no time possessed a veterinary license, she admitted to offering and performing veterinary and surgical procedures on dogs belonging to members of the conspiracy, treating dogs injured in a dog fight, and surgically removing dogs ears, including for the purpose of dog fighting. Two dogs she treated died from their fighting injuries. Murph also admitted to supplying a bait animal to test the fighting abilities of one of the dogs of a co-defendant. Finally, Murph admitted to traveling to Alabama to receive a dog from a known dog fighter, and to keeping that dog for the purposes of having the dog participate in an animal fighting venture.
Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Love prosecuted the case. The matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General.
The search for a missing boater in Tuscaloosa continued Wednesday morning.
Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue Service responded about 8 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a boating accident at the Black Warrior Rivers Oliver Lock and Dam. Once there, they learned a vessel carrying three passengers went over the spillway and one boater was missing, said TFRS spokeswoman Holly Whigham.
Tuscaloosa and Northport firefighters and police assisted in the search Tuesday night. The search resumed about 7:20 a.m. Wednesday with Tuscaloosa police and firefighters and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
ALEA is now leading the search.
Seoul, Sep 2 : The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the US held phone talks on Wednesday over issues on the Korean Peninsula, according to Seoul's Foreign Ministry.
Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula's peace and security affairs, spoke with Deputy US Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who is also the chief nuclear negotiator, reports Xinhua news agency.
Lee and Biegun shared view over the recent situations in the Korean Peninsula, agreeing to the need to rapidly resume talks between Seoul and Pyongyang and between Washington and Pyongyang in a bid to make substantive progress for the peninsula's complete denuclearization and the lasting peace settlement.
The nuclear envoys discussed how to create conditions and push for the complete denuclearization and the peace settlement, the Ministry said.
The two sides agreed to more close communications and cooperation on the North Korean issues bilaterally and multilaterally by actively making use of the scheduled international diplomatic events.
Denuclearization talks between the North Korea and the US have been stalled since the second summit between Pyongyang leader Kim Jong-un and American President Donald Trump ended without an agreement in February 2019 in Hanoi.
Choi and Biegun agreed to meet as early as possible to discuss overall bilateral issues and regional situations, the Ministry added.
-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
August was supposed to confirm a progressive recovery of the Spanish labor market following the debacle triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and one of the worlds strictest lockdowns.
According to Social Security Minister Jose Luis Escriva, 132,000 new jobs were created in the first three weeks of the month. But the upward trend was reversed by fresh coronavirus outbreaks and travel advisories introduced by many countries that recommended not going to Spain. The slowdown began in late July, when the United Kingdom introduced a quarantine for travelers arriving from the country.
This has impacted the tourism industry, which is usually a leading source of Spanish job creation at this time of the year and contributes more than 12% of Spains gross domestic product (GDP). And hotels have already announced plans to close in late August due to a lack of demand, in a move that could have an adverse effect on September, traditionally still a strong month for tourism.
Spain has a 15% jobless rate and the central bank is expecting this figure to be anywhere between 18.1% and 23.6% by the end of the year
A total of 211,566 job contracts ended on the last day of August in a move that plays out every year, as the peak of the summer season draws to an end and seasonal workers leave their posts at bars, restaurants and hotels.
There were also fewer hirings this summer to begin with. The drop in hirings, of 26% year-on-year, indicates that we are still far from a normalization of the labor market, said Valentin Bote, director of Randstad Research, which analyzes employment trends.
There was a slight rise in employment figures in August as the Social Security system registered 6,822 new contributors considered a measure of job creation. But this did little to make up for the approximately 688,000 jobs that have been lost to Covid-19. Ever since the confinement measures began to be gradually lifted in April, the labor market has recovered around 333,000 Social Security contributors.
Furloughed workers
Meanwhile, the number of people registered as unemployed rose by 29,780, representing the lowest figure for a month of August since 2016, partly due to the fact that many workers have been furloughed and are not included in unemployment figures as they technically still have a job. But as the state-funded program comes to an end there are fears that many could ultimately be sent home for good as businesses find themselves unable to survive.
The number of furloughed workers went down by around 300,000 to 800,000 in August. Three out of four of these workers have now exited the ERTE job retention scheme, introduced by the government to stem the job losses caused by the strict confinement. Nearly half a million companies filed for ERTEs in response to the coronavirus lockdown, which forced the temporary closure of businesses across the country.
According to Eurostat, the EUs statistics office, the number of employed persons in Spain dropped by around 8% in the first half of the year, nearly three times higher than in other European countries.
Spain has a 15% jobless rate and the central bank is expecting this figure to be anywhere between 18.1% and 23.6% by the end of the year, depending on the severity of the Covid-19 situation.
By comparison, the jobless rate in late 2019 was 14.1%. But the Bank of Spain has warned that the furloughing scheme is skewing the unemployment figures, and that the jobless variable must be taken with a pinch of salt.
English version by Susana Urra.
Jaculyne Derby was five weeks pregnant with Orlando Duartes baby when she learned about his convictions for molesting children.
She only found out when they were pulled over by state police for a traffic violation while driving back to Pennsylvania from her hometown in Vermont.
Our team has worked closely with the client to ensure that their strategic goals are achieved with this transaction, said Daniel Linden, CEO of DARAG North America. The completion of the deal provides the company with a clean economic exit and certainty about future development. We are very pleased to have been able to support such an established counterparty and demonstrate DARAGs expertise as the favored legacy acquirer for both counterparties and fronting carriers alike.
Our Bermuda operation is pressing ahead with our expansion strategy in the region, said Tom Booth, CEO of DARAG Group. We continue to invest in our global business and to provide tailored capital relief solutions to clients, and we look forward to further transactions in North America.
HomeSmart It is both humbling and thrilling to be receiving this recognition by a top publication for our brokerages growth and success, stated Lynn Chute, vice president of HomeSmart in Colorado.
HomeSmart continues to earn its place as the leading real estate brokerage in Colorado, as it once again took a top spot on a prominent Denver Business Journal ranking list. The brokerage, which recently hit a growth milestone of 2,500 agents, was ranked on the 2020 Denver-Area Residential Real Estate Firms list by the Denver Business Journal.
It is both humbling and thrilling to be receiving this recognition by a top publication for our brokerages growth and success, stated Lynn Chute, vice president of HomeSmart in Colorado. The HomeSmart model is built to grow and thrive even in the toughest of markets, and this recognition only further cements that our Colorado brokerage is on the right track.
The Denver-based brokerage came in at no. 3 on the 2020 Denver-Area Residential Real Estate Brokerages list, which was ranked based on sales volume in the Denver area in 2019. HomeSmart of Colorado brought in a combined $3.01 billion in sales in 2019, with an average home price in the area being $429,651.
HomeSmart of Colorado has continued to surpass our expectations as it grows by leaps and bounds, stated Michael Swope, HomeSmart Internationals chief revenue officer. Colorado agents are recognizing that no other brokerage offers the same level of commission, support and technology as ours, and the numbers and recognition are further proof that HomeSmart of Colorado is here to stay.
To learn more about HomeSmart and how you can join, visit https://homesmart.com/join-us/.
About HomeSmart International:
Founded in 2000, HomeSmart is ranked in the top 10 real estate brokerages in the United States and the number one brokerage firm in the Phoenix market and in Colorado. From its international franchising headquarters based in Scottsdale, HomeSmart International offers franchisees efficiency and innovation coupled with the systems and technologies necessary to succeed in today's evolving real estate industry. Today, the brand has 178 offices in 33 states and more than 19,000 agents nationwide. For more information on HomeSmart International and its franchise opportunities, visit https://www.homesmart.com. Follow HomeSmart International on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/homesmartfranchise and on Twitter and Instagram @HomeSmartIntl.
Australians are set to struggle even more to get home from overseas with airlines pulling flights to deal with strict passenger caps.
An estimated 100,000 Aussies are stranded overseas due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, with many flights coming into Australia limited to just 30 passengers per plane.
Malaysia Airlines is looking to suspend flights out of Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane from October to March next year.
Barry Abrams, the executive director of the Board of Airline Representatives of Australia said the caps were making it unviable for international flights to go ahead, suggesting the trend of pulling flights would continue for other airlines.
An estimated 100,000 Aussies are stranded overseas due to COVID-19 travel limits (pictured, empty economy section of a plane travelling to Australia)
'Fuel, crew and support costs are high for international flights, and a long-haul aircraft generally carries 250350 passengers plus freight to cover these costs,' he said.
'Reducing available inbound passenger loads to 1015 per cent of capacity cannot be considered commercially sustainable.'
Mr Abrams said allowing only around 500 passengers to fly into some Australian airports per week meant it was only a matter of time before flights would be suspended.
'At Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide airports, the small weekly caps (500525 passengers) can be commercially unviable for international airlines, especially as this small number is intended to be spread out evenly across the week,' he said.
'So it's to be expected these quotas aren't being routinely filled, such that some international airlines will suspend their small number of flights into these airports, further reducing the options available for Australians to return home.'
Passengers are seen arriving at Sydney Airport after travelling from Hong Kong
The airline industry suggests international airlines will suspend flights into smaller airports around Australia to cope with the passenger caps (pictured Virgin Australia staff at Sydney Airport in April)
Out of the 160 international flights coming into Australia every week, Mr Abrams said each flight needed around 100 passengers on board to ensure they were commercially viable.
Australia closed the nation's international borders to tourists to halt the spread of COVID-19 on March 20 and told citizens overseas that they should return as soon as possible.
In early July, tight international arrival caps were introduced limiting the number of Australians a plane could bring into the country - only 4,000 a week.
This is due to Australia's commitment to strict hotel quarantine for 14 days for every returning travel, amid fears large numbers of arrivals could disrupt the complicated system.
It's estimated it could take up to six months to bring back all the stranded Australians.
There have been reports of economy passengers being bumped at the last minute for high paying business customers and planes flying with nearly empty economy sections.
Naomi Nguyen (pictured), a 22-year-old from Sydney, is one such Australian stranded overseas who had been working as an English language assistant at a high school in Spain
Passengers are taken into 14-day quarantine at a hotel in Sydney after arriving from Hong Kong on August 23
Naomi Nguyen, a 22-year-old from Sydney, is one such Australian who had been working as an English language assistant at a high school in Spain when the country entered lockdown on March 14.
'Since the Australian government has now decided to bring in flight restrictions/capacities, it has been almost impossible to return home,' Ms Nguyen wrote.
'In Sydney, it is also only 30 passengers per plane. So airlines are prioritising business passengers for those 30 seats, the only way to make money.
'Most of us in economy have literally had our seats taken off us and given to someone else willing to pay for a business one. It is cruel.'
Both Qantas and Virgin Australia have effectively paused international flights, leaving Doha based Qatar Airways as the biggest carrier of passengers into the country.
The airline estimates it has helped return 170,000 Australians and international travellers since March, about tenfold its nearest competitor.
CEO Akbar Al Baker said flights had become a 'balancing act' under arrival caps with a growing list of bumped passengers unable to be placed on a replacement flight.
'Many passengers will be unable to travel back to Australia for the foreseeable future,' he said.
The COVID-19 pandemic's effects run deep - far beyond the virus's immediate infections. From loss of livelihoods to drastic decreases in social connection, people across the country are suffering ongoing emotional strain. And that has psychological health researchers, like Colorado State University's Deborah Essert, worried.
Essert is the director of the Psychological Services Center, operated through the psychology department in the College of Natural Sciences, which serves members of the greater Fort Collins community.
As the state moved to a stay-at-home order in the spring, I saw the need for it from a community medical health perspective. At the same time, my heart ached knowing how much the isolation, increased stress, and economic upheaval would negatively impact the emotional well-being and physical safety of so many in Colorado." Deborah Essert, Psychological Health Researcher, Colorado State University.
So she, along with Brad Conner, who directs the addiction counseling master's program in the department, have created an initiative to provide an emergency expansion of mental health care across the state, with a focus on suicide prevention during the pandemic.
The program is being supported by a grant of almost $800,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The state of Colorado already had the seventh highest number of deaths by suicide in the country before the pandemic. For example, in 2017, the latest year for which CDC data is available, more people in Colorado died by suicide than from diabetes or drug overdoses.
The pandemic threatens to make that worse.
"When we are faced with an unknown threat, it is easy to become myopic," Essert says. She feels that with so much attention on the virus itself, the mental health impacts of the pandemic have been neglected.
"This is why the Federal Aviation Administration requires two crew members in the cockpit at all times - while one is focusing on a new immediate problem, the other can keep the plane in the air," she explains. "When we went to stay-at-home orders for COVID-19, as a mental health provider, I felt locked out of the cockpit."
With the new statewide suicide prevention program, she hopes she and the team can help more people stay aloft in this turbulent time.
Stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus has, understandably, been a top priority, as the death toll continues to increase. But, notes, Essert, "many of the safety measures taken to slow the spread of COVID-19 and their repercussions are associated with higher suicidality - including isolation, strained family relationships, financial insecurity, and marital distress," she says.
"And when you take increased feelings of loneliness, fear, and confusion, add to it the possibility of using substances to cope with the sudden uptick in sustained stress, and then drastically reduce and complicate access to mental and behavioral health care, it is like a perfect storm for increased mental health symptoms and suicidality."
The new emergency program will focus, in particular, on communities and individuals at highest risk, including rural and agricultural areas, the uninsured, and people with substance-use disorders.
Others in the community who might be assumed to be well-situated to get help they might need are also going unnoticed. Frontline health care workers, particularly in the middle of a pandemic, often don't have their mental health needs recognized, Essert notes, which is why support for this group also will be a focus in the new program.
Also at considerable risk are those experiencing domestic violence and their children, as increased isolation is associated with a greater threat to physical safety and suicidality.
This group that was "nearly invisible and voiceless before the pandemic now has even fewer eyes on them, which means less access to support," Essert says. "For some of the most vulnerable and desperate in our community, the motto that families are 'safer at home' is horribly untrue."
While the pandemic has added strain to most everyone's lives, Essert has seen from their work at the Psychological Services Center that it has pushed many people who were already struggling to manage daily life into much higher risk for self-harm.
"Part of the aim of this project is to bring to light that, for some, there are dangers more powerful, and more proximal, than the threat posed by COVID-19," Essert says. "For some, the more imminent danger is the one waiting for them at home, or the threat they pose to themselves when they are home alone."
The new SAMHSA grant will enable Essert and Conner and their team (which also includes Lorann Stallones, a professor in the psychology department and director of the Colorado Injury Control Research Center, Paula Yuma, an assistant professor of social work in the College of Health and Human Sciences, and Heather Schatten of Brown University) to immediately begin training more providers throughout the state in evidence-based practices put forth by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We aim to reduce suicidality by reducing risk factors and promoting protective factors within the individual - and in the systems around them," Essert explains.
The project, which is a collaboration among the psychology department's Counseling Psychology and Masters in Addiction Counseling programs, the School of Social Work, and the Colorado School of Public Health, will partner with agencies in the area and across the state, including the University of Colorado Health system, Crossroads Safehouse, La Familia, Sandstone Care, and the 17th Judicial District Diversion Program.
This is just the beginning of their new network. They plan to add more groups and agencies in the near future (with a priority to those who serve rural communities, underserved groups, and people experiencing domestic violence).
In fact, when they put out a call for partners earlier this year, Essert says, "the response and support from across the state was actually overwhelming. It seems everyone feels the need to strengthen the links around mental health right now."
At the CSU-based Psychological Services Center, the grant will allow the team to deploy an Integrated Suicide Treatment Team that will be able to see at least 60 new clients.
The grant officially began at the end of July, and Essert, Conner, and the group have been hiring and training additional staff. "We plan to be offering services and training to the community by September," she says.
And that can't come too soon.
"We are all being stretched to understand and manage a new normal," Essert says. "While that can bring about some solidarity and resilience, it can also leave us feeling depleted and susceptible to feelings of depression, anxiety, and other emotional struggles."
Soon there will be more life-saving resources for people to turn to across the state.
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An Ector County grand jury opted not to indict the employees who were involved in the death of an inmate in June at the county jail, according to a press release from the Ector County Sheriffs Office. The inmate died after being tased and restrained.
Wallace Howell, a 38-year-old Black man, was arrested on June 15 for allegedly evading arrest, according to an in-custody death report filed with the Texas Attorney Generals Office. He was found unresponsive after being tased several times and placed in a padded cell with his arms and legs restrained, the report states.
The DMK, AIADMK, PMK, BJP gear up for next May's assembly elections.
R Rajagopalan reports.
IMAGE: DMK President M K Stalin at a virtual interaction with the party's district office-bearers. Photograph: Arivalayam/Twitter
With Tamil Nadu slowly easing into normalcy after five months of lockdown, with most activities allowed to be resumed, political parties are getting ready for elections to the state assembly due in May.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's general council meeting is to be held on Sunday, September 6, through video conferencing when some 3,500 members will elect the party's general secretary and treasurer.
The DMK has outsourced the technical aspects of its virtual conferencing to election strategist Prashant Kishor's I-PAC.
I-PAC has engaged 350 software engineers on a part-time basis to handle the logistics for the general council meeting in which DMK members from the state's 32 districts will log in as per the time slot allotted to them.
The election to party posts will be conducted by the returning officer at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters in Chennai.
The first political party to hold organisational elections online, the innovative idea is said to have cost the DMK a few crore rupees. But the process will be certified by the DMK only after the Election Commission's directives.
The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam too is all set to hold a gala public virtual meeting on September 15, mentor C N Annadurai's 111th birthday.
The state Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to hold a virtual convention on September 17 to mark Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's 70th birthday.
The Pattali Makkal Katchi will hold a meeting of its executive on September 27.
And superstar Rajinikanth is expected to announce the long-delayed launch of his political party on Gandhi Jayanti, October 2, via video-conference.
Finally, former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's confidante Sasikala has completed her four-year jail term in Bengaluru and is expected to be released in mid-October or early November. Her return is expected to give an added impetus to political activity in the state.
Anticipating all this, Tamil news television channels have drawn up mega pre-poll surveys to be aired from the middle of September.
Moodys Analytics and Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank (SRCB) have won Compliance Risk Technology Implementation of the Year in the 2020 Asian Banker Risk Management Awards. SRCB, which has a long-standing relationship with Moodys Analytics, recently implemented new solutions to meet the IFRS 9 accounting standard.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200901006153/en/
The banks goal was to be able to meet regulators requirements in advance of the deadline. That meant less time to complete the implementation, but that challenge was met, with the project concluding on schedule and ahead of SRCBs target completion date.
Incorporating the new capabilities has allowed the bank to automate its entire calculation process, saving valuable time and resources. With a now centralized impairment workflow, SRCB can proactively manage impairment across its portfolios, and its risk management department is able to analyze their impairment profile more deeply and from different angles. After the implementation, reports that the bank was previously able to produce monthly are now being produced every day.
We are gratified to win this Asian Banker award with our colleagues at Moodys Analytics, said the Chairman of Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, Li Xu. Adopting the IFRS 9 standard is a significant event for our institution. For the first time, we are integrating risk and financial data and then applying it not just to financial reports but to our day-to-day business practices. Our existing relationship with Moodys Analytics gave us confidence that the implementation for IFRS 9 would be smooth and well-coordinated, and those expectations were well met.
Were pleased to share this recognition with Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, said Tianwei Zhu, Managing Director at Moodys Analytics. We are proud that they were able to rely on us for this essential project. Our software, data, analytics, and expertise are now helping SRCB to meet the new standard and operate more efficiently.
Learn more about the Moodys Analytics IFRS 9 solution.
Learn more about The Asian Banker Risk Management Awards.
This win adds to our growing list of industry recognition.
About Moodys Analytics
Moodys Analytics provides financial intelligence and analytical tools to help business leaders make better, faster decisions. Our deep risk expertise, expansive information resources, and innovative application of technology help our clients confidently navigate an evolving marketplace. We are known for our industry-leading and award-winning solutions, made up of research, data, software, and professional services, assembled to deliver a seamless customer experience. We create confidence in thousands of organizations worldwide, with our commitment to excellence, open mindset approach, and focus on meeting customer needs. For more information about Moodys Analytics, visit our website or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Moody's Analytics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO). Moodys Corporation reported revenue of $4.8 billion in 2019, employs approximately 11,200 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 40 countries.
About Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank
Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank (SRCB), headquartered in Shanghai, was established on August 25, 2005. SRCB was reincorporated from 50-year-old Shanghai Rural Credit Cooperatives, and it developed into a corporate commercial bank, with a current registered capital of CNY 8.68 billion, nearly 370 branches, and more than 6,000 employees. At the end of 2019, the SRCB group's assets exceeded CNY 930 billion, the balance of deposits was approximately CNY 692 billion, and the balance of loans was approximately CNY 467 billion. The bank focuses on financial service to SMEs, and has the largest number of small business loan customers in Shanghai.
According to the 2019 Top 1000 World Banks announced by the British publication The Banker, SRCB ranked 156th in the world banking industry with an increase of 22 places from 2018, and 24th place among domestic commercial banks. Among the Top 500 Global Banking Brand Values in 2019 ranking, SRCB ranked 191st with an increase of 32 places from 2018.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200901006153/en/
Australias first recession in almost 30 years
After nearly three decades of growth, Australia fell into recession after its economy shrank 7 percent in the second quarter, the government said on Wednesday. The country that avoided stumbling during the 2008 global financial crisis could not escape the ravages of Covid-19.
The drop in quarterly G.D.P. is the largest since record-keeping began in 1959. Australias tourism and education were hit hard by virus restrictions, as was domestic spending on hotels and restaurants. The downturn came despite over $150 billion in stimulus spending.
In addition, Victorias state of emergency was extended by six months on Wednesday, giving officials broad power to impose virus-related restrictions as needed. The road ahead will be long, said the countrys treasurer, Josh Frydenberg.
N ext year's school leaving exams should be delayed to allow students to catch up from the effects of the lockdown, the former Chief Inspector of Education has said.
Former Ofsted head Sir Michael Wilshaw said Education Secretary Gavin Williamson was right to apologise over the distress this year's A-level and GCSE saga has caused students.
He added that the Government should set out a plan for next year immediately to allow the second wave of pandemic-affected school leavers to prepare.
And asked what should happen with next year's exam schedule, Sir Michael said: "I think it should be delayed.
"Youngsters have lost months of education in schools - five to six months. We know from all the reports that have come through from a variety of different organisations, that a lot of youngsters downgraded, and home (and) online learning has not gone well, in a number of instances.
"We know that the poorest youngsters have lost out the most ... that what's called the attainment gap, between the poorest children and their peers is growing.
"So we know that there have been serious problems over the last six months. So the more time that youngsters have to to catch up, the more time that schools have to prepare and teach these youngsters over the next few weeks and months, the better."
Sir Michael said the Government should devote all its energies to quickly resolving next year's situation, rather than "pull over the entrails" of a "disastrous" set of results from 2020.
"Head teachers, and schools, and parents, and students, want to know what the deliberations are now, so that they can prepare for those exams in July or August or even in September, because it will mean quite a lot of logistical problems for schools," he said.
"So I think ... rather than pull over the entrails of what has been a disastrous set of results, both at A level and GCSE, we should look to the future to see how we can improve the system."
Mr Williamson on Tuesday apologised once again to students who suffered "a great deal of stress and uncertainty" due to "inconsistent and unfair" A-level outcomes from Ofqual's algorithm.
The Education Secretary told MPs the Government is determined that exams will go ahead in 2021, adding they were working with the sector to ensure "this is done as smoothly as possible".
Ofqual - which launched a consultation in July which proposed delaying the start of GCSE exams to June 7 - has not yet made a decision on the timetable for the 2021 exam series.
Mr Williamson has faced intense criticism over the exams saga, while senior civil servant Jonathan Slater was removed from his post as permanent secretary at the Department of Education following the controversy.
A look at the shareholders of Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income PLC (LON:ASLI) can tell us which group is most powerful. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. We also tend to see lower insider ownership in companies that were previously publicly owned.
Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of UK256m, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it seems that institutional investors have bought into the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income.
View our latest analysis for Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
We can see that Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is East Riding of Yorkshire Council with 11% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are Brewin Dolphin Wealth Management Limited and CCLA Investment Management Limited, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 8.5%.
Story continues
We also observed that the top 7 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. As far I can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.
Insider Ownership Of Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income
The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.
Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income PLC in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It seems the board members have no more than UK172k worth of shares in the UK256m company. Many tend to prefer to see a board with bigger shareholdings. A good next step might be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public holds a 12% stake in Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Private Equity Ownership
With a stake of 8.5%, private equity firms could influence the Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income board. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 5 warning signs we've spotted with Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income (including 1 which is shouldn't be ignored) .
Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
Hyderabad, Sep 2 : Five fans of popular Telugu actor Pawan Kalyan, died in a road accident while returning home after celebrating his birthday in Telangana's Warangal district in the early hours of Wednesday.
The car, in which they were travelling, collided head on with a sand laden truck at Pasaragonda Crossroad in Damera mandal, police said.
This was the second tragedy to hit Pawan Kalyan's fans celebrating his birthday, in less than six hours.
Three youth were electrocuted to death and three others were injured when they came in contact with a live wire while erecting a banner in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district on Tuesday night.
The victims were identified as Rajender (31), Somasekhar (29) and Arunachalam (20).
Pawan Kalyan, who is also the president of Jana Sena party, announced financial support of Rs 2 lakh to the family of the deceased in Chittoor incident.
He expressed his condolences and stated that it was his responsibility to support the family.
Warangal police said the youth who celebrated Pawan Kalyan's birthday in Warangal were on their way to Mulugu to drop one of them when the car in which they were travelling rammed into a truck.
The victims were identified as M. Rakesh, Naresh, M. Rohit, Sabir and K. Jayaprakash, all aged around 25 years.
Jayaprakash, who was driving a Sedan car, apparently lost control while overtaking a vehicle and collided head-on with a truck coming from the opposite direction.
Such was the impact of the crash that the car was badly mangled and all five occupants died on the spot.
Meanwhile, Pawan Kalyan's nephew and superstar K. Chiranjeevi's actor son Ram Charan has also announced Rs 2.5 lakh for the families of the victims of Chittoor accident.
"Nothing we do can compensate for the loss of lives. We can only stand by the families of the deceased and lend our support in these difficult times," tweeted Ram Charan.
Pawan Kalyan is celebrating his 49th birthday on Wednesday. His fans in both Telugu states are in an upbeat mood as makers of his upcoming film 'Vakeel Saab' are unveiling the motion poster on the occasion.
'Vakeel Saab' is the remake of Hindi movie 'Pink'.
-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
ANSONIA John Coppola may be the assistant principal at Prendergast School but on Wednesday morning, his role seemed more like a traffic cop.
His hands waved students in various directions first to a table where breakfast was handed out, then down the proper hallway where the kindergarten through sixth grade classes are located.
For the first time since March 13, the citys students and teachers were back in the classrooms. But this was not your typical first day of school, thanks to COVID-19 regulations.
Prendergast, which normally holds 640 students, will have 275 during each of two cohort sessions, Coppola said.
Classrooms that could hold up to 25 students are averaging six.
We have a kindergarten at Mead School with just two students, said Assistant Superintendent of Schools Stephen Bergin. We had a bus at the high school with just one student.
The buses are designed to hold up to 72.
At Prendergast, groups of four and six students were leaving the bus while a parade of parental vehicles lined the parking lot, spilling out past six homes on Finney Street. Gaily dressed staffers celebrating the schools Fiesta Day guided younger students from their bus past Bergin and Superintendent Joseph DiBacco who extended their forearms for welcoming bumps to the entrance and into the hands of Coppola.
Cesar Ganicia walked his 9-year-old daughter, Hennessey, to the entrance.
Shes excited, he said.
A mother called her son back to the car to tell him to pull up his mask and keep it on.
Another mother apologized to DiBacco for her children being late after missing their bus by a millisecond.
The parents have been awesome so far, the superintendent said. The teachers have been great. The kids are smiling. Under these (pandemic-related) circumstances, there may never be the right time to reopen, but what are you gaining by delaying?
DiBacco said he and Bergin welcomed returning students at all four of the districts schools. Joining them was Police Officer Michael Barry, the districts school resource officer.
Well be spending the day going back and forth between the schools. Well be visiting classrooms, talking to the kids and the teachers and looking for ways we can improve, DiBacco said.
Theres not going to be a lot of heavy lifting during the first few weeks, DiBacco said. Its a time for our teachers and students to build relationships. Our kids have been through a lot since March.
Some may have lost a loved one or struggled watching one recover from the virus. Others may have seen parents lose their jobs. Older siblings may have been tasked with taking care of the younger ones, he said. If I can give them a couple of days of happiness while we work back into a routine, then were doing well.
When word came last October that Tenko Ramen owners and chefs Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin and Quealy Watson would open a brick-and-mortar version of the Asian-American restaurant pop-up Best Quality Daughter in San Antonio this year, one key element was missing: Where?
That questions been answered: Best Quality Daughter will land at the the Pearl, taking over the former cottage-style home of The Granary Cue & Brew, which closed last year.
With a planned opening sometime in November, Best Quality Daughter intends to forge what it calls New Asian-American cuisine, drawing on Dobbertins travels in Asia and her upbringing as a first-generation Chinese American, as well as her shared experience with Watson at celebrated San Antonio restaurants The Monterey, Hot Joy and Tenko Ramen, their joint project at the Pearls Bottling Department food hall.
Started in 2018 as a pop-up collaboration by Dobbertin, Bakery Lorraines Anne Ng and ceramic artist Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Best Quality Daughter is named after a line in the 1993 film The Joy Luck Club, a sentimental exploration of the relationships between Chinese American women and their Chinese mothers.
I have a lot of perspective, growing up in a house with a Chinese mother, and food was always very personal, Dobbertin told the Express-News in October. My uncle still runs a noodle shop in Taiwan.
On ExpressNews.com: 7 places in San Antonio to get your ramen on
With Dobbertin and Watson at the helm, Best Quality Daughters menu will bring Asian-American food with a wide variety of influences, including dishes like phat kaphrao pork fried rice, salt n pepper king crab, red cooked beef short ribs, crispy fried pig ears, twice baked bananas and chorizo, egg, and cheese potstickers.
The restaurant will include a full bar program from Elisabeth Forsythe, with wine, beer, boozy boba creations and cocktails like Drinking Alone with the Moon, with cognac, plum wine, Akashi Ume Whisky and five-spice bitters.
The design of the space brings together a team of San Antonio power players, with four distinct dining rooms by Vicki Yuan and Grace Boudewyns of Lake | Flato Architects, art by pop-up collaborator Datchuk and wallpaper, dinnerware and other style touches by graphic designer Jamie Stolarski. The task of reimagining the 1904 building as a stylish bistro rather than a rustic barbecue outpost falls to San Antonios Dado Group.
On ExpressNews.com: Chicken N Pickle, Mi Roti and Shifu Noodle showcase spirit to survive coronavirus economy
Best Quality Daughter, 602 Avenue A at the Pearl, bestqualitydaughter.com.
Mike Sutter is a food and drink reporter and restaurant critic in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Mike, become a subscriber. msutter@express-news.net | Twitter: @fedmanwalking | Instagram: @fedmanwalking
COLUMBUS, Ohio - After 10 years of informal meetings, the Arab American Bar Association of Ohio was created for the growing number of Arab American attorneys in the state.
The association follows other such bar organizations, such as those for women, as well as for Black, Hispanic and Asian American attorneys, which emphasize mentorship, community service and social and legal engagement.
Arab American attorneys across the country have worked on issues at the forefront of the public debate: racial and ethnic justice, diversity in the workplace, religious freedom and criminal justice and immigration reform, according to a statement from the new bar association.
We needed a place for them to act as a collective and engage with the community at large, vice president Majeed Makhlouf, a Cleveland-based attorney and former Cuyahoga County law director, told Court News Ohio, a service of the Ohio Supreme Court and judicial branch. We needed a place to serve as the resource for law schools and young attorneys of Arab American descent.
According to the U.S. Census Bureaus 2010 American Community Survey, Ohio has the eighth-largest Arab population in the U.S., with about 65,000 people. The Arab American Institute estimates the population is over three times that 197,000 people.
The discrepancy is because the U.S. Census questionnaire lacks an Arab option for a persons origin. Some people identify themselves by printing Arab under some other race. Another complication is that the census bureau considers people of Lebanese and Egyptian origin white.
The bar associations leaders hope to bring the issue to the attention of the Ohio Supreme Court, hoping to identify as Arab American on attorney registration forms.
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Workers cant claim invasion of privacy if employers have them watched during urine drug tests: Ohio Supreme Court
As repairs to vandalized Ohio Supreme Court are completed, Chief Justice Maureen OConnor pushes for reforms
As a woman of color, Kamala Harris should expect attacks that will likely sink to new lows, Ohio politicians say
Some of Indias top automakers posted double-digit growth in sales in August, buoyed by a continuing recovery in demand in small towns and rural areas, and replenishment of stocks for the festive season.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the top two carmakers, recorded robust sales last month. Sport-utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M) posted a marginal rise but Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd saw a decline. Kia Motors India Pvt. Ltd and MG Motor India Pvt. Ltdthe newest entrants in Indias car industryreported strong growth. Overall, these companies recorded a 17% increase in sales in August. The sales data is counted as factory dispatches to dealers and not retail sales.
To be sure, the growth comes on a low base of the previous year when the industry was undergoing an uncertain phase as buyers deferred purchases anticipating a cut in vehicle taxes, as well as higher fuel and insurance costs, while carmakers adjusted production as they grappled with new norms.
Experts said the current demand revival is led by rural markets and small towns.
While the market demand is stronger in rural areas, the same in urban pockets has been relatively slower. But it is there as businesses have opened up. Rural demand is well-supported by the flourishing agriculture sector, good monsoon, increased government support via crop prices, MNREGA funding. The OEMs are also more focused on catering to the demand in the smaller towns," said Puneet Gupta, associate director, IHS Markit.
Total domestic passenger vehicle sales at Maruti Suzuki, Indias largest carmaker, jumped 21% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 113,033 units. This is an increase from the 100,000 and 51,274 vehicles sold in July and June, respectively.
Marutis sales in August were driven by a 27% y-o-y growth in sales of compact cars at 81,665 units. Its utility vehicle sales grew 13.5% to 21,030 units.
Second-ranked Hyundai recorded a 20% y-o-y rise in local sales at 45,809 units in August.
Tarun Garg, director, sales, marketing and service at Hyundai Motor India, credited the growth to its Creta and Venue sport-utility vehicles, and other recently launched models.
Gupta at IHS Markit attributed the increase in sales to factors such as pent-up demand, inventory building for the festive season and new car launches.
This year, we are witnessing an extended festive period. While typically, there is market demand for vehicles during festivities like Ganesh Chaturthi, Onam and others, Diwali is in November. OEMs will remain very aggressive during these four months," Gupta said, adding that the reduced cost of ownership and attractive financing schemes are drawing customers to showrooms.
Gupta expects auto dealers to continue adding stocks but is uncertain how long the growth cycle will last.
There is no doubt that people have lost their jobs, many sectors have contracted, businesses are under stress and the revenues have come down. All these factors may play out after the festive season," he added.
While M&Ms passenger vehicle sales grew 1% to 13,651 units in August, South Koreas Kia Motors posted a 74% jump to 10,845 vehicles thanks to strong demand for its Seltos SUV.
Kia has also amassed more than 6,500 bookings for its new compact SUV Sonet that will be launched soon.
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The family of a coronavirus victim is suing a Michigan nursing home where 19 residents died amid claims staff were told masks would scare patients.
Dennis Williams claims he saw employees of the Villages of Lapeer home in Michigan not wearing masks, gloves or other personal protective equipment (PPE) when he came to visit his 68-year-old mother through the window.
Williams and former employees are suing the home, alleging that the managers refused to carry out coronavirus tests on staff members or let staff stay home if they had a fever.
Dennis Williams pictured holding an image of his mother, 68, who passed away after contracting coronavirus while living at the Villages of Lapeer nursing home
Villages of Lapeer is also accused of refusing to allow employees to wear masks or PPE during the initial weeks of the pandemic in mid-March, because they would 'scare the residents'.
Nineteen residents of the home have passed away from Covid-19, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, accounting for almost half of the 34 coronavirus deaths in Lapeer County.
Williams' mother passed away from coronavirus on April 7, two days after she was transferred to a hospital from the home.
'They (the facilities) actually took the precautions,' Williams told USA Today.
'And that's what p****s me off, is that when we'd go see Mom through the window and it wasn't the workers' fault I had talked to several of them they just were just being told they could not wear the stuff.'
Williams, his step-father and his brother are suing the nursing home alongside three former nursing assistants who worked at the home.
Nineteen residents of the home have passed away from Covid-19, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Lapeer Nursing Home pictured above
One former employee alleges a mask was ripped off her face by the director of nursing, who accused her of scaring patients.
The lawsuit filed by Minifield and Harden in mid-March alleges that during the week of March 16th, the director of nursing informed all staff they were not allowed to wear PPE, specifically but not limited to masks, because it would 'scare the residents.'
In a statement, the Villages of Lapeer said: 'Due to the fact that the matters being inquired about are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide comment.
'We can say that The Villages of Lapeer has been and will continue to cooperate with the involved parties.
'Please be assured that The Villages of Lapeer is committed to continuing to provide high quality care and support to our residents and their families, as well as support for all of our staff during these challenging times.'
Unemployment across the country has been recorded to be above 10 percent and seen to stay there through at least next year. This makes renters even needier of rental assistance.
According to a report, tens of millions of households could be at risk of eviction in the coming month.
Emily A. Benfer, a professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, said that the United States is on the brink of an eviction crisis with unprecedented magnitude.
Renters who did not receive unemployment aid were largely covered by different eviction moratorium, which granted them some relief.
Each week, more than a million laid-off workers are seeking to file for unemployment insurance. Besides, temporary layoffs are becoming permanent job losses.
With this looming threat to renters, authorities have taken measures to their hands to prevent Americans from losing their homes.
One of these initiatives is the announcement of the Trump Administration
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will use its authority to ban residential evictions through the end of the year temporarily.
The moratorium will cover individuals who earn $99,000 or less in 2020. This measure also covers couples who earn $198,000 or less.
Renters who want to be under the new program must validate that they cannot pay their rent because of the pandemic crisis.
Also, renters who also want to be covered by the new program must certify that they will likely become homeless if they are forced to leave their homes.
CDC also orders that renters covered by this program will also have to certify that they are paying as much rent as they can afford.
Aside from that, top Democrats officials also called on the passage of a measure that will funnel funds on rental assistance programs.
This measure was said to help Americans stay in their homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around 40 million people were believed to be homeless in the U.S if proper measures are not taken.
"The rent is due today, but too many families won't be able to make payments through no fault of their own-pushing them deeper into debt and the prospect of being thrown out of their homes," Schumer and Pelosi were quoted in a Sept. 1 statement.
Diane Yentel, National Low Income Housing Coalition President and CEO, said that ensuring housing during a pandemic is not only a moral imperative but also a public health necessity.
Yentel also said that the eviction tsunami is entirely predictable and preventable.
She added that the White House must pass a COVID-19 spending bill that includes a uniform moratorium on all evictions for nonpayment of rent during the period of the pandemic.
At least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance should also be provided, Yentel said.
"Together, these actions will stem the tide of evictions across the country," Yentel was quoted.
Housing advocates said that aside from the eviction ban, Congress must also act on a measure with at least $100 billion in federal funds to avoid homelessness amid the pandemic.
Check these out:
Unemployment Benefits Claims Down, but Nearly 300,000 American Apply for Aid
US Unemployment Benefit: Uncertain, Might Decrease From $400 Down to $300
Unemployment Benefit of $600 Should Be Extended, Former Chairs of Federal Reserve Say
Credit: Herring & HerringMetallica has made Billboard chart history.
The metal legends are the first act to earn number-one singles on the publication's Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart in four different decades.
Metallica achieved the feat when their S&M2 recording of "All Within My Hands" took the top spot on Mainstream Rock Songs this week. They'd previously led the ranking in the '90s, '00s and '10s. Now, they've got a number-one in the '20s, too.
In total, Metallica has 10 number-one singles on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart, which began in 1981. That ties them for fifth-most in the history of the 39-year-old list, alongside Disturbed and Tom Petty. Shinedown has the most number-ones, with 16.
S&M2 captures Metallica's two concerts last September accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony. It was released last Friday.
By Josh Johnson
Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
MADRID: A coronavirus outbreak at a Madrid homeless shelter, where 26 new infections were diagnosed on Wednesday amid a resurgence of the virus in Spain, has led staff to blame city authorities for not isolating those infected as they remained in crammed rooms.
With around 40 people cohabiting in a single room with shared showers, they say a single case detected a month ago has led to contagion, and one death, that could have been avoided.
When we notified the first cases, something specific for them should have been set up Its impossible for us to keep them separated and (the Madrid council) are not evacuating them," Mariluz, a nurse at the San Isidro shelter, told Reuters.
The caseload in the shelter has now risen to 32 of its 250 residents. The shelter tested 125 people on Tuesday and created a makeshift isolation zone for infected inhabitants.
Madrids council said it would not remove the confirmed cases immediately, promising to prepare a hotel to accommodate moderate cases next week.
We cant wait two weeks for the hotel," said Evaristo Bordallo, a 39-year-old social worker. We need these people to be isolated within single rooms with individual showers in order to prevent others from being infected."
A source at Madrids social affairs department said authorities were working with health services to reorganise the space to isolate those infected inside.
Since bringing the first wave of coronavirus largely under control through a strict lockdown which ended in June, Spain suffered a sharp resurgence of infections as measures were relaxed and testing increased.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Taken as a whole the 2020 Washington Technology Top 100 shows a government contractor market coming off a strong year of growth and positive activity.
Sign number one of a good year is that the aggregate value of the prime contracts for the Top 100 reached $126.3 billion, compared to $115.4 billion for the 2019 Top 100. Thats the fourth year in a row that weve seen growth since the market hit bottom with the 2016 Top 100 when the aggregate prime contracts totaled $97.2 billion. The low point came after five years of declines.
The market still hasnt reached the peak we saw with the 2011 Top 100 when the aggregate prime contracts were valued at $132 billion.
And on a historical note, the 2001 Top 100 19 years ago the aggregate prime contract number was $26.8 billion. That was before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks super-charged the market.
It is important to note that the 2020 Top 100 is based on federal procurement data collected for calendar 2019. We analyze Federal Procurement Data System reports using over 700 product and service codes that represent IT, systems integration, telecommunication, professional services, engineering services and other technology spending.
An important caveat to this years Top 100 is that because we used calendar 2019 data, the rankings do not reflect the impact of the governments response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether that impact is positive or negative will have to wait until next years Top 100.
But several long terms trends are evident in the Top 100 that will continue to drive activity in the market regardless of the pandemic.
Mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, major contract awards, and more rapid adoption of business models such as the cloud and managed services will continue to influence what is happening in the market.
You need look no farther than Leidos, the No. 1 company on the Top 100 with $8.1 billion in prime contracts.
The company pulled off two major acquisitions. It paid $1.65 billion for Dynetics, a space engineering firm, and then $1 billion for the airport security technology business of L3Harris. They also won a couple major recompetes valued in the billions the $4 billion Hanford site cleanup contract and a $4.6 billion DISA contract to run a global network.
Still in the protest phase is the Navy $7.6 billion NGEN contract that Leidos took away from Perspecta.
But Leidos isnt alone in big wins.
Science Applications International Corp., No. 11 with $3.7 billion in prime contracts, acquired Unisys Federal for $1.2 billion. It also captured a five-year, $2.9 billion OASIS task order to provide software development and other services to the Army. The company also captured a $1.4 billion Justice Department contract to continue supporting the agencys asset forfeiture program.
Many others are reporting wins as well. For example, NCI Information Systems, No. 83 with $268.3 million in prime contracts, told us that their book to bill ratio for 2019 was two times revenue and will be better than 1.5 times for 2020.
CACI International, No. 12 with $2.9 billion, captured a significant new contract when it won BEAGLE, a $1.8 billion contract to modernize the back office systems for Customs and Border Protection.
A common theme that runs through many of these wins is the desire by many government agencies to modernize their IT infrastructure, applications and systems. The big buzz word many are using is digitization.
The work is attractive for many companies because it tends to be higher margin and it requires a closer working relationship with your customer.
For Serco Inc., No. 32 with $869.5 million in prime contracts, getting into position to win that kind of work meant walking away from lower margin contracts that were primarily competed on a lowest price, technically acceptable basis.
In the past, we were just saying, lets bid lower and then well win the work, said David Dacquino, CEO of Serco Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the U.K.-based Serco PLC.
Moving away from that kind of work was a challenge. It was a significant cultural change because we were comfortable with that, but our backyard was getting too small, he said.
The shift to higher margin work required investments in people as well as acquisitions such as the deal it made for a portion of Alion Science and Technology that added more Navy work.
The government also played a role in pushing that kind of change at Serco. We saw customers looking to get a better value, Dacquino said.
Thats just one example of how the government and what it is asking for is driving companies to change. The market is definitely in an era of push and pull, where agencies are more open to commercial technologies and new ways of doing business and companies are finding new ways to introduce those concepts to their customers.
During our Top 100 event, panelists from Booz Allen Hamilton, No. 8 with $5.2 billion in prime contracts, and ManTech International, No. 28 with $1.2 billion in prime contracts, both described how customer demand for modernization drives change.
Many contractors have set up organizations that allow commercial tech vendors and government customers to come in and test drive solutions and try out cutting edge technologies. The result is we see many companies now with Centers of Excellence or Innovation Labs. And we see it in peoples titles. Srini Iyer is senior vice president of ManTechs Innovation and Capability Office and Gary Labovich is the Next Generation Modernization Lead at Booz Allen.
They described a hunger by customers for new ways of doing business and getting results more quickly. The moves by the companies on the Top 100 reflect this overarching market driver.
Companies on the larger end of the Top 100 talked about a need to focus much the same way the smaller companies on the Top 100 spoke of focus.
As Tony Colangelo, founder and CEO of Minburn Technology Group, No. 94 with $225.3 million in prime contracts, said the key to his companys success was the decision to do a few things really well instead of a lot of things not well at all.
Last month, she revealed her shocking hair loss as a result of having COVID-19 after experiencing acute symptoms in April.
And on Tuesday night, Alyssa Milano, who is considered a 'long hauler' by physicians, updated her fans on her health.
The 47-year-old actress said in her wellness check that she is 'starting to physically feel better' as she continues her vitamin and aspirin regimen.
The latest: Last month, she revealed her shocking hair loss as a result of having COVID-19 after experiencing acute symptoms in April. And on Tuesday night, Alyssa Milano, who is considered a 'long hauler' by physicians, updated her fans on her health
The Charmed star said: 'Soooooo... how are you? This is a wellness check and a health update. I'm ok. I'm starting to physically feel better.'
She continued: I'm still taking an aspirin ever 3 days to thin my blood, fish oil, vitamin D, C, zinc and a B complex. I still have occasional heart palpitations. I still forget my words (absolute worst part).'
'But it's not nearly as bad as it was a few weeks ago. I feel better. I had a ct scan of my lungs and a cardiac MRI and both were normal,' she said.
Alyssa added: 'I get super scared sometimes, though. Not of getting sick again but of my loved ones getting sick. I don't ever want them to have this thing. It's a beast. So I vacillate between being so grateful and so terrified.'
Update: The 47-year-old actress said in her wellness check that she is 'starting to physically feel better' as she continues her vitamin and aspirin regimen
Alyssa noted that she is 'grateful that it was me who got sick and terrified that friends or family will be sick. And I can't help but wonder - how are you? Please be safe. Please let me know you're ok.'
Alyssa shared two selfies while rocking a patterned top with her tresses loose around her.
Last month, the actress took to Twitter to share a video of herself brushing her locks after a shower which resulted in her pulling out several strands.
She began the video by saying: 'Hey everybody, I just wanted to show you the amount of hair that is coming out of my head as a result of COVID.
Demonstration: Alyssa has shown her shocking amount of hair loss as a result of having COVID-19 after experiencing acute symptoms in April
Result: Last month, the actress took to Twitter to share a video of herself brushing her locks after a shower which resulted in her pulling out several strands
Showing off: She began the video by saying: 'Hey everybody, I just wanted to show you the amount of hair that is coming out of my head as a result of COVID'
People who experienced long-term symptoms of COVID-19 say hair loss is a side effect of the virus, according to recent studies.
'This is a detangler brush, my favorite detangler brush. As you can see in there is no hair in there right now.'
Milano began brushing through her brunette tresses while wearing a New York Giants robe as she kept pulling bunches of locks from her brush.
She concluded the video by lifting the entire bunch of long hairs and saying: 'One brushing, this is my hair loss from COVID-19. Wear a damn mask!'
The actress captioned the shocking video to her 3.7million followers writing: 'Thought Id show you what #Covid19 does to your hair. Please take this seriously. #WearADamnMask #LongHauler.'
Multiple clinics and studies have reported a link between COVID-19 and hair loss with survivors of the disease reporting their hair falling out in clumps.
Oh no: She showed off all the strands of lost hair in her hands
Experts say most COVID-19 patients are suffering telogen effluvium (TE), a temporary condition that involves hair shedding, caused by physical or emotional stress, high fever, illness or weight loss of over 20 pounds, according to WebMD.
Dr. Natalie Lambert from the Indiana University School of Medicine conducted a survey along with Survivor Corps to study virus survivors who experienced long-term symptoms and found over 400 patients out of 1,500 experienced hair loss, according to CBS News.
Milano recently revealed that she had tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies after testing negative three times after experiencing symptoms in April and said she is considered a 'long hauler' by physicians.
Last month, she shared a selfie wearing a rainbow while sitting in a hospital bed.
'Long hauler': Last months, she also shared a selfie wearing a rainbow while sitting in a hospital bed
She captioned the image: 'I was acutely sick w/ Covid19 in April. I still have many symptoms. I am what they call a long hauler. Last night, I had real heaviness in my chest.
'I went to the ER just to make sure it wasnt a blood clot. Thankfully, it wasnt. This virus sucks. Please take it seriously.'
One fan asked where she believes that she had contracted the virus and Milano responded: 'Traveling between Portland, NY and LA. [sad face emoji]'
Prior to the post, Milano revealed that she has tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies in a lengthy Instagram post.
She opened up about her weeks-long battle with the coronavirus and the lingering symptoms she was left with after struggling to get a positive diagnosis.
Milano said she was tested twice for the virus and once for antibodies and received negative results but pushed for a fourth test that finally revealed she was positive.
'This was me on April 2nd after being sick for 2 weeks,' she began in an Instagram caption. 'I had never been this kind of sick. Everything hurt. Loss of smell.'
Revelation: One fan asked where she believes that she had contracted the virus and Milano responded: 'Traveling between Portland, NY and LA. [sad face emoji]'
Telling her story: Prior to the post, Milano revealed that she has tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies after suffering from severe symptoms but getting negative results three times in lengthy Instagram post
'It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I couldnt breathe. I couldnt keep food in me. I lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks. I was confused. Low grade fever. And the headaches were horrible,' she said detailing her symptoms.
The Charmed star added: 'I basically had every Covid symptom.'
In the image posted, Milano is seen at the height of her illness sitting in bed with her reading glasses on, wearing a medical breathing mask.
The actress said she was tested twice for COVID-19 in March and did a 'finger prick test' for antibodies once she was feeling better and all three came back negative.
Despite the negative tests results, Alyssa explained that she had brutal lingering symptoms like 'vertigo, stomach abnormalities, irregular periods, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, zero short term memory, and general malaise.'
The Who's the Boss star decided to listen to her body and seek out some additional blood work.
'I am POSITIVE for covid antibodies. I had Covid19,' Alyssa told her followers. 'I just want you to be aware that our testing system is flawed and we dont know the real numbers.'
The podcaster added gravely: 'I also want you to know, this illness is not a hoax. I thought I was dying. It felt like I was dying.'
Along with her sick bed selfie, the star shared a screen grab of her positive antibody result on social media.
Milano said she is going to donate her plasma for antibody research with the hopes that it could save lives.
'Please take care of yourselves. Please wash your hands and wear a mask and social distance,' she implored. 'I dont want anyone to feel the way I felt. Be well. I love you all (well, maybe not the trolls. Just the kind people.)'
Confusion: The actress said she was tested twice for COVID-19 in March and did a 'finger prick test' for antibodies once she was feeling better and all three came back negative
CLEVELAND, Ohio A 25-year-old man is accused of shooting two people, killing one, and pistol-whipping a third man during a fight at a gas station in the citys Central neighborhood.
Clarence Orr Jr., 25, is charged with aggravated murder. He is being held in the Cuyahoga County Jail on $750,000 bond after his initial court appearance on Friday.
Orr is accused of killing Kieondre Lewis, 21, and shooting his 18-year-old brother Aug. 14 at the Rapid Stop gas station on East 55th Street and Payne Avenue.
Lewis, his brother, a 19-year-old man and Orr were waiting in line to buy food at the gas station when an argument broke out, according to police.
The group fought outside near the gas pumps and Orr pulled out a gun. He pistol-whipped the 19-year-old man in the head and the two wrestled to the ground, according to police.
Orr fired several shots from the ground at Lewis and Lewis brother as the duo ran away, according to police. The 19-year-old man told police he tried to grab Orrs gun as he fired.
Lewis was shot several times in the back and died on a nearby sidewalk. His brother was shot in the buttocks, according to court records.
Orr later in the night showed up to University Hospitals with a gunshot wound, but police have not determined how he ended up shot.
Orrs criminal history includes a prior felony conviction for drug trafficking and attempted receiving stolen property.
Read more from cleveland.com:
Woman shot to death at Cleveland gas station, near where two others shot during robbery
Woman shot to death in Clevelands Central neighborhood
After shrinking Cuyahoga County Jail population to all-time low, spike in inmates raises alarms
Incumbent state Rep. Nicholas A. Boldyga claimed victory Tuesday in the 3rd Hampden Districts Republican primary, defeating challenger Dino R. Mercadante, an Agawam City Councilor.
Boldyga won 2,533 votes to Mercadantes 1,149, for a margin of 69% to 31%.
Boldyga will face Democrat Kerri A. OConnor in Novembers general election. OConnor, an Agawam School Committee member, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Boldyga, 40, has held the seat for a decade, after ousting incumbent Rosemary Sandlin, a Democrat from Agawam, in the 2010 election. He previously served as a member of Southwicks Parks and Recreation Commission as well as its Select Board. Boldyga also worked in the private sector as an auditor, and as a police officer in Connecticut.
Before the election, Boldyga said he sought another term because of his passion for public service. He highlighted the need to keep property taxes affordable in an effort to ensure the districts communities will remain attractive for businesses and families. After securing a slot on the November ballot, Boldyga offered gratitude to the voters and spoke of how his focus in the coming months will be finding ways to rein in the state budget in anticipation of a shortfall due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There are many people in my district that are out of work due to COVID-19 and the last thing I want to see is a higher burden put on them, he said Tuesday night.
Mercadante, 63, owns the restaurant 911 Burgers and Dogs in Agawam, where he is a city councilor. Prior to the election, he said one of the biggest issues facing the district was a lack of proactive and aggressive representation in Boston. The Feeding Hills resident said it was critical that the district receives its proper share of state funding for schools and public transportation.
Mercadante could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Once all of the votes were tallied, OConnor, 43, challenged Boldyga to a public debate. A U.S. Navy veteran, OConnor is a project coordinator and case manager for the Hampden Regional School District. She said she was running for the seat because she felt there was a major lack of representation of the working class and face-to-face support in the community.
I want to wish Dino the best of luck in the future. He did a great job. And I want to extend an invitation to Nick in a debate as soon as possible, she said.
OConnor collected 4,014 votes in Agawam, 204 in Granville and 1,172 in Southwick. Interest was high in the Democratic primary thanks to high-profile races including the U.S. Senate matchup between incumbent Ed Markey and challenger Joe Kennedy III, and the contest between incumbent U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal and Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse.
Boldyga received 1,537 votes in Agawam, 144 in Granville and 852 in Southwick.
Both Agawam Town Clerk Vincent Gioscia and Granville Town Clerk Donna M. Fillion said mail-in voting increased significantly in the district for the primary. Gioscia said that as of Friday, 3,000 of Agawams 21,790 registered voters chose mail-in voting for the primary. A total of 7,464 votes were cast, or 34.25 percent of the towns registered voters. In Granville, 154 of the towns 1,176 registered voters requested mail-in ballots, Fillion said. By Monday, she had received 104 of the requested mail-in ballots.
As for the mail-in, I did see higher numbers than the last presidential election, said Fillion, who attributed much of the increase to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, the majority of those 154 voters sought to mail-in their ballots for November as well, she said.
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By Ayya Lmahamad
Azerbaijan has repatriated over 500 more citizens stranded on the border with Russias South Caucasus Republic of Dagestan due to coronavirus lockdown, Russian media has reported.
A special corridor has been organized for the repatriation of citizens of both countries who could not return on time due to the closure of borders amid the spread of COVID-19.
Azerbaijani citizens stranded in Dagestan, are placed in temporary accommodation centers, built specially for this purpose. The center's residents are sent home in groups every week on Tuesdays.
Thus, this week 460 people were included in the list, and in total more than 500 people, including children, were repatriated to Azerbaijan on September 1.
According to the report, about 1,000 people are waiting to return to Azerbaijan from Derbent region. Of them, 400 citizens are placed in temporary accommodation centers.
It should be noted that Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev and head of Dagestan Vladimir Vasilyev agreed on June 23 to increase the number of citizens returning across the state border, in line with the instructions of Azerbaijan and Russian presidents.
Thus, according to the weekly schedule, 120 people crossed Samur checkpoint on May 19, 131 people on May 26, 122 people on June 2, 130 people on June 9, 155 people on June 16, 252 citizens on June 23, 250 citizens on June 30, 250 citizens on July 7, 260 citizens on August 4, 262 citizens on August 12 , 400 citizens on August 19 and 400 more on August 25.
The country closed its borders with Russia over COVID-19 on March 18.
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Most women won't leave the house without their keys, purse and mobile phone but Ally Hall has a different checklist.
She would never go out without her disposable gloves, antibacterial gel and a mini bottle of Dettol.
Now that we all live with the threat of Covid-19, this attention to hygiene seems almost par for the course. But Ally's obsession with cleanliness started when she was eight.
For years, she has meticulously disinfected her house for a full two hours a day and double that on weekends wiping her kitchen worktops at least ten times a day and steam-cleaning floors daily.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic Ally Hall, from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, would never go out without her disposable gloves, antibacterial gel and a mini bottle of Dettol
It doesn't stop there. Towels, tea towels and clothes are washed after one use and bedding changed twice a week.
The habit has cost her thousands of pounds over the years, since she can spend up to 15 a week on cleaning supplies.
The 43-year-old, a divorced hairdresser from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, says: 'I feel I can see dirt everywhere and I can't relax until everything is show-home perfect.
I work from home as a hairdresser so, before Covid, a lot of people were in and out. I am constantly making sure it is clean.'
Although there is no doubt her clients appreciated the pristine environment, her cleaning has taken a painful toll on her personal life.
'When I was married, my poor husband wasn't even allowed to sit on the sofa after I plumped the cushions and my obsession drove him mad.
Ally, who lives with her two schnoodle (schnauzer and poodle cross) dogs, says she has no intention of easing her cleaning regime as restrictions loosen
'Before that, I had one boyfriend who was very messy. He left wet towels and clothes on the floor.
'He would chop raw meat followed by vegetables on the same board, which filled me with fear of food poisoning. It was a deal-breaker in the end and we had to split up.'
Ally has what psychologists call germaphobia, or the fear of germs; micro-organisms that cause disease such as bacteria, viruses or parasites.
It's a phenomenon experts say is on the rise even as our homes have actually become cleaner, thanks to modern disinfectants.
When coronavirus started to spread earlier this year, and lockdown came, you might assume Ally was horrified. Instead, she says, for the first time she felt almost normal.
'My friends always thought I was mad,' says Ally. 'But now my cleaning doesn't seem so over the top. I haven't had the virus and I'm sure it's because I've been so vigilant.'
No microorganism stands much chance of survival in Jane Cohen's house, either.
Ally and other British germa-phobes may well believe they are better equipped to deal with a deadly pandemic than most of us. But an obsession with cleaning can become abnormal, say experts.
'For these women,' says Consultant clinical psychologist Professor Pieter Kruger, 'nothing really seems to be changing, as they are on high alert for germs anyway.
They are used to dealing with the uncertainty and having processes in place to deal with it.
'A lot of people enjoy a clean house, but there's a point where it moves into a more dysfunctional zone.'
However Ally, who lives with her two schnoodle (schnauzer and poodle cross) dogs, says she has no intention of easing her cleaning regime as restrictions loosen.
'I'm convinced we will get a second wave,' she says. 'I spray my shoes with alcohol spray after being outside.
'At the supermarket, I wear a mask and gloves. I spray the trolley bars and ask the check-out staff to use hand gel before they touch my purchases.
'At home, my shopping gets wiped over with alcohol spray and my fruit and vegetables are washed in soapy water.'
She even cleans her pooches' paws after walks, with special dog cleaner. 'There was a group of guys while I was on a dog walk and they all kept spitting on to the grass.
'I thought: 'If the dogs walk in that, it will go in the house', so I wash their paws after every walk.'
Even before the pandemic, Jane would scrub the kitchen floor with bleach on most days
Even before Covid-19, intensive cleaning had been enjoying a surge in popularity thanks, in part, to the rise of cleaning influencers such as Mrs Hinch and Lynsey Crombie, who manage to make domestic chores look glamorous and satisfying.
But that doesn't mean we should all be following Ally's lead.
On the contrary, says Professor Anthony Hilton, an expert in applied microbiology at Aston University, Birmingham, too much cleaning could store up problems for the future.
'Our homes are a collage of organisms that we bring in,' he says. 'While we need to kill harmful bacteria that cause illness, we need some exposure to bacteria to keep our immune system healthy.'
Research last year by the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene suggested a lack of exposure to microbes is doing us harm.
Our sterile surroundings are associated with rising levels of asthma and food allergies, as well as autoimmune diseases and Type 1 diabetes.
Certainly no microorganism stands much chance of survival in Jane Cohen's house.
Even before Covid, the 50-year-old mother of two grown-up children could be found scrubbing the kitchen floor with wipes and bleach most days, even pulling her fridge out from against the wall weekly so she could clean behind it.
'My friends say I'm silly and should just do it with a mop, but mops are full of germs,' says Jane, a divorcee from Cardiff who works in PR.
'I use at least two or three bottles of bleach and five packs of anti-bacterial wipes a week, spending about 20.
'I wash my cups and cutlery in bleach. I'm always chucking bleach down the toilets. You could eat your dinner off them.
'I even bleached all the mugs at work there were raised eyebrows.'
Expert Pieter Kruger says excessive cleaning can be potentially dangerous
Her colleagues are right to be alarmed. Inhaling bleach fumes can be harmful, so it is far from advisable to use it on household utensils.
But the impact of Jane's need to clean goes beyond awkward moments in the office kitchen.
'I haven't lived with a partner for 18 years, as I couldn't cope with anyone's mess or germs,' says Jane. 'It's definitely got worse over time.
'Friends are always moaning to me about how their husbands leave dirty dishes in the sink and I could never live with that. It's a shame, but it's just the way it has to be.'
She finds it hard enough popping round to a friend's house.
'If their home was a mess I'd always say no to a cup of tea as I couldn't risk it,' says Jane, who insists she can't remember the last time she was ill or went to the doctor.
Since the pandemic, Jane doesn't have to worry about friends' dirty homes and says that many of them are now seeing things from her point of view.
'People are getting worse than me!' she says. 'Everyone is wearing masks and using sanitisers and I suddenly don't feel so alone.'
Her own cleaning routine has stayed pretty much the same, although she does now wipe down the steering wheel and gear stick in her car before driving.
She takes hand sanitiser everywhere she goes and wears gloves to the supermarket.
There is a difference, however, between the temporary germaphobia we have all felt since Covid and the long-term, potentially dangerous compulsion, warns Pieter Kruger.
'If your cleaning has been causing some sort of issue or negative consequence with yourself or loved ones, it is an indication you have probably crossed the line,' he says.
'The origin of obsessive cleaning can have multiple sources. It could be partly learned behaviour from a parent, for example.
Once it reaches a more dysfunctional level, however, chances are that either compulsive perfectionism or even a form of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) could be at play.'
Natacha Sullivan, 26, says it was feelings of guilt that prompted her obsessive cleaning after her daughter, Nariyah, five, developed asthma at just six months old.
'I felt like it was my fault and my house wasn't clean enough,' says Natacha, a stay-at-home mum from Maidstone, Kent, who also has a one-year-old daughter, Aaliyah.
'I bleached the kitchen, bathroom and toilet twice a day and would take hand sanitiser wherever I went I was constantly using it on my and Nariyah's hands.
'I would wipe the table with anti-bacterial wipes if we were in a coffee shop, and I probably spent 15 a week on wipes, sprays, hand sanitisers and dusting cloths.
'I've even wiped toys when we went to friends' houses to play luckily they just laughed it off because they knew about my cleanliness.
'If the house isn't clean, I feel dirty and itchy and I can't relax.'
Her NEED for cleanliness even landed her in hospital last year.
'I fell out of an upstairs bedroom window because I was so busy cleaning the windows that I lost my balance,' she says.
'I broke my right leg and fractured both my ankles.
'My friends think I'm crazy, but Nariyah and I rarely get colds or coughs.'
Natacha found it challenging when her oldest daughter went back to school before the summer holiday. 'I was anxious, but I knew I needed to do it for her wellbeing,' she says.
Research last year by the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene suggested a lack of exposure to microbes is doing us harm
'I trusted she would wash her hands at every opportunity, like I explained to her.
Then I made sure the clothes she wore went straight in the wash when she got home and she had a bath.'
Natacha doesn't know if her cleaning has helped protect her family from coronavirus, although they haven't been sick.
But, for her, germaphobia has become a burden especially now she's worried about the pandemic.
'I'm at home all the time now, so I'm cleaning much more on a daily basis and I'm constantly going over door handles and light switches and vacuuming twice as much,' she says.
'My hands are so cracked from all the handwashing and sanitiser. I wish I could feel more normal it's so time and energy-consuming. It's a nightmare to live like this.'
The Select Board and Prudential Committee meets Monday to vote on tax classifications; there was a quorum of both boards with some members attending by phone.
Williamstown, Fire District Set Tax Rates for Fiscal 2021
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The average property owner in Williamstown will see her taxes rise by about $87 in fiscal 2021.
The Select Board on Monday voted to maintain a single tax rate that for this fiscal year will be $17.30 per $1,000 valuation, down 30 cents from last year and 75 cents over the prior two years.
"I will say that typically when values go up, the tax rate goes down as long as the levy is kept to some sort of reasonable increase," said Town Assessor Christopher Lamarre. "And, obviously, this year the increase is very nominal."
The full tax levy will be $17,988, 059 to fund the spending plan passed earlier by voters. This is a nominal increase over the prior year tax levy of $31,206, or 0.2 percent.
"It's been determined that the median [single-family home] value is $305, 400, and that the median single family tax bill for fiscal '21 will be $5,283, an increase of $87 over the prior year, which I think there's a very reasonable increase for the taxpayers," Lamarre said. "The median commercial value was $350,900. Their median bill was $6,071, a $257 increase."
Lamarre said the town has increased in value to by $19.49 million to $1,039,356,031, fueled by new construction, personal property, renovations and changes in how utility assets are taxed.
"This is predominantly the result of a consistent flow of residential construction, the completion of two major commercial projects in town, both hotels, and also a change in the valuation methodology for utility company assets," Lamarre explained. "The net change was brought about by a long lawsuit between major municipalities in Massachusetts against some of the big utility players. The courts found eventually in favor of the municipalities and the methodology that they use to value utility company assets."
The hotels the new Williams Inn and the Fairfield Inn & Suites accounted for more than half of the bump in growth, plus there were a couple "high-dollar valued single homes that were completed."
"We saw a very nice increase in our new growth of $24,164,897, and that translates to new tax dollars for the community of $425,302," Lamarre said. "Our three-year average growth has been $12.1 million. So you can see that the $24 million that we realized this year was a nice bump. I would caution you not to expect this much next year. Probably be staying right within that average going forward."
The town also has an have excess levy capacity $2,695,238, an increase of about $789,000. The excess capacity is the difference between the maximum allowable levy and the actual tax levy. That figure gives Williamstown a cushion that many communities are lacking, as there growth has slowed and their taxing capacity has decreased.
"Excess capacity could also be viewed as the amount of monies that the town could tax, but refuses, or chooses not to," Lamarre said. "Excess capacity over the past five years has increased by $1.6 million. So the town is doing a fairly good job of not hitting the taxpayers really hard, and being cognizant of their pocketbooks."
Trish Gorman of White Oaks Road, the only resident to call in during the public hearing, was not as sanguine about the town's fiscal situation. The 32-year-resident said she's seen her utility and water bills double and found its getting harder for people in her situation to maintain their homes.
"I just wanted to make a pitch to keep us in mind, because I know diversity and valuing lower-income white-collar, blue-collar whatever professionals, is always a goal of this board," she said. "And so I just wanted to raise my hand and say, 'Hi, I'm here and I hope that you think of me.'"
Gorman questioned the capacity of Williams College to provide more financial resources to the town as a major landowner on high-value property.
Lamarre acknowledged that the college, as an educational institution, is exempt from paying taxes but added, "Williams College holds a tremendous amount of taxable real estate in town, and they are in fact, the No. 1 taxpayer in the community. So, they do in fact pay a substantial amount of real estate taxes on an annual basis."
Gorman was not convinced it was paying its fair share and referenced a town meeting vote that failed at least 20 years ago to fund a $1,000 study of the goods and services impact between the town and gown.
"We all will never know unfortunately what the real exchange is between Williams College and the town, and I'm sure it's generous but yeah, unfortunately they won't let us know," she said, adding, "I just want to make a pitch for those of us that struggle to maintain our home."
The Select Board voted to move forward with no exemptions and a single rate. The meeting was a joint tax classification hearing with the Williamstown Prudential Committee, which set its tax rate for the Fire District. Lamarre said the values for the district were the same since it encompassed the same properties.
The Fire District's tax levy is $540,465, which is a decrease of $20,462, or 3.65 percent, over last year. The tax rate was set at 52 cents per $1,000 valuation, down 2 cents from last year. That means the median single-family home will see a bill of $159, $3 less than last year, and commercial will see a bill of $182, which is flat.
Data science, artificial intelligence and visualization company RS21 is No. 485 on Inc. magazines annual Inc. 500 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses.
RS21 grew 947 percent from 2016 to 2019 and ranks No. 8 in its industry category, IT System Development. The company has created more than 100 big data platforms for clients in government, healthcare, non-profit, and private businesses to improve health, community safety, security and cybersecurity, infrastructure resilience and disaster preparedness.
To make the Inc. 500 listto place in the top 10 percent of Americas fastest-growing companiesis a huge honor, said Charles Rath, RS21 President and CEO. We are just getting started, and I cant wait to see our teams continued innovations and growth as we help even more people use data for good.
RS21 was also recognized as a Fast Company 2020 Best Workplace for Innovators for its commitment to encouraging innovation at all levels and for the creation of the Urban Health Vulnerability Index, a data analytics tool that identifies urban neighborhoods at higher risk for COVID-19.
RS21s recent work also includes developing a microgrid siting tool to encourage the adoption of sustainable energy systems and visualizing the potential flood impact on communities to keep citizens and businesses safe from flood events.
The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism.
Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 500/5000 list been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 list of companies achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years.
The Inc. 500 companies are featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands now. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.
METHODOLOGY
The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.
ABOUT INC. MEDIA
The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com.
For more information on the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/.
ABOUT RS21
RS21 is a rapidly growing, global data science and visualization company with offices in Albuquerque, NM and Washington, DC. We empower organizations to make data-driven decisions that positively impact the world through innovative solutions that are insightful, intuitive, inspiring, and intellectually honest. Using MOTHR, our human-centered, artificial intelligence-driven platform that allows users to seamlessly integrate data and reveal insights at hyper speed, we help clients achieve programmatic goals, improve efficiencies, reduce costs, and maximize productivity. We navigate complex data issues in the fields of healthcare, population health, infrastructure resilience, disaster preparedness, supply chain management, community safety, and security and cybersecurity. For more information, visit http://www.rs21.io.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, September 2, 2020 11:44 505 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c422212f 4 National COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-korona-indonesia,East-Java,Banyuwangi,Pesantren,boarding-schools,quarantine Free
Health authorities have placed the Darussalam Blokagung Banyuwangi Islamic Boarding School in East Java under quarantine after nearly 100 students test positive for COVID-19.
The provincial COVID-19 task force confirmed that 539 students in the boarding school had tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Monday, according to kompas.tv. Testing was done after authorities found that 99 students had the disease.
During the quarantine, all student activities will be suspended. Police and military personnel were also dispatched to put up checkpoints on all roads leading to the school.
Local authorities have opened a public kitchen to feed the students during the quarantine.
The Banyuwangi administration is providing foodstuffs, while personnel from the Banyuwangi Disaster Mitigation Agency [BPBD] and the emergency response unit [Tagana] will cook in the kitchen, Banyuwangi 0825 Military District (Kodim) Commander Lt. Col. Yuli Eko Purwanto said on Sunday as quoted by kompas.com.
Read also: COVID-19: How the second largest province became Indonesia's epicenter
Students who tested positive for COVID-19 were put in isolation and separated from other students.
Banyuwangi Health Agency head Widji Lestariono said his team had prepared an area in the school to treat the students.
He added that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases had rapidly increased over the weekend.
Most are students. Nevertheless, we have been treating patients for some time. We hope comprehensive efforts from all parties can help prevent COVID-19 from spreading further in the school, Widji said. (dpk)
Its grim news for the western U.S.
The latest maps show that most of the southern half of the region is mired in drought, with extreme conditions centered over much of Utah, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada. In fact, Las Vegas, Nevada, has gone more than four months without measurable rain and Bishop, California just northwest of Death Valley has logged 135 thirsty days. Forecasters have created an interactive website to keep track of the dry streak.
The state climatologist in New Mexico says his state has its own problems, where drought has been compounded by an early peak in spring runoff and now a nearly nonexistent monsoon season that left communities from Dulce near the northern border to Los Lunas in central New Mexico lagging behind for the first eight months of the year.
He warns that many measures such as precipitation, soil moisture, reservoir levels and stream flows are all below average around New Mexico. Conditions are similar throughout the Southwest.
Weve gotten a lot of feedback from folks out there in the field and things are not looking good, Dave DuBois, the state climatologist and director of the New Mexico Climate Center at New Mexico State University, said during an online briefing late last week.
The dry conditions already have forced some cities along the Rio Grande in New Mexico to stop diverting water from the river. Stretches south of Albuquerque already have gone dry as the summer rains that officials were hoping for did not materialize. This is supposed to be the time of year that New Mexico gets as much as 50% of its annual precipitation.
The cottonwood forest along the river north of Albuquerque is starting to change colors, with leaves turning yellow and dropping off due to the lack of water. Citing the drought, water utility officials in the city on Monday reported that use is up by more than 1 billion gallons compared with last year.
The dryness has been exacerbated by higher temperatures. In New Mexico, DuBois said many locations have seen temperatures between 3 and 7 degrees above average.
In Phoenix, the National Weather Service on Thursday logged 50 days in which the temperature reached 110 degrees or hotter. Thats the most days since 2011, when only 33 hit that mark.
Just to be clear, we in no way were celebrating this milestone, forecasters posted on social media. We were just trying to stay positive even though this summer has been miserable for all of us.
That combination of heat and dryness has led to more evaporation and crispy vegetation. Red flag warnings were in effect Monday around the Southwest.
Firefighters have been busy battling wildfires from Arizona and New Mexico to northern California. Federal fire managers reported 10 new large fires in seven states over the weekend.
The outlook for September doesnt appear to bring much relief to the region as probability favors lower precipitation and higher temperatures across much of the region. Drought also is expected to persist through November, and forecasters say its looking likely that a La Nina weather pattern is setting up for the winter. That typically means drier and warmer conditions for New Mexico.
Not a lot of good news Im afraid, DuBois said.
Monica Roberts, a 58-year-old transgender activist from Houston, travels around the country speaking at colleges and consulting with communities on how to better serve the transgender population. But no matter where she goes, her first mission is to call home to her elderly mother, who constantly fears that her daughter might be targeted in a hate crime.
With more than two dozen unsolved murders of transgender people so far in 2020, Roberts said her mother has good reason to be concerned.
Like many transgender women of color, Roberts said she feels more vulnerable than ever given the tumultuous political climate, but she found reason to celebrate this month when the Los Angeles Police Department captured a group of violent assailants who allegedly robbed and attacked three transgender women on Hollywood Boulevard as onlookers stood by.
At least 26 transgender or gender nonconforming people have been killed in the U.S. so far in 2020, with transgender women of color making up the bulk of those victims, according to data provided by the Human Rights Campaign.
The group reported 25 killings in 2019 and 29 in 2018, the most it had ever recorded in a year. There is no official track of the amount of non-fatal anti-transgender assaults.
PHOTO: Los Angeles Police posted this image of a suspect involved in the attack of three transgender women on Hollywood Boulevard on Aug. 17, 2020. (Los Angeles Police Dept.)
Members of the transgender community praised the LAPD for prioritizing the attack as a hate crime and apprehending the suspects within just three days. Many LGBTQ advocates said other cities and municipalities could learn a lot from Los Angeles and cities like it where lawmakers have vowed to protect members of marginalized communities, especially those who identify as LGBTQ.
MORE: Transgender civil rights icon Marsha P. Johnson honored with public monument in New Jersey hometown
"My heart broke when I saw the story out of Los Angeles, where you had people gleefully egging on the attackers while videotaping," Roberts, who travels often through her advocacy work and as a board member of the Dallas-based Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, told ABC News. "The transphobia that is going on in the black trans communities needs to stop and it needs to be called out immediately."
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Roberts said she would like to see more action and activism from politicians.
"Kamala Harris cannot be the only voice calling it out. I need the Congressional Black Caucus calling it out. I need the NAACP calling it out. I need individual legislators in these areas, and council members calling it out," she added.
Attacked as onlookers joked and filmed
Social media users shared a video of the violent Aug. 17 attack in Los Angeles, showing a man yelling transphobic slurs at the women, allegedly robbing them and attacking one woman with a bottle, according to police.
Bystanders could be seen laughing and joking about the attack while filming it. The department described the primary suspect as a homeless person from the Hollywood area who outreach officers said they recognized from previous encounters.
The department said the city's deep ties with the LGBTQ community helped them to arrests the suspects Carlton Callway and Davion Anthony Williams, who were charged this earlier week.
Callway faces one felony count each of grand theft from the person of another, second-degree robbery, criminal threats, attempted second-degree robbery, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and battery with serious bodily injury.
Williams faces one felony count each of grand theft and assault with a deadly weapon, rideshare scooter.
PHOTO: Carlton Callway, Davion Williams and Willie Walker are pictured in images released by the Los Angeles Police Department. (Los Angeles Police Department)
MORE: Police arrest 2 suspects in Los Angeles hate crime targeting 3 transgender women
Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell, who helped push for a full investigation into the incident, said the attack felt like "a sucker punch to all of us who believe in civilized behavior and humane treatment of one another."
"The transgender community, especially women of color, are so often marginalized, assaulted, and even murdered. It is an epidemic that can be seen across the country," O'Farrell said. "These women were in great distress and clearly becoming more injured as this attack carried through in those harrowing several minutes that we've seen on video."
"So, it's really important that we make arrests like this and I just want to send a signal to anyone who was in that crowd cheering that is not behavior that is becoming of a resident of the City of Angels and that is the kind of behavior that will not be tolerated," he added.
Long history of progressive, gender-inclusive policies
LAPD officials told ABC News that the office of Assistant Chief Beatrice Girmala, the department's LGBTQ Outreach Coordinator, was instrumental in helping capture the suspects.
PHOTO: Thousands participate in the All Black Lives Matter solidarity march to mark LGBTQ Pride Month along Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood on June 14, 2020. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, FILE)
Girmala was also a big part of the department's 2017 Safe Place initiative, which declares participating brick-and-mortar establishments a safe haven for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Modeled after a Seattle program that encourages engagement between police, local business owners and the LGBTQ community, the initiative allows businesses to post signs indicating that they are a "safe place" for anyone who might be seeking refuge from a hate crime or incident.
"Justice for all should mean just that. There should be no exception to that rule and there should be no marginalization to that rule," Girmala told reporters earlier this month when announcing the arrests. "But we can't arrive at justice unless we have the community working in partnership with us. And not just lip service to say this is community policing and not just to say that we are working together, but where we see the manifestation of those partnerships in a day like today."
She highlighted the mayor's Transgender Advisory Council and LAPD LGBTQ Working Group, an initiative launched in 2010 to create more culturally sensitive policies for the city's officers, when discussing some infrastructures that have helped the department crackdown on anti-transgender crime over the years.
Roberts -- who has been tracking pro-LGBTQ legislation for more than two decades and documenting transgender violence for her blog, Transgrio -- pointed to California as one of the more progressive states in the country when it comes to protecting transgender women.
"They did the right thing by opening an investigation. Instead of trying to sweep it under the rug or ignoring it, like many police departments do, they went after these folks," Roberts said. "It makes me angry because too many leaders are silent about this wave of violence that is being perpetrated by Black cis-gendered men in this community, aimed at predominantly Black trans women."
PHOTO: LAPD assistant Chief Beatrice Girmala speaks at the unveiling ceremony of a Hollywood star honoring fallen police officers on Oct. 23, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Sipa USA via AP, FILE)
Danni Newbury -- an LGBTQ rights advocate and coordinator of the Office of LGBTQ Affairs at Union County, New Jersey -- agreed that California law makes it much easier to prosecute anti-transgender crimes. The state is one of few in the country that protects transgender people under local hate crime laws.
Protecting LGBTQ's most vulnerable
Many state hate crimes laws, including those in Texas, cover sexual orientation, but not gender identity, essentially leaving out people who identify as transgender or non-binary.
MORE: New Jersey schools get the option to go virtual, and advocates worry vulnerable will be left behind
Newbury, who oversees New Jersey's first county office of LGBTQ services, said her home state has been working to make sure that law enforcement agencies have deep ties with the LGBTQ community, which makes it much easier when crimes inevitably happen. She said her office has been working with authorities to come up with plans on how to better engage and serve with transgender victims.
"We want to make sure that we have allies in positions of influence who really care about helping these vulnerable communities," Newbury said. "The first part is learning where we've gotten it wrong from the community and the second part is informing our organizations, our police academy, and our officers and police chiefs on how to get it right. Because we know, anecdotally, that it needs attention."
PHOTO: Eden Estrada, Jasleen Busanette and Joselyn Allen talk to KABC about an incident where they were attacked on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Aug. 17, 2020. (KABC)
In New Jersey, advocates have been focusing on trans-inclusion and visibility in an effort to spread awareness and combat anti-transgender sentiments. For example, the Office of LGBTQ Affairs hosted a drag queen story hour as a way to bring the divide between parents in the wake controversy of school bathroom bills.
"It was simply a way to educate families that were already inclusive and to show others that there's no danger in something like Drag Queen Story Hour. It's about celebrating art and individuality," Newbury, who identifies as lesbian, said. "So a lot of our advocacy comes in the form of inclusive programming. It allows the community to participate at the level that they're comfortable and the more we move people toward inclusion and acceptance, the closer we are to progress."
Like California, New Jersey recently banned the so-called trans panic defense, the argument that a violent act was caused by the revelation of a victim's actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
California became the first state to ban the defense in 2014 and a hand full of other states followed suit. "That's a problem because you're playing on hatred of trans folks as a defense in order to reduce the punishments for the people who perpetrate the crimes," Roberts said. "In other words you're blaming the victim for their murder. And because you have this perception out there that trans folks are going around deceiving people, a notion pushed by media and in Hollywood, the defense works time and time again."
What other cities can learn from LA in wake of violent anti-transgender attack originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 2) A number of senators on Wednesday said the proposal to use funds from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation to build more COVID-19 testing laboratories might be to the detriment of coronavirus patients.
"Baka maubos 'yung pera because I don't think it's a joke to establish a COVID-19 testing laboratory - milyun-milyong pera din 'yan [That's still millions of money]," Senator Koko Pimentel said during the plenary session. "We might be wasting money here."
The state health insurer's interim reimbursement mechanism (IRM) for COVID-19 of which over P14 billion were paid in advance to hospitals, was tagged as illegal. The money was intended to help hospitals amid the pandemic, but the Senate Committee of the Whole on Monday recommended that some institutions spend it for testing centers.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the cash advances were for patients, not facilities.
"This was not a fund to purchase equipment or improve the hospital," he said. "It is for the reimbursement of claims."
Senator Cynthia Villar said she suggested to use the IRM for healthcare institutions that have no COVID-19 facilities, including the Las Pinas General Hospital in her city.
"For every money that you give, you should have some requirement on what they should be able to give in terms of service to the people," Villar said.
Senate President Tito Sotto agreed with Villar and offered a safeguard, saying the Health Technology Assessment Council should determine how the testing laboratory will be established.
It's not a stretch to say that Philip Morris International Inc.'s (NYSE:PM) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 16.9x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the market in the United States, where the median P/E ratio is around 19x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/E ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.
Recent times haven't been advantageous for Philip Morris International as its earnings have been falling quicker than most other companies. It might be that many expect the dismal earnings performance to revert back to market averages soon, which has kept the P/E from falling. If you still like the company, you'd want its earnings trajectory to turn around before making any decisions. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.
See our latest analysis for Philip Morris International
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If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Philip Morris International.
How Is Philip Morris International's Growth Trending?
The only time you'd be comfortable seeing a P/E like Philip Morris International's is when the company's growth is tracking the market closely.
Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 6.9%. At least EPS has managed not to go completely backwards from three years ago in aggregate, thanks to the earlier period of growth. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing earnings over that time.
Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 10% each year as estimated by the analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to expand by 13% each year, which is noticeably more attractive.
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With this information, we find it interesting that Philip Morris International is trading at a fairly similar P/E to the market. Apparently many investors in the company are less bearish than analysts indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. Maintaining these prices will be difficult to achieve as this level of earnings growth is likely to weigh down the shares eventually.
What We Can Learn From Philip Morris International's P/E?
Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.
Our examination of Philip Morris International's analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook isn't impacting its P/E as much as we would have predicted. Right now we are uncomfortable with the P/E as the predicted future earnings aren't likely to support a more positive sentiment for long. This places shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium.
Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Philip Morris International that you should be aware of.
Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Philip Morris International. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that sit on P/E's below 20x and have grown earnings strongly.
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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
Ukraine has also expanded the list of Ukrainian citizens' relatives who may cross the borders.
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has amended the resolution related to the entry ban for foreigners, but expanded the list of relatives who may travel to Ukrainian citizens.
Read alsoUkrainian PM comments on entry ban for foreignersThat is according to the Ukrainian media outlet European Pravda, referring to its sources.
In particular, the right to transit up to two days was removed from the list of grounds for entry of foreign nationals. Thus, Ukraine shut down its land borders for Moldovan citizens, who, in particular, used transit for legal travel to Belarus and Russia.
Ukraine has also expanded the list of Ukrainian citizens' relatives who may cross the borders, adding their grandparents.
In addition, the government clarified the wording related to the study as a basis for crossing the border. Now only those who go to study in educational institutions will be allowed to enter Ukraine. This removes abuses when the purpose of entry was declared as training in short-term courses.
Temporary entry ban for foreigners: background
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that depriving states of Goods and Services Tax compensation is an "attempt to undermine federalism" and urged him not to belie the trust between the states and the Centre on the issue.
Attorney General K K Venugopal's opinion that it is not the responsibility of the Centre to compensate the states for GST shortfall during a pandemic "appears to be an act of subterfuge", Banerjee said in the letter.
In the 41st meeting of GST Council on August 27, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the COVID-19 pandemic is an "act of God" which has hit GST collection and ruled out paying compensation to states from its coffers.
"On behalf of Bengal and other states, I sincerely urge you not to belie the trust between the States and the Centre on matters of GST which has been hailed globally as the finest example of cooperative federalism," Banerjee said.
Banerjee asked Modi not to allow "an insufferable blow to the federalist polity of the nation" by depriving the states of the GST compensation.
"I am deeply anguished by the Goods and Services Tax imbroglio which tantamounts to a betrayal of the trust and moral responsibility of the Government of India towards the states, violating the very premise of federalism.
"This is a travesty and an abrogation of the fundamental basis on which the states gave up 70 per cent of their taxing powers, including the entire VAT regime, to usher in the GST regime," Banerjee said in the four-page letter.
The "agreed formula" for giving up taxing powers was the promise of full compensation of shortfall in GST collection for five years, she said adding that the Centre is duty-bound to give compensation to the states.
She reminded Modi that as the chief minister of Gujarat, he had opposed implementation of GST and the late BJP leader Arun Jaitley had stated that the saffron party did not trust the Centre in honouring compensation of GST losses to the states.
"His words are ringing in our ears as we are losing trust on the BJP government in the Centre, in honouring its solemn, promise of fully compensating GST losses to the states," Banerjee said.
As per the Centre's calculations, the compensation requirement of states in current fiscal would be Rs 3 lakh crore, of which Rs 65,000 crore would come from levy of cess. Out of the shortfall of Rs 2.35 lakh crore, the shortfall due to GST implementation is Rs 97,000 crore and the remaining is due to COVID-19 impact.
The Centre has given two options to states -- to either borrow the entire Rs 2.35 lakh crore or borrow only Rs 97,000 crore through a special window, which would be provided
by the RBI, to meet the revenue shortfall.
The chief minister said that despite assurances, states are being thrust with "two unilateral options, both of which require the States to borrow lakhs and crores of rupees."
Instead of helping the states, the Centre has stopped assistance to them and is thrusting more financial burden on them, she said.
"The Centre must borrow to meet the shortfall at this critical hour of the Covid-19 pandemic and I am sure that the states will reciprocate in supporting a resolution that Cess collection continues beyond the five years till the entire debt of the Centre is totally liquidated, along with the entire interest payment cost," she said.
Stating that the union government has the power to monetise its debt while the states do not enjoy such powers, Banerjee said that the Centre gets much lower interest on such borrowing while the interests are much higher in case of the states.
"Furthermore, Government of India can raise the resources to service its debt, while the States simply cannot service huge additional debts when their finances are on the verge of collapse," she said.
Banerjee said that the attorney general's opinion that it is not the responsibility of the Centre to compensate the states for GST shortfall during a pandemic "appears to be an
act of subterfuge to undermine the trust reposed by the States in the spirit of cooperative federalism".
"Thereby, it appears to be an onslaught on the democratic and federal structure of the country," the chief minister said.
West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra recently said that the Centre's suggestion to states to borrow for meeting the shortfall in revenue from GST is "totally unacceptable" as it would destroy their financial health and lead to "brute power of centralism".
SK Innovation, a $1 billion expansion of an electric-battery manufacturing facility near Commerce.
Irving Tissue, a $400 million paper manufacturing plant in Macon.
Home Depot, adding 1,000 jobs in three new metro Atlanta distribution centers.
Microsoft, a $75 million investment in a new Midtown office.
(TNS) Georgia picked up the pace in economic development the past fiscal year, recruiting more projects. But, at a time when hundreds of thousands remain out of work, the pace of job creation slowed, as did the the value of investments.The growth was fueled by three new Amazon fulfillment centers near Stone Mountain, Newnan and Augusta, an electric-battery plant near Commerce, and hundreds more projects inside and outside of metro Atlanta. State officials said new projects continue to be hatched despite the coronavirus pandemic.Amazon confirmed on Tuesday it will add 1,000 jobs at a new warehouse in Gwinnett County. Gov. Brian Kemp used the occasion to tout an award from Area Development, an industry trade magazine, that called Georgia the best state for doing business, the seventh consecutive year the state has won the honor.Speaking against the backdrop of the 700,000 square-foot Amazon facility near Stone Mountain, Kemp called the magazine award a powerful testament to the fundamental strength of Georgias economy even in these challenging times.For the fiscal year ending June 30, Kemps office said Georgia added 350 economic-development projects, a 4 percent increase from the previous fiscal year. The total financial investment by these companies fell 1 percent, to $7.4 billion, in the same period.Total job creation from such projects fell 17 percent to 24,133 jobs.Georgia outperforms neighboring states in recruiting companies to all regions of the state and not just metro Atlanta, said Kevin Brown, an economic development attorney at Seyfarth Shaw.Its a significant reason why you are seeing these projects in Georgia, because state officials direct prospective companies to consider other parts of the state if they rule out metro Atlanta, he said.However, companies expanding in Georgia create fewer jobs now than in past years. Amazon, for instance, said its new distribution center in Gwinnett County is the companys first in Georgia to utilize state-of-the-art robotics technology.The number of jobs may be lower, but they require more training and pay better, Pat Wilson, commissioner of the state Department of Economic Development, said in an interview.Companies are investing more in technology and automation, Wilson said.Georgia won more of these projects despite making no changes to its offerings of tax incentives, Wilson said. The state provided about $20 million in tax incentives and infrastructure improvements to win the Amazon deal for Gwinnett County. SK Innovation has secured at least $300 million in tax incentives, grants and other considerations for its battery plant.Still, the states unemployment rate has soared during the pandemic as businesses scaled back operations or shut down completely. Metro Atlanta added 15,300 jobs during July, but the areas unemployment rate was 8.5 percent, more than double the rate from July 2019.Georgia could be vulnerable to competing states because of health care issues, especially regions outside metro Atlanta that lack health care facilities, Brown said. Many rural hospitals are struggling financially and an industry lobbyist recently predicted that many may close due to the pandemics impact.When considering specific expansion sites, companies typically want a hospital located facility nearby, Brown said.They want to know how far away the nearest emergency facility or hospital is, he said.Georgia also has shortcomings in education and training, according to a 2019 report by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The states education system ranked 31st in the groups report, behind neighboring North Carolina and Tennessee.The COVID-19 pandemic has not slowed economic-development recruitment, Wilson said. The state has more projects in its pipeline companies that have officially expressed interest in the state but havent made a final decision now than a year ago. He declined to say how many projects are in the pipeline.Some recent projects began and were approved during the coronavirus shutdown, including a new Zinus USA mattress manufacturing plant in McDonough, Wilson said.The pipeline is as robust now as its ever been, he said.Some other large wins for Georgia in the past year include:
Sumi Sukanya dutta By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The rapidly rising COVID-19 load in India is not the only concern as the high mortality rate is also a cause of worry for health experts and epidemiologists.
Data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare from time to time show that in a month, the death per million due to the Covid-19 in India has more than doubled, even though the infection fatalities in the country is among the lowest in the world.
On July 30, when the number of deaths stood at 35,790, India had 20.4 deaths per million due to the disease. But within a month, on August 30, with 64,469 deaths, the figure reached 48 and is steadily marching upwards.
Till Tuesday morning, India had registered a total of 36,91,166 confirmed coronavirus cases and 65,288 deaths, with the highest 24,583 deaths recorded in Maharashtra alone. The case fatality rate due to the disease is 1.8 per cent as of now.
There are eight states and Union Territories (UTs) whose death per million figures are much higher than the national average. In Delhi, the figure stands at the highest (220), closely followed by Maharashtra where death per million at present is 198.
The rising death counts in several states are worrisome and it could also be because a more susceptible population maybe now coming out after the end of the nationwide lockdown most parts of the country and, in turn, getting exposed to the virus, said Dr Anant Bhan, a researcher in global health and bioethics.
He added that mechanisms such as strong coordination between public and private hospitals, robust referral systems and close monitoring of infected people under home isolation were a must to keep the rising death per million under check.
Dr T Sundararaman, public health expert and former director of the National Health Systems Resource Centre, said it is a matter of grave concern that the pandemic is showing no sign of plateauing in the country yet and lack of adequate healthcare service may be resulting in even many preventable deaths.
We are soon going to have the largest number of official tally of cases and may have the highest death toll globally by the time the pandemic ends, he said.
Some experts, however, explained that death per million figure could only go up as the denominator-or the population-is almost fixed.
In my view what needs to be watched closely is the case fatality rate and its variation across states, said Dr Chandrakant Laharia, a New Delhi-based public health specialist.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Well, that was a nothingbaguette. For French President Emmanuel Macron, his second visit to Beirut since the devastating blasts of Aug. 4 yielded one memorable photo-op, some posturing before the international media, a few airy bromides about the need for political reform and an unspecified threat of sanctions against those who oppose it.
For the Lebanese, it produced a loose, caveat-laden promise: An international conference of donors in Paris in October will provide the financial assistance needed to rebuild their collapsing economy and their collapsed capital but (and this is a big but) only if (and this is a big if) their political elite agrees to demolish the system that has brought the country to the depths of dysfunction.
Yet what if the political elite ignores Macrons call, just as it has all previous appeals for reform? Cue the Gallic shrug. I will tell the international community that we cant help Lebanon, said Macron, but also explain to the Lebanese people that your leaders decided it would be so.
To which they would undoubtedly reply: Tell us something we dont already know. The Lebanese have heard it all before. Western leaders have for several years importuned the political leadership on the need for political reforms. It has been the first proviso invoked by every international lender.
The Lebanese arent likely to hold out much hope from an aid conference in Paris. There have been several of those over the decades, most recently in 2018, when delegates from 41 countries gathered in the French capital to pledge $11 billion in loans and grants, providing that government in Beirut enacted reforms. The conference only has a purpose if its accompanied by a profound transformation, said the host, one Emmanuel Macron.
There was no transformation, and very little of the pledged money made its way to Lebanon.
The Lebanese had hoped for rather more from Macron this time, especially after the promise of his high-profile visit in the immediate aftermath of the Beirut blasts. Then, too, he had admonished their leaders to undertake a new political initiative, and promised to host an aid conference in Paris. There was an online conference, co-hosted with the United Nations, and it yielded $300 million in disaster relief slim pickings, considering the damage from the blast has been estimated at $4.6 billion.
Story continues
Many donors are channeling their contributions to nongovernmental organizations and charities, keeping it out of the reach of the discredited political class. Ahead of Macrons second visit, many Lebanese half-joked on social media that they might be better off if he revived French colonial rule. Instead, he chose to place his faith on the very class that the Lebanese people have long stopped trusting.
His explanation Im a realistic idealist that is, a real pragmatist rings hollow. There is nothing pragmatic about expecting the turkeys to vote for Thanksgiving. And theres little realistic in his threat of sanctions: It would be nigh on impossible to single out individuals from a corrupt collective.
Macron imagines that the new prime minister, Mustafa Adib, who takes over from Hassan Diab, will be able to muster a credible cabinet in two weeks and present a cogent reform program to donors in six. But the Lebanese know theres not much new about Adib. Just as his surname is a rearrangement of the letters in that of his predecessor, his appointment represents the shuffling of a marked deck by the political elite.
Adib is close to Najib Mikati, a billionaire ex-prime minister who is widely reviled. The new prime minister was heckled when he tried to mimic Macrons original tour of Beiruts devastated neighborhoods. He has promised a cabinet of a homogeneous team of specialists, but it is hard to imagine it will amount to anything more than window-dressing, or that hard-nosed international lenders will be taken in.
Adibs appointment was announced the day before Macrons arrival, and local newspapers reported that the new man had the blessings of the French president. Macron denied this, but having bet on the Lebanese political elite to clean up its own act, he will not be able to shrug off responsibility for their inevitable failure.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He writes on foreign affairs, with a special focus on the Middle East and Africa.
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion
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For a piece of political theatre, the backdrop was dramatic: The rubble of a broken city, a distraught resident aside their ruined business, and a self-proclaimed savior president promising deliverance from anarchy.
When Donald Trump visited the city of Kenosha on Tuesday, ostensibly to pay tribute to law enforcement following violent protests, the imagery and the characters were all there.
But what is political theatre without the politics? What impact can it have if the message behind it is so confused that it borders on the absurd?
Trump has made law and order the dominant theme of his reelection campaign in recent weeks (and make no mistake, this was a campaign event). His new direction is based on the belief that images of chaos reigning in American cities will scare people into voting for him.
But the pitch is backwards. The sitting president repeatedly points to (and exaggerates) scenes of destruction caused during protests across the country as a hypothetical doomsday scenario if his opponent is elected. In other words: if Joe Biden is elected, the things that are already happening will happen.
Not only that, its a strategy that relies on Biden being unable or unwilling to condemn violent protests, something which he has done with increasing regularity in recent days, and which he has just spent $45 million to tell national and local television audiences across the country for an entire week.
In the new 60-second television spot, the former vice president speaks as images of burned out cars flash and clashes flash across the screen: I want to make it absolutely clear: rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. And those who do it should be prosecuted.
Kenosha was Trumps first real-world test of his law-and-order campaign pivot one which might see him dropping into grieving cities rife with racial tension to raise the temperature ever higher. And it couldnt have gone worse.
In the days before his arrival, an uneasy calm had settled over the city. Curfews had been in place for days and they were largely holding. Even before he stepped foot in the city, Trump claimed credit for that peace.
If I didnt INSIST on having the National Guard activate and go into Kenosha, Wisconsin, there would be no Kenosha right now, he tweeted a day ahead of his arrival.
Except it wasnt Trump who ordered in the National Guard, but Wisconsins governor, Tony Evers. He did so on Monday, a day after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, which sparked the protests. And not only did the president not bring peace to Kenosha, he threatened to derail the peace that had already been achieved. Evers was among several local leaders who called on Trump to not visit the city when it was still grieving, writing in a letter to the president that his presence will only hinder our healing.
Trumps visit inevitably encouraged dozens of his supporters to visit in support, prompting shouting matches between protesters in front of the boarded up shops and businesses. Instead of calling for unity, or attempting to bridge divides, he brushed off questions about systemic racism and just a day earlier he offered something close to a defense of 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, an apparent vigilante who is accused of killing two protesters during one of the worst nights of violence.
Joe Bidens response to attacks against him on the issue of violent protests has been to argue that Trump is in fact a cause of the chaos an incumbent president who makes things worse, not better. An incumbent president who sows chaos rather than providing order, he said on Monday.
The violence were seeing is in Donald Trump's America. These are not images of some imagined Joe Biden America in the future, these are images of Donald Trump's America today, he went on.
In Kenosha, Trump seemed to be reminding everyone of these ironies again. And then, after he had left, came the final nudge that brought the entire set, props and all, tumbling down. The business owner whom Trump stood alongside and consoled in what was supposed to be the most memorable photo op of the visit, it turned out, was not the owner of the business at all.
The man standing alongside Trump in the rubble was in fact the previous owner. The actual owner, Tom Gram, had been approached by the White House, but had declined, according to TMJ4 News.
I think everything he does turns into a circus and I just didnt want to be involved in it, he said.
It may be that the Trump campaign can direct enough fear and anger towards racial justice protesters, and create enough of an association between these sporadic outbursts of violence and Biden, to gain ground in this crucial swing state.
To go down that path would surely, in the words of Wisconsins governor, hinder the countrys healing.
A UN court in the Hague is hearing arguments from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this week on the 2017 diplomatic crisis in the Gulf.
The hearings at the International Court of Justice regard Qatars allegation that the UAE violated a UN anti-discrimination resolution when it participated alongside Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in various measures against Qatar in 2017.
The resolution in question is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which works to promote and encourage universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. The hearing will finish on Sept. 7, according to International Court of Justice documents.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia led the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain in closing their airspaces and sea routes to Qatar. Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, which Qatar denies. The group is also concerned about Qatars relatively warmer relations with Iran.
At the International Court of Justice, Qatar is alleging that the UAE violated the UN convention on racial discrimination by expelling Qataris from the country and closing the offices of the popular Qatari state-funded channel Al Jazeera. The UAE argued on Monday that the court lacks jurisdiction in the matter because the actions were unrelated to racial discrimination, Reuters reported.
The court will hear oral arguments from both countries. The documents did not specify when a ruling would be issued.
This is not the only legal case involving the Gulf states. In July, the International Court of Justice ruled that a global aviation regulatory body has jurisdiction over Qatars dispute of the airspace closure imposed on it.
The crisis continues to play out in other ways as well. Also in July, Saudi Arabia permanently canceled the license of Qatars beIN Sports channel.
We recently reported that Sony is gearing up for a number of products to launch in the near future. While the Japanese camera maker may soon introduce a new line of super compact full-frame "C" cameras along with a new line of "V" lenses, Sony has now announced LA-EA5 lens adapter via press release.
Sony LA-EA5 lens adapter is a 35mm full-frame A-mount to E-mount adapter. Thus, the new adapter allows users to pair E-mount camera bodies with A-mount lenses. The adapter supports full-frame E-mount camera bodies even when a vertical grip is attached to the body.
Besides changing mounts, the LA-EA5 provides AF support for Sony A-mount lenses including the optics that come without a built-in autofocus motor.
LA-EA5 lens adapter is designed as a compact gear which features an aperture drive unit and an AF drive unit. Sony claims that the adapter provides full support for focal plane phase-detection AF, wide-area focal phase-detection AF, Real-time Eye AF for both humans and animals, Real-time Tracking and AF/AE (auto exposure) tracking for SSM/SAM lenses on nine most recently introduced E-mount cameras at up to 11fps depending on the camera model.
While Sony is working to expand compatibility for this adapter, following are the camera models supported as of September 2020:
--Sony a7 III
--Sony a7R III
--Sony a7R IV
--Sony a9
--Sony a9 II
--Sony a7s III
--Sony a6100
--Sony a6400
--Sony a6600
Also note that the ability to use lenses without internal autofocus motors is only available when using the Sony a7R IV or a6600. Rest you can find a full compatibility list on Sony's support page.
For the LA-EA5 lens adapter availability, it will be up for grabs in October 2020.
For much of the 20th century, the tumultuous life of the American dancer Isadora Duncan has been so abundantly explored in middle-to-highbrow pop culture that her work seems overshadowed by movies and mini-series about the tragedies that befell her. Isadoras Children, directed by Damien Manivel, uses both Duncans work and her life as a starting point, but emphasizes the work.
Onscreen text explains that, after the horrific death of her two children and their governess in an automobile accident in 1913, Duncan choreographed a solo dance of loss titled The Mother.
Manivel shot his film, set in the present day, in a nearly square aspect ratio, the better to compose neat, focused frames with. He begins with a young French dancer (Agathe Bonitzer) discovering and researching The Mother.
The Republican candidate challenging Democrat Jahana Hayes for her 5th District seat in Congress has taken a page out of the national GOP playbook, drawing on fears of lawlessness and rioters in his first campaign ad which dropped Tuesday on YouTube.
In the ad, David X. Sullivan, a former prosecutor, utilizes a soundbite of Hayes saying in a June radio interview that all of the riots are not violent, overlaid with footage from cities around the country where violence has erupted over the summer in response to police killings of Black people.
Hayes, a former teacher of the year and the wife of a police officer who has said she does not support the movement to defund police forces, said it is clear she misspoke and meant protests, not riots. She called Sullivans attempt to portray her as a socialist who supports rioting sad.
If thats how Mr. Sullivan chooses to use his limited resources and thats how he wants to portray himself to voters, then God bless him, Hayes said, adding, Mr. Sullivan doesnt define me. The fact that his campaign is based around attacks of my character ... really shows he has nothing to stand on.
Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media
Hayes said her stance on violence, rioting and efforts to defund police forces has been clear. She said she does not support dismantling departments, she does support police unions and she supports more accountability for police officers. Theyre not mutually exclusive issues, she said.
I do not support people breaking the law, whether it be in Connecticut or in Portland, Hayes said. I dont own that movement. I have no personal connection to that. There are ways to have civil discourse, there are ways to disagree, there are ways to make your voices herd ... but burning down communities, destroying businesses, killing people ... nothing in my life has ever indicated that Im a person that would support something like that.
Sullivan said he can only speak to what he heard Hayes say, not what she meant.
Jahana Hayes has been very silent on the rioting and the unrest, and when she has spoken about it her words are quite clear, Sullivan said. I think the people of the 5th Congressional District need to know what we say on these issues. Silence is unacceptable. We have two months for the people in this district to decide and I want them to make an informed decision, I want them to exercise their right to vote.
Sullivans attempt to make the politicized violence occurring in major cities like Portland and Chicago an issue in Connecticuts 5th Congressional District, as well as associate Hayes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a group of liberal Democrats known as The Squad appears to be a strategic attempt to gain clout in the districts more conservative communities, political experts suggest.
Hearst Connecticut Media file photo
Hayes is not considered a member of The Squad, a group of four women of color elected in 2018 that includes liberal firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
I think it actually benefits him in this context, said Gary Rose, a professor of politics at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. Its one way that he can make up form his lack of resources. If he stays with that theme, thats what his candidacy will be known as. And he comes from that background. I am certain that theme will draw people to his candidacy. There are a lot of smaller, white towns in the district.
The 5th Congressional District has historically been a swing district, though the seat was last held by a Republican in 2007 when Nancy Johnson lost her re-election bid to Chris Murphy, and Rose said that makes portraying Hayes as a socialist despite her moderate record a specific campaign strategy that could come to define the 5th District race.
Sullivan denied the the idea that his ad mimics national GOP talking points, though law and order was a central theme of last weeks Republican National Convention.
I was a federal prosecutor, Sullivan said. Law enforcement issues are something Ive been thinking about for a long time.
Sullivan, who has never held public office, declared his candidacy more than 14 months ago, but has only raised $210,000 in contributions and had $109,000 in available cash as of June 30, according to the most recent filings with the Federal Elections Commission.
Hayes, who was first elected in 2018, has raised nearly $1.3 million and has $1.2 million on hand as of June 30, according to her most recent campaign finance filings.
I will not respond in kind to these derogatory attacks, Hayes said. Im bigger than that, Im more of a woman than that.
kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt
OTTAWAPrime Minister Justin Trudeau is casting a wider than usual net to come up with what he promised will be a bold agenda for an economic recovery.
Trudeau invited cabinet ministers to make submissions on what they want to see in a Sept. 23 throne speech a move that a senior Liberal source said already distinguishes this effort from the way the Trudeau governments platforms, budgets and throne speeches were drafted in the past.
Some have already submitted ideas. The whole ministry will hash through the path ahead at a cabinet retreat expected to be held in Ottawa in mid-September.
It is a pivotal time for the Liberal government.
The throne speech will be put to an automatic confidence vote in Parliament on which the government could fall and thrust the country into a pandemic election.
Ten days ago, a government source told the Star that the business of crafting the throne speech, meant to be a big reset for a government elected less than a year ago on a now outdated platform, was at its midpoint.
Since then, theres been a ramped-up effort to reach outside the prime ministers inner circle and consult more broadly on what should be in the document.
Trudeau is actively seeking input from the Liberal caucus of 155 MPs, delegating that task to Associate Finance Minister Mona Fortier.
Every possible caucus configuration urban, rural, GTA, Quebec, or Atlantic caucuses have been holding zoom video conference calls to advance their ideas and priorities.
It is a deliberate move.
The controversy over the now defunct WE student grant program and the Oppositions accusations the Trudeau government is a centre-driven operation that gives preferential treatment to those with insider access did political damage, admitted several sources.
So the effort to craft an agenda to lead the economy out of the pandemic cannot be too centre-driven or it will be unsuccessful, is how one source, who spoke on condition they not be named, put it.
The Star spoke to several MPs whove been on the zoom calls and are waiting to see if their input will be reflected.
Some are skeptical and see the exercise as window-dressing. Others are hopeful.
MP Gary Anandasangaree, who is part of the Liberals Black caucus and represents the Scarborough-Rouge Park riding where one long-term-care home saw 53 senior residents die of COVID-19, hopes the throne speech will provide meaningful direction for how the government will act in the months ahead.
Theres two major issues that Im looking for, one is addressing long-term care as a federal government to look for national standards, and the other one is a deep-rooted plan to address systemic racism, he said in an interview.
I think the throne speech should really signal where were going with this, and the different elements of that I think could be rolled out later on. But I think the throne speech should clearly define where we are and where were going with respects to systemic racism, writ large, with a very important emphasis on anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism.
Apart from Liberal input, theres no shortage of outside advice.
The Council of Canadian Innovators on Tuesday submitted a plan to the government that contained eight recommendations it said would ensure the Trudeau government leads a meaningful economic reorientation.
It calls on Trudeau to boost support for Canadian-based knowledge and data-driven industries, saying Canadian governments need to become larger purchasers of made-in-Canada digital products and services. It urges the federal government to enlarge Canadas intellectual property capacity to harness value from COVID-19 research and development done here; to create national data strategies for strategic sectors such as health care, clean-energy (including smart cities), agriculture, energy and mining, to increase access to capital for the fastest-growing firms; to reverse the tech talent brain drain in this rare labour market opportunity, and to fast track the adoption of national standards and regulations for health care and cybersecurity.
Earlier in the summer Trudeau personally consulted economists, bankers and experts like Mark Carney, the former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor, as he began to consider what a post-pandemic recovery might look like.
In her new role, Trudeaus Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland who was handed the finance portfolio after Bill Morneaus resignation last month, is looking beyond Parliament Hill for advice.
Freeland has contacted Unifor national president Jerry Dias, head of Canadas largest private sector union, whom she consulted often during the NAFTA negotiations, to discuss his concerns.
In an interview, Dias says among throne speech priorities he intends to lay out when they meet is the need for a green economic relaunch plan to address the needs of the $100 billion auto industry and its workers.
Dias is in talks right now with the big three companies, Ford, GM and Chrysler, and said the industry is at a crossroads.
Canada was once the number four producer in the world in 1999, churning out 3 million vehicles, but is now 12th or 13th, he said, producing about 1.8 million vehicles or less annually.
Dias said about three per cent of the global market today is electric vehicles, but by 2040 thats expected to be 50 per cent, and if Canada does not harness this opportunity to ramp up its capacity, Canadian workers will be left behind.
The bottom line is the government is going to have to get serious. Were looking at a transformation of the industry, he said.
Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna and others talk about having billions of dollars for a green transformation, said Dias. Well if youve got it, and you want to play, theres no bigger industry to start than the auto industry. So that will be number one.
Dias also wants the throne speech to address Employment Insurance reform, how Ottawa will treat precarious casual workers, and workers in the gig economy; and how any recovery will address barriers facing women trying to get back in the workforce.
If youre going to have an economic recovery, that means women are going to have to lead it and were going to have to start talking about a national child-care strategy, he said.
Will it all be enough to allow Trudeau to craft a throne speech that will survive a confidence vote?
Thats the bigger question.
The NDP and Conservative Opposition parties say they have not yet been consulted by Trudeau on what they want in a throne speech, though the party leaders have, like the Bloc, outlined certain priorities publicly.
Conservative Leader Erin OToole wants the government to address expediting natural resources to markets to stem the tide of Western alienation.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has identified the need to provide universal affordable child care for women, and the need to protect other marginalized groups in society.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet has laid out the Blocs demands for supporting the government in a throne speech, despite already declaring he would vote to defeat the government over the WE controversy if Trudeau and his chief of staff didnt also follow Bill Morneau and resign.
The Bloc demands include support for seniors, for farmers in supply-managed sectors; a transfer to the Quebec government of its share of funds for the now defunct student volunteer program; and changes to emergency benefits to encourage labourers to return to work.
A senior government official, speaking on background, told the Star the government will probably be consulting the Opposition parties in the coming weeks but suggested it is too early for that kind of outreach.
A construction worker in China was able to escape death after she fell on a 31-inch steel rod that speared into her body from her backside during a horrifying accident.
Cheated death
The woman, known by her last name Xiang, had the 31-inch metal bar protruding from her right shoulder after she fell onto it from a platform of about 10 feet at a construction site. The site is located in China's southern province Guangdong.
The victim miraculously survived the accident after doctors performed an operation for three hours to remove the metal pole that luckily avoided her vital organs and her main blood vessels.
Xiang was working on a construction site on August 27 when she accidentally fell from the platform, according to a report from Guangdong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
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The victim landed on a 31-inch steel rod that skewered her entire upper body from her buttock. Xiang later told reporters that her blood was gushing out like fountain before she even realized what was happening.
The woman was immediately rushed to the Guangdong hospital after her colleagues cut the metal bar to transport her from the building site.
After examining the patient, the doctors found the majority of the pole had speared through her body, but luckily it missed her vital organs and her main blood vessels.
The X-ray shows the long rod protruding from her shoulder while lodged across her entire torso. After conducting an emergency surgery for three hours, a team of surgeons successfully removed the steel bar from Xiang.
Dr Li Jia, a chief medic at the hospital, told Guangdong Southern Television that the operation went smoothly and that the victim was fortunate that the rod had avoided the large blood vessels in the lungs and chest.
Jia added that there was some bleeding, but they were able to repair it quickly after pulling out the pole. Xiang is now in a stable condition and is recovering at the Guangdong hospital.
In July, another Chinese builder survived from being impaled by two steel rods on his neck and chest after he fell onto the bars. One of the metal bars rammed through the victim's neck while the other rod speared through the victim's chest.
The incident happened in eastern China's Jiangsu province. The victim survived after the two poles had missed his vital organs and his main blood vessels, according to rescuers.
Similar incident
In 2016, a construction worker in China survived after a 1 1/2 meter long steel bard pierced his body, and it came out through his skull.
The victim, a 46-year-old man, fell five meters while working at a building site near Jinan in Shandong province, according to South China Morning Post.
The steel bar entered his groin, and it pierced through to the top of his skull. It took doctors seven hours to remove the bar from his body. The rescuers cut the bar at the building site and immediately rushed him to the hospital.
Doctors found serious wounds to a lot of his internal organs and damage to the brain, but the bar was just a few centimetres away from damaging his heart and the veins in his neck which could have killed him.
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School meals will once again be available for free to all students in Alabamas K-12 schools, according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, who made the announcement Monday morning.
As our nation reopens and people return to work, it remains critical our children continue to receive safe, healthy, and nutritious food, Perdue said in a press release.
Perdue extended a waiver initially granted in March to schools and eligible meal providers nationwide allowing them to serve free meals to all children 18 and under when schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Alabama schools took to social media to let families know meals would again be free of charge.
So many families are still struggling because of COVID-19 related layoffs and business closures, Marshall County Schools Child Nutrition Program Director Casey Partain said. Im excited that money for meals at school will no longer be an issue.
Breakfast and lunch together cost $4 a day in her district, she said. A family with two children could easily pay $40 a week for their children to eat with us. Her district opened for students Aug. 12 and has been charging for school meals since then.
We believe it will be life changing for some families, Partain continued. So many families fall right at the cutoff for free or reduced priced meals causing hard working families to struggle to send money each week.
Dothan City Schools CNP Director Tonya Grier said the automatic eligibility makes it easier to get meals to students. With these waivers, Grier said, well be able to speed up meal distribution for the safety of staff and students and ensure no student is denied access to healthy meals.
Child hunger advocates and school nutrition organizations began asking the USDA to extend the waiver in July, hoping for a seamless transition into the new school year. Nearly all of Alabamas school districts opened prior to the Aug. 31 waiver expiration date, meaning schools have been charging students not eligible for free or reduced price meals the full cost of the meal.
State Superintendent Eric Mackey said he is pleased with the waiver extension. Health and safety are primary needs for all children in order to be ready to learn, and food security is the first step in building a healthy body and mind, he said. This is a very positive move for our students.
School Superintendent William Hite (right) addresses a Health Department press conference at the Fire Department's Emergency Operations Center Mar. 12, 2020 to update the City's response to COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Philadelphia. Mayor Kenney is at center and Thomas Farley, Health Commissioner, Philadelphia Department of Public Health, is at left. Read more
Wednesday is the first day for Philadelphias public schools and it is certainly unlike any other in our lifetime. While we wont see young people boarding a bus or walking to school, full of excitement, we take joy in knowing that our students will be starting a new year of learning and growth.
Thanks to the incredible effort of our administrators, educators, support staff, and many others, the school year is starting as planned, with students logging online to meet their new teachers and classmates.
When the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, we realized we had to create a whole new rulebook for making sure students learn during this pandemic, and we know what we have is not perfect. So thats why we want to be upfront about what were doing, who is involved, and where well need help from youPhiladelphiansto make sure this works.
READ MORE: Philly-area children, parents, and teachers brace for a school year unlike any other
Thankfully, we are Philadelphiaa city that comes together when times get tough. A city that understands that NO child should be without reliable internet.
This spring, leaders from Philadelphias business community, non-profits, and charitable foundations offered their support. First, we distributed more than 85,000 Chromebooks to students in need of devices, and then we hunkered down, determined to find a way to put our children and youth on the best educational path forward.
Born out of this effort was PHLConnectEDan initiative that will provide up to 35,000 Philadelphia families with internet service at no cost to them until at least June of 2022.
PHLConnectED was made possible by the creative thinking, collaboration, and significant commitment of time, financial resources, and talent of numerous City agencies, the School District, charter school leaders, and other partners. Comcast Corporation, The Lenfest Foundation, The Neubauer Family Foundation, The Philadelphia School Partnership, The William Penn Foundation, Hess Foundation, and the Philadelphia Housing Authority all play a vital role.
READ MORE: As many as 18,000 Philly district students still need internet access, with days to go until the start of school
Together, we set out to build a program that is easy to access and will work for Philadelphia families who still need high-speed internet in their homes. This is achievable through Comcasts Internet Essentials program, the longest-running broadband adoption initiative in the country, and by providing T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspots for those experiencing housing insecurity. We provide the equipment and speeds needed for our children to be successful in online learningall for free.
It will still be a challenge to help some families cross the digital divide. Communities of color, non-English speakers, and those in low-income neighborhoods face innumerable barriers that are the result of systemic societal inequities.
PHLConnectED seeks to overcome these internet adoption challenges by providing an equitable digital solution for our students and their families. Establishing a reliable internet connection requires several steps including getting a router or hotspot, a laptop or tablet, and human support to make sure all of the technical elements work the way they should. PHLConnectED provides all of these necessary ingredients for a reliable connection, but we need your help to spread the word.
Last week we launched 211, a simple way for families to learn about PHLConnectED and sign up. Just dial 2-1-1 from any phone and press option 1. The team is available 24 hours a day and is ready to walk anyone with a K-12 student through the process to obtain free internet.
Nothing will replace in-person teaching and learning in a classroom. But we are confident that today, as Philadelphias students start the school year digitally, Phillys children are poised to learn, grow, and work toward their dreams.
Help us make this a reality for all students. Share the 211 hotline and encourage people to sign up. Support our school children by instilling confidence in them about this new way of learning. And support our teachers, who are also stepping up to this challenge and exploring creative new ways to successfully engage with their students.
Solving a crisis as vast and as complex as the digital divide will require a team effort on an unprecedented scale. Please join us so we can ensure our students have the most successful school year imaginable.
Jim Kenney is the mayor of Philadelphia and William R. Hite, Jr., Ed.D. is Superintendent of The School District of Philadelphia.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested two people in connection with the drug angle in the Sushant Singh Rajput case.
The agency said on Wednesday that it has arrested Abdul Basit Parihar from Mumbais Bandra. He had connection with Samuel Miranda. Miranda is accused of procuring drugs on instructions of Showik Chakraborty (the brother of prime accused and Rajputs girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty), news agency ANI quoted NCB as saying.
Also Read: 14 people facing CBI probe in Sushant case
Miranda is Rajputs former housekeeping manager. He was appointed by Rhea Chakraborty in May last year. He used to manage all the household expenses. Rajputs family has made serious allegations against Miranda - of helping Chakraborty in siphoning off his money and supplying the drugs.
The NCB has also arrested Zaid Vilatra from Mumbai in connection with the case, ANI reported. Zaid is understood to be involved in the supply of narcotics like bud or curated marijuana to the high-end party circles of Mumbai, news agency PTI reported quoting NCB officials.
Agency sleuths claimed he was arrested after they obtained some vital leads into the narcotics case registered against Chakraborty and others, according to PTI.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also probing the case. It has called Chakrabortys father for second round of questioning on Wednesday. The agency had questioned Rhea Chakrabortys parents for the first time in connection with Rajputs death on Tuesday.
Her father Indrajeet Chakraborty and mother Sandhya reached the DRDO guest house in suburban Kalina, where the CBI probe team is stationed, around 11 am and left in the evening after nearly eight hours of interrogation.
The CBI continued the interrogation of her brother Showik, who was called for questioning for the first time last week, on Tuesday also, an official said.
Rhea Chakraborty and her parents are among those named in the FIR registered by the Patna Police after a complaint from Rajputs family who has accused her of abetting his suicide and misappropriating the actors money.
The 28-year-old actress has been questioned for around 35 hours by the CBI in the last four days.
Rajput (34) was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14. The Supreme Court last week upheld the transfer of the FIR lodged in Patna to the CBI.
This is a textbook example, Yale immunologist Akiko Iwasaki wrote on Twitter, of of how immunity should work.
The news spread around the world. Combined with earlier studies about dropping antibody levels, it seemed to raise questions about whether we could ever be truly protected from the virus.
And this wasnt a false positive, nor a resurgence of the old virus. Scientists later compared the genetic code of the new virus with a sample theyd kept from the mans first infection. The codes were different. Hed been reinfected with a different virus.
We can only imagine his shock, then, when his results came back positive.
And besides, he couldnt have COVID-19. Hed already had COVID-19. He spent two weeks in hospital back in March, recovering. He was immune.
The man was travel weary. He was returning home, finally, from a long trip Spain via Britain. Hong Kong airport, as with most major airports these days, has a rigorous COVID-19 screening program for anyone passing through. The man queued up to be throat-swabbed, perhaps with a little impatience. He did not feel sick. He had no fever, no cough.
We think of immunity as being unable to be reinfected. But immunologists think of several different types of immunity, each with different features.
Immunologists agree that almost everyone who has recovered from COVID-19 is probably immune. Heres the problem: immune means something very different to immunologists.
An electron microscope image shows the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (yellow) emerging from the surface of cells (pink) cultured in a US National Institutes of Health lab. Credit:AP
Do we develop immunity to COVID-19 after we are infected and, if so, what does immune really mean? Is herd immunity possible? What sort of immunity could a vaccine confer? And ultimately, what happens to COVID-19 in the long term?
The case of reinfection was, in a way, one of the key missing pieces in completing our understanding of what immunity to COVID-19 looks like. Much remains to be learnt but immunologists are now ready to confidently answer several key questions.
When you are infected with SARS-CoV-2, scientists suspect your body makes heaps of these nose-and-throat antibodies. About three weeks after youre infected, your nose and throat are probably covered in them.
The immune system does this using a type of antibody known as immunoglobulin A. These antibodies actually coat the lining of the cells in your nose and throat, stopping a virus infecting them.
For viruses that spread through the air, such as SARS-CoV-2 the virus that causes COVID-19 that means your immune system needs to have set up fortifications in the nose and throat.
But this sort of immunity is hard to develop. Its easy to understand why. You dont just need armies of antibodies and immune cells ready to neutralise a virus; they also need to be in exactly the right place to stop a virus as soon as it tries to enter the body.
It blocks the virus from getting in. You dont get another infection, says Associate Professor Nathan Bartlett, head of the viral immunology and respiratory disease group at the University of Newcastle.
Sterilising immunity means a virus cannot infect you at all. Thats the best kind of immunity, and is what most people think of when they think about being immune. This is what the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine confers .
Their antibody responses have nosedived, suggesting they are going to lose that sterilising immunity. But thats what some respiratory viruses are very good at doing, says Bartlett.
If SARS-CoV-2 comes along again, your nose and throat are unprotected. The virus can get into the cells there and start replicating.
Assuming what is happening in the blood is also happening in the nose, this suggests youre likely to have true sterilising immunity for only a few months after you are infected, says Bartlett transient sterilising immunity.
About three weeks after you are infected, antibody levels in the blood particularly immunoglobulin A begin to decline, a pre-print study that is still under review shows .
Heres the bad news: it does not appear to last.
But wise countries dont stand down their entire army after the war is won, and neither does the immune system.
Antibodies are an inefficient way for the body to maintain immunity because it takes a lot of energy to produce them. If you have immunity in your T cells, that can be rapidly brought back into the fight, says Dr Rob Grenfell, director of health and biosecurity at the CSIRO.
After our bodies fight off an infection, they dont need antibodies any more so they are allowed to diminish. Thats what the nosedive studies are showing.
The thing that persists is immunological memory, says Professor Heidi Drummer, head of viral entry research at the Burnet Institute.
This sounds really bad, right? But dont panic yet. Antibodies are only one part of the picture.
Scientists say this is not surprising. Many respiratory viruses, such as the coronaviruses that cause the common cold , do not leave you with long-term sterilising immunity. Thats part of the reason you can keep getting reinfected.
Whats functional immunity?
When we are infected with a new virus, the immune system generates vast armies of B and T cells. B cells are giant antibody factories; T cells float through the blood, hunting and killing infected cells. After a virus is beaten, the body hides some B and T cells specialised to kill that virus in the bone marrow and lymph nodes, just in case the virus comes back.
This is called functional immunity. These B and T cells are able to respond to COVID-19 if it reinvades the body. They take a couple of days to kick into action the body has to activate them and grow them into a big, virus-busting army but when they are ready, they decimate SARS-CoV-2s.
But its not an instantaneous thing. It takes time a couple of days to get this full-blown immunological response. So there is a bit of a window for the virus, says Drummer.
This means any SARS-CoV-2 reinfection can probably get no further than the nose or throat meaning you have long-term protection from falling seriously, life-threateningly ill.
This is what scientists suspect COVID-19 immunity looks like.
B cells inside a lymph node. Credit:The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute / Supplied
So what does this mean for us?
Lets recap the likely, although not proven, scenario. In the first few months after the infection, it is likely you are totally immune. Then, your nose and throat immunity wanes, allowing the virus to get in and infect cells there. You can get reinfected. But the virus cannot get any further than your nose and throat and you are protected against serious illness.
Thats probably what we saw in the infection in Hong Kong, says Professor Andreas Suhrbier, group leader of inflammation biology at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and probably explains why the man had no symptoms.
That shows he wasnt protected against reinfection, but was protected against getting really sick. The first virus infection certainly did not produce sterilising immunity.
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Will a vaccine offer complete sterilising immunity?
Maybe. The evidence we have so far is mixed.
In animal studies, both the Oxford vaccine that Australia purchased and the University of Queenslands vaccine both effectively stopped SARS-CoV-2 getting deep into the lungs.
Thats a really good sign.
If that translates to humans, it should stop you developing severe life-threatening illness. For most people, COVID-19 would be transformed from potential killer to mild disease, says Suhrbier.
But in the animal studies, the virus kept replicating in the nose.
It is not triggering an immune response in the nose and throat. It's not providing any protection against that infection in the [upper] airways, says Bartlett.
That may indicate the vaccine, just as with the immunity you get after being infected with the virus, protects you from becoming seriously ill but does not stop you catching the virus.
It seems sterilising immunity in the upper tract is hard to achieve, says Professor Trent Munro, one of the team building the University of Queenslands vaccine.
Results that scientists see in animals often dont translate into results in humans. And the animals used in the studies were exposed to very high doses of the virus way higher than the average human might encounter. Possibly, a vaccine will give us enough sterilising immunity to cope with the normal doses of virus we encounter.
Professor Trent Munro is heading the push to get the University of Queensland vaccine candidate through human trials to a widespread release. Credit:University of Queensland
Other vaccines being developed by biotech companies Moderna, Sinovac, and NovaVax, appeared to offer protection in the nose as well as in the lungs. Were a long way from knowing whether a vaccine will provide sterilising immunity, says James Triccas, a professor of medical microbiology at the University of Sydney.
I dont think we have enough evidence to say we cannot make a vaccine that will give you complete protection.
And the lack of protection in the nose is not a huge setback for vaccines, scientists emphasised. Thats not the focus for the first generation of vaccines.
The most urgent need at the moment is to stop people getting severely ill and dying, says Drummer.
A vaccine that turns COVID-19 into a mild cold would be a huge win, and save many millions of lives.
But if the virus can still replicate a little bit, and be spread, that is an opportunity for the virus to continue spreading in the community.
A research associate works at the Moderna Therapeutics Inc. lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, which has had positive results for a vaccine. Credit:Bloomberg
Will the vaccine stop the virus spreading? When does COVID-19 go away?
Its common to think a vaccine will bring all this to an end. The virus will vanish, and we can resume our old lives.
That may be wishful thinking, says Suhrbier.
The vaccine may not be the total solution that everyone wants. Many people still die from influenza every year, despite a vaccination campaign.
Elimination having no virus transmitting in Australia could be a plausible scenario if we get a vaccine that provides absolute, 100 per cent sterilising immunity in 100 per cent of the population. The virus will have nowhere to go.
Thats possible. The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine appears to provide long-term sterilising immunity; so does the polio vaccine and that disease is now on the cusp of global eradication.
But scientists say a more likely scenario is a vaccine that protects against serious illness but does not provide total sterilising immunity as with the flu vaccine.
We have not really got to the point where we can readily develop those vaccines. Its not something we have been good at, says Suhrbier.
And SARS-CoV-2 is a particularly tricky virus to combat because it can jump so quickly from one person to another a metric known as the "latent period".
The latent period for this virus can be astronomically short. You are infected, and 2 days later you can be infectious. Thats an extremely short period, says Suhrbier.
Lets think about the implications of that.
If the virus can replicate in the nose and mouth, it only needs to survive for a couple of days before it is ready to jump to another person. Unfortunately, it takes at least a couple of days for the bodys T and B cells to arm up. That gives it a (small) chance to spread. The virus could thus still circulate and infect people, even in a well-vaccinated population says Suhrbier.
Indeed, by reducing the severity of the infection via a vaccine, you could turn everyone into asymptomatic spreaders.
We basically make everyone who is vaccinated an asymptomatic spreader. Thats the worst-case scenario, says Suhrbier.
It also means you can forget about herd immunity. Not possible. Herd immunity will not be possible, says Bartlett. If everyone can spread the virus, theres no way we can get there.
That could pose a big problem for certain groups in our community, such as those with weakened immune systems and the elderly.
We dont yet know how effective a vaccine is likely to be for them, but generally vaccines are less effective in those groups. We do know that around 1 in 10 people aged over 80 who get the virus die from it.
If the virus continued to circulate, it would continue to pose a mortal risk to vulnerable groups. Consider our ongoing battle with the flu. For young, healthy people, the flu is generally not fatal. And we have a vaccine. But the virus continues to circulate. And so every year it finds its way into people who are vulnerable. Some 902 people died in Australia from the flu last year.
It will be a bit like flu, where we see seasonal outbreaks, says Drummer. I think the most likely scenario for this is this virus will be around with us forever.
Patriot Prayer Leader Denounces Smears of Supporter Shot Dead in Portland
The leader of a conservative group who saw a supporter shot dead in Portland over the weekend strongly criticized people celebrating the death of the man while pushing back on characterizations of his group as a white supremacist organization.
I knew that these people were low. I knew that Ted Wheeler was low. I knew that Kate Brown was low. I didnt know that they were that lowThey would turn around and called Jay some sort of white supremacist or say white supremacists came down there or say spoiling for a fight, when in their town, a Christian, a conservative, whatever, was shot execution-style, and they have no remorse for what happened, Joey Gibson said in a video message posted on social media.
They dont care. They turn around and attack Jay for political reasons.
Aaron Jay Danielson, a supporter of Patriot Prayer, was hunted down and executed, a witness said. The shooting happened after a pro-President Donald Trump car caravan traveled to Portland from nearby Clackamas County.
Following the shooting, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said that Patriot Prayer and militia members drove into the city armed and looking for a fight.
Joey Gibson, leader of Patriot Prayer, arrives at the scene of a shooting in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 29, 2020. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Reuters)
I will not allow Patriot Prayer and armed white supremacists to bring more bloodshed to our streets, she said.
Danielson was armed but had not fired his gun, according to court records.
Police officials said several skirmishes broke out in the city before the shooting between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators.
Wheeler, Portlands mayor, blamed Trump supporters and the president himself.
Yesterdays events began with hundreds of cars filled with supporters of the president rally in Clackamas County and then driving through downtown Portland. They were supported and energized by the President himself, Wheeler told reporters on Sunday.
Gibson said when he watched the press conference, he was in disbelief.
Ted Wheeler looked into that into all of our eyes, and he blatantly and obviously lied, and said that the violence that is happening in the city of Portland, which indirectly hes saying that Jay being shot in cold blood is the fault of President Trump and white and right-wing extremists and white supremacists, Gibson said.
And I lost it at that point. I lost it because this is the direct result of Ted Wheeler and his inability to take care of these criminals, his inability to bring order in the city of Portland.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler speaks to the media at City Hall in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 30, 2020. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Rioting has happened on a near-nightly basis in Oregons largest city since May 28.
The offices of Wheeler and Brown didnt respond to requests for responses to Gibsons comments.
The Democrats have refused offers of federal assistance to quell the unrest. After the shooting, Brown sent state troopers back to Portland. Another part of her plan to end the violence collapsed when law enforcement officials she requested help from declined to send personnel, citing the new prosecutors policy that presumptively declines to pursue some charges filed against protesters and rioters.
The media is helping stoke violence by claiming without evidence that white supremacists and nationalists were involved in the pro-Trump parade, Gibson charged. He noted that the man linked to the shooting is an Antifa member and Black Lives Matter supporter.
Nothing supports the notion that Danielson was involved in extremism, he added.
The only thing that they can never do to Jay is call him a racist because he lived an amazing life. So they cant talk about specific examples of who he was and what he did, quotes of him saying hateful things because there is nothing. They cant show him being violent because he wasnt violent. They cant show anything on him, except just claim that hes some sort of white supremacist, Gibson said.
So if you live in the city of Portland, or youre going through the city of Portland, and youre a conservative, and youre a Christian, you better be careful because they find it acceptable to execute you in the streets. And not only will they execute you, the politicians will slander your name. They wont even say that theyre sorry, they wont even say that they have remorse. They wont even say that they need to make changes in their city. They will just call you a white supremacist and justify the violence against you.
Aaron Jay Danielson in an undated photograph. He was shot dead in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 29, 2020. (Danielson family via AP)
Patriot Prayer has been described by Gibson as helping victims of government overreach. He has described himself as a conservative libertarian in the past.
Critics say Patriot Prayer is far-right and point to Jeremy Joseph Christian taking part in a march organized by the group about a month before stabbing two men in 2017. Gibson condemned what Christian did and said he forced the man to leave the rally because he was behaving oddly.
Patriot Prayer has clashed at times with Antifa and other counter-demonstrators, including last month.
Gibson also urged people to push back politically, spiritually but not to commit any acts of revenge. He promoted a remembrance event for Danielson scheduled for Saturday in Vancouver, Washington. The event page says the event will be safe and positive.
Danielsons murder has been celebrated by Black Lives Matter demonstrators.
During a protest the same night, a woman said she had just learned the man who was killed was a Patriot Prayer supporter.
He was a [expletive] Nazi. Our community held its own and took out the trash, she said, prompting cheers from a large crowd. Im not going to shed any tears over a Nazi.
In an appearance on Fox News @ Night on Monday, Gibson said the smears are an attempt by the far-left to dehumanize people so that we dont treat them like humans. He said he is not confident that the person responsible for the killing will be brought to justice.
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt told reporters at a recent briefing that his office would prosecute violent crimes that are referred to them but will not prosecute people based on their ideologies or affiliations.
Police Chief Chuck Lovell urged people who witnessed the shooting to come forward so officials can hold the person who did this responsible for their heinous act.
Lovell and Gibson both said the shooting took place after the rally. The caravan had already cleared the area.
Danielson remained in Portland because he lived and worked there, Patriot Prayers leader said.
The Delhi High Court was on Wednesday informed by the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences that the recruitment process for filling up the vacancies of doctors and faculty has begun.
The submissions were made while a division bench of the high court presided over by Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan was hearing physically, a petition seeking the court's direction for filling up the vacant posts of faculty and medical staff at IHBAS in order to tackle the rise in psychiatric and psychological cases in the country more effectively.
Following these submissions, the bench directed the IHBAS to complete the process expeditiously and disposed off the petition filed by advocate and social activist Amit Sahni.
Sahani through his plea stated that shortage of doctors and medical staff at IHBAS is a matter of serious concern and the responsible respondents have completely failed to tackle the same since long.
During the course of hearing, advocate Devender Verma, appearing for the Delhi Government, informed the court that IHBAS has already issued notifications regarding the filling up of 45 posts of doctors and faculty on September 1.
Sahni, through this petition also stated that IHBAS is currently working with only 25 faculty members against the sanctioned 103 faculty members. The shortage of faculty has arisen over several years.
The plea also mentioned that India's coronavirus crisis has pushed millions into forced isolation and unemployment. Due to this anxiety, depression and suicides are on the rise and mental health could be the country's next crisis.
The IHBAS is a premier Mental Healthcare Institute, which is working exclusively for patients suffering from psychiatric and psychological disorders.
The institute came into existence in compliance with the directives of the Supreme Court.
Council ask for sensible conversation over alarmist dog theft social media rumours police say none reported in a very long time here
This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Sep 2nd, 2020
Police have offered reassurance to those reading social media posts over alleged dog thefts, noting that Wrexham remains unaffected by this phenomenon and both West Mercia and Cheshire Police are reporting far fewer offences than social media may make you believe.
It follows a statement last week from North Wales Police saying the force hasnt had reports of thefts of dogs in the region recently, a statement echoed today by Wrexham Council quoting the police information to them that such crimes are extremely rare here with none reported in a very long time.
Wrexham Council said, Weve been made aware of concerns surrounding alleged dog thefts in the area. The concerns are being shared via social media and is causing distress to dog owners and other innocent parties.
Weve taken a look at the matter and spoken with North Wales Police to see whether or not theres any need for any concerns in Wrexham and they advise that, whilst theres been a small number of thefts nationally, such crimes are extremely rare here with none reported in a very long time.
The reports that are being seen are shared from various sites around the UK which then get picked up locally and becoming more and more alarmist. Many of the posts are actually from the south of England where a few confirmed offences have occurred.
At the moment those shared locally are often members of the public who have been photographed going about their daily lives but seem to others to be acting suspiciously. The sharing of images is not to be encouraged as it has the potential to put innocent parties at risk.
Sadly due to the amount of momentum that this issue has gained we are now seeing practical jokes taking place with people deliberately marking walls with chalk, or placing zip ties to cause upset. Were all asking for a sensible conversation to take place to prevent causing upset and alarm for pet owners.
Cllr David A Bithell, Lead Member for the Environment and Transport, said: Whilst we all care for our pets and dont want to see anything happen to them we should also be aware that by sharing photographs locally were causing distress to innocent people who are going about their legitimate business. Please think carefully before you share any photos such as these and be reassured that these crimes, whilst not unheard of, are rare in Wrexham.
Acting Inspector Luke Hughes, North Wales Police, said: Social media is a great tool to for getting information into the community, however please be aware that whilst many posts are well intentioned some of what you will read is simply misinformation or fake news as the popular saying goes.
North Wales Police take all reported crimes seriously, and offences such as these are clearly emotive. I can however reassure you that Wrexham remains unaffected by this phenomenon and both West Mercia and Cheshire Police are reporting far fewer offences than social media may make you believe.
Top dog: Police hound on the beat.
MBABANE Social media users usually joke that depression is real and it seems like this is a reality in the COVID-19 era.
An undisclosed number of teachers employed by private schools in the country have in the past four months allegedly checked into the countrys National Psychiatric Referral Hospital due to depression.
This follows that most of the teachers no longer have a source of income as their salaries were stopped after schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic as means of protecting pupils from contracting the virus.
Currently, Form Vs, Form IIIs and Grade VIIs are the only ones that have resumed lessons.
However, most private schools have low admissions and this has made the teachers to suffer during this period.
Affected
Such has reportedly affected the private school teachers whose earnings solely depended on the running of schools and payment of school fees by the pupils.
According to Dr Violet Mwanjali from the National Psychiatric Referral Hospital, in the past four months, between 120 and 150 patients with stress-related challenges were attended to on a daily basis and they included those employed by private schools.
Mwanjali said they were overwhelmed to some extent as most patients preferred the psychiatric hospital as it was believed to have the personnel skilled in issues of mental illness. However, she noted that some other hospitals also attended to such cases. She stated that most of the affected teachers were failing to cope as they were no longer getting salaries from their employer, something that had resulted in stress.
Mwanjali said most of the patients were currently facing similar challenges, adding that the employers as well, were checking-in due to financial challenges as they did not have money to pay their staff.
She said COVID-19 had played a huge role in the increasing number of patients who were attended to for depression.The main cause of depression is anxiety. Anything that exposes the body to stress can result in depression, said Mwanjali.
Furthermore, she said most people who were self-employed were also affected by stress due to COVID-19 in general.
Dr Mwanjali said most of those who were self-employed were affected by the temporary closure of their businesses due to the partial lockdown as they could not generate any income.
Meanwhile, she stated that there were some people who were strained by the fact that their relatives had contracted COVID-19 or themselves.
These, she said, included healthcare workers who were working in the frontline and feared that they might contract the virus.
Mwanjali said coping methods for depression varied from each individual, which included among others limiting meals.
Minimise
Also, she noted that avoiding listening to news could also be another way, adding that it was important to minimise hearing COVID-19 news as it caused stressful feelings on some people.
As some people watch the COVID-19 news and see people dying and also see the symptoms, they start to feel the symptoms and begin feeling down. Mwanjali noted that protecting oneself against COVID-19 was important and could ease strong fears that one could be exposed.
She said what also relieved fear was hand-washing, wearing of masks and social distancing despite knowing that there was a current condition going on.
Meanwhile, Eswatini Private Schools Association member and Director of Phumelele High School in Matsapha which is also a private school, Sabelo Mavuso, said they were faced with a huge challenge following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mavuso said the challenge they had was that some of the private schools were still new in the industry and already had hired employees who needed to be paid.
He said the directors of those schools were bound to suffer depression due to the fact that they found themselves having to pay a high number of teachers.
Mavuso said the teachers themselves could not manage the stress as they were renting houses, which they had to pay for and their landlords did not understand when they explained their situation.
He noted that despite some of the grades reopening, private schools had a low admission, while others were also renting premises.
This, he said, added to their stress because when the pupils were not at school, the bills continued escalating.
Mavuso said nowadays people tended to be afraid as the dangers of depression exposed others to become prone to COVID-19.
Thomas Callaway, 44, was sentenced to a year probation and fined $1,000 by a Savannah judge who accepted his guilty sexual battery plea
A married youth minister who slapped the behind of a female reporter on live television as she delivered a report in Georgia has pleaded guilty to a sexual battery charge.
Thomas Callaway, 44, was sentenced to a year probation and fined $1,000 by a Savannah judge who accepted his plea for the misdemeanor count on Tuesday.
The judge also ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service, court records show.
Callaway was arrested in December after he was caught on camera swatted the rear end of WSAV-TV reporter Alex Bozarjian, 23, while she was reporting live on a Savannah road race.
A grinning Callaway, who was participating in the race, was seen running up behind Bozarjian and striking her hard, stunning the young reporter who stood motionless in shock for a number of seconds. The clip has since been viewed millions of times.
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Callaway was arrested in December after he was caught on camera swatted the rear end of WSAV-TV reporter Alex Bozarjian, 23, while she was reporting live on a Savannah road race
A grinning Callaway, who was participating in the race, was seen running up behind Bozarjian and striking her hard, stunning the young reporter who stood motionless in shock for a number of seconds
Following his sentencing Tuesday, Bozarjian told WSAV-TV outside the courtroom that she hoped Callaway would strive to do better in future as he had previously promised her.
A non-consensual butt slap may seem harmless to some people. Other people would go as far as to call it flattering, but thats obviously a toxic thought pattern because what Mr. Callaway did on that bridge validates the idea that I dont deserve my own personal space, she told the network. It also reinforces the belief that as a woman, my body doesnt belong to me.
Bozarjian continued that while she understands the act has probably disrupted his life more than he ever imagined, nobody has a right to touch anybody or slap anybody for their own amusement.
The reporter added that she decided to attend the hearing to finally accept Callaway's apology.
He has tried to apologize a number of times, Bozarjian said. I have all my power intact today and I forgave him.
All I really hope is that, going forward in the future he will do better.
Check out this jerk smacking a @WSAV reporter's ass live on air. And sorry, that's my kiddo making horribly timed weird noises in the background. pic.twitter.com/6tzi6P1Jbo Tonya (@GrrrlZilla) December 7, 2019
Callaways identity was unknown in the hours after the incident, but he later came forward to identify himself as the culprit. Bozarjian later said the pastor had 'violated, objectified, and embarrassed her'
Callaway said he didn't intend to slap the reporter on the rear. He said he was raising his arm trying to pat her on the back or the shoulder and didn't realize until seeing the video that he had touched her buttocks
At the time of the incident, WSA-TV called Callaways actions reprehensible and completely unacceptable.
'No one should ever be disrespected in this manner. The safety and protection of our employees is WSAV-TV's highest priority,' the station added.
Bozarjian also spoke out of her horror over the incident, telling the youth pastor he violated, objectified, and embarrassed me.
No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!! Do better.
In a police report, the reporter said Callaway had slapped and then grabbed her buttocks.
She also appeared on CBS This Morning where she claimed that Callaway had not only slapped her hard enough to startle her but also to physically hurt her.
Callaways identity was unknown in the hours after the incident, but he later came forward to identify himself as the culprit.
He went to the TV station to give an on-camera apology to Bozarjian, calling his actions awful, insisting he had made a mistake.
Following his sentencing Tuesday, Bozarjian told WSAV-TV outside the courtroom that she hoped Callaway would strive to do better in future as he had promised
Callaway said he didn't intend to slap the reporter on the rear. He said he was raising his arm trying to pat her on the back or the shoulder and didn't realize until seeing the video that he had touched her buttocks.
Callaway told Inside Edition: 'I was getting ready to bring my hands up and wave to the camera to the audience, there was a misjudge in character and decision-making. I touched her back; I did not know exactly where I touched her.'
He went on to say that he was disappointed in himself and felt horrible that his actions had negatively impacted Bozarjian.
When an Inside Edition reporter read Bozarjian's tweet to Callaway, he said acknowledged that she was right.
'I totally agree 100% with her statement. The two most important words were her last two words, "Do better," and thats my intention,' he said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The NYPD is asking for the publics help to identify a man sought for questioning in connection with an assault on Monday morning near Whitehall Terminal for the Staten Island Ferry in Manhattan.
Criminal Court Judge Phyllis Chu, who lives on Staten Island, has been identified by sources as the victim who apparently was sucker punched in broad daylight steps from the ferry.
On Monday at about 9:40 a.m., a 56-year-old woman was walking northbound on Water Street near Wall Street when an unidentified man riding a Citi Bike southbound on Water Street punched her in the face, according to a statement from the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.
He continued riding in an unknown direction, police said.
Police previously said that the assault occurred in front of 126 Water St. and described her attacker as a light-skinned male on a bicycle.
The images of the man sought for questioning were taken from surveillance cameras near the location of the assault. (Courtesy of NYPD)
Chu was on her way to work in Manhattan when a cyclist seemingly without cause unexpectedly punched her in the jaw, a city courts official previously told the Advance/SILive.com.
The justice had left Whitehall and was heading to work at the Manhattan courthouse, located at 100 Centre Street, when the attack occurred.
The victim sustained swelling to the left side of her mouth and refused medical attention, according to the police statement.
Images supplied by police of the individual sought for questioning were obtained from surveillance cameras in the vicinity of where the assault occurred.
People with information are asked to contact the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 (TIPS). For Spanish, dial 1-888-577-4782 (PISTA). The public also can submit tips on the Crime Stoppers website, or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
MANISTEE That short stay rental that mom and dad have been eyeing for a visit to Manistee may just be considered illegal.
The city of Manistee has been working toward an ordinance that would govern short term rentals, but according to city staff at the August Manistee City Planning Commission meeting, those rentals are technically not allowed in the meantime.
Mike Szokola, Manistee County planner, explained at the meeting that, Its not allowed, zonings not permissible. If its not strictly allowed, they cant do it.
One recurring point made at both planning commission and Manistee City Council meetings was that commission and council members did not want regulations in an ordinance to be too stringent because they also want to give visitors a way to get a taste of the city in case the visitor may want to live here eventually or later start a business in Manistee.
Szokola referenced that aspect at the last planning commission meeting with a pointed reminder:
One thing to keep in mind though, is these are illegal, commercial entities that are taking place in your residential neighborhood, Szokola said.
Theres also great motels and hotels that can give you a taste of the city too and they have to be state regulated. And you have bed and breakfasts that you guys put a ton of restrictions on.
Manistee City Council and the planning commission both have shown earlier this year that they want to have an ordinance to regulate short term rentals.
But the details of how that will look are still in progress and discussions are expected to continue at the upcoming planning commission meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Szokola said part of having an ordinance will mean considering the financial impacts that come along with allowing short term rentals, such as enforcement costs.
You dont want this to cost the city money, when people are technically operating an illegal use in a residential neighborhood, he said to commission members.
Szokola tasked each commission member with bringing ideas and points they wish to work on, to the Thursday meeting.
RELATED: Manistee's short term rental ordinance discussion continues
There, commission members will pull from two ordinances from other towns and highlight aspects they are in favor of or opposed to in an effort to create an ordinance that is suited to Manistee.
Short term rentals have become an increasing topic of discussion elsewhere, especially in coastal towns like Traverse City and Charlevoix where ordinances have been created in response to pressures on housing as well as the draw to the area and a demand for alternative short term lodging by visitors.
RELATED: Municipalities weigh short term rental policy options
Short term rentals are sometimes defined as stays that last for under three months.
Both city council and planning commission members have pointed out that the situation brings many issues such as exacerbating an existing dire problem of access to affordable housing in Manistee.
Szokola paraphrased and referenced a submitted letter from a community member who said a lot of these are long-term rented from after deer hunting season until the spring and then we suddenly push all of our permanent long-term residents into the street because they want to rent to (people) during that perfect 120 days of revenue generation that they can get through the summertime by being in our community.
This means an influx of people who are then trying to find affordable housing and compete with the short term rentals for a place to live.
Its a real issue, we need to address it, he said.
Mick Szymanski, planning commission and city council member, said at the last meeting they have been slow to pulling the trigger on short term rental issue.
Szokola referenced one ordinance on short term rentals that lists fees for noncompliance and said that avenue may be helpful if commission members wanted to push for compliance.
One idea offered was to consider something like a $500 fine for the first offense of operating without proper licenses or permits, and $1,000 for the second and $1,000 per day fine after that.
(If not) theyre not going to listen. Theres a chance that they could continue to operate them and just say well hopefully I dont get caught or they cant keep up with enforcement on me, so Im going to continue operate, Szokola said.
He said it was difficult to know how many short term rentals exist in the city, but there were at least 150-176 when he last looked in December 2018.
There are a number of short term rental options listed for Manistee posted on a variety of websites such as Airbnb and VRBO.
The prices on Airbnb for a rental in the city typically ranged from about $170 to $300. However, the costs also depend on what day of the week is sought and are also influenced by season and holidays.
Prices often include additional fees such as cleaning and service fees, and occupancy taxes that are added to the base price upon checkout.
Some stays also require a deposit that is returned after inspection of the rental to assure no damages or destruction of the property had occurred during a stay.
RELATED: Manistee planning commission working on short term rental ordinance
Szymanski said it would be beneficial to use financial punitive measures to help encourage compliance within the city after they develop an ordinance.
We have a general issue with compliance in many different issues so making it financially challenging for (short term rentals) to not be in compliance is to our advantage. Szymanski said.
Another idea from a different west Michigan town was the use of a lottery system or simply limiting the number of allowed short term rentals in the area.
Planning commission member Shelly Memberto said she could see keeping Manistees allowed number between 50 to 75, because I would like to see those houses with people in them year round as well.
But Szymanski said he would prefer a higher number.
BACKGROUND
Prior to this stage of ordinance discussions, ideas of a citywide short term rental ordinance have appeared in some form at city planning commission meetings, then Manistee City Council meetings, and then back in the planning commissions hands.
Early this year, the former Manistee County planner and zoning administrator broached the topic with city council during a presentation that highlighted the reasons of why a short term rental ordinance would be a smart decision.
That presentation also included topics such as the negative economic impacts to current or prospective residents who were being impacted by increases in surrounding rent, less access to long-term housing that was being used instead toward short term rentals that are often more lucrative to landlords and other situations in an already scarce housing situation.
The presentation also showed the benefits of short term rentals such as giving visitors another way to meet Manistee and offer an avenue for more business but these positives were significantly outweighed by the downfalls while the city continues to lack a short term rental ordinance for regulation.
After that presentation to council, the planning commission held discussions on the matter but eventually wanted to ensure that city council was actually interested in regulating short term rentals and would be partial to an ordinance.
Council made a formal motion at the June 16 meeting for the commission to work on an ordinance, and the issue was passed back to the planning commission with the green light for the creation of an ordinance.
Szokola had previously said that after commissioners addressed wording and specifics of an ordinance, the citys attorney would weigh in on a draft and then it would appear during a public hearing for the public to leave input on an ordinance.
THURSDAY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
To attend the next planning commission meeting, dial 646-558-8656, use the meeting ID number of 864 1738 2075, and the passcode is 974437. Other topics to be considered at the upcoming virtual planning commission meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday are as follows:
A possible special use permit transfer from one original marijuana business applicant at 50 Arthur St., to the current owners;
An application for a final allowable extension request for the Tabernacle;
Revisit a possible zoning ordinance design guidelines for new houses in the city;
Address fees for special use permits;
Amend zoning ordinance details on lower story dwellings, fences, patios, site plan review committee, temporary storage, mailing and dumpsters/pads/screening and enforcement; and
The meeting also is set to feature a staff report on the Hillcrest Apartments project among other points. The Hillcrest Apartments project is proposed at the former Washington Elementary School property, located on Ford Street bordering Short Street and Third Avenue.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Upside Business Travel ("Upside"), the one-stop-shop corporate travel platform, will power the digital travel experience for Omega World Travel ("Omega") clients. The strategic partnership will be unveiled at Omega's virtual booth at BTN Group's Business Travel Show America conference on September 9-10, 2020.
"Like everyone in the travel space, the pandemic has forced Upside to rethink its long-term strategy for serving the business travel market," said Jason Wynn, Chief Commercial Officer at Upside Business Travel. "The core of any go-forward strategy is our technology. From the very beginning of the company, we have been investing in building a flexible, scalable technology platform that can support a modern and, importantly, a quickly changing travel experience."
In response to regional TMC's eagerness to deliver a user-friendly, private-label alternative to existing solutions and a defense against competitive digital-first travel companies, Upside has broadened its distribution strategy from focusing solely on building a direct client base to syndicating a private-label version of its digital travel product to regional TMCs around the US.
"The pandemic is a reset for everyone," said Nadim Hajje, Vice President of Information Technology & Data Analytics at Omega World Travel. "Our clients are returning to travel with a new set of customer expectations. Private-labeling with Upside's technology sets us up to thrive, not just survive, in a post-pandemic world."
Omega -- one of the largest travel management companies in the US with $1.49B in 2019 travel volume -- will now offer their clients and partners:
A user-friendly interface that includes health and safety data for both airlines and hotels, ATPCO's Next Generation Storefront , and other customer-first features;
for both airlines and hotels, , and other customer-first features; More control over how supplier content is displayed, like steering to preferred suppliers via sorting, badging and pricing techniques;
Customer onboarding that takes hours, not months; and,
A consistent brand experience that puts the Omega brand forward.
"We believe the marketplace is up for grabs in a way that it hasn't been for years," said Jason Wynn, Chief Commercial Officer at Upside Business Travel. "Upside's rapid product development abilities and robust technology stack puts TMCs in the perfect position to win new business and defend their client bases in this great reset."
About Upside Business Travel:
Upside was created by veteran travel entrepreneurs to transform the world of corporate travel with new tools and new thinking. Upside's flagship product uses state-of-the-art technology to operate a corporate travel solution that makes it possible for smaller companies to benefit from travel management with a no-fee, no contract all-digital booking experience and high quality 24/7 customer service. The company's employees have rated the company culture so highly that Upside has received awards from The Washington Post, Glassdoor and Entrepreneur Magazine. Upside is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in Stamford, Connecticut.
About Omega World Travel:
Omega World Travel is a woman-owned, diversity supplier, and one of the largest travel management companies in the US. With worldwide headquarters in Fairfax, VA, Omega serves corporate, government, meeting, and leisure clients throughout the US., Europe, and the Middle East. Omega World Travel also owns Cruise.com, one of the largest sellers of cruises on the Internet, and TravTech, a software development company and Omega Meetings and Conference services.
Contact:
Genevieve Rafla, Communications Director for Upside
[email protected]
SOURCE Upside Business Travel
Related Links
http://www.upside.com